Dear readers, / Chers lecteurs,
Today we celebrate the INTERNATIONAL TRANSLATION DAY!
Aujourd’hui nous célébrons la JOURNÉE MONDIALE DE LA TRADUCTION !
The theme for International Translation Day 2016 is:
Le thème pour 2016 est :
TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING: CONNECTING WORLDS
UNISSONS LES MONDES GRÂCE À LA TRADUCTION ET À L’INTERPRÉTATION
I’ve asked many translators/interpreters from different nationalities to write one or two sentences about this year’s topic. Thanks to Sara Colombo, Marta Stelmaszak, Erik Hansson, Catharine Cellier-Smart, Macarena Cafrune, Dmitry Kornyukhov, Françoise L’Héveder and Óscar Curros for your contribution!
J’ai demandé à plusieurs traducteurs/interprètes de differentes nationalités d’écrire une ou deux phrases sur le thème de cette année. Merci à Sara Colombo, Marta Stelmaszak, Erik Hansson, Catharine Cellier-Smart, Macarena Cafrune, Dmitry Kornyukhov, Françoise L’Héveder et Óscar Curros pour votre participation !
********
«In a world that’s more and more connected, it can be easy to forget that technology – however useful it is – doesn’t replace connecting people of different languages and cultures. The work we do every day does much to reduce divisions, and the theme of this year’s International Translation Day is the occasion to remind everyone, including ourselves, of how important our role is in facilitating linguistic and cultural communication and understanding.»
Catharine Cellier-Smart – Reunion Island
French to English Sworn Translator and Interpreter
Traductrice en langue anglaise, Expert près la Cour d’Appel de Saint Denis de la Réunion
Membre de la SFT (Société Française des Traducteurs) et de l’UNETICA
Website: Smart Translate
********
«There is something very powerful in how language connects worlds. In the same way as we take roads, railway and flights for granted to take us from one place to another, we very often treat language, the infrastructure of thought, as given. Yet we, translators and interpreters, help words travel across worlds. Isn’t this a huge task?»
Marta Stelmaszak – London (UK)
English – Polish translator
Website: WantWords
********
«How we perceive ourselves is how the world perceives us. In order to convince our clients that we are professionals, we as freelance translators and interpreters need to understand that we in fact are business-driven entrepreneurs. Act as a business-person, raise your self-esteem, refuse to accept low-standard rates and make sure to meet your clients on eye-level.»
Erik Hansson – Germany
Swedish native, translator for German into Swedish, specialised in engineering, automation and renewable energy
Website: Hansson Übersetzungen GmbH
********
«Qui se soucie du traducteur tant que sa machine fonctionne ? Certes l’exemple est trivial au regard du thème retenu. Alors je propose une autre question. Qui se rend compte que sans traduction, point de relation internationale, point d’échange d’idée, point de débats par-dessus les frontières, point de combats pour la LIBERTÉ, pour les Droits de l’Homme, les Droits de l’Enfant. Qui saurait ce que Malala a à nous dire ? Où en serait notre connaissance de la philosophie ?
Oh certes, il est des écrits et des paroles que le monde aurait sûrement aimé taire. De quel droit ? Au nom de quels principes ?
Décidément, nous, traducteurs et interprètes, sommes bien des passeurs de paroles et de mémoire, parfois pour le pire. Aujourd’hui je veux croire pour le meilleur !
Excellente JMT 2016 !»
Françoise L’Héveder – Brest (France)
English and German into French translator
Membre de la SFT
Website: CORTEXTUEL – Translation Minded
********
«The entire world, the way we know it, lingers on our ability to send the message across borders and cultures.»
Dmitry Kornyukhov – Toronto (Canada)
English-Russian Translator and Video Games Localization Specialist
Website: Best Russian Translator
********
«Traducir e interpretar son oficios que van más allá de solo transmitir significado entre hablantes de diferentes lenguas. Hay que tener siempre presente que una lengua es la visión de un mundo, de una realidad propia y diferente; una lengua es un ser cambiante y dinámico. Gracias a nuestro trabajo, los traductores e intérpretes nos convertimos en puentes vivos entre culturas y disfrutamos de la hermosa y enorme responsabilidad de conectar realidades y ampliar fronteras día a día.»
Macarena Cafrune – Salta (Argentina)
English – Spanish Sworn Translator and Interpreter
Website: Macarena Cafrune
********
«El Día Internacional de la Traducción nos recuerda la importancia del diálogo intercultural para la convivencia de los pueblos.»
«O Día Internacional da Tradución lémbranos a importancia do diálogo intercultural para a convivencia dos pobos.»
Óscar Curros – Brasilia (Brazil)
Galician and Spanish journalist, translator, and interpreter.
Website: Óscar Curros
********
«Connection is the path to unity.
Understanding oneness becomes a cultural, social and personal awakening and process of acceptance, integration, innovation. You find yourself in somebody else’s experiences, perceptions, vibes and it is in this process that a new you and a new me can rise.
However, connection also leads to selection and when innovation takes place, it is not unlikely to face change, opposing forces and conflict.
Fear, hate, power, stereotypes can all be transmitted through the distorted use of translation, especially when this is used as a mean to force, obtain, as a selfish mean and as a weapon for revenge or destruction, rather than as a path to understanding.
So, what’s key is understanding unity. Connecting worlds is about recognising the human in front of you and asking the other to do the same, in a safe and respectful way.
It’s not easy. But, I think we have to remember we are all together in this, as translators, as much as human beings, and that although connection is a challenging path, challenges can’t be avoided, communication is complex. So it is our (beautiful) responsibility to plunge into our role and break fear, hate, power, stereotypes because this is what worlds are about: connecting to break limits and create a better world.»
Sara Colombo – Manchester (UK)
Italian translator and interpreter, she specialises in transcreation, fashion & lifestyle, copywriting, marketing and medical marketing, medical devices and health.
Website: Balance Your Words
********
Happy International Translation Day!
Don’t miss the article about the International Translation Day 2015!
Alexandra Le Deun
Spanish and English > French translator
French and Spanish teacher (face-to-face/Skype)
HISPAFRA 