Three general hints...

1. Always check your work. Never give a translation to the client until you have read it through, preferably printed out on paper. The worst mistake a translator can make is to miss out words and paragraphs.

2. Use the Internet, but with caution.

3. Keep it simple (or, as a colleague of mine put it, “не надо мудрить”). Some translators have a penchant for making things more complicated than they are, adding their own touches and flourishes. This is not our job. We may not like the original, but we must provide a faithful rendering of it. When working into our native language, we may feel the need to insert our own inventions to make the text sound "better", but this is a dangerous policy when translating out of it. We could end up changing, or even reversing, the meaning quite unintentionally.

Example: The Spanish ambassador to Kazakhstan said in an interview: Легко ли быть иностранцем в Казахстане? Я бы сказал - очень легко. I edited a translation of this, in which the translator wrote: Is it easy to be a foreigner in Kazakhstan? I'd like to say-yes, it's easy. The translator's addition of the word "like" has completely reversed the meaning. The implication now is that the ambassador would like to say it's easy, but he can't, because it isn't. The only possible translation here is: "I'd say it's very easy."

In any case, trying to be clever is a particularly bad idea when translating into English. Good English is plain and simple.

And remember - no translation is perfect!

Part I

Thinking of Your Reader: How to Make the Text Accessible to the English Speaker

1. A different set of expectations

The aim of translation, so the theory goes, is to produce the same (or equivalent) effect on the target-language reader as the original text had on the source-language reader. That is why it is wrong to write "Дорогой мистер Смит" for "Dear Mr Smith", or "with respect" for "с уважением". These would be out of the ordinary, as target-language readers expect to see Уважаемый г-н Смит! and Yours sincerely.

I believe that the translator's golden rule should be Always think of your reader. This is admittedly difficult when you are translating out of your native language, so in this chapter I've tried to point out some areas of potential misunderstanding.

The Thorny Question of Nationality

Texts written here are by their nature "Kazakhstan-centric" to a certain extent, while your readers are probably not. Some points may need explaining:

• в стране: in Kazakhstan, Russia, etc. (much clearer than "in the country")

• отечественные инвесторы: Kazakhstani investors (clearer than "domestic"; on no account use "home" here)

• ближнее зарубежье: former Soviet republics

• страны дальнего зарубежья: non-FSU countries

• южная столица: Almaty, Kazakhstan's "southern capital",

...and so on.

Incidentally, I prefer to translate “в нашей стране” as in this country; this sounds more natural than "in our country", provided it's clear which country we're talking about. English speakers who have studied Russian often note the extensive use of наш(и) as a typically Russian phenomenon. In English we do not say "our cinema" (наше кино), but British cinema/films or American movies.

Содружество, referring to Содружество независимых государств, must be translated the CIS, as "the Commonwealth" instantly calls to mind the British Commonwealth for British readers.

Царь should be translated tsar (Am. czar) only if it refers to a Russian tsar such as Peter the Great; otherwise the general word king must be used.

Kazakhstani is a good translation for казахстанский (foreigners please note: by no means every казахстанец is a Kazakh), but I am not sure about "Uzbekistani", "Tajikistani", etc. I have never come across узбекистанец, таджикистанский, etc. in either spoken or written Russian. I am afraid these countries are not as inclusive of minorities as Kazakhstan, is. If the writer has written узбекский or таджикский, use Uzbek/Tajik. Otherwise, журналисты Таджикистана should be translated journalists in (not “of”) Tajikistan. Provided there is no definite article, it is clear that you are talking about Tajikistani journalists in general.

Avoid the word "local" in this context; it can be very confusing. I know that some ignorant foreigners living in Kazakhstan refer to anything Kazakhstani as "local", but strictly speaking the word means местный.

How to differentiate русский and российский? When it's important to make the distinction, ethnic Russian and Russian Federation can be used, but usually there is no need.

Similarly, the words Англия, английский are often used in Russian when Великобритания, британский аге meant. Английская армия, for example, must be translated the British army (England is a region and does not have its own army). However, there is no "British law" (the Scots have their own, very ancient system of law), so''английское право' is indeed English law.

