Please read the Guidelines that have been chosen to keep this forum soaring high!

Criticizing translations

Ciao to all!
Today I'm feeling a little down, like wanting to cry but I don't why. I can't believe it depends on what Giuliano wrote yesterday about the Italian translations of Heavenletters: he said that the daily letters are full of mistakes. - I could feel my ego rising in defence and an old, old feeling of unworthiness stirring my stomach (or solar plexus).
Then I read Giuliano's email better and I saw that he was talking about errors in interpretation. But I wondered how he can know that the words are being interpreted erroneously if he doesn't speak any English.
I'm grateful to Giuliano for letting me see what I thought I was done with. And I've been asking God to give me the right words to answer him...

I was just wondering if I really do interpret too much according to my consciousness. Of course, I can't avoid it completely, but I'm sincerely trying to be as faithful as possible to the original message.

I'd like to know what is your experience in this? Are you always sure about what you are translating? Sure to get God's idea correctly? And how do you feel when someone criticizes you work?

Paula

Cara Paula

You were Heaven's first translator, Paula. I knew your work experience was translating. Always I felt that the main requirement to be a translator of Heavenletters was the desire to translate and love for God's words.

Because of your great love for Heavenletters, because you put your heart and soul into your translations, it's easy for you to get that clutch in your heart and to start questioning yourself in a case such as you mention.

Dearest Paula, if you ask 100 people, you will get 100 opinions.

I too "translate" Heavenletters! I have several advantages. The main one is that God is my boss, and He doesn't criticize ever. I will come back to this point more in a minute.

The second advantage is that I receive comments from many many readers extolling Heavenletters. I imagine that when you have 2500 Italian subscribers, you will also receive many positive notes from grateful readers, as I do, dear Paula. Sometimes the appreciation is overwhelming too -- so much comes in and that I am amazed that,somehow, by some miracle, I'm in this lovely position.

This is just a thought, but I wonder if translators want to start putting their email address at the end of the translations OR suggesting that your readers write ito you using my email address -- they would put your name in the subject title -- something like that so your readers are invited to send in an encouraging word. Then I would send the email to you, of course, and you could respond to it.

Back to God. Sometimes I'm not 100% postive what God said, or I hear it two ways, and I'm just not quite sure. Let me tell you what seems to happen at those times. I try writing down one and somehow I am not able to leave it! I have to erase it. Intellectually, I may think it's fine, but something won't let me keep it. Then I put the other word or words I hear, and I can leave that. I believe if I can leave it there, it's what God wanted.

If you can translate a line you are unsure of and leave it, that's the test! God is the One you are accountable to too. He is your boss as much as He is mine.

Translating isn't a science. Computer-translation programs can't translate Heavenletters. Only a human heart can.

I wish I could tell every translator every day how much the work they do is appreciated, and how much each and every one of you is appreciated.

Dear Paula, of course Giuliano doesn't know what God had in mind. I would go by what you feel.

God bless you.

With love,

Gloria

Turkish Translator

Engin, our Turkish translator, has a deeper dilemma in translating the flash presentation that Dr. Laura De Giorgio made for us.

Until Engin can find her password, I am taking the liberty of posting what she wrote here:

"I have reached the 51st message of the book!! I was translating the Flash Presentation text, but...I am soooo sorry...so sorrry but I have a little hesitation I just wanted to share with you. It is about Toasting...Here from the respect of spiritual understanding people can not understand a God who is taosting because in teachings he does not want people to drink...And it sounds strange. Since it is not a daily letter I just wanted to share this dilemma..."

First of all, we must listen to the cultures of countries. There is no way we want to offend.

Veronika made the good suggestion that we use the idea of Celebration.

I went to the text. This is the original:

"You are a delightful toast I raise to Myself. I raise My glass so high that noe one misses the sight of it, and all clink their cups with Mine. This is unique toast We make We clink Stars. We clink the Sun and the Moon. We clink to Our un-impermeable Oneness. To Our Ones."

