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Accurate Translations
To create an accurate translation of the Bible means that the translation communicates the same message as the source. When you engage in the first four steps of MAST you are first gaining a simple understanding of the text, and second transfering it into natural wording in your language. These steps are designed to be moved through chronologically to produce a rough draft of the text. As a translator you are already working to express the meaning as accurately as possible, while focusing on putting it into natural wording. Because accuracy to the original is essentail for the translation to be considered of high quality, the checking steps are designed to check and improve accuracy. Additionaly several tools, including translation words and questions have been developed to help with testing the accuracy of the translation.
Discover the Meaning
In step one of the MAST process you will read through the entire chapter in the source text of the ULB. As you read, concentrate on what you are reading, thinking about the meaning of the passage. Be careful not to force yourself to think too deeply or get frustrated over difficult passages. It's better to read slowly and calmly processing what you do understand as you go. Then you will be ready to reexpress it in your own language, during step two, verbalize. During this step what you understand from the passage becomes clear as you are able to retell it in your own words in your own language. Chunking is an additional step that confirms your understanding of the text. Being able to break it into workable meaning packet demonstrates a general awareness of the flow and structure of the whole. At this point you are ready to write down your draft. Once you have written down what you understood of the passage, you will have a draft to check for accuracy.
Accuracy in checking
Part of affirming accuracy is comparing your blind draft to the ULB source text. When you do this during self-edit, you should make changes to you draft to include any information you missed, or to delete information you may have added. Additionally, you are welcome to use other resources, such as the translation notes or questions to make sure you accurately understood the passage and wrote a valid translation of it.
The final three steps of MAST, peer edit, Keyword check and verse-by-verse check, all provide opportunities for checking accuracy. The use of all available tools, such as translation notes, translation questions, and translation words during these steps will help you to be confident in the accuracy of your translaton.
The Message of the Writer
Finally, part of translating the source text accurately is to think of the original audience and the message of the writer.
Look at the passage in your own language, and ask yourself if it accurately represents the message the original hearers would have received?
Remember: Translation is re-telling, as exactly as possible, the meaning of the original message in a way that is clear and natural in the target language.