In an effort to promote professionalism, clarity and quality in the translation industry, Malawi Union of Academic and Non-Fiction Authors (Muana) has trained its members in the trade.
The workshop was held last week at Liwonde Development Centre and saw 20 members drawn from across the country being certified as professionals upon completion of the translation course.
Muana president Max Iphani observed that present translated materials leave a lot to be desired, a development that compelled his body to organise the workshop.
He said: “Today, everyone is at liberty to translate material. As a result, there is a lot of bad work out there which is misleading consumers because they are poorly done.
“Therefore, we thought it wise to train our members in the trade to give them expertise on how to translate and produce high quality and professional work in the country.”
Iphani said translation was overlooked by a number of players despite its significance and added that the Malawi market is flooded with films and important documents that were poorly translated.
He cautioned government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and companies to treat translation of important materials and information with diligence and professionalism.
The training’s facilitator, Pascal Kishindo, of University of Malawi’s (Unima) Chancellor College said a lot of translation in Malawi is done by amateurs.
“Translation is serious business which needs to be handled professionally. The training equipped Muana members with skills and techniques of translation,” he said.
Kishindo said translation of several materials, including legal and scientific documents, needs to be handled professionally by applying basics and ethics when translating them.
