Translating a Hesperian book is neither a simple nor lonely task

Todd Jailer, Co-coordinator of the Spanish language edition of A Health Handbook for Women with Disabilities

Hesperian just received from the printer our beautiful new book, Un manual de salud para mujeres con discapacidad, the Spanish language edition of A Health Handbook for Women with Disabilities. 

“Espérate (Wait a minute),” I hear our bilingual readers say, “Shouldn’t that be …MUJERES CON DISCAPACIDADES, in plural?”

Well, it could be, but it shouldn’t be.

When Hesperian translates a book into Spanish, we send the translation for review by individuals and groups we hope will use the book when it is finally printed. Our partners look at word choice, overall meaning, suggested activities, and cultural issues to be sure that the book is an appropriate cultural translation, not only a linguistic one.

And the term “Mujeres con discapacidad” was the unanimous choice for the dozen or so women from a wide range of countries whom we asked.

By the way, a simple way to know that you are not barking up the wrong tree (knocking on the wrong door, taking the wrong road, or grabbing the radish by its leaves: all possible translations) is to Google the term. If you type “Mujeres con discapacidades” into the search engine, you find about 464,000 examples of the plural phrase; but if you try “Mujeres con discapacidad,” you get almost 2 million returns. This method can help to verify a wording choice.

Another interesting change we made due to feedback we received from review was about how to translate the word “helper,” which we used along with “assistant” and “caretaker” in the English language edition. We chose “helper” because it sounded more personal, warm, and did not necessarily imply a paid relationship, and our English-language reviewers agreed.

But when we asked our Spanish partners whether their preferred term was “ayudante” (helper), “asistente” (assistant) or some other word, women consistently lobbied for the term “asistente.” The reasoning in one reply was most telling: “When the CEO of a company has someone answer the phone, schedule appointments, etc., you don’t say that person has a ‘helper,’ he or she is an ‘assistant.’ Women with disabilities and the people who support us in doing what we cannot do for ourselves are just as important as that CEO and assistant.”

Un manual para mujeres con discapacidad was beautifully translated by long-time Hesperian translator Lisa de Avila, with additional translation help from Adriana Gómez, Debora Meacham, and Kathleen Vickery. Our Spanish-language review was coordinated by Kristen Graser. Our invaluable reviewers included: Ida Hilda Escalona (Cuba), Karina M. Lasso (Ecuador), Silvia Quan (Guatemala), Dayana Martínez Burke (Honduras), Alicia Contreras and Leticia González (México), Blanca Figueroa and María Esther Mogollón Chipilliquén (Peru). Not only did Maritza Melara (El Salvador) and Cristina Francisco (Dominican Republic) provide helpful comments, they also organized workshops to discuss the translation in El Salvador and with women from 13 countries at the First Regional Leadership Meeting of Women with Disabilities in the Dominican Republic (November 2007).

Comments

[teresa lara-meloy]

Congratulations on your efforts to gain consensus for your translations. I'm sure it's not as simple in other situations, where there isn't a conventional (or agreed upon) term. There is a fine line between inventing new words, intentionally (ala Garcia Marquez o Borges) or unintentionally by mistranslating (ala non-native speaker). When renown writers, artists or journalists invent new words, nobody blinks. When a non-native speaker does the same, we all assume it's a mistranslation.
Either way, I appreciate your work and translation efforts.

[gina]

For "suggested activities" probably you mean to say "context of..." as this would clarify the focus on lingustic meaning (reason the text is titled as it has been).

As well, "...nor 'a' lonely task". An article is missing from that prhase within the title.

Bravo to the Spanish translators!

[Spanish Translation]

Bravo to the Spanish translators too!