NOVEMBER 2024 Translation News

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Nov 2024 Translation News

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International Translation Services (ITS)

International Translation Services (ITS) works in collaboration with colleagues in SIL and other agencies to creatively steward and advance the translation practices, tools, methods, and training necessary to enable a supportive environment for individuals and communities to flourish and engage with Scripture. We value: Interconnectedness. Capacity Building. Diversity. Innovation.

November 2024 Unity: What is it really? - Greg Dekker Translation Training & Development Updates - Phil King Digital Training Library Bible Translation Training and Development Community of Practice FIA Materials Connecting with the Church Mid-Level Quality Assurance Orality Services Updates - Kris Toler New Translation Consultant - Charles Telfer Interviews with Translation Consultants Manie van den Heever (Africa) News Preposition ἐπί - Linguistics & Scripture Translation Videos - Rachel & Michael Aubrey Narrative Discourse Analysis for Translation (Tanzania) - Helen Eaton New FLExTrans Overview Video Importance of Linguistics for Sign Language Bible Translation - Bernadet van der Louw Coming Events Narrative Discourse Analysis for Translation (May 2025) Cameroon (French) ICON-25 (May 2025) Johannesburg, South Africa EMDC (May 2025) The Netherlands Narrative Discourse Analysis for Translation (Sep 2025) Tanzania BT Conference 25 (Oct 2025) Thailand

Useful Links SIL Translation Services International Leadership Team Area Translation Coordinators

Unity: What is it really?

• Greg Dekker - International Translation Services

Director I took special notice recently when a visiting board member of a ministry our local church supports in an Asian country was asked by an elder of our local church, “What is the biggest need you face in your (geographic) region?” His answer: “Unity. Unity among the 138 local churches in our region.” I was paying close attention, but I immediately tuned in more closely! He went on to explain that there is much ministry going on in this region, but, in his words, “It seems like we could accomplish so much more if everyone was focused on the same things. It seems that everyone has their own agenda.” I realized, again, that we, in the Church, may be misguided on the meaning of “unity”. It’s not only in the Church that unity is placed at such great importance. Following the attempted assassination of former President of the United States, Donald Trump, the current president, Joe Biden said this on 13 July 2024, “Unity is the most important goal of all, and nothing is more important than that right now: unity.” But I would ask, “Unity on what?” In John 17, verses 11 and 17-23 especially, Jesus prays for his disciples and “all who will ever believe in [him]”, that’s you and me, and he asks the Father that we would be “united”, that we would be one, and that we would experience “perfect unity”. What is this unity Jesus was talking about? What is this “one”-ness? What “unity” is given expression in us, and in the Body of Christ? After studying on this topic some, here’s what I am learning: Unity is not “Follow me and don’t disagree with me” which essentially amounts to uniformity, or unidirectional movement, or laser-focused collaboration. Rather, unity is: An elemental part of the basic identity of who we are as God’s people, God’s family, the redeemed. We don’t work to be one… We ARE one. Have you read Jesus' prayer and wondered what Jesus is talking about? I have. I’ve read it through many times and just read on, not really getting to the heart of what He is talking about. As I read it again, and studied it some, I realized that what I was reading in Jesus’ prayer in John 17 are qualities of those who are in Christ. And it speaks to me about the qualities we share by being in Christ, by being called according to His purposes. Here’s what I understand from the John 17 passage: Unity means that as the Body of Christ, we have: a shared future (Jn 17:2-3). Result: Peace. Hope. Joy. Contentment. a shared purpose (Jn 17:4-8) to the Mission of God, the Mission to which God has appointed us. Result: A collaborative activity with a joint goal. shared belonging (Jn 17:11-12). Result: An affinity for those who are “in Christ”, those who are part of the family of God. shared position (Jn 17:14-19) Result: Access to- and ability to live in holiness, setapart-ness. shared membership (Jn 17: 20-23) Result: Mutual care, concern, support, understanding. (This may be the most important one.) It involves identity, protection from evil, mutual encouragement and support, and more. There are important points to ponder here! Like, how do these shared characteristics contribute to “oneness” between missional organizations that may have or seem to have diverging goals and methods? Relatedly, how does shared belonging, shared position, and shared membership help us when we don’t see eye-to-eye organizationally? And finally, what are the limits on “oneness”? (or) When is “oneness” and unity legitimately broken (passive) or severed (active)? Or can it be broken or severed? Recently I’ve taken note of an important way of thinking about unity from Michelle LeeBarnewall. (1) We need to think of our unity and oneness, not as something that we do or act out, but rather ontologically, existentially. Being in Christ makes us one and unified. My observation: Jesus’ prayer in John 17 is a prayer that we persevere in our basic identity in Christ! We don’t just work together, but we are spiritually joined together, in the Holy Spirit, like a body is joined together. We’re inseparable! And being inseparably joined together, it is incumbent upon us to care for each other, just as we might care for a part of the body which is injured. This caring will influence how we live together, and talk to each other, and work out our differences. Being in Christ and bound together in the Holy Spirit means that we will listen with the goal of really understanding… and not just listening in order to respond. It means that we will be “quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” (Js 1:19) And we can grant this gift to others because we know that listening with a view to understanding others does not negate our own perspective, and there is a reasonable expectation that others who are “in Christ” will do the same for us. Unity is about belonging, as I noted earlier. Being “in Christ” is the glue which connects us, and all the characteristics of love (I Cor 13) and the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23) are the qualities of Unity. We not only grant these to others, but we can expect to receive them from others in the Body of Christ, as well. My prayer in all this is that we would understand our unity not as uniformity or conducting activities that must perfectly harmonize with those activities of others. But rather, that our unity in Christ is what makes us inseparable! It helps us overcome division, and encourages us toward building bridges to understand one another better. May it be so!

