Translators are always trying to use the right word to convey meaning and feel-ing of the sender but...?

Question

invariably this does not always turn out to be so. Give an example.

Answer 1

Translation is, by its nature, prone to difficulties. For it to be perfect the translator would have to understand EXACTLY what is meant by the person originally forming the sentence and would have to have EXACTLY the equivalent vocabulary in the second language to deliver both the factual and emotional content of the message.

These conditions, regardless of the skill of the person involved, hardly ever exist. Many languages have concepts that are not precisely matched in other languages.

The funniest translations happen when "metaphrasing" is used -- the person or machine tries to find a precise equivalent for a word in both languages instead of trying to interpret the meaning of phrases, a meaning which may be beyond mere words.

Back in the 1950's when computers were scarce and were built with vacuum tubes it was reported that early efforts to create translation computing programs were hilarious. In the effort to translate US English to Russian, they tested the translations by having the machine translate them from English to Russian and then back into English. Reported results for the idiomatic phrase "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" after the double translation was "the whiskey is good but the meat has gone bad." When they tried the phrase "out of sight, out of mind" the double translation returned "invisible idiot."

Translation can be done within one language and is a useful tool in teaching and learning. Any time a person attempts to convey the same meaning without using the same words, it becomes an intellectual exercise.

Teachers that have students that can do this feel that they have a student that is really learning and not just parroting back the words that the teacher supplied them.

Answer 2

Language has many different means depending on the setting, tone, and the personality of the speaker. I can write down " I feel for you." Now what do I really mean? Am I being sarcastic or empathetic? Do I really mean to insult you or offer support or maybe I am in love?? These feelings can not be translated without knowing the mind-set of the sender or speaker.