There are lots of Latin students who need to know how to translate Latin authors like Cicero and Caesar. Needless to say, the works of these authors have been around for thousands of years and as a result a lot pf people have already said much about the subject of translating them. It is not hard to translate them when one knows what one is doing.
Those who want to translate Latin authors need to have two kinds of information to help them. They need to know how to succeed at translating, or the "do's" of translation.
The other thing translators of Latin authors need to know is what not to do. This is especially important to know because one will be able to avoid making mistakes that a lot of people make, which causes them to waste a lot of their precious time.
That said, let us have a look at some of the do's and don'ts that one should know when translating Latin authors:
1st "Do": divide up the passage being translating utilizing commas, if at all possible.
One should chunk, or divide, sentences like this because it makes it easier to find the main verb of the sentence, which in turn makes it easier to find the subject, which in turn makes it easier to find the objects.
The first "don't": It is best to NOT make an effort to translate each word by itself and then try to string all the words together to try and form a complete sentence. Chances are it will be wrong. Instead, good translators translate entire phrases at a time in order to avoid falling into this pitfall.
When one does not chunk passages of Latin poetry and prose, it all looks like a meaningless jumble of random words.
The next "Do": It is best to identify the subject of the sentence being translated as soon as possible. Since subjects appear at the beginning of English sentences, having the subject at the outset will help to make sense of the rest of the sentence.
Second "Don't": It is inadvisable to commence a translation with the very first word of each sentence. This is because the first word is seldom the subject of the sentence, so it is not worth writing it down only to have to erase it a minute later.
Instead, it is best to seek out the verb in the beginning. As previously mentioned, knowing the verb's person and number will help enormously in identifying the subject.
The third and final "Do": Good translators of Latin authors often look up the words of the sentence they are about to translate before beginning to translate. This is much faster than struggling through the sentence, looking up words, trying to construct a meaning, forgetting the meaning of the word already looked up, and then having to look it up again.
Moreover, even if the translator already knows the meaning of the word, he or she should still write it down. It is one less thing to have to remember when translating.
Third and final "Don't": It is better to NOT attempt to guess meanings if a dictionary is available. It just makes things more difficult because, odds are, the guess is going to be wrong. Granted, there are a lot of cognates with Latin and English words, but there are also a lot of false cognates. What one should do alternatively is to just look up the words one is unsure of.
Now you can hugely increase your chances of success in translating the Latin authors. It is much easier than many Latin students think if one follows the "do's and don'ts" detailed above.
Those who want to translate Latin authors need to have two kinds of information to help them. They need to know how to succeed at translating, or the "do's" of translation.
The other thing translators of Latin authors need to know is what not to do. This is especially important to know because one will be able to avoid making mistakes that a lot of people make, which causes them to waste a lot of their precious time.
That said, let us have a look at some of the do's and don'ts that one should know when translating Latin authors:
1st "Do": divide up the passage being translating utilizing commas, if at all possible.
One should chunk, or divide, sentences like this because it makes it easier to find the main verb of the sentence, which in turn makes it easier to find the subject, which in turn makes it easier to find the objects.
The first "don't": It is best to NOT make an effort to translate each word by itself and then try to string all the words together to try and form a complete sentence. Chances are it will be wrong. Instead, good translators translate entire phrases at a time in order to avoid falling into this pitfall.
When one does not chunk passages of Latin poetry and prose, it all looks like a meaningless jumble of random words.
The next "Do": It is best to identify the subject of the sentence being translated as soon as possible. Since subjects appear at the beginning of English sentences, having the subject at the outset will help to make sense of the rest of the sentence.
Second "Don't": It is inadvisable to commence a translation with the very first word of each sentence. This is because the first word is seldom the subject of the sentence, so it is not worth writing it down only to have to erase it a minute later.
Instead, it is best to seek out the verb in the beginning. As previously mentioned, knowing the verb's person and number will help enormously in identifying the subject.
The third and final "Do": Good translators of Latin authors often look up the words of the sentence they are about to translate before beginning to translate. This is much faster than struggling through the sentence, looking up words, trying to construct a meaning, forgetting the meaning of the word already looked up, and then having to look it up again.
Moreover, even if the translator already knows the meaning of the word, he or she should still write it down. It is one less thing to have to remember when translating.
Third and final "Don't": It is better to NOT attempt to guess meanings if a dictionary is available. It just makes things more difficult because, odds are, the guess is going to be wrong. Granted, there are a lot of cognates with Latin and English words, but there are also a lot of false cognates. What one should do alternatively is to just look up the words one is unsure of.
Now you can hugely increase your chances of success in translating the Latin authors. It is much easier than many Latin students think if one follows the "do's and don'ts" detailed above.
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