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August 2006 Newsletter

Comprehension testers – essential team members

IBT’s translation teams consist of translators, exegetical checkers, reviewers, coordinators, comprehension testers and translation consultants. The comprehension testers take care of an important part of the work – they take the translation to ordinary native speakers of the language to check that the text is understandable before it is printed. There is always a need for such people, but they have to be trained for the job.

So in July Kabardians, Adyges, Tabassarans, Nogais and other representatives of IBT’s Caucasian translation projects gathered in Nalchik, northern Caucasus, for a training seminar on comprehension testing. Experienced co-workers from SIL and IBT provided the teaching both for experienced testers to enable them to share their expertise with beginners, and for potential new testers.

After an introductory lesson the participants turned theory into practice, were divided into pairs and acted out possible scenarios. Each person had the opportunity to be both tester and respondent. After each session the participants were asked to write up an analysis of the results, just as if it were to be presented to a translation group. Afterwards the scenarios were discussed and the participants were given feedback. They were also taught how best to prepare the text for testing.

One participant, Sveta from the Adyge translation team, tells how she became a comprehension tester:

“My way to God took time. He was patiently working with me. The autumn of 1998 became the turning point. Also my service for Him was gradually developing. At first I was given responsibility for the church library, then I was made leader of a home group, and then Sunday school teacher. Then came the unforgettable moment when I was asked to type in the changes to the Adyge translation of the Psalms, after it had been edited. I remember sitting in front of the computer, crying. I prayed and said to the Lord that I was not worthy to do this job. To me it was a very responsible task to be involved in the translation of the Scriptures. And the Book of Psalms itself is my favorite book in the Bible, as I love to sing and praise the Lord. After a year I was asked to go to Moscow to attend a seminar on field testing. After this seminar I became a member of the Adyge translation team. Although there has been resistance, God’s calling to me has been stronger than all the obstacles. This is the most important task that I have!”

Project of the month

The seminar on comprehension testing is only one of several seminars that IBT is arranging for its translation teams. Please support our training programme with your gift this month!

Here you can sign for the IBT Russia/CIS monthly English Newsletter

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