IS TRANSLATION TEACHABLE AND HOW CAN WE TEACH IT?

Abstract

Ever since the first social structures emerged and human beings—who knows, may be even our cave-dwelling ancestors!—started to communicate socially or emotionally with members of their own species from other societies who had devised different codes of communication i.e. those who used different languages, they realized that there was a strong need for a mediator to facilitate this process, without which every such attempt would be like "talking to a brick wall." That was how translation as one of the earliest aids in international relations came into existence. As the scope of these relations broadened, people felt a need for experts with mastery of two or more languages who were actually the 'signifiers' of the former need in society. An attempt to meet this need was made when the wheels of the first educational centers were set in motion to satisfy the increasing demand of society for experts in different fields, including translation. Since then there has always been a controversy over the issue of teachability of translation.