- •The role of translation and interpretation in present-day interstate and international relations.
- •Duties of Interpreters and Translators
- •Important Qualities for Interpreters and Translators
- •Prehistory of European interpretation and translation.
- •Translation and interpretation in Ancient Egypt, Babylon, Assyria.
- •Employment of translators and interpreters in wars in ancient times.
- •Aquila’s translation of the Old Testament.
- •Symmachus’ translation of the Old Testament.
- •Jerome’s Latin Vulgate.
- •Translation in Ancient Rome. Livius Andronicus and his translations in the 3rd century b.C.
- •Cicero and the birth of the historically second principle of translation.
- •Deliberate violations of the second (sense-to-sense) way/principle of translation by Horace and Apuleius and their consequences in the Middle Ages and later periods.
- •Principles of translation of ecclesiastic and secular works during the Middle Ages.
- •Translation in England during the medieval period. King Alfred the Great and Abbot Aelfric as translators.
- •Schools of translation in the Middle Ages.
- •Factors favoring the revival of translation during the period of the Renaissance in Europe.
- •Translation in France in the Renaissance period. E. Dolet and his principles of translation.
- •The belles-infidels’ principle of translation (j. Amyot, n.P. D’Ablancourt and others).
- •Translation in Germany in the period of the Renaissance (Steinhöwel, von Eyb, and others).
- •The Luther Bible and its significance. Luther’s influence on the emergence of the German language and national identity.
- •The Tyndale Bible and its importance in shaping and influencing the English language.
- •Translation in the periods of Classicism and Enlightenment (seventeenth – eighteenth centuries).
- •The epoch of Romanticism and protests against the unrestricted freedom of translation in England, Germany and France.
- •The revival of translation in Ukraine in the 14th-16th centuries (translation of the Bible and other ecclesiastic works).
- •The Kyiv Mohyla Academy and development of translation in the 17th-18th centuries Ukraine (I. Maksymovych, f. Prokopovych, d. Tuptalo, h. Skovoroda).
- •I. Kotlyarevskyi’s free interpretation of Virgil’s Aeneid.
- •The methods of translation of p. Hulak-Artemovskyi, Ye. Hrebinka, l. Borovykovskyi, p. Bilets’kyi-Nosenko in the first half of the 19th century.
- •P. Kulish as a translator. His methods of translation.
- •M. Shashkevych, I. Vahylevych, y. Holovats’kyi and the beginning of translation in Halychyna in 1830s.
- •L. Ukrainka and I. Franko as translators.
- •The most often employed methods of translation and the artistic level of translation of classical British, American, French, German and Italian prose/poetic works during the 1920s and 1930s.
- •The revival of Ukrainian translation after World War II in the mid and 1940s (m.Ryl’skyi, m.Tereshchenko, m.Bazhan, m.Lukash, l.Pervomaiskyi).
- •The historical circumstances and preconditions of birth and development of Ukrainian criticism of literary artistic translation in the 20th centurary.
- •Domestication vs. Translation. Their difference.
The role of translation and interpretation in present-day interstate and international relations.
World translation in general and European translation in particular has a long and praiseworthy tradition. Even the scarcity of documents available at the disposal of historians points to its incessant millenniums-long employment in international relations both in ancient China, India, in the Middle East (Assyria, Babylon) and Egypt. The earliest mention of translation used in viva voce goes back to approximately the year 3000 BC in ancient Egypt where the interpreters and later also reqular translators were employed to help in carrying on trade with the neighbouring country of Nubia. The dragomans had been employed to accompany the trade caravans and help in negotiating, selling and buying the necessary goods for Egypt. Also in those ancient times (2400 BC), the Assyrian emperor Sargon of the city of Akkada (Mesopotamia), is known to have circulated his order of the day translated into some languages of the subject countries.
The city of Babylon in those times was a regular centre of polyglots where translations were accomplished in several languages.
Alexander of Macedon employed translators and interpreters in his war campaign.
Translation contributes to enriching world literature. Interpretation is needed for conducting international negotiations on international level.
Duties of Interpreters and Translators
Interpreters and translators typically do the following:
Convert concepts in the source language to equivalent concepts in the target language
Compile information and technical terms into glossaries and terminology databases to be used in translations
Speak, read, and write fluently in at least two languages, one of which is English
Relay the style and tone of the original language
Render spoken messages accurately, quickly, and clearly
Interpreters and translators aid communication by converting messages or text from one language into another language. Although some people do both, interpreting and translating are different professions: interpreters work with spoken communication, and translators work with written communication.
Important Qualities for Interpreters and Translators
Business skills. Self-employed and freelance interpreters and translators need general business skills to manage their finances and careers successfully. They must set prices for their work, bill customers, keep records, and market their services in order to build their client base.
Concentration. Interpreters and translators must have the ability to concentrate while others are speaking or moving around them.
Cultural sensitivity. Interpreters and translators must be sensitive to cultural differences and expectations among the people whom they are helping to communicate. Successful interpreting and translating is a matter not only of knowing the words in different languages but also of understanding people’s cultures.
Dexterity. Sign language interpreters must be able to make quick and coordinated hand, finger, and arm movements when interpreting.
Interpersonal skills. Interpreters and translators, particularly those who are self-employed, must be able to get along with those who hire or use their services in order to retain clients and attract new business.
Listening skills. Interpreters must listen carefully when interpreting for audiences to ensure that they hear and interpret correctly.
Reading skills. Translators must be able to read in all of the languages in which they are working.
Speaking skills. Interpreters and translators must speak clearly in all of the languages in which they are working.
Writing skills. Translators must be able to write clearly and effectively in all of the languages in which they are working.