(1) Michelle Lee-Barnewall, Affiliate Professor of New Testament at Biola University.

Translation Training & Development Updates

• Phil King (1) Digital Training Library. Due to some incredibly generous donors, Biblica is offering a large block of DTL Certificates at no cost to trusted partners who are training Bible translators. There are five eligible programs: Foundations in Bible Translation (English, Spanish, French, Hindi, Indonesian, ASL) Oral Bible Translation (English, Spanish, French, Hindi, Indonesian) New Testament (English) Old Testament (English) Discourse: Narrative (English) Each program will take a part-time, dedicated learner about three months to complete while they work together in a cohort with a mentor. Please fill out this form to let Biblica know of your context and interest and if you need a mentor. They will get back to you to let you know your next steps toward accessing the DTL. (2) Bible Translation Training and Development Community of Practice. The next session will be on November 21st on EMDC Online. The topic will be AI Translation Tools and Translator Competency Development. The development of AI tools that can be used in translation work is changing the nature of how we participate in Bible translation mission. The conversation around the use of AI tools typically focuses on product quality (is it better or worse?), process (is it helping or not?), and people (who is helped and who is harmed?). In this session, the focus is on the impact on people in one specific area: how these tools may change what translation personnel are able to do. Eshinee Veith will present some frameworks that might be helpful as we process our new training context and identify future competency development needs. (3) I’ve often mentioned the FIA materials in recent months: guided translation resources developed by SRV partners to help translators familiarise themselves with Bible passages, internalise them and then perform them. These resources are now easily accessible in the Bible Well app, through this specially-configured link: http://bw4fia.com/. (4) Connecting with the church continues to be a high priority for SIL. The Oxford Statement is now available as a summary of the SCC24 meetings I spoke about last month. Here’s a snippet from it: “We, a community of SIL leaders that met in Oxford in September 2024, pledge ourselves to help SIL journey together with the Church in the mission of God, following the prompting and direction of the Holy Spirit. We will listen, and as we do so we will allow the Church to influence the identity of SIL. We will not predict the nature of the relationship that the Church and churches wish to have with us, but as we listen we will respond in a spirit of generosity, humility, mutuality and service.” Also, the review of Church and Community Based Bible Translation that I worked on in PNG for Global Partnerships is now available, for those who are interested. We'd love to know more about your thoughts and experiences of being connected with the church in Bible translation - please get in touch with any of us on the ITS team to share your thoughts. For example, let us know how you think we could be listening well, or what you think about allowing the church to influence SIL's identity. (5) Mid-Level Quality Assurance (MLQA) training options. Prescience Labs and Seed Company have been researching the training that is currently available from different organisations around the world for translation facilitators, translation advisors, exegetical advisors and similar roles (all grouped together as "Mid-Level Quality Assurance" - or MLQA - personnel). The report is now available here, and could be useful for those looking to access training or to develop their own programmes.

Orality Services Updates

• Kris Toler In October I had the opportunity to participate in the Africa OBT (Oral Bible Translation) Online Consultation. I was invited to share on the topic of Internalization and its importance in the OBT process. The consultation took place on 22-24 October. 609 participants from 60 countries signed up to participate in the online event.

