BI Base Plan

The translation brief is a statement of the standards for the project, such as which source texts are used, and the specific audience and intended uses of the translation. Setting these principles out at the beginning will help the translation team work together towards the common goal.

Any resources that BI has for a particular project should be given to the translation team.

The first translation task is to study the text carefully, using Bible versions and commentaries. This is called “doing the exegesis”. There should be at least one person on each translation team who is a skilled exegete.

As the translation team does their first draft, they should have the Biblical Terms Renderings window open and the BIM_E list selected to keep track of all key terms that BI has identified as important. They should make sure they are consistently rendering the terms and giving explanations when alternative terms must be used.

Section headings should draw from the wording used in the texts of their respective sections. Major book title(s) should be added at the beginning of the book. If there are parallel passage references, they should be added with the correct book abbreviation and punctuation. Psalms has special headings, so those should be added too. (See “Headings” in the “USFMs for ParaTExt” PDF.)

Translation team should draft footnotes, both those connected to the language, the translation, as well as the official BI footnotes. These may be drafted after main text has been finalized. After you have drafted the footnotes, it may be helpful to go to Tools–>Checklist–>Footnotes. This checklist will compare the footnotes in your text to other resources that you specify.Make sure the formatting of the footnotes is correct, using the “USFMs for ParaTExt” PDF to guide.

For all languages, make sure that the “Language Settings” (in the Project menu) are correctly set. You cannot “Run Spell Check” if the rules aren’t standardized yet.For languages whose orthography is not standardized, a linguistics consultant will need to help the translation team standardize their spelling rules.

Translation team & the RRC should work out the spelling issues for proper names early in the project, taking into account all the various issues at one time rather than dealing with each one as they come up and then revising previous decisions. The Biblical terms tool can help with the verification of names if the list is filtered for the “Names” category.

The translation team should check their translation according to the paragraphing of the BIM.

Notes Assigned to Me

The translator, a mother-tongue speaker of the receptor language, reads the draft aloud to the team, and possibly other mother-tongue speakers of the language to check for naturalness and clarity. Then they adjust the text based on feedback.

This check is done by the translation team. Compare the draft with one or two translations in the national language, discuss exegetical choices that have been made in the translation, identify possible exegetical mistakes in the translation; identify any missing verses or sentences.

If there is more than one translator, the translators check each other’s work for naturalness and clarity.

Discussions about spelling and word choices that should be remembered should be noted in the appropriate place in the Wordlist and the Biblical Terms tool, respectively.

Under the Checking Menu is “Spell Check Current Book”, click on this and accept or correct the spelling of all of the words present. For those that need more discussion open the Wordlist tool and add a spelling discussion note.It’s better to spell check as you go. Commonly spelled words should be approved to decrease the amount of words that need attention.

Now that the translation team has entered some text into the project and have checked spelling for that text, they can turn on “display spelling” to let Paratext identify misspellings.

Under Tools>Checklists>Section headings.., translation team should check the section headings with those in the BIM_E. Also, they should make sure section breaks (/b) occur in the right spots.

The translation team should read the text and verify that the paragraph breaks are in the desired places. Using BIM as a base, this check can be done using Tools > Checklists > Compare Markers and look for the new paragraph markers such as \p, and \m.

The translation team should verify that any text that needs special formatting has been done correctly. See the “USFMs for ParaTExt” PDF for all formatting issues. Any formatting conventions that the translation committee has agree to do should be checked to make sure they are done.

Open the “Assignments and Progress” window and correct all errors/issues shown there. Once all errors are corrected and open notes are resolved, print a copy of the books or chapters to be reviewed by community group. The two simplest ways to print text from Paratext are found under the “File” menu. They are “Print Draft” and “Save as RTF”. There are other methods available for more advanced formatting, such as “Export to Pathway”. Use the method specified by your project administrator or translation consultant.

This check is done by the RRC (Read the draft, check the general flow of the discourse, its logic, chronology, participant reference, sentence length & rhythm, language style and register, etc.). RRC adds notes in text for discussion at RRC meeting.

