Anytime I visit my family back in Puerto Rico, I find myself struggling to explain what I do for work.
“Soy una editora de libros,”—roughly translated to “I’m an editor of books”—I repeat to my grandpa for what seems like the tenth time. He’s always intrigued to hear how work is going, but first he must understand what I do (every time).
He owns a laboratory that he’s been running for decades, so it’s safe to say he’s not too familiar with the publishing industry. “So, you’re not writing them?” he asks in Spanish.
I proceed to woodenly explain that there are rules to publishing books and articles. Someone has to ensure they are being followed! My go-to analogy when explaining why I edit is comparing it to painting an art piece.
An artist has a picture in their head they are trying to portray, but sometimes they don’t have all the right colors (in this case, words). I can help you find those. And most of the time those words are in English, a language I have a rather robust knowledge of (at least according to my résumé).
When I was asked to translate several Brown Books Kids titles into Spanish as part of our licensing partnership with Frog Street Press, a children’s publisher supporting dual-language learning, I was a tad intimidated. Spanish is my first language, but I didn’t study Spanish like I did English. The majority of my schooling was in English.
Still, I was delighted to tackle a challenging project and finally put to use my highly valuable skill of being bilingual.
The Brain Switch
Like many bilingual Spanish speakers, there’s a certain “switch” that takes place in your brain when moving from one language to another. This helps with the swapping of parts of speech when constructing sentences in Spanish. The difficulty of translating English to Spanish is having both of these modes on simultaneously.
Even when translating children’s books with seemingly simple language, you must first understand the message the author is intending to get across—because translating directly would not only produce incorrect grammar, it would be a disservice to the author.
There are multiple factors to keep in mind when approaching the translating of children’s books. First: making sure the author’s message stays consistent and true to the original text. Then: ensuring proper sentence structure and grammar and making sure the words you have chosen are of appropriate difficulty for the intended audience. Perhaps the most difficult scenario is when the book has a rhyme scheme.
After I’ve fully grasped the author’s intended message, I’ll switch to Spanish mode and try my hand at translating one sentence at a time. Again, this entails making sure the words I’ve chosen are of appropriate difficulty and also making sure they are proper Spanish, which means taking into account any slang or regional dialect. Once I’ve formed my translated sentence, I can begin to refine the words individually. It’s a lot of trial and error. I find myself reading my sentences aloud to make sure they roll off the tongue as naturally as possible.
This process becomes twice as challenging when introducing a rhyme scheme. Keeping in mind all the factors previously mentioned, I also must consider the rhyming nature of the book and at times make sure the rhythm of the text follows certain common nursery tunes, like the alphabet song or “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”
When directly translating rhyming sentences, it is almost impossible for the results to naturally rhyme. This is where it is of utmost importance that the translator fully understands the message and captures the voice of the author.
I find the best part of a challenging project is the feeling after completing it. I didn’t know I could feel so accomplished by just finding that one right word or finally finding a word that rhymes with just the right number of syllables.
Even after all the words have been found, there are still accents and punctuation, without which the message can be completely altered. For example, “papá” (dad) and “papa” (potato). Just one little accent mark (tilde) can make all the difference.
But after all the words and rhyming phrases have been found and every tilde has been accounted for, you are left with a beautiful message and an immense sense of pride for your Latin roots.
Completing this project had been a wonderful test of knowledge, proficiency, and resilience. It brought a feeling of validation for not only my skills as a translator but as a native Spanish speaker who finds herself constantly immersed in the English language.
I am continually grateful to my editors and superiors who trusted in me to tackle such a meaningful project. Expanding literacy and accessibility to literature for a diverse set of audiences is a steadfast passion of mine, and doing my part in contributing to such a cause has brought a great delight and appreciation for not only my work but for my workplace as well.
You managed to capture what happens in bilingual brains with such a finesse that deserves the biggest accolades. Saying that I am proud would be an understatement.