A variety of topics were presented - ETEN Innovation Lab recommendations, Internalization, OBT & Transcription, OBT and Artificial Intelligence, as well as many others. The lively participation and discussions were an encouragement to all who attended. The participants included translators and organizations working in OBT projects all around the world. The presentations were recorded each day so that participants can have access to them after the event.

New Translation Consultant Charles Telfer - GCP Congratulations to Charles Telfer working with GCP (SIL Global Consultant Pool) on completing all the requirements for certification as a Translation Consultant, under the guidance of his supervising mentor, Dale Hoskins. Charles was educated at the University of Illinois (BA in History, Spanish), Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (MDiv), Jerusalem University College, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (PhD, Old Testament 2015) and Dallas International University. While serving in Eritrea in the 90s, he did some translation work into Tigrinya and has published translations into English from French, German, and Latin (eg. Vitringa’s The Spiritual Life). He has contributed articles on biblical studies to several journals and book sections to Biblical Theology: Past, Present and Future, Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South and Handbuch der Bibelhermeneutiken among others. His dissertation was published in 2016 by Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht as Wrestling with Isaiah.

Charles served as a pastor in the US for eleven years. He has taught at Gordon College, Asmara Teachers’ Training College, Trinity Christian College, Mid-America Reformed Seminary and Westminster Seminary California (eight years, professor of biblical languages). Charles was trained through Convergence, a joint translation-consultant training program of the Wycliffe Global Alliance and Global Partnerships. In addition to Dale, Charles also benefited by observing other translation consultants, including Tito Lopez and Bill Bivin in Mexico and Malcolm Johnson in India. He continues to consult with a language project in Eritrea. For the past year and a half Charles has been working with the Unión Nacional de Traductores Indígenas (UNTI) in Mexico. He and his wife Alice currently live in Mexico City.

Interviews with Translation Consultants We asked experienced Translation Consultant, Manie van den Heever, to share his thoughts concerning his work and philosophy of ministry. Experienced consultants have been a key organizational resource over the years, equipping and encouraging others to academic and professional excellence while providing much needed leadership and service to many Bible translation organizations.

Manie van den Heever - Africa How did you get interested in Bible translation? Soon after coming to know the Lord, I sensed a call to missions. I knew that my interest and academic background in languages and linguistics would come into play somehow, but it wasn’t clear where and how. I was praying for the Lord’s guidance when, one day, I met a retired seminary professor who had spent years as a missionary in Bible translation. He told me that he believed I had been hand-picked for Bible translation. He also said that if he had had his life to live ten times over again, he would have spent nine out of those ten in the ministry of Bible translation. That clinched it for me! What gets you excited when you work with others in Bible translation? Nothing beats the look on people’s faces when they grasp the meaning of a biblical passage for the first time. What is your consulting philosophy? The consultant is a member of the translation team (translators, reviewers, and others), all of whom play their part to assure quality in the translation. This means that the consultant is less of a “quality checker” and more of a mentor, adviser, and facilitator, supporting the rest of the team to deliver their best work. What translation resources do you really value? I regularly consult a wide variety of resources, but if I have to single out a few, I would mention the UBS Handbooks and Translators’ Notes. I normally turn to these first, whether I’m preparing for a consultant session or checking a translated text with a translation team. The enhanced resources in Paratext are also excellent. How do you continue to grow as a consultant? (What helps you continue to grow as a consultant?) I think the important thing is to maintain a growth mindset, constantly striving to develop my knowledge, understanding, and skills. Some specific things I try to do as much as possible include reading in areas related to Bible translation (linguistics, biblical studies, literary studies, translation studies, etc.) and to keep practicing my Greek and Hebrew by reading the Scriptures in the original languages. I also like asking other experienced consultants the types of questions you are asking me here, for example about their favorite resources, how they prepare for a consultant session, or what they do to keep developing as consultants. How do you share your translation discoveries with others? I mostly share my discoveries with mentees in personal conversations or during formal and informal training events. I simply don’t get to conferences as often as I’d like to, nor do I have the time to write as much as I’d like to. Can you share about a time when you realized you were wrong and what you learned from it? I have had to tell translation teams more often than I care to remember that, upon further reflection and study, it became clear to me that the advice I had given during a previous session was only partly correct or even wrong. It is humbling (and necessary) to have to admit that to translation teams from time to time. I have learned that, instead of undermining their trust in me or my advice, it tends to foster greater respect and trust. It is important for them to realize that the “experts” are also imperfect humans and to see that growing together in an atmosphere of trust and grace is not only possible, but desirable. What are your top tips for someone starting on a career path in Bible translation? What would you say to young / aspiring translators? Immerse yourself in the Scriptures, learning what you can about their content, meaning, context, literary genres, etc. Be intentional in developing your interpersonal skills, especially listening and facilitating group discussions. Share something that you learned from a mentor or from a mentee? The consultant isn’t the “kingpin” in terms of quality assurance in translation. Although the consultant has an important part to play, quality assurance is a team effort involving translators, facilitators, reviewers, and others. What do you see as the place of the church in Bible translation? There is no Bible translation without the church. Representatives of translation agencies are as much a part of the church as the translators who belong to the local church(es). All involved need to learn to give and receive from their brothers and sisters from other parts of the church. I think that extremes – translation projects where the role of the local church(es) is ignored or dismissed, but also projects where the contribution of the global church is rejected – are dangerous and can lead to confusion and the failure of translated Scriptures to serve the needs of the communities for whom they are intended. What would you say to young/ aspiring translators? Embark on this ministry with prayer and commitment, seeking to be effective and available to the Lord as he works to reach the members of your community with his Word. Seize every opportunity to learn from the various advisers and mentors the Lord may send across your path, including the consultant(s) who will be serving with your team. Any other comments? Take time to ponder the great privilege of being a part, however small, in fulfilling the ancient prophecy that “the earth will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord's glory as the seas are full of water” (Habakkuk 2:14).

