Translation. It's a Process.

In my previous article, What is Translation? – Discovering How to Understand World Perspectives, I focused on briefly explaining the various types of translations and what a translator does when engaging with them. This article aims to expand on what translation is by building upon those explanations and highlighting a basic quality the different types of translation have in common: the nature of translation is that they are all processes. Since football is one of my specialisations, the fact that translation is a process got me thinking about how football is also a process by nature. My previous article mentioned that translating can mean “change from one form, function, or state to another”. In this way, translation is part of the football process, as we’ll see later. Nonetheless, the two processes are not the same; however, they share a characteristic that the respective agents must remember when engaging with said processes: nuance. Additionally, to produce a successful result in their respective fields, footballers and translators need their processes to contain the same two core ingredients: clear communication and cooperation. It could be the difference between producing a good and bad result.

Therefore, this article explains how football and translation are processes by nature from the perspective of the primary agent (i.e., footballers and translators). Furthermore, it highlights the processes’ similarities and explains how translation is inherent to football.

How are football and translation processes?

A process is “a series of actions, changes, or functions, bringing about a result”. If we think about it, life is one big process from the day we’re born until the day we die that is filled with subprocesses that we repeat to ensure we live our lives how we want. For example, we wake up, shower, eat, drive, work, drink, and sleep. We do this to produce results like being on time for work, smelling nice, satisfying our hunger, and earning money, which can add up to be perceived as a successful day.

For many, football isn’t just a game but a way of life. This doesn’t mean those involved don’t engage with the above processes. Instead, football is the subprocess of life they want to engage with and repeat the most. This goes for everyone connected to the sport: players, fans, pundits, and football journalists.

In this article, as mentioned above, we’re focusing on the football process from the player’s perspective as they are the primary agent of the process. We can perceive football as a process if we focus on the series of actions that players go through. For example, they train to prepare for matches, arrive at a stadium, get changed, listen to the manager’s team talk, play the match, leave the stadium, and go home.

Within this process are several subprocesses. For example, there are a series of passes, crosses, tackles, throw-ins, corners, free-kicks, fouls, and possible yellow/red cards or penalties during a match.

Regarding translation, similar to football, if we focus on the series of actions that translators perform, particularly freelance translators because I am one myself, we can perceive them as a process.

First, a freelance translator must find clients who require their services or create content and an online presence so that clients find them. Next, they agree on project stipulations, rates, and a deadline. This may include signing a non-disclosure agreement. The translator will then ask questions about the text, including its purpose and end-user. Usually, the translator would follow this act by researching parallel texts and terminology to aid in their translation. It may be that the client is asked whether they want to use any specific wording or register. At the end of the day, it is their content.

Then comes the process within the translation process: converting meaning from one language to another in writing. It is typically repeated at least twice, but it can be repeated more than that. It depends on how many drafts it takes for the translator to be satisfied that the translated text is accurate. Once the translator is satisfied, they proofread the translated text and format it to the client’s specifications if they are both capable and willing. The end result is that the client receives an accurate translation that they can use for its intended purpose.

As mentioned above, football and translation processes are not the same, but they have similarities, like the need for an understanding of nuance, clear communication, and cooperation. We begin by discussing nuance to better understand the importance of clear communication and cooperation in the respective processes.

Nuance

In this context, nuance refers to “a subtle or slight degree of difference, as in meaning [or] feeling”. In basic terms, the main objective of football is to win the game by outscoring the opposing team. However, when you dive deeper into the sport, you understand that a win doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ve outscored your opponents.

It’s important to remember that professional footballers can play at least 38 games per season, spanning 10 months. Therefore, depending on how much of the season footballers have played, a win may mean something different. It could mean getting a draw, not conceding a goal, avoiding injuries and player suspensions, or putting on a performance for the fans.

Footballers need to understand how the meaning of a win in football can fluctuate every week because it affects how they feel about their own and the team’s performance. Ultimately, this affects their confidence and form. Like in many sports, the mental aspect of football cannot be underestimated when trying to produce a win or a successful result.

After studying translation, you understand that nuance is a key characteristic of the translation process, and that translation isn’t as straightforward as it may seem. Staying on the meaning of a win in football, translators need to consider whether ‘win’ refers to a noun or verb. Additionally, they need to understand what context it’s used in; for example, does ‘win’ refer to a footballer earning a first-team spot? Does it mean that they gained the fans’ support, or simply that they won a match? These questions need to be asked regularly during the interlingual (between two languages) translation process because it can mean choosing a different word or phrase to express the meaning conveyed in the original text.

Clear Communication

Regardless of the meaning of “win” in a given situation, players need to be on the same wavelength to achieve a successful result when playing as a team. This brings in clear communication, which is an important ingredient in the process because there are 10 outfield opposing players, and it’s too difficult to take them all on single-handedly. Therefore, players need clear communication for several purposes.