Naturalness and clarity are probably checked at the same time, but the two tasks are separated out to make sure they are both done. RRC checks to make sure the meaning is as clear as the biblical text is. RRC adds notes in text for discussion at RRC meeting.

RRC evaluates the key terms chosen by the translation team. Notes are placed in the discussion section of the particular term of the Biblical Terms tool.

RRC discusses issues they raised in their individual reading of the text before the meeting with the translation team. Note that the discussion should be limited to the issues they noted during their personal reading; they should not have to discuss every verse of the translation.

If the RRC recommends changes to the text, the translation team will have to check the key terms in those places to adjust accordingly. The translation team may also need to discuss certain key terms with the RRC.

A back-translation is a translation into the major national or trade language of the area. It should be done by a speaker of the language other than the translator. It helps to show whether the translation is communicating effectively and accurately, and it serves as the basis for the consultant check.

The translation team should verify that back translation is complete, and there are no missing words or phrases, so it is usable by consultant. The purpose of this check is not for the team to change what the back translator thinks the text means.

Consultant evaluates the text and places notes with his observations in the text (or back translation). The evaluation should focus on accuracy, clarity, naturalness, and acceptability of the translation including all supplementary materials and illustrations used.

Consultant interacts with the translation team concerning his observations about the text and supplementary materials, and gives assistance and advice as requested. The project administrator should give one team member (that could be himself) editing permission in the Assignments and Progress window for the “Consultant visit” task.

Consultant works with translation team to revise key terms as needed while checking the translation.

After each chapter has been consultant-checked, the translation team should read the text aloud to make sure it flows well. They should do this in the evenings so they can bring issues to the consultant the next day. They should not change the text but should insert notes at the spots that they want to change and then change them in the presence of the consultant.

With the consultant present, the translation team discusses all issues that were raised during the read-alouds and makes necessary changes.

During the first consultant visit, the consultant should work with the team to determine their quotation rules. It is good to establish these rules after some material has been drafted so that you have text to work with.

During the first consultant visit, the consultant should work with the translation team to determine their number settings. It is good to establish these settings after some material has been drafted so that you have text to work with.

During the first consultant visit, the consultant should work with the translation team to determine their reference format and populate book names (short names, long names, and abbreviations).

After a book has been consultant checked, the translation team should go back and make sure the Renderings match the revised text. Using the Biblical Terms tool in the Tools menu, set the filters for “current book” and “missing renderings.” Then change the latter filter to “unresolved rendering discussion notes” to make sure there are no unresolved discussions.

Consultant submits a report after consultant visit has been completed. Report should include update on team progress. This report is submitted regardless of preliminary approval. Such approval does not necessitate submitting another report.

Any unresolvable issues are taken to RRC for testing/discussion. Consultant should work through these issues at next visitThe consultant should create a special tag for these notes. In the Project Menu, click on “Project Properties and Settings” and then the “Notes” tab. Create a new tag. In order to be consistent across projects, we recommend to use the up-pointing red triangle.

Any lingering questions that were taken to RRC should now be answered. The translation team should prepare the RRC answers to be reviewed with the consultant at the next workshop. No changes to the text should be made at this time.

Once all unresolved issues from consultant and RRC discussions have been resolved, the translation team should run a spell check to make sure all spellings are correct. Under the Checking Menu is “Spell Check Current Book”, click on this and accept or correct the spelling of all of the words present.

Once all issues have been resolved, the consultant gives preliminary approval. Final approval will come after all quality checks have been completed.

Once proper approvals have been obtained and a system of gaining feedback has been written, the translation team can distribute the trial edition to learn how to improve their translation. Trial editions should be done every 3 years for the life of a project.

Translation team should use informal means to test the translated material with the language group.

With the consultant present, the translation team discusses changes to the text and makes the approved ones.

Translation team drafts the book introduction. Be careful to use the same key terms in the introduction as in the text.

Translation team drafts glossary entries. The glossary is one of the books that occur after Revelation, and its short name is GLO. It is recommended to add glossary entries from within the Biblical terms tool. Using the Biblical terms tool will create GLO book for you. Look in Help under “glossary” for more information.Any special formatting of transliterated words should be done at this point.