News Preposition ἐπί - Linguistics & Scripture Translation Videos

• Rachel & Michael Aubrey Rachel and Michael Aubrey (International Language & Translation Resources) have a new 10.5 minute video discussing The preposition ἐπί, ‘on’, and Bible translation. This is part of their Linguistics & Scripture Translation YouTube video series. This video is based on their analysis of Greek prepositions in the New Testament. They have a book coming out on the subject and wanted to share their work with their supporting churches. The target audience for this video is an average church goer who has no background in translation, in Greek, or in linguistics. They kept it simple and to the point. The video helps answer questions like: Why are Greek prepositions important to consider for Bible translation? How does understanding preposition meaning help us think about Scripture?

They chose one preposition to highlight, using a few simple examples to show where the meaning of a preposition changes based on differences in context. Understanding all the different ways a preposition can be used (from concrete to abstract) is important to consider when trying to understand and translate different passages of scripture. When we understand the image a preposition supplies in a passage, then we can translate that overall picture, and we are not tied to simple glosses.

Narrative Discourse Analysis for Translation (Tanzania)

• Helen Eaton Helen Eaton (SIL Tanzania Linguistics Coordinator and Consultant) will be leading a Narrative Discourse Analysis for Translation workshop next year, on 10-23 September 2025 in Dodoma, Tanzania. Are you finding it difficult to make translation of Scripture sound like the way people talk? Are the stories in the Bible catching the attention of listeners? Do some of the sentences sound awkward or difficult to understand, but you’re not sure how to improve them? The Discourse Analysis for Translation Workshop can assist you in overcoming these challenges. It teaches the appropriate style and natural flow of the language from traditional stories and texts. Translators study these features in their own languages and in Biblical texts, and then apply what they have just learned directly to translation. Not only will you be able to recognize the features, but understand when and how they are used naturally in Scripture. With each new lesson, new features are learned and applied, and you will be able to see and hear a translation passage improve significantly. All instruction in this event will be in Swahili. (See here for more details.)

New FLExTrans Overview Video Here's a new, short (3.5 minute) FLExTrans Summary Video. FLExTrans is your gateway to translating between related languages. For more information check out the website and/ or email Ron Lockwood and Beth Bryson.

