Latin American Literature Today
My first translation
November 17, 2016
My skills in translation have definitely been pushed far. My assignment was to translate this book review about an author who admires Emily Dickinson and demonstrates his devotion to her in his book. Let's just say that translation was not what I expected... there is so much that needs to be accounted for to be a good translator.
I did struggle at first, and I had to talk to Dr. Henson about it. My first draft happened to be what is called a "loose translation", where I basically translated the "general" meaning but lost the faithfulness of the original author and his intentions that were entailed through his word choice and writing style. I had to go back and think really hard, eliminating my options for translating ONE word/phrase in order to find that best translation that is faithful to the author as well as the meaning he/she tries to get out.
In this progress of translating, I subconsciously learned formal writing skills in Spanish that are evident in my writing in my Hispanic Literature class. It was so neat how translation improves your vocabulary as well as increasing the complexity of your communication style.
Today I sent my final draft in to Dr. Henson, who will review it and get back to me soon. My translation will be finalized and PUBLISHED next January in the Latin American Literature Today magazine!
Introduction
October 24, 2016
As a first year freshman at a university studying for a Spanish degree, I am honored to already be part of an important international magazine--Latin American Literature Today-- as a translation intern!
It all started when I got an email from Shawn Gralla, who personally gave me an opportunity to get in contact with Dr. Rioseco to talk about what it takes to be part of a translation team. I am still thinking about a career I would like to have, but I can imagine myself doing translation on the side, and since I have experience translating at my mother's parent-teacher conferences for elementary students, I thought it to be a great chance for me to take it to the next level.
I emailed Dr. Rioseco right away and we scheduled a meeting a few days later. He immediately went into Spanish mode, and I was caught under pressure to speak Spanish on the spot! It was nerve-racking, especially when Gralla had bragged a lot about my skills! We discussed (in Spanish) what the magazine was about: a literary magazine that reaches out to the hispanic community but also is expanding its horizons towards the non-Spanish speakers (hence the need for Spanish-English translators). We also went into discussion about what I want to do in life and my experience with Spanish... as well as a chat about our favorite Mediterranean restaurants.
After the meeting, Dr. Rioseco directed me to Dr. Henson, who is basically the boss of me in this translation business. He told me that the team is very small and it is composed of three graduates and two undergraduates, which would be me and another fellow student. After our talk, Henson gave me my first assignment of translating this book review! We shall see how this goes...