After this add-on is translated, it should be compared with the translation of the terms in the texts to make sure the texts and the Glossary correspond with each other.

Translation team drafts charts of weights and measures.

After this add-on is translated, it should be compared with the translation of the terms in the texts to make sure the texts and the charts correspond with each other.

Translation team drafts names of God and gods add-on.

Translation team drafts Jewish months add-on.

Translation team drafts Jewish feasts add-on.

Translation team should work with their committee to determine if they want a traditional concordance or a topical index to go with their translation. Because of space limitations, we allow only one or the other.

If the team chose the Topical Index, they should translate all the terms.

After this add-on is translated, it should be compared with the translation of the terms in the texts to make sure the texts and the Index correspond with each other, where necessary.

BI has map entry forms that include the various place names and appropriate Scripture references where those names occur. The translation team should make sure that the names on the maps agree with those in the texts.

Most add-ons need to be reviewed except maps. RRC inserts notes where needed to discuss with translation team.

Translation team meets with RRC to discuss all their notes and revise accordingly.

A back translation should be prepared for the consultant to check the translation of add-ons.

Consultant checks all add-ons and translators revise where necessary. The translation team may need to discuss certain issues with the RRC before finalizing.

Consultant confirms that no lingering issues remain on the add-ons.

Verify that all Proper Names are correct and that there are no lingering issues.

If a language treats group names differently (e.g., group name based on ancestor is different than group name based on location), every word that refers to a people group needs to be checked using the “People Group Names” (OT) Checklist. (This check is not yet in Paratext.)

Every occurrence of sibling words in the gospels (“Olders and Youngers” Checklist—in WebCollab check under “Checklist Word Studies”). (This check is not yet in Paratext.)

Every occurrence of “you” needs to be checked if the local/receptor language has distinct words for the singular and plural forms. Use the check “You singular-plural” (or “French Tu-Vous”) which lists only the occurrences of the second-person pronoun that might cause problems for the translator since the change in form of the pronoun might be unexpected. (This check is not yet in Paratext.)

Every occurrence of the first-person plural pronoun in the OT needs to be checked if the receptor language marks exclusive and inclusive these pronouns. Use the “OT Inclusive Exclusive We Spreadsheet” to help you. (This check is not yet in Paratext.)

Every occurrence of the first-person plural pronoun in the OT needs to be checked if the receptor language marks exclusive and inclusive these pronouns. Use the “OT Inclusive Exclusive We Spreadsheet” to help you. (This check is not yet in Paratext.)

If the language has a special form for dual person, the translation team should check these using the BIM as a guide. (No specific help has been created in Paratext or otherwise for this check.)

Note the capitalization conventions in the “BI Style Guide.” Under the Checking menu in Paratext, run checks for Chapter/Verse, Markers, Characters (Combination), Punctuation, References, Quoted Text, Capitalization, Repeated Words, Unmatched Pairs of Punctuation, Quotations, and Numbers.

There are various checks in this category for words that have a capital letter for the first letter (“Capital Day in the NT”, “Capital Law in the NT”, “CapitalProphets in NT”, various names of God in the OT checklists; only the Day and Prophets checklists are in French). We actually recommend doing as little capitalization for “prophets,” “law,” and “day” as necessary (see “Style Guide” for further discussion about this issue). The capitalization convention is established on a language-by-language basis.So, these checks are just to make sure you have been consistent with the convention of capitalizing these nouns, if the committee has chosen to do so. See “Capitalization in Biblical Terms” in the “Paratext Tips & Tricks” spreadsheet for more guidance on how to check rendreings for capitalization.

Select the list “Numbers” in the Biblical terms tool to find all the numbers in the translation.

BI has numbers checks for the occurrence of every quantity in the Bible that has numbers designating it. Every number, both ordinal and otherwise, needs to be checked using the Numbers Checklists (Cardinal: “Numbers in the NT” &, “Numbers in the OT” in both English and French; Ordinal: “Ordinal Numbers in the NT” in English, no OT ordinal numbers check).