Importance of Linguistics for Sign Language Bible Translation

• Bernadet van der Louw Recently a number of sign language translations of the entire New Testament were published that were not consultant-checked. The Deaf translators also had not had any training in linguistics. A backtranslation of a chapter from Romans was made by a linguist who knows one of these sign languages. He also made a brief analysis of the problems that occur in the translation. Below are some things that stood out: The translation was mostly incomprehensible. Single signs or phrases were interspersed with long pauses and did not seem to be part of a sentence. Basic word order, which is normally OSV, was mixed with SVO word order without markers for topicalisation, leading to ambiguity. Name signs were not introduced in the traditional way, and the name sign Paul was used 18 times compared to 1 time in the source text. Eye gaze (a discourse marker) was used in unexpected ways. It would seem that these problems in the translation had two reasons, firstly the translators did not know the source language (English) well, and secondly they had not been trained in the linguistics of their mother tongue. They did not seem to understand some basic differences between the word order of their own language and English, and did not know how to handle rhetorical speech, direct vs. indirect quotations, foreground/background information and the use of the signing space. When we talked about these findings during a meeting with sign language linguistics consultants and CiTs one of the CiTs remarked this was an interesting discussion, since it made it clear to her why linguistics is important for translation. Many people think that if a team of people translates the Bible into their own language the grammar will automatically be correct, since they are native users of the language. However, there is a big difference between using a language and translating into that language. When translating there is always a certain influence of the source language on the receptor language and translators who are well trained are aware of this and try to reduce that influence as far as possible. This requires an awareness of the grammatical differences between the source and the receptor language and a knowledge of how to translate certain constructions of the source language that cannot simply be copied into the receptor language. When someone becomes a professional translator or interpreter, they normally study the grammar of both the source and the receptor language in university. In most countries Deaf people have never studied the grammar of their own sign language. In many countries around the world their teachers in school, if they sign, do not sign fluently. Teachers do not teach Deaf students how to translate from the written language into natural sign language or vice versa. Although Deaf translators are fluent in their own language they are often not consciously aware of how the grammar of their language works; when classifiers are used, how and when the signing space is set up, or even what phonological rules their language has. So when it comes to translation, Deaf teams that have not been trained are often not aware of the differences between the source (written) language and their own receptor language, both because they may not have a good command of the source language and because they are not aware of the grammatical rules of their own language and how to apply those. The result can be very stilted, almost word-for-word translations, that lack typical sign language features like classifiers, a natural use of the signing space or nonmanual discourse markers. Name signs may be repeated so often that sentences become unnatural, because the team does not know how to translate a pronoun in such a way that it is clear for their audience who it refers to, and so they keep repeating the sign name. Training Deaf translators in linguistics is not something we have a lot of experience with in the BT world. In the spoken language world SIL has ‘discover your language’ workshops, during which beginning translation teams with the help of linguistics consultants, discover aspects of their language they may not have been aware of before. In GSLT right now we do not have sufficient linguistics consultants to give all new teams linguistics training. Some ‘discover your language’ workshops for sign language translation teams would be of great benefit and probably cut down the time a consultant spends checking the translation. My own experience in checking translations is that a lot of the problems are of a linguistic nature and not just exegetical. It is encouraging to see that in El Salvador grammar workshops are making Deaf people aware of and excited about the details of the grammar of their language that they had not noticed before (or were not consciously aware of). Having ‘discover your language’ workshops for sign language translation teams are high on my wish list. It is still true that linguistics is an important tool for Bible translation work.

Coming Events 2025 - 28 Apr-16 May. Narrative Discourse Analysis for Translation (in French). Cameroon 2025 - 05-13 May. ICON-25: The SIL International Conference & Vision 2025 Celebration. Johannesburg, South Africa. 2025 - 19-22 May. EMDC. The Netherlands 2025 - 10-23 September. Narrative Discourse Analysis for Translation. Tanzania 2025 - 28-31 October. Bible Translation Conference 2025. Chiangmai, Thailand.

Useful Links Bible Translation Consultant Competencies / YouTube channel for BT Competencies SIL Senior Translation Consultants Email the SIL International Translation Office / International Translation Services ILS page Join/visit the SIL Translation Resources Google Group Visit the public SIL.org/Translation site Find Translation Resources (both free download and for purchase) SIL.org/Resources/Publications Bamboo Project website / Journal of Translation Mentoring Matters website - Mentor Training Courses Consultant Development and Management Team Progress.Bible Information / Memoriam website

SIL Translation Services International Leadership Team Greg Dekker - ITS Director Angeline Foo - International Coordinator for Translation Research and Practice Paul O'Rear - International Coordinator for Translation Resources Phil King - International Coordinator for Translation Training and Development Kris Toler - International Coordinator for Oral Translation Services Viji Mathew - Director, Global Consultant Pool Brian Migliazza - ITS Operations and Project Management

Area Translation Coordinators Angeline Foo & Amber Jasa - Asia Greg Carlson - Pacific Drew Maust - Francophone Africa Jonathan van den Broek - Anglo-Lusophone Africa Tim Robinson (interim) - Eurasia Rick Floyd & Dwight Shaver - Americas Bernadet van der Louw - Global Sign Languages Team (GSLT)

Copyright © 2024 SIL International Translation Services. All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because of your interest in translation updates. This newsletter is produced by SIL International Translation Services. Tuula O'Rear and Brian Migliazza are the editors It contains items of interest for translation personnel within SIL and related organizations. It includes notices of upcoming conferences and workshops, announcements of recent dissertations and journal articles, and pointers to useful information related to translation.

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