As a first-time translator, navigating “what it means to translate” has been an eye-opening and more complex question than I ever thought before being part of the Thousand Language Project. I liken it to solving a puzzle; however, once you’ve solved the puzzle, you’re now tasked to recreate it and you must change the parameters of each individual puzzle piece. Do I want to lengthen a certain edge of a piece? Maybe even recolor it for “flair”? Or dig deeper and truly create a new work, that somehow captures the same feeling as the original? Having this option of large-scale liberty over the work was in and of itself a challenge for me because I prefer being told what needs to be changed as opposed to determining what and how something should be changed. Yet, I looked forward to facing this challenge because I didn’t want a small mental block like this to stop my goal of improving my French. I know that often the best growth happens when stepping out of one’s comfort zone.
"Irretrievable Bird Species" by Kevin Phan
Sound became an unexpected but significant aspect of my translation process. The pattern and rhythm of the words that the poets carefully picked often influence the syntax of the poem, which is one reason why the syntax of poetry is much more lax than conventional rules. The poem, “Irretrievable Bird Species,” by Kevin Phan is made up of a list of 50 different, extinct bird species from across the world. Originally, I thought that preserving the original syntax/order of each line would make for a more accurate translation, but after contacting Phan, he explained to me that it was the sound of each bird's name that informed his ordering of birds. If I wanted to stay true to the author’s methods, I too would have to rearrange the order of birds for a French translation. Ultimately, I decided that this method of arranging the birds by sound and species would be more important than just copying the order of birds 1:1 from English to French.
Another translation choice was replacing one of the bird species, the Norfolk Rail, with the Norfolk Starling. Both are extinct species; however, I was unable to confirm the Norfolk Rail’s “official” French name beside a literal translation of “Râle de Norfolk”. In addition, I reflected on the significance of the Norfolk Rail for the poem. In the end, I determined that the author's original point was to list a vast number of extinct bird species to show the biodiversity we are losing. My decision to replace one extinct bird with another would not hinder the goal. In addition, the Norfolk Starling, or Stourne de Norfolk in French, allowed me to continue maintaining the consistent sound patterns.
"The House of Forgotten Memories" by Denzhone Burdette
“The House of Forgotten Memories” by Denzhone Burdette is a poem about the memories we carry of passed loved ones and how those memories shape the person we are today. I initially prioritized trying to shoe-horn the rhyming couplet in the first and second stanzas– “I wish I could still say / ‘have a nice day’” and “‘I have a deep regard for you, too’ / When I said, ‘I love you’”, specifically because the third and final stanza breaks from this pattern. I originally switched some of the line order to make the rhyme easier; however, after talking with Brandon Johnson, he mentioned how by changing the order of the lines, I’m almost telling a different story. I reflected on the significance of the individual lines and realized that I would lose much of the poem's charm if I rearranged the order. So to maintain the order, I challenged myself to find rhymes. Finding a French word that rhymed with “aime” (to like/love) in the second stanza was difficult because the majority of words that rhyme with the “m”: sound is “-ième” in French, which is the English equivalent of the suffix “th” placed after numbers. In the end, I decided to use the common expression “quand même” to evoke a similar feeling of “persistence” in the English word “too”.
In conclusion, I have been working on improving my French since my passion was sparked back when I was a sophomore in high school, I’ve had some opportunities to practice my French with a French audience orally, but I’ve not had the chance to practice with a French audience when it came to translating a literary work. I hope that by translating these two poems, I can reach a new audience by spreading the messages about cherishing the things around us and reflecting on the grief and loss that we and the world have suffered. Finally, I want to thank Jacqueline Balderrama, Brandon Johnson, Monsieur Enrico Minardi, and Grace Hawkins who helped me finalize my translations.
About the Translator
Anthony Sha is a junior double majoring in Speech and Hearing Sciences and French. He is interning as a translator for the Thousand Languages Project. Since high school, Anthony has always been fascinated by foreign languages, particularly French. (updated 2024)
Translations
"Irretrievable Bird Species" by Kevin Phan (French)
"House of Forgotten Memories" by Denzhone Burdette (French)
With grateful acknowledgment to French language reviewers: Grace Hawkins, Brandon Johnson, and Enrico Minardi.