People's Names and Titles

In English people are generally referred to by their first names and surnames (Am. last names), not their initials:

• H.A. Назарбаев: Nursultan Nazarbayev (much better than "N.A. Nazarbayev")

• A.C. Пушкин: Alexander Pushkin, etc.

• Как говорил У. Черчиль: As (Winston) Churchill said...

A few people deliberately choose to use their initials as their name, such as T.S. Eliot and H.G. Wells (I have always found it strange that these writers are known as Томас Элиот and Герберт Уеллс in Russian), but this is rare; and, as I say, it is a matter of personal choice. So, always write a person's first name in full if you know it. If necessary, find it on the Internet (it is up to your conscience - and deadline - how many hours you search!).

What to do about patronymics? (Нурсултан Абишевич сказал, что...) That depends on your readers. If they know even a little about Russian and Soviet culture, then they should know about the use of patronymics, and might even appreciate a bit of local colour being left in the translation. However, if I were in any doubt about this, I would use Mr/Ms + surname.

Note that use of the middle initial (as in "Nursultan A. Nazarbayev") is American, and for a British reader it instantly evokes a specifically American flavo(u)r.

Incidentally, while on the subject of names, many English-speaking people choose to use a short form of their names at all times. Just as "Bill (not William) Clinton" and "Tony (not Antony) Blair" do not sound anything like "Боря Ельцин" and "Вова Путин" (!), so "Mike" is not as informal as "Миша". If Mike has introduced himself to you as "Mike", that is what he wants to be called; otherwise he would have introduced himself as "Michael".

Things have got to the point where English-speaking people are treating these short forms as independent names and forgetting the long forms they are based on. Many children nowadays are named Jake, Jack and Alfie - officially, on their birth certificates, not the short forms of Jacob, John and Alfred. I know of one lady who has two daughters named Beth and Libby - both short forms of Elizabeth! But back to the matter in hand...

Do not write "Mr Nursultan Nazarbayev" or "Mr N. Nazarbayev" unless you are addressing a letter to him directly. In newspaper articles: First occurrence: Nursultan Nazarbayev

Thereafter: Nazarbayev (or "Mr Nazarbayev" in more conservative newspapers) I prefer it without the "Mr". It's not rude, trust me! On the contrary, it implies he is an important public figure that readers will have heard of.

When a person's title is given with his/her name, there are several options in English. In official correspondence and legal documents, we must be very formal:

♦ Yesen Topoyev, Minister of Defence, (Thereafter: Mr Topoyev)

In newspapers, the first time an official such as a government minister is mentioned, he or she is described in full, though in journalistic style:

♦ Defence Minister Yesen Topoyev (Thereafter: Topoyev or Mr Topoyev)

If a title is very long, it will be confusing to the reader if it is written before the person's name, so it goes afterwards, separated on either side by commas:

♦ [Russian??]: Victor Kalyuzhny, Russian Foreign Minister and the President's

Special Envoy for Caspian Issues, said yesterday...

The academic titles Doctor and Professor should be written before the person's name, abbreviated to Dr and Prof.:

♦ Рудик МНАЦАКАНЯН, председатель Армянского национального культурного центра, профессор: Prof. Rudik Mnatsakanyan, Chairman of the Armenian Cultural Centre

(Also note that people's surnames are not written in capital letters in English.)

Company Names

Names of Western companies in Russian are often preceded by the explanatory nouns фирма or компания, but this is not the case in English, since it is understood that a company is meant:

• фирма «Бейкер и Макензи»: Baker & McKenzie (without the word "firm")

• компания «Халлибуртон»: Halliburton

Always use an ampersand (&) rather than the word "and" in company names.

