TRANSLATION CENTER

Later, it was found that it was difficult for the church and the local people to undertand the Christian books, pamphlets, and other materials, written in English language, because English is neither the mother-tongue of the Indians, nor many people have gone to school to learn it as their Fourth language !

HINDI, officially, is the National Language of India, and, of course, the First Language of Every Indian. Then comes the Mother-Tongue of the Indians, out of 14 officially-recognized Indian Regional Languages. The Third Language is either SANSKRIT [the oldest language of India and its historical / religious books, written about (circa) 5 to 6000 years ago], or any other Regional Indian Language. The Fourth Language is English, French or Portuguese, due to colonization of India, and, at present, these are neither compulsory to learn nor students choose them to learn, for being an extra burden of studies.

Another important point is that, some of the Christian material, which is in English written by the Western writers, is written by taking into consideration the Western society, which has had a Christian Foundation for centuries. Therefore, some English material, for the Indian people becomes irrelevant because they do not understand even the very basics of Christianity. Some even do not know who Jesus is, where is Palestine, whether Christianity is Asian or Western, etc?

Majority of the population of India ( 80%) is Hindu. Christians were 3% in the last census but now they are only 2.5% (the number is reducing daily), because Christianty does not offer anything to them !!! That is the position in North India, due to which there are very few Christians or churches.

Thus, there is a great need of re-writing/ translating the entire Christian literature relevant to the understanding and the needs of India, and then translating it into almost ALL regional languages, for dissemination to the masses.

The Translation Centre has been established in Nagpur, and most of the work is done in HINDI, because it is the mother-tongue of the North Indians, and also the National Language of India. There are people from South India too, who have been very active in this field , but their translation work in North Indian languages cannot be ascertained due to the vast differences in literary writing/translation and language of the people, per se, as spoken; and the change of dialect every 5kms in India. Therefore, there could be seemingly vast anomalies in literary translation vis-a-vis the language-as-spoken and understood by the people (phrases/jokes/manner of address,etc.).

As stated above, the Christian material in English is written by the Western writers, and that too, mainly, by the Americans . Indians are taught BRITISH ENGLISH and, on several occasions, the meanings of some words differ, while translating. For example, the word "elevator" is used in North America meaning a mechanical device which takes people up and down in a multi-storey building. In British English, it is called "lift" . Any Indian translator will translate "elevator" as "somebody who boosts the feelings / emotions of a person". The situation will become worse if the person has "not seen" an elevator in his life, because he may not even understand the word ! (There are many Indians from the rural areas who do not know what an elevator is ! That is why the translation / writing must be Indian-oriented, and understood by the local people, in their local language !). For instance, if you write "lift", majority of Indians living in metropolis may understand the word. It is real that if the material is written in American English some difficulties are encountered in translation work by the Indian translators. Therefore, the translation work should be handled by those who have the orientation and experience of American English/phrases, and also of the life and culture of the people of the United States and/or other Western Countries.

Education of the Translators is also important. Some Christians in India are not college/ university graduates. This is an important point because English is taught in College and University, and that too if someone voluntarily offers this subject. It is NOT a compulsory subject in India. Thus, sometimes, you may get a College graduate, as a translator, who may not have studied English Language and Literature at all. The people who are only High School graduates with a Bible College diploma in India, in most cases, may also prove incompetent to undertake the translation work.

Moreover, the translator should have studied HINDI LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE to do proper justice to the translation. A person with only speaking knowledge of Hindi may not be able to do the work properly. Thus, if this task is given to a middle-educated person, it may increase the load of work, and costs for re-correction and re-translation !

We have been able to undertake the following work of translation :

1. WHY I AM A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST - by Leroy Brownlow

(Translated from English into Hindi by Dr. Raja J. Singh and Mrs. Indira Singh / Translations checked and corrected by Ms Annie Joseph, Professor of Hindi. The manuscript is with the printer for printing .)

2. THINGS ETERNALLY IMPORTANT - by Charles F. Scott

(Translated from English into Hindi by Mrs. Indira Singh and Ms Annie Joseph. It has been one of the best-translated works and was Most Popular and appreciated all over India. 1000 copies each were printed x 4 times for distribution.)

3. FACTS ABOUT THE BIBLE - by Dr. Raja J. Singh

(Originally written for the Indian public in English, and translated into HINDI and MARATHI by Mrs. Indira Singh, Ms Annie Joseph, and Mr. Wadekar. 100 copies each were printed x 4 times for distribution.)

4. THE CHURCH OF CHRIST - by Dr. Raja J. Singh

(Originally written for the Indian public in English, and traslated into HINDI and MARATHI by Mrs. Indira Singh, Ms. Annie Joseph, and Mr. Chandekar. 500 copies each were printed and distributed.)

5. THE CHURCH OF THE BIBLE

(English Pamphlet, printed in the U.S. and translated by Dr. Raja J. Singh into HINDI and by Mr Khadakkar into MARATHI. 200 copies each were printed for distribution.)

6. ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER

(English pamphlet, printed in the U.S. and translated by Dr. Raja J. Singh in HINDI and by Mr. Khadakkar into MARATHI. 200 copies each were printed for distribution.)

7. AM I MY BROTHER'S EXAMPLE IN DOCTRINE? -by Dr. Raja J. Singh

(Paper presented at the Eleventh Annual Lectureship, The National Bible College, Madras, India, 1993. Translated into HINDI by Mr.Indira Singh, and 100 copies printed and distributed.)

8. AN EVALUATION OF CHAPTER ONE OF THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE ROMANS - by Dr. Raja J. Singh

(Paper presented at the International Preachers' Seminar, Nagpur, India, 1993. Translated into HINDI by Mrs. Indira Singh, 100 copies were printed and distributed.)

9. MIRACLES THE BASIS OF JUDAEO-CHRISTIAN FAITH - by Dr. Raja J. Singh

(Originally written in English for The Hitavada Press, Nagpur, explaining the people of India about the basis of Christian Faith, which was translated into HINDI and MARATHI , printed and distributed by the Publisher to thousands of people in India.)

10. MEDIA AND RELIGION IN INDIA - by Dr. Raja J. Singh

(Originally written in English, over 500 copies were printed and distributed.)

11. WHAT IS EASTER? - by Dr. Raja J. Singh

(Originally written in English for The Hitavada Press, Nagpur, explaining the people of India the " meaning of Easter" vis-a-vis the BIBLE , in an attempt to correct the age-old thoughts of the people about Easter. The article was translated into HINDI and MARATHI , printed and distributed to thousands of people in India.)

12.

OVER 150 SERMONS are originally written, in HINDI, after due research of the BIBLE, by Dr. Raja J. Singh. They all need to be printed in HINDI, and to be translated into MARATHI and other Regional Languages of India. But, due to lack of FUNDS for this project, this work has not been undertaken. We have absolute Faith that one day God will open door for their printing and distribution.

AS WE HAVE BEEN INVOLVED WITH THE TRANSLATION , PRINTING, AND PUBLISHING WORK FOR MANY YEARS, YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO LET US UNDERTAKE ANY WORK YOU HAVE FOR TRANSLATION AND/OR PRINTING OR PUBLISHING IN INDIAN LANGUAGES.