This document provides a summary of Mary Massoud's monograph "Translate to Communicate - A Guide for Translators". The monograph is an 88-page introduction to the field of translation. It covers topics such as problems translators face, qualifications for translators, sample contracts and exercises. It is designed to help both new and experienced translators. The document summarizes each of the 7 sections of the monograph, providing an overview of its key points around topics such as the role of translators, evaluating translation quality, and matching translation projects to skills. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the intended reader and culture when translating.

1. NOTES ON MARY MASSOUD’S MONOGRAPH:
TRANSLATE TO COMMUNICATE - A GUIDE FOR
TRANSLATORS
C O M P I L E D B Y : I M A D H A S S A N E I N

2. THE AUTHOR – MARY MASSOUD
 Egyptian writer
 Teaches English & comparative literature at Ain
Shams
 Often translator of her own work
 Schooling , Scripture Translation (Bible into modern
Arabic)
 Involved in workshops & translation consultancy.

3. The Publication:
Massoud's 88-pager “Translate to Communicate, a
Guide for Translators” - a quick introduction to the
field of translation, offers:
a summary of problems translators face,
obstacles that must be overcome,
the basic qualifications for anyone hoping to
succeed in this area of expertise.
a sample translator's contract,
a set of translation exercises, and
a decent size bibliography for further reading.

4. Brief Overview – Part One

5. i. Introduction:
History of translation :
>Septuagint > Arabs >Post-Rosetta Stone Era > “Age of Instant
Translation”.
Defines two types of
translation:
[1] “Translation Bureaux”
facilitates rendering of SL into TL
in few hours at expense of
quality.
[2] “Sound & Effective Translation” (SET)
 Culture sensitive,
 Readership awareness
 Subtlety of language
Monograph objective: Assist translators to produce translations that
communicate intended message in authentic style.
Specifically designed for new translators and experienced ones with little formal
training.
Concludes with Nainggolan’s quotation referring to the third world countries’
need for good translators, "training of good and productive translators can be a
matter of life and death for the nation."

6. Section 1 To Be a Translator (A):
Translation is investment so we need to consider
beforehand aspects pertaining to the product:
 Has the product already been translated and
 if so, the quality of that translation.
 The cost factor needs to be considered.
 Guidelines to assist in determining the need for
translations, including, inter alia,
o weighing the needs in the light of the publisher’s goals,
o whether the product is acceptable to the readers,
o the anticipated political or other sensitivities and
some levels of market research.

7. Section 1 To Be a Translator (B):
Translation is investment so we need to consider
beforehand aspects pertaining to the translator:
o the translator’s capacities, seeking consultation
and
o recruiting translators who should be:
bilingual, - bicultural, - aware of historical and linguistic
considerations,
- & with excellent basic qualifications and abilities such as:
(a) writing skills, (b) reading, (c) comprehension,
(d) team spirit, (e) integrity, (f) organization and
energy. Mary reiterates crucial role of translation in society, so recruiting the
wrong translator could be dangerous or self-defeating. This conclusion
is supported with various good examples and elaborations.

8. Section 2 Watch What You Say:
The intended “meaning of a translation should be
conveyed in a style that is authentic and as close to
the original as possible”.
Many excellent bilinguals fail as translators either
because their work is incomprehensible or worse; it is
comprehensible but conveys the unintended meaning.
This mainly stems from certain factors such as:
 “insufficient knowledge of the culture,
 lack of awareness of historical changes in the
meaning of words, or
 unsophisticated understanding of a language”,
especially where metaphors and idioms are
concerned.

9. The intended “meaning of a translation should be
conveyed in a style that is authentic and as close to
the original as possible”.
This is attainable by responding to the translator’s two
questions:
1.What is the author trying to say to the reader?
2. How can this be said in a style that is both authentic
and as close as possible to the original?
The translator’s work and style should seem so natural to
the target readers that finished product won’t sound like a
translation, but as an indigenous and original piece of
writing. Only then will the translator succeed in his/her task
and become a communicator. ”
Section 2 Watch What You Say:

10. Section 3 Apply the Tests for a Good Translation:
A good translator today is one
who seeks to communicate to the
reader both the meaning and the
spirit of the original message in a
style that seems quite natural.

