Drafting

On January 25 this year, we started drafting the Kope New Testament. It was a quiet yet momentous occasion. Since then we have got into more of a rhythm of how we draft, which I will try to lay out for you here.

Reading and reflecting (H.Schulz)

Firstly though, is the admission that my Kope language skills are not good enough to do drafting and that calling myself a ‘translator’ is somewhat misleading. At the same time, the Kope people are experts in their language and are good at drafting. My role is to train, support, equip, resource, mentor, check and advise. They are the translators; I am the advisor and supporter.

In my advisor role, I start the drafting process the night before any drafting happens. I sit and read through the original Greek text, relying on all the helpful resources on my computer to understand it clearly. I then turn to other resources including commentaries and notes from other translators, to help me think through the meaning of the text and what some of our translation challenges may be. In, under, with and through all this I am praying.

The next day the translation team gathers on my veranda to work. Once at least three of the team are there, we are ready to start, but in the meantime we chat about life. With the team assembled we pray for our work, open our Bibles and get started.

Writing and discussing (H.Schulz)

First we read through the portion of text we’ll be working on as a whole, to get the big picture. We read it in several different English translations, usually something easier to read like the Good News, something more literal like the New Jerusalem (my favourite) and something more middle of the road such at the NIV. We also read the Hiri Motu (trade language used in our area) and where possible watch the appropriate portion of the Jesus Film in Kope. After this we talk about what is happening in the text. Who are the main characters? What are the main events? What is the main point? Having this discussion helps to move us from a word by word translation that is stiff and loses meaning, to a translation that flows and captures the meaning of the text.

With the big picture in mind, we then start on verse by verse translation. Initially I encouraged the team to tell the story and then write it down, drawing on their skills as a primarily oral/aural culture, but the team has not taken to that method. Instead, they prefer to each write their version of the verse on individual pieces of paper. Once a few people have come up with an option, these are read out, discussed and the best way of saying something is agreed upon. This is then written on the blackboard for further discussion and refining. During this time of drafting I am often asked questions about the text and the meaning, drawing on my reading the previous night, and researching further as needed. Sometimes a verse takes ten minutes, sometimes more than an hour.

Putting our draft on the blackboard so that
everyone can see and contribute. (H.Schulz)

Verse by verse we chip away until the whole section is on the blackboard. We then read that as a whole and start another edit to make sure that the whole flows as well as each verse. This edit can easily take another hour. Sometimes I find myself frustrated by the time things take, and need to remind myself that I have the privilege of sitting with community and church leaders, discussing God’s word for hours on end.

With the edit done, it is time to write the good copy into the notebook. One of the team members will do the official copy, but often everyone else is writing their own copy as well. Once the good copy is written, it is proof read by another team member before being given to me to type into the computer. I hope to teach some members of the translation team computer skills in the coming months, but so far that has been one of my responsibilities.

This first step of drafting is slow and challenging, but it is exciting to see Luke’s gospel slowly unfolding before us.

Crowd Sourcing

Roy telling a story, using the pictures,
before the group writes it down.

‘Crowd sourcing’ is in fashion these days. It is done for finances and as well as for information and translation. Wikipedia is the classic example of a crowd sourced written work, where numerous people contribute and correct each other’s content. My friend Julien runs the Marco Polo Project, using crowd sourcing to translate Chinese websites into English, linking East and West online as well as in person. All sorts of projects, such as the Bella Journey, get funding through crowd sourcing.

It is rare for me to be fashionable, but when it comes to crowd sourcing, for once I am!

The money I live off in my work is effectively crowd sourced, although in my circles it is referred to as ‘partnership development’ as we partner with churches and individuals to sponsor our work. Yet it is not finance I am referring to in this blog post, but literacy.

While my nieces and nephews have piles of books around their homes and family who have been reading to them since they were babies, most of the languages in PNG have very few books. Learning to read in a language you already know is the best way to learn to read. Having books to read is a critical part of this process, so part of my work as a linguist/translator is helping communities to build up their local library by writing and translating books for beginners.

Debbie working with her small crowd.

There are a whole range of ‘shell books’ available for communities wanting to kick start their collection. Shell books contain a simple story with pictures, are available in the public domain and approved of by the department of education. They cover a range of topics and levels of difficulty. A community ‘just’ has to translate and print them. This is a whole lot harder than it sounds, as there are often few people in a community who are confident to translate and write in their own language, as well as few resources for printing.

This is where crowd sourcing comes in.

While on our recent trip to Gulf Province we spent time helping I’ae speakers in Maipenairu and the Urama speakers in Kivaumai translate shell books for their elementary schools. We did this by gathering together as a large group and telling a story. First one of my team would tell the story in English a few times, showing the pictures as we went. Then the locals would take turns telling the story in their language a few times. They kept telling the story until everyone was happy that it was a well told story.

Writing the story on the blackboard.

One good writer would then be nominated to write the story up on a blackboard, or on paper when a blackboard was not available, while someone else told it. This way a good storyteller, even if not literate, could still contribute to the translation. Those who could read and write their own language with confidence would help correct the primary writer. Those who were less confident would slowly read what was being written, building their confidence as they went. At the end, when everyone was happy with the story, they would read it out loud together and I would write it down in my notebook, as well as taking a photo of the blackboard.

In the evening, our team spent time writing these stories up, using the resources we had available with us in the village. This meant writing with coloured pencils onto the back of the printed pictures. Estimating font size, line spacing etc left little room for error and made me appreciate word processing computer programs. I also had to concentrate very hard on writing neatly. Those who know my handwriting know that it is better used in cryptography than literacy.

A hand written completed shellbook.

The first time we did the binding with dental floss and tape, the second time we remembered the stapler as well as the tape. We then gave these freshly produced books to the school teachers and watched with delight as they read their way through. Later, once reunited with power, computers and printers, these books are properly typed up, formatted and printed in bulk for the schools to use.

As I sat on the floor of the village meeting house at Kivaumai, I could see the king tide rising all around us, including seeing it come under us through the cracks in the floor. Cute but flea ridden puppies kept getting thrown out of the open sided building. Chickens eyed us off as a dry retreat from a very wet village. Pigs looked funny as they swam to higher ground. Around us, at least fifty people had come to work on translating shell books. Debbie, Catherine and I each worked with a separate group. In a nearby house Rebekah and Susie were doing tone analysis with another dozen people (they’d asked for two or three). Robbie was elsewhere working on a dictionary with yet another group.

The village edition of the
13 new Urama books.

We sure drew a crowd!

It was a crowd that between them managed to translate 13 new story books into their language. It is a far cry from what other crowd sourced translation might look like, but it is the same principle and had a wonderful result. The number of Urama books increased significantly that soggy Saturday.