Goran and Todd checking Luke 4 and 5 in the Gurbet language at Goran's apartment
Thank you for praying for my recent trip. This week I was able to spend a day each working with Goran in the Gurbet language, Djeno and Biljana in the Chergash language and Sasha in the Arli language. I'm thankful for traveling mercies as I drove over 1,000 kilometers (600 miles). The car did great and I had very easy border crossings between Croatia and Serbia. (Goran and Kada live in Serbia, about 5 1/2 hours from us; Djeno, Biljana and Sasha live in Croatia, only 1 1 1/2 hours from us).
So what do I mean when I say that I meet with the Roma translators to check the work? Well, the details change with each meeting according to the needs, but a general schedule looks like this:
We have breakfast together and catch up with each other on how things are going with their ministries and family. Then we sit down together in their living room, pray together and get started.
I open the 3 or 4 software programs I use on my laptop, and these display numerous windows including the translation draft they have made and a notes section where I have flagged issues that we need to discuss. Examples might include mistakes such as forgotten punctuation, a spelling typo, a word that was left out, or perhaps a question on whether the correct word was used in a verse.
Other windows include a Croatia Bible and Serbian Bible, the Greek New Testament with a lexicon, translation drafts in two of the other Roma translations we are doing so we can compare with them if we need to get suggestions and ideas, and a translation of their draft back into Serbo-Croatian so I can understand it. We use Serbo-Croatian in all our conversations and discussions of the translation work.
We read through each verse to make sure it is clear and accurate, stopping often to discuss different questions and options. Usually we can decide on the spot the best way to translate, but sometimes we mark them to come back to. We sometimes spot problems and take time to do spell checking in other NT books, or to change words in other NT books to be consistent with changes we have just decided to make in the book we are currently editing. Bible translation is similar to other writing tasks for which this maxim is true: There is no such things as good writing, only go re-writing. In other words, it takes multiple attempts to produce good writing and even more so to produce a good translation.
We break for lunch together, then work again until mid-afternoon or supper time. By then, I am brain dead and ready to have some alone time to rest, read, or catch up on e-mail, until the next day.
On this week's trip we were able to check through Luke chapter 4 and 5 together for which we are really grateful.
Thanks so much for your prayers!
Todd
Below: Goran pointing out on the screen some wording that needs to be changed in the Gurbet translation