11. Eight tests can be applied to distinguish between a
translation that communicates and one that is
incomprehensible or misleading.
A good translation:
1. is easily understood.
2. is fluent and smooth.
3. is idiomatic.
4.conveys, to some extent,
the literary subtleties of
the
original.
5. distinguishes between
the metaphorical and the
literal.
6. reconstructs the cultural/historical
context of the original.
7. makes explicit what is implicit in
abbreviations, and in allusions to
sayings, songs, and nursery
rhymes.
8. conveys, as much as possible, the meaning of the
original text.
Section 3 Apply the Tests for a Good Translation:

12. Section 4 Observe Translators in Action:
Section four stresses that “translation skills can be
sharpened by observing and working with experienced
translators.” Through a set of four examples of
translation excerpts from four literary works Mary
shows how the translator in each case has asked the
two essential questions:
1. What is the author trying to say to the reader?
2. How can this be said in a style that is both
authentic and as close as possible to the original?

13. Section 4 Observe Translators in Action:
The author then discusses the overarching concepts of good
translation:
The first sample is her friend’s translation of an Arabic
novel into English, “Qaryah Zalimah قرية ظالمة ” to illustrate how
the translator wrestled with the daunting task of translating the
title and two special expressions with no identical equivalents
in the target language.
In the second, an excerpt from Miramar, another Egyptian
novel, the experienced translator, acting on the publisher’s request
for clarity, decides to render a rather lengthy sentence into a group
shorter sentences thus showing a good example of a successful
restructuring. The translator has also managed to replace a
metaphoric string from the SL into a parallel clause in TL that retains
the intended meaning of the original but is not based on the literal
translation of the original.

14. Section 4 Observe Translators in Action:
The third illustration is based on an extract from a
renowned autobiography – Al-Ayyam الأيام . Again the
translator struggled here with certain words of unique
meanings in Arabic and resorted to translate them either
into phrases, give notes or use prose instead of poetry to
bypass the arduous task and convey the meaning he
believed right to each of the three situations.
The fourth example Mary suggested gradual exercises of longer passages
ranging from:
1. Simple exposition or narrative,
2. Description,
3. Writing involving abstract thinking as in philosophy,
4. and finally, poetry (if the translator is a poet).

15. Section 4 Observe Translators in Action:
In fact the assignment she proposes the readers practise on is
characterised by involving all of these four categories. It is recommended
that the translation should be undertaken with the elaborate discussion
she offers in mind. This discussion raises a number of technical
questions and gives answers based on her expertise and the translation
principles she discussed in the previous three paragraphs.
In the end of the section the author comes to a logical conclusion that
“good translators do not try to reproduce the formal order of words or
phrases, nor do they try to find one-for-one sets of verbal
correspondence. What they do aim at is a faithful reproduction of the
original so that the meaning of the message and its spirit may be
satisfactorily communicated.”

16. Brief Overview – Part Two

17. Section 5
-
Be Alert to
Special Problems

18. Rules of thumb for solving two
major translators’ problems:
individual and textual.
Section 5 - Be Alert to
Special Problems

19. Rules of thumb for solving two major translators’ problems: individual and
Ptreoxtuball.e ms Related to the Translator:
(1) Too much knowledge of the subject
matter (translate over the heads of their
readers),
(2) Too much interest in linguistic subtleties
at the expense of clarity,
(3) Too little respect for the reader and try to
oversimplify,
(4) Wrong focus on too small a unit or too
large discourse.
(5) Too little respect for the source text
imposing one’s views and twisting words.
(6) Too little knowledge of words that are
identical but have different meanings
Section 5 - Be Alert to
Special Problems

20. Rules of thumb for solving two major translators’ problems: individual and
textual.
Problems that Stem from the Text:
1. Linguistic problems:
Construction, prepositions, verbs, pronouns,
common nouns, proper nouns and adjectives
denoting unknown objects, names of people &
italics & dashes.
2. Problems of restructuring: proverbs and
messages originally meant for specialists, but now
intended for the general reader.
Section 5 - Be Alert to
Special Problems

21. Some Rules of Thumb for Solving Individual and Textual Problems:
1. Focus on the paragraph as related to the whole, not on the word or
the sentence.
2. Respect your source text. Do not impose on it your own
interpretation.
3. Use simple words, phrases, and sentences instead of technical
terminology and involved statements.
4. Do not go too far in trying to reproduce minute formal linguistic
subtleties; these will only confuse your readers. Of course, a certain
amount of linguistic subtlety can be conveyed.
5. Respect your readers, remembering that although they may not be
your peers, they probably have more imagination than you give them
credit for. Do not oversimplify.
Section 5 - Be Alert to
Special Problems

