In celebration of the Language Centre’s ten-year anniversary, the Language Service invited expert translator and reviser Brian Mossop all the way from Canada to share some of his experience and knowledge with local language practitioners.
The workshop took place at the Wallenburg Research Centre on 17 September and was repeated on 19 September to accommodate more participants. The focus was on revision.
Revision, in the field of translation studies, should not be confused with language editing. Language editing entails making linguistic corrections to a text that has not been translated. Revision is the process of improving draft translations to ensure that those translations are of a certain quality. The essential process of a translator revising his or her own draft translation is known as self-revision, whereas other-revision takes place when someone other than the initial translator revises the draft translation. In Afrikaans one speaks of ‘selfrevisie’ and ‘ander-revisie’.
Brian invited workshop participants to reflect on the principles they used to decide whether corrections or improvements to a draft translation were needed, whether they followed a specific process, and whether that approach was efficient. “I found it very useful to discuss how I could spot more errors in less time and when a change is really necessary. Often translators work in isolation, and it is lovely to hear what someone so knowledgeable has to say about actual research done in this field,” one of the translators attending the workshop remarked during lunch.
His 38 years of experience as a translator and reviser in the Canadian government translation service made Brian an excellent choice as presenter of the various revision-related aspects of translation. He has written an authoritative textbook, Revising and editing for translators, published a number of articles in the field of translation studies and is a part-time instructor at the York University School of Translation in Toronto.
North-West University was Brian’s next stop for workshops. His two-week visit to South Africa concluded with a presentation on translators as editors at the Triennial Conference of the South African Translators’ Institute held at the University of Johannesburg at the end of September.
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