For part of my training as a Bible Translation Adviser, I was invited to attend the United Bible Societies (UBS) 2016 Global Bible Translation Research and Development workshop in Antalya, Turkey, March 6-12.
This was the first time in my life to travel to a country along the Mediterranean Sea. Unfortunately, time did not allow for visits to historical sites like the seven churches of Revelation 2-3 or places which the apostle Paul visited during his missionary journeys, except for Antalya/Attalia (cf. Acts 13-14). However, I did enjoy beautiful sunrises seen from our hotel, plus worship one morning on the beach where we sang God’s praises and reflected on the humility of Jesus and our call to humble service.
The whole week was full of meaningful conversations with gifted colleagues from around the world, along with much learning and mutual sharing which is helping me already in my work in Taiwan. (I am writing this from Taitung in SE Taiwan where I came right after Turkey for another one of my regular visits.)
The UBS has kindly granted me permission to share the following overview of the week in Antalya written by Gunnar Mägi. (I have omitted some parts from his original.) He quotes some of my reflections on the week at the end of his article. The large group photo is courtesy of my friend and mentor Dr Daud Soesilo. My sincere thanks go to the UBS and to International Ministries of the PCC for making it possible for me to attend this continuing education event. For more news about the UBS and its ministries, please see: https://www.unitedbiblesocieties.org/.
“Translation Topics Discussed in Antalya, Turkey” By Gunnar Mägi (UBS) March 15, 2016
This year’s Translation Research and Development Meeting took place from March 7-11 in Antalya, Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast. This gathering, which began in 2013, is a professional development opportunity for the core group of UBS Global Translation Advisors and Translation Consultants seconded to the Global Bible Translation team (GBT).
The main focus of the week was a series of academic lectures about cognitive grammar, and training sessions on the soon-to-be released ParaTExt 8.0. Two important side meetings also took place – the Committee on Translation Policies, and the first ever gathering of the joint UBS and Catholic Biblical Federation Translation Forum.
Alexander M. Schweitzer, Head of GBT, underlined the significance of the fact that, for the first time since the RENEW restructuring process, national Translation Consultants were able to join this meeting. According to Alexander, this provided a much-needed opportunity for translation colleagues to renew their contact, and will contribute to more efficient collaboration in translation across all levels.
An interview with David Tuggy, SIL Mexico
David Tuggy works with SIL-Mexico and was the main speaker during the first two days. He has an awe-inspiring background of being raised as a missionary kid, and has three generations of missionaries on both sides of his family.
Since 1970, he has been helping to produce literature for the Nahuatl people in Mexico, specifically the Bible. He is currently working to produce a dictionary for this unique people group. Nahuatl is an endangered language. David describes his daily work on the dictionary project:
“On a normal day it varies as to who will be available to work with this project. It may be a young mother in her 20s who is taking care of her baby, or it may be a grandma who has spoken Nahuatl all her life. Other times it may be highly educated professional people who have traveled much but who still hold their Nahuatl roots dear.”
At the Research and Development meeting David Tuggy taught specialised topics focusing on cognitive grammar. His lecture on the translatability of jokes will not be forgotten by the participants. David’s personal preference of biblical humour is based on exaggeration. He reminded us of Jesus’ word usage in Matthew 23:24, “Blind guides! You strain a fly out of your drink, but swallow a camel!” and added: “I think in the Nahuatl translation we substituted the camel with a donkey.”
When asked about the people he presented to at the Antalya conference, David commented: “I am friends with the people here even before I know them because we have so much in common. I wish we could have had a whole week to participate in discussions.”
ParaTExt 8.0 Training
Significant time was spent on ParaTExt 8.0 training. ParaTExt allows users to input, edit, check, and publish a translation of the Scriptures, based on the original texts (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek). It links in with several databases that support translation work, and enables the online work of translation teams. It was originally created by and for people directly involved in Bible translation.
Due to popular demand, over the next year ParaTExt will be made more widely available to everyone who needs it, in three different packages: Student, Translator and Publisher. The new version has a better interface with the Digital Bible Library, which means that duplication of texts will be avoided and all licensing will be kept in one place in the registry. The ICAP team made a promise to work hard to make the registration of existing projects as smooth as possible.
How the meeting helped me: a perspective from Taiwan
Paul McLean, Translation Adviser with the Bible Society in Taiwan, attended the meeting for the first time, and shared some of his insights:
“I am very grateful to Esteban Voth and the organisers for inviting a Translation Adviser like me to attend this special gathering of UBS Bible translation colleagues. Over the 23 years that I have participated in projects in Taiwan, two key components have been community and teamwork.
“During this workshop I have experienced these same two blessings in our shared mission of translating God’s life-giving Word for all people. I have enjoyed renewing friendships and sharing ideas with colleagues from the Asia Pacific region. This week my vision and thinking has expanded through new friendships and discussions with gifted colleagues from around the globe.
“Our informal conversations ranged from discussing revision work on Today’s Chinese Version, to experiences in translation with indigenous or minority language teams in Russia, the Middle East, North East India, Indonesia, South East Asia, South America, the Caribbean and with First Nations people in my homeland of Canada.
“In plenary sessions David Tuggy helped us ponder the wonders of cognitive grammar as another tool in translating the meaning of biblical texts cross-culturally, while the UBS’s dedicated ICAP team introduced us to up-coming features in ParaTExt – indispensable Bible software that I use daily in my projects.
“I thank God for this meaningful week of community and teamwork near the place Paul came ashore to share the Gospel on his first missionary journey. I return to Taiwan eager to share all this with five indigenous translation teams there.”
