Translating Two Ways to Live

Two Ways to Live, the simple gospel summary that you can find right here, is now available in Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish.

These translations have taken quite a while to come. But there are all sorts of tricky things to be considered here when working for a publisher of small financial means. One of them is, how do you know your translation is really getting across the exact meaning you intend, when you don't speak the target language and you receive sometimes varied advice from those who actually know what they're talking about? I haven't envied Ian Carmichael or Emma this job one little bit.

I live in mortal fear of the day (and so, I think, do Ian and Emma) when an outraged Hungarian picks up the phone to issue a death threat against us for putting out a Hungarian Two Ways to Live that actually says, in translation, "May your underpants be infested with the offspring of a thousand Ethiopian leeches."

Hmm. Perhaps before we put out that translation I'll consult with my good friend and relic of the Austro-Hungarian empire, Andrew Katay.

Though these days, can I even trust Katay? ;-)