A community checker

Caroline

The three main aims in a Bible translation are for it to be Accurate, Beautiful (natural language) and Clear. So before it is checked for accuracy by a trained consultant, it goes through what are known as 'community checks'. The passage is read by (or to) people from the target audience and questions are asked to ascertain whether the text is easy to understand and understood correctly.

Asking direct questions and asking questions you already know the answer to, are not normal for many Indigenous Australians. (Have you ever thought about how strange it is for a teacher/parent to ask a child what colour the sky is? Don't they already know?!?)  So the translation checking process can be intimidating and confusing for many people. But I'm very thankful for Caroline, an Indigenous woman who now lives in Darwin. She understands that we just want to make the translation better and doesn't feel like I'm testing her. She's even able to consider what words are most commonly used by others in her community and often makes suggestions about things I haven't even asked about. When she was happy with some changes she made, she said (in her dialect of English), “That’s straight out and explains. People don’t understand big words.”

She volunteers her time, so I figure it's only fair to buy her lunch, take her to the post office and agree to 'lend' her some grocery money :) Thanks to all of you who make that possible!!

Give thanks for Caroline and all the others who have helped check the PEV translation, and pray that the final translation will be understood easily and accurately.