Translation Checking in Arnhem Land

I had a great time in Maningrida, the largest community in Arnhem Land, in July 2017. I went in with Dave and Kathy Glasgow, who lived there for 30 years and translated the New Testament into Burarra, one of the local languages. Now in their mid-80s, they have tried to visit about once a year. While there, I got to meet locals and experience church and evening fellowships, as well as help Dave get a start on checking a translation of the book of Acts. The translation is called the Plain English Version (PEV), and is designed for Aboriginal people who speak English as a second or third language. We would take the draft to people and have them read it, or read it out, and ask questions to see if the intended meaning was understood and consider how the translation could be improved. The goal is to have the meaning of each verse accurately understood. When we told one lady about it she said, "It will be good to have the Bible in easy English, then people can understand it better. And the Bible is really important!"

Their English tends to follow the grammatical structures of Aboriginal languages, so can be quite different to the English you or I speak. For example, less information is left implicit, things are mentioned in chronological order, reasons are given before results, speech is usually reported in quotes (direct speech), sentences are short and simple. The list goes on, but the point is, it's different! So it makes it very difficult for people who speak English in this way to read the English Bibles that are out there. Many don't have the Bible in their own language, almost none have the whole Bible, and many go to church with people who speak other languages or non-Aboriginal people who only speak English. So there is a great need for this translation, and it is also being used to help Aboriginal people translate the Bible into their own languages. Over half the New Testament has been done, with several more books that just need official consultant checks.

Generally I was just learning from Dave and Kathy, throwing in a question or suggestion here or there, but the generational gap did give me the opportunity to serve as their technical adviser on a few occasions (and they were also glad I could help with driving a 4WD and tying knots as well as cooking and cleaning :p). The picture below is of me installing an app with the Burarra New Testament so that people can read or listen to it on their phone. It was so encouraging seeing people hear the Bible in their own language and clearly understanding it! It was also discouraging when we tried checking some of Acts with some men from a different language group, one without a Bible translation, and found they didn't have enough English to understand the Simplified English Version. Please pray with me for more Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to get involved in Bible translation!