Training and Guiding New Indian Translators: Challenges and Realities

Translation is a universal discipline. Although Malaysia’s translation field was once considered underdeveloped, that is no longer the case today; translation has long been a familiar component of Malaysian literary activity. However, translation is still frequently seen as a behind-the-scenes practice rather than a mainstream domain. The outdated perception that translated works are inferior in quality and highly priced has changed significantly—there has been a marked increase in acceptance and readership of translated publications in recent years. Public attitudes have gradually evolved in favor of translation as a valuable field. There exists a widely held misconception that anyone who knows at least two languages can automatically become a translator. This is not true, as stated by Fraser Tytler in his study on translation principles: (1) all essential meanings of the source text must be retained in the target language; (2) the tone and style of the source text must be carried over as closely as possible into the target language; and (3) the effect of a translation on the reader should closely resemble the effect experienced by readers of the original text. Unfortunately, many aspiring translators are unaware of this.