22. Some Rules of Thumb for Solving Individual and Textual Problems:
6. If you are not fluent in the language of a source text, be sure to
work in close collaboration with a specialist in that language.
7. If you have a problem with prepositions, verb forms, or tenses,
be sure to consult someone else, possibly a linguist.
8. Whenever the original refers to an object that is unfamiliar to
the intended readers of the translation, be sure to qualify that
object by an explanatory word or phrase.
9. When translating a text that contains a proverb, use its known
equivalent in the other language if there is one.
10.Be sure to edit a message originally meant for specialists, but
now intended for a wider and less homogenous group.
Section 5 - Be Alert to
Special Problems

23. Section 6 -
Match Your Project with
Your Skills.

24. Section 6 - Match Your Project with Your Skills.
Massoud says that the
translator and project must
match, and identifies four
different kinds of projects:

25. Section 6 - Match Your Project with Your Skills.
6.1 Scientific and technical texts: the easiest to translate
because they require the least restructuring – the most
important translator’s tools here are:
(1) Ability to think and write in precise, scientific language.
(2) Some knowledge of the scientific field under consideration.
(3) A good dictionary of scientific technical terms.
Then Massoud very briefly reviewed prospects for utilizing
machine translation (MT*) in this category of translation.
*Or what is now known as Computer Assisted Translation (CAT)

26. Section 6 - Match Your Project with Your Skills.
6.2 Business letters: Translators of business letters must be:
 flexible,
 alert,
 and knowledgeable of cultural differences
because a business letter will often require a substantial
amount of restructuring since the forms of business
etiquette differ widely in various parts of the world.

27. Section 6 - Match Your Project with Your Skills.
6.3 Literary works:
To translate literary works satisfactorily, translators must
have artistic, literary ability in the form in which they are
working i.e.
 must be a poet to translate poetry,
 a fiction writer to translate fiction,
 a playwright to translate drama, and so on.
To a large extent, literary capacity is a matter of training,
talent alone is not enough where translation is concerned.

28. Section 6 - Match Your Project with Your Skills.
The language of literature, whether prose
or poetry, employs imagery, unlike the
language of science. In terms of imagery,
the general principle is that the translation
should give the same meaning as the
original and should produce the same
emotive effect.

29. Section 6 - Match Your Project with Your Skills.
Prose in literary works consists of four, major
types:
 narrative,
 dialogue,
 description, and
 argument.
Hence, the translator needs skills in these areas.

30. Section 6 - Match Your Project with Your Skills.
Poetry is distinguished from prose not
merely in its use of meter and verse
patterns, but also in possessing a certain
novelty, complexity, and compression.
To translate poetry effectively, translators must
be poets, familiar with the metrical systems and
poetic forms of both languages concerned. But this
is not all; translator-poets also need sensitivity to
know when to translate a poem into poetry, and
when to translate it into prose.

31. Section 6 - Match Your Project with Your Skills.
6.4 Biblical literature: In many countries,
the best translators of general literature are
the ones who have had their schooling in
Scripture translation. Translating the Bible
takes versatility from every kind of
translator for it contains all the forms of
literature.

32. Section 6 - Match Your Project with Your Skills.
Can oral interpreters be translators?
The question often comes up when planning projects:
A person who can interpret orally may not necessarily be able to produce a
satisfactory written translation. Nor is one who can produce satisfactory written
translations necessarily able to interpret well orally. The skills required by the one
are not identical to those required by the other.
This is important to keep in mind when considering translation work. Before
beginning to work, ask yourself the questions:
 Are you the right person for the project?
 Do you have the necessary knowledge and skills?
Whether the project is scientific matter, business letters, literary works, Biblical
(religious) literature, or any other kind of work,
translator and project must match.

33. Section 7
Know Your
Reader:

34. Section 7 Know Your Reader:
The reader's
background,
interests, and
reading level
are key factors in translation
work.

35. The principle to follow
Simply, before you translate, know your reader.
That is, know the
 educational,
 social, and
 cultural background of your read-ers,
 their interests, and
 their reading level.
This will affect not only how you translate but
what.
Section 7 Know Your Reader:

36. Keep the focus on the reader
As the translation project proceeds, it is important to keep
thinking of the reader.
Massoud then questions the limits the translator can reach to
respond to the special needs of the reader: how far from the
original is the translator allowed to stray?
• Is it legitimate to replace an object unknown in a certain
region with another that is known there?
• Is it legitimate to adapt "urban" material to "rural"
material and vice versa?
• Further, is it legitimate to take a highly complicated
original and reduce it down for the general reader?
Contemporary expert opinion puts much emphasis on content
and would answer all these questions in the affirmative.
The important thing is to communicate to the intended reader
the message of the original.
Section 7 Know Your Reader:

