The Role of Translation
By: Bashir Sharaf
English Department
Translation plays a leading and integral part in people's life. It is a channel through
which nations exchange their cultural, scientific and literary achievement. The Arabs,
for instance, benefited considerably from translation: they translated into Arabic
Indian Persian and Greek works dealing with philosophy, on the literature, and logic.
The Arabs assimilated these sciences, added to them and then transmitted them
through Latin translation into Europe in the middle ages, introducing Arabic technical
terms into European language.
Translation, moreover, facilitates international trade especially when ordered goods
are exported from a country speaking a language which differs from that spoken by
the importing country. For instance, in Arab countries, particularly in the Arab gulf
states; Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and above all Saudi Arabia,
where English is a foreign language, English-Arabic and Arabic-English translators
are acutely demanded. they translate into Arabic what Arab business men receive
from foreign trade firms, including letters, circulars, literatures, leaflets and even
booklets, submit their translation to their managers and receive later their replies in
Arabic to be translated into English and dispatched to the firm concerned.
On the other hand, the importing firm may publish yearly reports on its activities and
they are translated into English to be distributed among those concerned in foreign
countries. Thus foreign trade greatly benefits from translation for the benefit of
producers, wholesalers, retailers and consumer.
Translation, furthermore, is utilized at the United Nations general assembly, the
Security Council and other international, scientific and cultural organization such as
the United Nations educational, scientific and cultural organization, and the world
health organization, to help states representatives understand what speakers say. The
speech delivered may be in English, French, Spanish, Russian or Arabic. When the
speakers uses one of these tongues his speech is simultaneously interpreted into the others. Moreover, many important documents and papers are translated at these
international quarters to be read and commented upon by the representatives of
various countries. Thus translation promotes understanding and harmony among the
members of these UN bodies for the welfare of mankind. However, it must be taken
into account that such specialized translation must be accurate, because any mistaken
may result in misunderstanding between states representative and some political crises
may arise. With this in view, well-versed and highly experienced assemblies, although
sometimes some machine – translation may be used to serve this purpose.
Information media, including radio, television, news-papers and magazines and
translation to their native language the news items or commentary they receive from
world news agencies such as the associated press, router and the fresh news agency or
others to be broadcast in the radio foreign program, and extracts from foreign dailies
and weeklies to be broadcast in the radio home program.
Moreover, interviews, scientific reports and football matchers are interpreted to keep
citizens at home informed of what is taking a place through the world, television may
add to translators; duties the translation of some foreign films, episodes, plays and
televised interviews. simultaneous interpretation may, however, be employed when
conference speeches and the visits of head of states are televised, thus radio and
television programs are considerably enriched in number and variety with translation,
as purely local programs are by no means adequate to satisfy home listeners and
viewers. As for newspapers and magazines they also have teams of translators to
translate to their readers from foreign language news items and certain interesting
columns or articles.
Translation is furthermore needed in various university department where some
important scientific and literary achievements are sometimes translated to other
languages for the benefit of the teaching staff and the student.
Considering the ever increasing services translation offers and its contribution in the
spheres of science, liter turned business. We can easily imagine how inconvenient and internationally isolated our life would be without translation which must be
ceaselessly encouraged and undertaken for the promotion of human knowledge and
culture
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