Engin, does this give you something to work with?

"You are like a delightful bow I make to Myself. I bow so magnificently that everyone sees Me and bows with Me. We bow to the Stars. We bow to the Sun and the Moon. We bow to our Our un-impermeable Oneness. To Our Oneness."

Engin, does something like this work in your culture?

With love and blessings,

Gloria

This shimmering day

A funny thing happened to me with today's translation: I was sure I'd saved another one for the translation and I've got no idea how come this was at its place. Maybe God knew the other day, what I'd be needing today and gave me Heaven # 2093, This Shimmering Day to translate.

Thankyou Gloria for sharing your experience. I thought that you just write words down with your eyes closed without giving a second thought to it.

I realize now that when I translate I'm completely absorbed in it and I'm really doing it from my heart. Giuliano is just an angel of God who let me see an old ghost, that I needed to let go of. For this, I am grateful to him.

Paula

Criticizing translations

I think that God's words about the toast He raises, are a metaphor and people can understand it as such. You can raise a toast even with water!
Where is it said that God doesn't want us to drink wine? The first miracle Jesus performed, was to turn water into wine. - I think drinking is wrong only in as much as you let it control your brain and your life. Certainly, if we want to have a clear and pure consciousness, we don't get drunk. But a toast with God will do no harm, at least not in my opinion.

Paula

Other Cultures

Of course, people will understand it is a metaphor, yet their gut reaction might be an uncomfortable one. I think we have to be sensitive to a culture.

I imagine there are English idioms that, if they were translated literally in certain languages, would have a different connotation, so the translator would understandably not give a literal translation but an equivalent one in their language.

Are all translators coming to this page? Please leave your comment here!

With blessings and love,

Gloria

Criticizing translations

dear friends...

during translating the book

I also came to such "problems"...

and I sometimes just left the passage to translate that moment
and translated the rest...

and the next day mostly I sat there an wrote it as if nothing had happened...

and now
the book is translated and I do the proofreading

and beloved friends

as I read what is written

it reads beautifully...even if sometimes there are kind of bavarian sentences...
but this is as it comes...

so Paula believe in yourself and your translation..

Here I want to share a wonderful little story:

on monday I had a very intensive thing running
and reacted furious...

and then I wrote a letter

Dear God,

now I have translated your first book.
did I not learn anything from it?

and then left the letter on its place

and when I came back after many hours...

the answer there was

Sure! Sure!
Much Love
God

love to you all
veroniKA

Criticizing translations

Dear Paula,

It's so tempting to answer back to a diparaging comment,isn't it? I think that the majority of people feel the need to defence themselves against criticism, but it's no use to try to persuade a deaf or blind man.He sees and hears only what he wants to see and hear.You have to let go and listen to your heart.It's easier said than done but with practice, we can all make it to stay calm when a bad comment is said against our work. As you said,the people that get on our nerves are disguised practice tests sent directly from daddy God.

As for the translations, I heartily agree with Mrs Gloria. God is our boss. God is my heart and when I listen to it, I feel good and sure that I deliver God's message well. If a Greek reader believes that my translations suck, I'll respect his right to express his opinion and I will keep doing my work with love until God decides to fire me. :D

Love and hugs from Greece!
Maria

Criticizing translations

yes, the most important thing in translations is the heart and take all the time needed to feel the message,especially with spiritual materials.

that's why i love how this space feels about this, is the first time i feel so much love in doing translations and so much love from Gloria towards all the translators. Unfortunately is not always like this.

so God bless all of you for all you do!

I hope soon i can have all the time i would like to have to translate things i like! :D

Mariu!

Do you know that all the translators are volunteers? All from the goodness of their hearts.

It is a labor of love.

How could I not be utterly grateful!

I thank God for the translators and all the people who post on the forum.

God bless you, Mariu.

With love,

Gloria

Re: Mariu!

Gloria Wendroff wrote:

Do you know that all the translators are volunteers? All from the goodness of their hearts.

of course i know that Gloria...

so much love

Mariù