37. When the readers are
children
Today's children know much more than those
of a quarter of a century ago.
This is because of the widespread use of
television and other mass media.
However, when one is selecting translation
projects for children, one must choose texts
that are specifically written for children.
Section 7 Know Your Reader:

38. A rule of thumb
For most translations, it is best to use the language level of persons from
25 to 35 years of age. As Nida and Taber have pointed out in The Theory
and Practice of Translation:
With the rapid changes which are affecting so many languages in the
world, the forms used by the older people are rapidly becoming
obsolescent. If in translating, one insists on using primarily the speech
of the elders, many of the words and expressions are likely to appear
strange within a few years. At the same time, one should not accept
the language of children as a norm, for this does not have sufficient
status as to be fully acceptable. Such forms are often rejected by the
children themselves, who may be offended by being addressed
in a style which seems substandard or paternalistic.
Section 7 Know Your Reader:

39. What about speech and dialogue?
A translator translating dialogue or spoken words should be able
to suit the language to the occasion and also to the relationships
between speakers. Accordingly, the language may be formal,
informal, or casual.
If one wishes to be understood by the general reader, one cannot
use a form that is comprehended only by the literary elite. On the
whole, translators do best to use a form of "common language"
that represents a satisfactory overlap, based on consumer
language.
Section 7 Know Your Reader:

40. Section 8
Sharpen Your Skills
at a Workshop

41. Translators can benefit from
workshops that provide
principles of translation as well
as practical experience.
Here is a brief outline of what
might be involved in a workshop
for a translation project:
Section 8 Sharpen Your Skills at aWorkshop

42. Choosing the participants
The first step is to choose those who will be trained
at the workshop. Invite experienced translators or
staff members with potential, recruit new talents
[with a notice in the papers, and another to (a)
university (-ies)].
It is recommended to start with a consultation
session during which a brief explanation of basic
principles, procedures, and problems of translation
is given. (These are presented in this book.)
This leads to an Informal Translating Test to assess
which of the participants have potential to become
good translators. These are selected for training at
the workshop.
Section 8 Sharpen Your Skills at aWorkshop

43. Establishing objectives for the
workshop
A translators’ workshop usually
has three objectives: To train
participants
to do basic translation work.
for revision.
to work in teams.
Section 8 Sharpen Your Skills at aWorkshop

44. Length of the workshop
The length of the workshop will vary in proportion to
the experience of participants. If the participants are
beginners who have not yet had much experience in
writing for publication, the workshop should be five
weeks long, divided as follows:
 Weeks 1 and 2: Training in writing
 Weeks 3 and 4: Training in translation
 Week 5: Revision
Section 8 Sharpen Your Skills at aWorkshop

45. Section 8 Sharpen Your Skills at aWorkshop
Weeks 1 and 2: Training in writing
In the first two weeks of the workshop, all
participants are trained by means of the ten-step
method used by the Bible Societies. It involves:
1. Expansion.
2. Selection.
3. Structuring the account.
4. Writing for different levels.
5. Writing for differences of impact.
6. Writing for differences of response.
7. Adaptation.
8. Responding to alternatives.
9. Diagnosing problems in written texts.
10. Providing stylistically acceptable alternatives.

46. Section 8 Sharpen Your Skills at aWorkshop
Weeks 3 and 4: Training in translation
In the next two weeks the participants will be
trained in the basics of translation work.

47. Section 8 Sharpen Your Skills at aWorkshop
Discussion, then practice
Using this book as a training tool, one session each
day can be devoted to:
 the basic essentials of a translator's job,
 the qualities of a good translation,
 what problems to expect,
 how to deal with them,
 and so on (chapters 1-7).
The passages in appendix 2 provide additional
illustrations and/or exercises for these sessions.

48. Section 8 Sharpen Your Skills at aWorkshop
A note on teamwork
Teamwork is necessary:
a. when a translator lacks sufficient knowledge of SL, its cultural
context, or any specialized field referred to in the original text.
b. in the second stage of translation, when the work is to be revised
and a final draft prepared.
To achieve the best results in teamwork, follow these guidelines:
1. Small team, not exceeding three persons.
2. Members can communicate with one another, even if the
communication has to be in a language other than that of the
original text or the new one.
3. Members of a team must enjoy working together.

49. Section 8 Sharpen Your Skills at aWorkshop
Evaluating work in progress
By the end of the fourth week, each team
should have prepared a draft that is close to the
original in meaning and style and that also
reads, more or less, like an original.
The following is a set of translation principles
based on what discussed in previous chapters.

