If there is something extremely important that I
have learned during my translation experience is that the translator MUST
understand the document he has on his hands in order to deliver a good work. It
is not a matter of knowing the language by itself, but to learn about the culture
of the country the document was issued and/or how that place is organized in
different levels.
For instance, if you get a diploma from a
British university, you should know that they have a different classification
for their undergraduate students’ degrees, called “honours”: First-class
honours (1st), Second-class honours, upper division (2:1), Second-class
honours, lower division (2:2), Third-class honours (3rd) and Ordinary degree
(pass). The higher is your honours (as the First-class honours), your diploma
is more appreciated by your potential employees. However, in order to get one
of those diplomas, the student must bear in mind that the course will have more
workload and class hours.
[This student might not have studied enough to get a "Second Class Honours"...]
Another example is the birth certificates
issued in Nigeria: their historical context shows that there are several tribes
that were divided and mixed up throughout the decades, evading their territories
without any concern of their own boundaries. In addition, the place has a history
of rape. Many children were born without being registered on the authorities
boards because there was not a specific law requiring the parents to do so,
since these parents did not recognized that government as ruling their
community (at least I believe this is the reason) and also it seems that many
children were not recognized as part of families, so registering that unwanted
child was a waste of time and spend money. Anyway, the point is that an adult should
require a letter of authorization from the Superior Justice Court to request
their birth certificate. Then, the notary public will register their
certificate for free, as the provisions of Decree No. 69, of December/1992
(yes, the birth certificates started to be issued free of any charges from 1992
onwards only!). Therefore, many of these documents require a letter from the
government in order to be issued.
[Sorry, this was the only picture I found that looks like the Attestation of Birth I translated.]
To sum up, there are no such things in Brazil!
So how can a Brazilian translator solve these problems? To research about these
particularities is extremely important to, at least, start to understand what
you working are on and then try to find an equivalent in Portuguese (or in the
target language) that could explain the idea of the original text. It is quite
hard sometimes and requires a lot of research. Google is a life savior in that
matter, since there are plenty of information that will lead you to the closest
answer. Moreover, if it does not help, there is always the option of asking the
client what the hell is written on that damned document (but then it is not as
fun as when we discover by ourselves, is it?).
I may have made some mistakes, so feel free to
correct them on the commentaries (I will learn a lot and you will help me to
improve my English skills if you do so).
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_undergraduate_degree_classification
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário