5.6 Translation Skills

Scope of Translation Skills at Advanced Level

At this advanced stage you are no longer just “turning Urdu into English” or “English into Urdu.” You are learning to recreate meaning, tone, and effect in a new language.

This chapter focuses on general skills that apply in both directions. The next two subchapters will go into detail about Urdu to English and English to Urdu separately, so here we stay with principles, strategies, and typical difficulties.

Translation here means written translation, not interpretation in real time.

What Translation Really Aims To Do

When you translate, you always balance at least four things:

1. Meaning
   The basic information and logical content.
2. Style and tone
   Formal vs casual, humorous vs serious, poetic vs neutral.
3. Cultural context
   References, politeness, honorifics, social distance.
4. Function
   Why the text exists: to inform, persuade, entertain, document, etc.

Sometimes these pull you in different directions. A very literal phrase might keep the words, but destroy tone or function. At C1, you must consciously choose what to prioritise.

Example, short proverb:

• Urdu:
  وہ گھر کا بھیدی ہے، لنکا ڈھاتا ہے۔
• Literal: “He is an insider of the house, he destroys Lanka.”
• Functional English: “He is an insider who brings everything crashing down.”
  or “He is a traitor within.”

The second version is more useful for most readers, because it carries the function: an insider who causes ruin.

Levels of Translation: From Words to Texts

Think of translation on several levels:

At advanced level you must constantly move between all these levels.

Example, one Urdu sentence:

وہ جو بات کل آپ نے کہی تھی، دراصل وہی بات پچھلے سال ہماری میٹنگ میں بھی اٹھ چکی تھی، لیکن اُس وقت کسی نے اُس کو سنجیدگی سے نہیں لیا۔

Possible English translations:

1. Very literal, close to structure:
   “That thing which you said yesterday, actually the same thing had also come up in our meeting last year, but at that time no one took it seriously.”
2. More natural as English:
   “What you said yesterday actually came up in our meeting last year as well, but no one took it seriously then.”

The second version changes word order but preserves meaning and function, and reads like normal English.

Literal Translation vs Free Translation

You will often choose between being literal (close to wording) and free (close to effect).

• Literal translation: good for legal, technical, academic, or sacred texts where precision in wording is important.
• Free translation: good for advertising, poetry, dialogues, where emotional effect matters more.

Examples:

1. Urdu:
   میرا دل نہیں لگ رہا۔
• Too literal: “My heart is not attaching.”
• Better: “I cannot settle down.” / “I do not feel at ease.”
2. English:
   “He broke her heart.”
• Too literal into Urdu: اُس نے اس کا دل توڑ دیا۔
  (Acceptable in some contexts, but can feel slightly direct or childish depending on style.)
• More context‑sensitive:
• اُس نے اس کا دل بہت دکھایا۔ “He hurt her deeply.”
• اُس نے اسے جذباتی طور پر توڑ کر رکھ دیا۔ “He shattered her emotionally.”

Dealing with Cultural and Untranslatable Items

Some words or expressions carry cultural meaning that has no exact equivalent.

Common examples:

You have at least four main strategies:

1. Substitute with a near equivalent
• غیرت → “sense of honor” in a newspaper article.
2. Borrow the original word, and explain once
• “The concept of haya, broadly meaning modesty and a sense of shame, plays a central role.”
3. Explain in more words
• Urdu: اس نے بہت حوصلہ دکھایا۔
• English: “She showed great courage and perseverance.”
4. Keep the original and rely on genre conventions
   In religious or academic writings, terms like “sharia,” “ummah,” “nikah” are often left in transliteration.

The “right” choice depends on:

• The audience (specialist vs general).
• The genre (academic vs fiction).
• The function (precise description vs fast-paced narrative).

Tone, Register, and Politeness

Urdu has a very rich system of politeness and register:

• آپ vs تم vs تو
• محترم، جناب، قبلہ
• آپ کی بڑی مہربانی ہے۔
• حضور، سر، جی

English has fewer formal markers but uses other tools:

• Titles: Mr, Mrs, Dr, Sir
• Modal verbs and softeners: could, would, please, just
• Indirectness: “Would you mind…?” “I was wondering if…”

Examples:

1. Urdu:
   محترم صدرِ اجلاس، میری گزارش ہے کہ آپ میری بات توجہ سے سنیں۔
• English: “Mr Chair, I respectfully request that you listen to my remarks carefully.”
2. Urdu:
   آپ ذرا یہ فائل دیکھ لیجیے گا۔
• Too literal: “You, please see this file.”
• Natural: “Could you please take a look at this file?”
3. English to Urdu:
   “Would you mind closing the window, please?”
• Natural polite Urdu:
  “اگر آپ برا نہ مانیں تو کھڑکی بند کر دیں, پلیز / مہربانی ہوگی۔”

Note how the formality level must be matched, not mechanically copied.

Managing Word Order and Information Flow

Urdu and English organize information differently.

• Urdu is usually SOV: Subject, Object, Verb
  مثال: میں کتاب پڑھ رہا ہوں۔
• English is SVO: Subject, Verb, Object
  Example: “I am reading a book.”

But the difference in translation is not just SOV vs SVO. More important is:

• Where new information is placed.
• How topics are introduced.
• How background and main points are arranged.

Reordering for Clarity

Long Urdu sentences often need to be split in English.

Example:

چونکہ ملک کو اس وقت بے شمار چیلنجوں کا سامنا ہے اور عوام کی توقعات بھی پہلے سے کہیں زیادہ بڑھ چکی ہیں، اس لیے حکومت کو فوری طور پر واضح اور جامع حکمتِ عملی اختیار کرنی ہوگی۔

One possible English version:

• “Since the country currently faces countless challenges and the public’s expectations are higher than ever, the government must immediately adopt a clear and comprehensive strategy.”

An alternative that emphasizes urgency:

• “The country is facing countless challenges and the public’s expectations are higher than ever. The government must therefore immediately adopt a clear and comprehensive strategy.”

You can move the “reason” and “result” into two sentences, as long as you preserve logic.

Given and New Information

Urdu often places known information first, then adds details.

Example:

یہ وہی آدمی ہے جو کل ہمارے دفتر آیا تھا۔

• Literal: “This is that same man who came to our office yesterday.”
• Natural: “This is the same man who came to our office yesterday.”

Both languages allow similar order here, but in more complex sentences you may need to move the relative clause, or even split the idea, to keep the flow clear.

Dealing with Idioms and Fixed Expressions

Idioms usually must not be translated word by word. At C1, you are expected to:

1. Recognize that something is an idiom.
2. Find a functional equivalent in the target language, if possible.
3. If not, choose between literal + explanation, or descriptive translation.

Some examples:

Handling Ambiguity and Polysemy

Many words have multiple meanings, depending on context.

Example: دل in Urdu

Example: “light” in English

As a translator you must disambiguate based on:

• Co-text (other words around it).
• Situation (who is talking, where, about what).
• Genre (medical article, poem, everyday talk).

If a word remains ambiguous in the original and the ambiguity matters, sometimes you must preserve that ambiguity as much as possible, not remove it.

For instance, in poetry:

دل لگا کر دیکھ، شاید وہ بھی بدل جائے

“Del” here can be both “heart” and “attention / focus.” You could translate:

• “Give it your heart, perhaps it too may change.”
• “Give it your full attention, perhaps it too may change.”

If your goal is close literary translation, you might choose a wording that keeps some double meaning, for example:

• “Commit yourself fully, perhaps it too may change.”

Translation Strategies and Procedures

Scholars use many labels for translation moves, but in practice you mostly need to recognize what you are doing and why.

Here are some that are especially useful between Urdu and English:

Example of transposition and modulation together:

• Urdu:
  ہمیں جلدی نکلنا ہوگا ورنہ بہت دیر ہو جائے گی۔
• Literal: “We will have to leave quickly, otherwise it will be very late.”
• Natural: “We need to leave soon, or we will be very late.”

“جلدی نکلنا” (leave quickly) becomes “leave soon,” which is more natural in English in this context.

Checking and Revising Your Translation

Good translators revise their work systematically. A simple multi-step checklist:

1. First draft
• Translate without worrying too much about style.
• Stay close to the original structure while grasping meaning.
2. Clarity pass
• Read in the target language only.
• Ask, “Would a native speaker understand this easily?”
3. Faithfulness pass
• Compare sentence by sentence with the original.
• Check that you did not add, remove, or distort important information.
4. Tone and register pass
• Check politeness level, formality, emotional color.
• Compare the feeling of both texts.
5. Consistency pass
• Terminology, names, titles, key words.
• Are you translating “policy” as “پالیسی” sometimes and “حکمتِ عملی” at other times without reason?
6. Final read as a whole text
• Forget the original for a moment.
• Is your translation coherent and pleasant as an independent piece?

When to Be Creative and When Not To

At advanced level, you must judge when you are allowed to be creative.

You can be more creative with:

• Advertisements and slogans
• Fiction dialogue
• Poetry translations for general readers
• Journalistic headlines (often adapted to local style)

You must be less creative with:

• Legal contracts
• Official documents and certificates
• Academic research
• Instructions and manuals

Example (headline):

Urdu headline:

حکومت کا کسانوں کے لیے بڑا پیکج

Literal:

• “Government’s big package for farmers”

Natural newspaper English:

• “Government announces major relief package for farmers”

“Announces” and “relief” are not present word by word in Urdu, but this is how English news usually describes such measures. This is justified adaptation.

In a legal text, such freedom would not be acceptable.

Typical Urdu ↔ English Translation Pitfalls

Here are some very common mistakes that advanced learners still make:

Over-formality or Under-formality

• Translating every “آپ” into “Sir” or “madam”
• Turning all polite English into extremely formal Urdu (جناب, حضور) even in casual contexts

Example:

• English: “Could you send me the report by Friday?”
• Overly formal Urdu:
  “جناب عالی، گزارش ہے کہ براہ کرم بروز جمعہ تک مجھے رپورٹ ارسال فرما دیں۔”
• More appropriate workplace Urdu:
  “براہ کرم جمعہ تک مجھے رپورٹ بھیج دیں۔”

Calques (Word-for-word copies)

These are translations that keep the original structure in an unnatural way.

• “Do not make your heart small” for دل چھوٹا نہ کرو
  Better: “Do not lose heart.”
• “This matter is on your head” for یہ معاملہ آپ کے سر ہے
  Better: “This matter is your responsibility.”

Ignoring Aspect and Tense Nuances

Urdu aspect markers like رہا, چکا, لیا together with English continuous and perfect can be tricky.

Example:

• وہ آتا رہا۔
  Often: “He kept coming.” / “He came repeatedly.”
  Not just: “He was coming.”
• میں یہ کام کر چکا ہوں۔
  “I have already done this work.”
  Not: “I am having done this work.”

At C1 you should be alert to these aspectual meanings and not reduce everything to a simple present or past.

Over-explaining or Under-explaining Culture

• Over-explaining:
  Adding long cultural notes inside a simple dialogue.
• Under-explaining:
  Leaving unfamiliar terms with no help, in a text for general readers.

Balance:

• Allow some foreign flavor.
• Clarify where misunderstanding would block meaning.

For example, in a novel translated to English:

میں نے رکشہ روکا اور انارکلی کی طرف چل پڑا۔

You might write:

• “I hailed a rickshaw and set off towards Anarkali.”

Here “rickshaw” and “Anarkali” might be left without extra explanation, assuming the readers either know or can infer that these are a local vehicle and a neighborhood / market. A footnote or short glossary at the end of the book can help.

Practice Ideas for Improving Translation Skills

To build your skills between Urdu and English, you can:

1. Translate short texts in both directions
• News paragraphs
• Short dialogues
• Descriptive paragraphs from novels
2. Compare with professional translations
• Find published translations of the same texts.
• Notice where your choices differ and why.
3. Back-translation exercise
• Translate a text from Urdu to English.
• Set it aside for a few days.
• Translate your English version back into Urdu without the original.
• Compare both Urdu versions to see what changed or was lost.
4. Focus drills
• One week, focus only on idioms.
• Another week, on politeness and register.
• Another, on long sentences and information structure.
5. Glossary building
• Keep your own list of difficult words or phrases with good target-language equivalents.
• Note context, style, and possible alternatives.

Vocabulary List for This Chapter

Below is a list of useful vocabulary and terms related to translation skills. Urdu is given in transliteration where relevant for quick reference.

This general overview prepares you for the more specific techniques in the next two chapters, which will look separately at Urdu to English and English to Urdu translation.