For example, they need to inform their teammates they want possession of the ball by either calling or gesturing for the ball to be passed or crossed to them. In addition, players need to inform their teammates when an opposing player is close by and soon to tackle. Lastly, it may be that a team captain needs to motivate his teammates and relay the manager’s message to them or calm them down so they avoid a yellow or red card. If players engage in clear communication throughout the process, they can produce a successful result.

The same goes for translators. If they communicate clearly with their client, translators can fully understand the client’s needs and desires regarding the translation project, such as how they want it formatted and the deadline. More importantly, they need to communicate clearly in the event of any issues arising, such as the translator possibly not being able to meet the agreed deadline.

Other issues may concern terminology. Translators can visit forums like ProZ Kudoz to ask for assistance on difficult terminology. Translators need to communicate clearly and concisely on such forums by providing enough context for other translators to better understand the term’s meaning while not breaking the non-disclosure agreement (if signed).

Translators and clients particularly need to communicate clearly when discussing rates. The translator must break down their prices per word/hour for each service they offer. In return, the client must be clear about whether they’re satisfied with the quote or whether they can afford it.

Cooperation

If the client is unsatisfied with the quote, for example, it is out of their price range, translators can cooperate and negotiate with clients to reach a total price that is reasonable for both parties. This notion of cooperation goes hand in hand with clear communication in the translation process. For example, by having a discussion to fully understand the client’s needs and desires, translators are working with their clients toward a common goal: to produce a translated text fit for its purpose.

When translators ask for help on language forums, they cooperate with other translators to produce an accurate translation of the word or phrase. For translators who use CAT (Computer-Assisted Translation) tools, there is a cooperation between humans and machines to produce an accurately translated text. In this way, clear communication relies more on the author of the original text (who are often the clients). Therefore, it needs to be free of spelling and punctuation errors for the CAT tool to fully understand what it’s translating.

Similar to the translator, cooperation in a footballer’s process is linked to communicating clearly when trying to produce a successful result, particularly during training and a match. Whether it’s calling or gesturing for a pass or cross, signalling to teammates they’re about to take a free-kick or corner, or warning teammates of incoming opponents, footballers are cooperating with their teammates to achieve a win, whatever the meaning they have assigned to it. There are other forms of cooperation that players engage with, such as listening to the manager’s instructions. Nonetheless, this form of cooperation isn’t as important as cooperating with teammates because the manager cannot influence play with words but can only impact players’ mindsets. It’s similar to fans cheering on their team. Their applause and roars of encouragement are a form of cooperation with the team; however, it’s up to the team to perform the necessary actions to produce a successful result.

Translation is Inherent to Football

As mentioned earlier, to translate can mean to “change from one form, function, or state to another”. In this way, communicating clearly and cooperating with teammates can be considered acts of translation because each act begins with the simple conversion of thought into action. Another act of translation can be that when a full-back presses up the wing to cross the ball into the box; their midfielders behind them must assume a defensive role and be ready to cover the gap left by the full-back’s attack until the attack is over or the full-back is in position again. This quick switch of function happens regularly in football, with players having to assume different roles for short periods of time. The same act of translation can occur when managers switch players’ positions due to injuries and lack of substitutes or players getting sent off. However, it does not happen as regularly as when players implement tactics from the training ground on the pitch. Concerning fans, we can perceive their change of state from euphoric to worried or vice-versa as another form of translation.

Concluding remarks

Processes are an inherent part of our lives and often require engaging with subprocesses to produce the desired result. Many professionals around the world have chosen football as the subprocess of life they want to engage with the most. The same goes for translators and translation. The processes that footballers and translators engage with are very different, yet they both require clear communication, cooperation, and translation to produce a successful result. Although, each element is different.

Communicating clearly requires a footballer to perform different actions than that of a translator. This goes for cooperation as well, as we have already established that the two elements are connected in both processes. It does not diminish the fact the two processes require both ingredients to produce a successful result. Rather that they are performed differently.

The translation element of a footballer’s process is similar to a translator’s in that they translate thought into action, but where they differ is that a translator consciously performs acts of translation and implements translation theories as a subprocess. In other words, you can have translation without football, but you can’t have football without translation.

If a key characteristic of translation is nuance, it can be viewed as a key characteristic in football. Footballers and translators must understand the nuances of their respective processes and the different forms they can take because they provide clarity and improve the chances of successful results. If nothing else, the nuances in football and translation make and keep them fresh and, most importantly, enjoyable.

References

American Heritage (2016a) ‘Nuance’, American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Fifth. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Available at: https://www.thefreedictionary.com/nuance.

American Heritage (2016b) ‘Process’, American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Fifth. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Available at: https://www.thefreedictionary.com/process (Accessed: 25 April 2022).

American Heritage (2016c) ‘Translate’, American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 5th edn. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Available at: https://www.thefreedictionary.com/translate (Accessed: 26 July 2021).

Bell, G. (2020) ‘Football isn’t just a game - It’s a way of life’, Premier League Central, 12 January. Available at: https://www.premierleaguecentral.co.uk/posts/football-isnt-just-a-game-its-a-way-of-life/ (Accessed: 27 April 2022).