Welcome to Bible translation! We are pleased that you desire to translate God’s message into the language of your people, whether this is through translaton of Bible stories or books of Scripture. This Process Manual is a step-by-step guide to help translation teams know what they need to do from the start of a project to its completion. This guide will help a translation team from the initial setup to the final publishing of translated and checked content.
Translation is a very complex task that takes commitment, organization, and planning. There are many required steps to take a translation from an idea to a completed, checked, distributed, and in-use translation. The information in this Process Manual will help you to know all of the necessary steps in the translation process.
Translating the Bible requires many skills, so one of the first things that you need to think about is how to choose a team that can do this work.
As you begin selecting a translation and checking team, there are many different types of people and roles that are needed. There are also specific qualifications that are needed for each team.
There are many decisions the translation team will need to make, many of them right at the beginning of the project. Included are the following:
After the translation committee makes these decisions, it is good to write them down in a document that everyone involved in the translation can read. This will help everyone to make similar translation decisions and will avoid further arguments about these things.
After choosing the translation team, it will be time to start giving them Translation Training.
It is recommended that you consult the Translation Manual frequently as you translate. Before you start translating, we recommend that you start working your way through the Translation Manual at least until you know the difference between a literal translation and a meaning-based translation. Much of the rest of the Translation Manual can be used as a “just-in-time” learning resource.
Some important subjects that everyone on the translation team must learn before starting a translation project include:
Some other important topics as you get started also include:
When you have Set Up a Translation Team and want to make a First Draft of your translation, use translationStudio. We recommend that you follow this Translation Process.
The recommended platform for drafting Bible translations in the Door43 online community is translationStudio (https://ufw.io/ts/). The recommended platform for checking Bible translations is translationCore (https://ufw.io/tc/). You may set up translationStudio on Android, Windows, Mac, or Linux devices (see Setting up translationStudio for more information). You may set up translationCore on Windows, Mac, or Linux devices. These platforms are free to download and use. They import and export Bible books in USFM format.
If using translationStudio is not an option for your team, then you may consider using other online or offline tools. Please note: if you do not use translationStudio but do want to use other Bible translation software, then it will be your responsibility to ensure that your translated content is in USFM format (see File Formats for more information).
The mobile (Android) edition of translationStudio is available from the Google Play Store or via direct download from https://ufw.io/ts/. If you install from the Play Store, then you will be notified by the Play Store when a new version is available. Note that you may also copy the installation file (apk) to other devices to share translationStudio with others without using the internet.
The latest version of translationStudio for desktop or laptop computers (Windows, Mac, or Linux) is available from https://ufw.io/ts/. To install the program, navigate to the “Desktop” section and download the latest release. Note that you may also copy the installation file to other computers to share translationStudio with others without using the internet.
Once installed, both editions of translationStudio are designed to work similarly. You do not need an internet connection to use translationStudio! When using translationStudio for the first time, the software will take you to a screen where you must sign an agreement to the Statement of Faith, the Translation Guidelines, and the Open License.
After this first-use screen, the software will then take you to the Home screen where you can create a new project. You will need to give the project a name (usually a book of the Bible), identify the project type (usually Bible or Open Bible Stories), and identify the target language. Once your project is created, you can start translating. Make sure that you understand the Principles of Good Translation and know how to use the Translation Helps that are built into translationStudio. These will help you to gain a better understanding of the source text and how to translate it. Note that your work is automatically saved. You may also choose to back up, share, or upload your work at various intervals (use the menu to access these functions). For guidelines on how to start translating, see Translation Overview and Making a First Draft.
For more information on how to use translationStudio, please see the documentation at https://ts-info.readthedocs.io/.
For “Other Languages” (OLs, languages other than Gateway Languages), which are most of the languages of the world, the following is the process of translation that unfoldingWord recommends and supports with translation resources and tools.
After Setting up a Translation Committee and training translators in Translation Principles and how to use translationStudio, we recommend that you follow this process:
Repeat these steps with each story of Open Bible Stories, until you have finished all fifty.
After finishing Open Bible Stories, you will have gained enough skill and experience to start translating the Bible. We recommend that you start with a book that is Difficulty Level 2. Then follow this process:
Repeat these steps with each Bible book.
Plan to have someone from the translation team continue to maintain the translation on Door43, editing it to correct errors and improve it according to suggestions from the church community. The translation can easily be downloaded and reprinted as often as desired.
It is recommended that you consult the Checking Manual frequently as you check your translation. Before you start checking, we recommend that you start working your way through the Checking Manual until you understand what is required for each check. As you work through the checking process, you will need to consult the Checking Manual frequently.
Some information that the translation team should know before you start checking:
translationCore® is an open-source and open-licensed software program for checking Bible translations. It is completely free to use. The latest version of translationCore for desktop or laptop computers (Windows, Mac, or Linux) is available from https://translationcore.com/. To install the program, click on “Download” to get the latest release. Note that you may also copy the installation file to other computers to share translationCore with others without using the internet.
For documentation on how to use translationCore, please see https://tc-documentation.readthedocs.io/. The following is an overview.
To start, you will need to log in with a user name. If your translation is on Door43, use your Door43 user name. If you do not want to use the internet, then you can enter any name that you want to use, either real or a pseudonym.
If you logged in with your Door43 user name, translationCore will know which translations belong to you and will make them available to download into translationCore. You can choose from the list of your projects in Door43 which translation project you want to check. You may also load translations that are already saved on your computer without using the internet.
translationCore currently contains three checking tools:
Instructions for using each tool can be found by clicking on the name of the tool above.
At any point, you may upload your work to Door43 by returning to the project list and clicking on the three-dot menu next to the project that you want to upload and choosing “Upload to Door43.” You can also save your project to a file on your computer. Once uploaded, Door43 will keep your work in a repository under your user name and you can access your work there (see Publishing).
Once a work has been uploaded to Door43, it is automatically available online under your user account. This is referred to as self-publishing. You will have access to a web version of your project at https://door43.org/u/user_name/project_name (where user_name is your username and project_name is your translation project). Both translationStudio and translationCore will give you the correct link when you upload. You can also browse all works on https://door43.org.
From your Door43 project page you can:
For more about distributing your project to others, see Distribution.
Biblical content is worthless unless it is distributed and used. One advantage of using the Door43 translation and publishing platform is that it provides multiple, simple ways of distributing content. On Door43:
The biggest factor that enables distribution of content is the Open License that is used for all content on Door43. This license gives everybody the freedom they need to:
for any purpose, even commercial, without cost. “Freely you have received; freely give.” (Matthew 10:8b)
For ways to share your translations both online and offline, see Sharing Content.
Sharing content that is in translationStudio is easy. For offine sharing, use the Backup feature from the tS menu. For online sharing, use the Upload feature from the tS menu. In translationCore, use the three-dot menu on the Projects page. For offline sharing, use either Export to USFM or Export to CSV. For online sharing, use Upload to Door43.
If you upload your work from translationStudio or translationCore, then it will automatically appear online on Door43. All of your uploaded content will appear under your user account. For example, if your username is test_user then you may find all your work at https://git.door43.org/test_user/. You can share your work with others online by giving them the link to the projects you have uploaded.
You can also generate and download documents from your project pages on Door43. Once you have downloaded these, you can transfer them to others however you would like, including printing and distributing paper copies.