50. Suggested set of translation principles for
use in translation workshops
Section 8 Sharpen Your Skills at aWorkshop
1. Reflect the different styles of the language of the
original in vocabulary and grammar.
2. Content is to have priority over style.
3. The level of style should be generally that which is
natural to the intended readers. In Arabic, this would be
formal standard written Arabic except in those passages
where informal standard written usage would be more
in keeping with the content.
4. The language of persons from 25 to 35 years of age is to
have priority.
5. Contextual consistency is to have priority over verbal
consistency.

51. Suggested set of translation principles for
use in translation workshops
Section 8 Sharpen Your Skills at aWorkshop
6. The basic unit of translation should be the paragraph, with such
shifts in sentence content or order as may be required.
7. Long, involved sentences are to be broken up into shorter
sentences.
8. Transitions between sentences should be in keeping with current
usage.
9. Idioms are to be changed when they are likely to be
misunderstood.
10.Local idioms are to be employed when there is no danger of
misinterpretation, and when this is in keeping with the content.

52. Suggested set of translation principles for
use in translation workshops
Section 8 Sharpen Your Skills at aWorkshop
11.Nouns should be used for pronouns wherever the use of
pronouns would be obscure or ambiguous.
12.Answers to rhetorical questions should be introduced
unless the expressions that follow clearly imply the proper
answer.
13.Passive constructions should be changed to active ones
whenever the passive would come across weakly or sound
awkward in the local language.
14.What is implicit in abbreviations and allusions should be
made explicit.
15.Expressions that are italicized for emphasis in the original
should be translated by two synonymous local
expressions.

53. Suggested set of translation principles for
use in translation workshops
Section 8 Sharpen Your Skills at aWorkshop
16. A dash in an original text conveying the meaning "that is to say" should be
translated by a word or words in the local language.
17. In the case of genuine ambiguity in the original text, one alternative
should be given in the translated text, and the other in a footnote.
18. All technical terms or unfamiliar terms for weights, measures, and the like
should be explained in footnotes. This would also be true for plays on
words, historical details, or cultural differences.
19. Keep the spelling for translations or transliterations of proper names
already in wide use. Be alert for exceptions. Proper names in Arabic
should, in general, be transcribed on the basis of Arabic phonological
structures, taking into consideration syllabic patterns, sequence of vowels,
and length of words.
20. If a proverb already has a well-known equivalent in the local language,
that equivalent should be used.

54. Section 8 Sharpen Your Skills at aWorkshop
Week 5: Revision
o The teams would exchange drafts with comments from
another team. These are then compiled returning it for a
revised draft.
o The revised drafts are then tested orally to the participants.
o Reactions are noted.
o An Arabic expert then comments on each of individual final
drafts, looking for any unnatural expression or awkward
construction that might have escaped notice.
o Finally, the publishable versions are prepared.

55. Section 8 Sharpen Your Skills at aWorkshop
Follow-up
Make every possible provision for the continuing education of translators. Follow-up,
therefore, should be part of an ongoing process in the upkeep of translators. The
following list of Do's and Do Not's might serve as a guide:
Do's
i. Be sure to organize translation workshops and/or brief in-house training
programs for translators at regular intervals.
ii. Encourage senior translators to help in teaching the junior ones. We learn most
by teaching others.
iii. Translators must have access to a good selection of books on translation and
related subjects,
iv. as well as periodicals. Start with this monograph and some of the works
listed in the Bibliography at the end.
v. Translators need to attempt more ambitious projects.
vi. The best way to sharpen a skill is to give it enough exercise.

56. Section 8 Sharpen Your Skills at aWorkshop
Do Not's
• Do not deny time off to attend a conference or
symposium on translation as these are
always enriching and will lead to better quality
work.
• Do not expect translators to accomplish the
impossible.
• Do not overwork, and/or underpay translators.
Fatigue and dissatisfaction are not conducive
to good quality work.

57. Section 8 Sharpen Your Skills at aWorkshop
How often should a translation workshop be repeated?
Several factors determine this among which are:
the financial resources of the sponsoring organization,
the availability of consultants,
and the readiness and/or ability of the participants with fulltime jobs to take
time off to attend such a workshop.
Ideally, any organization that has engaged translators should
arrange for them to attend follow-up workshops at least once
every two years.
Workshops help sharpen skills and alert one to what is new in the world of
translation. In the workshop, participants learn from one another,
Not only that, a group working together generates a communal sense of excitement.
This encourages a feeling of urgency that can lead to better translating. It can also
lead to the creation of an art appropriate to its time that crosses barriers between
the different peoples of the world.

60. Any
Questio
ns