The corporate structure (JSC, LLP, etc.) of a CIS company should be indicated the first time it is mentioned; after that, it can be omitted. Note that no article is used. The company's name should not be put into inverted commas (Am. quotes) in English:

♦ AO «Карагандауголь»: Karagandaugol JSC, or AO Karagandaugol

Sometimes a company's name is written in capitals in Russian, but this should never be done in English (on the Internet this use of capitals is likened to shouting). If a word is very long, capital letters can be used within it to make the meaning clearer:

♦ компания «АЗЕРАЭРОНАВИГАЦИЯ»: AzerAeroNavigatsiya

Check names of organizations. It is polite to call them whatever they wish to call themselves. For example, for reasons best known to them, Национальный банк Республики Казахстан in English is the National Bank of Kazakhstan, without the word "Republic" (see their headed paper).

In Russian it is common to put a company's country of origin in brackets after its name. There are various ways of doing this in English. If the company is well known, or its name actually incorporates the country name, the information in brackets should be left out:

• компания «Бритиш Газ» (Великобритания): British Gas

• компания «БОИНГ» (США): the American company Boeing (or the US's Boeing, or simply Boeing).

• Это предприятие является собственностью компании «Аксесс Индастрис, Инк.» (США): This enterprise is owned by Access Industries, Inc., an American company.

Abbreviations

The first time an organization is mentioned, unless it is very well known like the UN or EU, write its name in full, followed by the abbreviation in brackets. After that you can use the abbreviation:

♦ First mention: The National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) announced today that... Thereafter: The NBK... (consistently, whether the Russian original says Банк, Национальный банк, or Казахстанский НБ)

Abbreviations must mean something to the reader. Many abbreviations such as GKI are comprehensible to expatriates working in the CIS (though not to other people), but at other times it may be better to spell things out:

• ГКИ: the State Property Committee (GKI)

• КНР, ЮАР: China, South Africa ("PRC" and "SAR" are not in common use)

• CC: substation (not "SS")

• A-A., M., JI., etc. in descriptions of publications: Alma-Ata, Moscow, Leningrad

Addresses

For street names there are two options:

♦ EITHER transliterate the whole phrase: ul. Klochkova

♦ OR translate the whole phrase (in which case the name must be in the nominative): Klochkov St.

Don't mix the two, as in "Klochkova St." Translating street names rather than transliterating them does lead to certain problems - such as what to do about words like тракт - but may be preferable if your readers know absolutely nothing about Russian. If your readers might want to actually write the address on an envelope and post it, then it will have to be strictly transliterated.

Two important points to note:

(1) The abbreviation for "street" is not "Str." (this is German), but St.

(2) St., Ave. etc. must begin with a capital letter, as these words are part of a proper name.

How to Set Out Business Letters

Needless to say, a business letter that has been correctly and neatly set out produces a much better impression than one that looks slapdash.

A business letter in English begins with your address at the top (usually printed on the letterhead), then the date, and then the recipient's name and address on the left, not on the right as is correct in Russian.

[INSERT SAMPLE LETTER WITH BOXES & ARROWS]

A woman should be addressed as Ms. unless you know for certain that she prefers Mrs. (for a married woman) or Miss (if she is unmarried).

The first name or initials must always go before the surname. Otherwise, a reader unused to Russian or Kazakh names would be convinced that the person's surname is his first name and vice versa. I have had to correct foreigners several times, since if they receive a letter from, for example, "Petrov Anatoly", they will respond "Dear Mr Anatoly".

There must be a space between the last initial and the surname.

♦ Минаков А.В.: A.V. Minakov (not A.V.Minakov)

Exclamation marks are not used in salutations. Americans use a colon, while the British use no punctuation at all. Note that Mr is followed by a full stop (period) in American English, but not in modern British English. In either case, there must be a space between the word "Mr" and the surname.

♦ Уважаемый Иван Иванович! Brit.: Dear Mr lvanov

Am.: Dear Mr. Ivanov:

In Britain the rule for ending business letters is: if you started: Dear Mr X then end: Yours sincerely Dear Sir Yours faithfully

Dear Jim Kind regards (this depends on the writer)

"Sincerely yours", "Very truly yours" and "Best regards" are American equivalents.