Resolve any lingering spelling issues.

Verify other layout issues such as poetry. Particular attention should be given to poetry indentations. If another translation is used as a base then this check can be done using Tools > Checklists > Compare Markers and look for the new paragraph markers such as \q, \q1 and \q2.

This is in addition to the Basic Check. Note the punctuation conventions in the “BI Style Guide.” Also check any other punctuation conventions you and the translation team established.

This is in addition to the Basic Check. BI has created a tool for English, French, and Spanish that color-codes the different levels of quoted speech. Using this tool, verify that you have introduced, concluded, and punctuated all direct speech appropriately.

Depending on the development of the project, translation team with the consultant may want to spot check various difficult passages that were translated earlier in the process to make sure they are of good quality (e.g., Eph. 1:3-14). (We have no standardized list for the whole OT or NT, so you’d just need to check the Book Worksheets for the books that have one.)

These would include any checks that the consultant and the translation team noted as language-specific or project-specific, based on what they have observed during the life of the project.

Every passage where the NT has quoted from the OT needs to be checked. OT references should be included in the footnotes. The “OT Citations” checklist will help you verify the references. [OT quotations also need to be checked for a NT-only project in places where the OT quotation is repeated to make sure all occurrences are the same, where the Greek is the same.]

Ensure that the translation is identical where the Hebrew or Greek is identical.Open Parallel Passage tool and confirm all parallel passages. (This check is not simply that parallel passages have check marks, it is meant to read the verses and see if the appropriate words are green and yellow in each passage.)

Open Biblical terms tool, verify that you are using the BIM_E list, and review all renderings for consistency, and make any last changes needed.

Using the “USFM’s for ParaTExt” PDF, make sure that any special formatting issues the translation committee has agreed to do, are done in all texts.

Open the Assignments and progress window, and correct all errors and resolve all outstanding issues reported there.

The translation team and the RRC need to determine what the names of the books should be. They should also translate and give the order of the add-ons that will be listed in the Table: Charts of Weights and Measures, Names of God and gods of other nations, Jewish months, Jewish feasts, Glossary, Concordance (or Topical Index), and Maps. Consultant needs to make sure all issues have been considered and that everything is accounted for.

All planned front and back matter that has not already been done should be drafted by this stage.

Look up and verify that all Scripture references in footnotes, cross references, parallel passage references, book introductions, etc., are referring to verse(s) that talk about the correct topic. (This is not the automated Paratext check to verify that a Scripture reference is in the correct format and exists in the cannon.)

Read all footnotes and cross references looking for inconsistencies in how they are formatted. The goal is to have a consistent look and feel across all footnotes, and not merely the absence of marker errors in the footnotes. It may be helpful to go to Tools–>Checklist–>Footnotes. This checklist will compare the footnotes in your text to other resources that you specify.

Using the BIM for comparison, this check can be done using Tools > Checklists > Compare Section Headings. Make sure that any wording changes in the sections are reflected in the section headings.

If the committee has chosen to include a traditional concordance, BI helps translation team determine which words to include in concordance.

For NT, there is a NT-only set, a NT with Psa/Prov, a NT with Psa, and a whole Bible set. There is also a NT-only set with or without the OT citation references.

Consultant will check any new supplementary materials such as maps, illustrations, front matter, and back matter.

This should use a draft produced by Publishing Assitant/InDesign so that the text is in close to final format.

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BI supplies post-translations survey form for the translation team to translate and submit to be included (as a separate paper) with published translation distribution.

After the primary consultant for the project receives approvals from the committee, he submits his approval to the Text Production Dept Manager.

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The TPD manager notifies the Projects Management Dept that the text is ready for formatting.

The BI formatting team works on the text with the translation team. Any minor changes can be made directly in the text by the translation team. Major (content) changes need to be passed by the primary consultant before making the changes.

No more changes should be made in the text. A revision project would require the creation of a new Paratext project.

PMD works with another agency to produce an audio recording of the text.