‘The Chosen’ is a movie series that I really love to watch and rewatch. It sets my faith on fire. It gives me a fresh perspective on the Jesus of the New Testament and of the historical and cultural situations of first-century Christians.
On January 21, I received a new translation project from Christian Lingua. The subject is about the Lord’s Supper which was taken from the portrayal of the movie series ‘The Chosen.’
The schedule of the project is tight; it should be submitted after 6 days. The total word-count is 12, 365 words. I successfully finished the project.
Challenge and Learning Experience
There are two particular challenges that I encountered in the original material.
First is what I call the author’s love for ‘insertion.’
Here’s a simple example.
“If we could have forgiveness — if we could have that sort of bread—how satisfying would that be?”
The simple statement should be: “If we could have forgiveness, how satisfying would that be?” This one is easy to translate, but since he inserted some sort of clarifier or footnote, the simple flow of thought in the simple statement is interrupted by the inserted thought, “if we could have that sort of bread.” But of course, even with this insertion, the statement is still easy to translate—the insertion is not complex. However, in the material there are complex insertions that challenge my translation. Now, I know that sometimes, in a conversational manner, we speak like this; we insert things to clarify something. But too much insertion might lose the previous idea or thought mentioned. And so, you need to translate the insertion in a way that will not lose the thought previously mentioned or rephrase the statement.
The second one is the manner of speaking. Of course, Americans speak differently from the way Filipinos speak. Our thought construction is different. For example, read the following:
“They both have betrayed Jesus. They both have turned their backs on the Bread. But then their stories diverge again. They both have just as much access to the Table and its Bread in the wake of their betrayal, but Judas does not take hold of the opportunity (or the Bread) — again, see Matthew 27:1-5 — while Peter does (see the overall narrative of John 21:1-19, which just so happens to take place over a meal. You could close the sermon walking your listeners through the parallel journeys of both men, only to circle back to your listeners themselves and the words spoken already: “Jesus, Bread of Life, satisfies our soul’s deep hunger. But will we come to the Table and take hold of the Bread? That’s the question.” And off you go into a more conventional time of invitation, a time of Communion, or whatever next movement of congregational worship you deem appropriate.”
Now, there are times that even though you understand the main thought of the author, considering all the words or idioms that the author used, sometimes you really need to think of the proper words (according to your culture and manner of speaking) that best suit the thought of the original. For instance, finding similar idioms in Tagalog for these statements makes me think for a minute or two:
- “Walking your listeners through the parallel journey of both men”
- “Only to circle back to your listeners”
- “Off you go into a more conventional time of invitation”
Now, apply these examples to larger ones; finding similar idioms will become a bit difficult.
- Proof of Transaction and Successful
- Translation Sample
SALINDIWA: FabregasWorks 
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