I divide knowledge as it pertains to translation into three categories: 1) what you know for certain 2) what you think you know and 3) what you don't know
Today's post is all about what you think you know and how you arrived at that conclusion.
Translators work with text, but I wanted to use this visual model to illustrate how much we don't know about a situation, and yet we are able to apply prior knowledge to fill in the gaps. This is part of the core of what we do.
Take a moment to look at the photo of the train station. What can you say about it that you know to be true? I would say that there is a train (obviously) and there are people (equally as obvious). What else? Make a list.
What can you infer from this scene? Take a closer look at the image. Where do you think these people are? Where could they be going? Make another list.
Now look at both lists and combine the facts you are certain about with your inferences.
It could go something like:
This is a train station. The people are______ It looks like they live in ______ Therefore, ______________
It would be great if you could expound on your conclusions in the comments section!
I will be presenting this concept in another post, but this time with text, which is the clay that we mold, bake and glaze.