Translator Training

Dharma Sagar aims to produce highly qualified Dharma translators as skilled as those professionals translating from any Western language. As such, our translator training program contains all the competencies required to be a fully qualified translator as laid out in the PETRA-E Framework, a competence-oriented framework for the training of literary translators that is widely adopted by European universities and translation schools. In fact, our program covers both PETRA-E’s eight competencies and the main skills needed in the translation process in the three main components that make up our program:

1) Tibetan Language and Dharma in Tibetan, required to thoroughly understand the source text,

2) Translation Practicum, required to successfully transfer the content in the target language and culture,

3) Target Language Education, required to edit the translation so it reflects the literary qualities of the original text.

Structure of the 1st year of training

During the first year Dharma Sagar will select 20 promising candidates, who are already translating texts from English. We will screen the highest potential students, while also helping to improve the quality of the translations they are producing for their respective centers, and provide the tools needed to work with Tibetan scholars.

Dharma Sagar will offer:

• Tibetan classes taught entirely in Tibetan by native speakers;

• Dharma study directly in Tibetan;

• Weekly vocabulary and philosophy Q&A sessions with Khenpos and Geshes;

• Weekly grammar Q&A sessions with experts;

• Translation studies with exercises supervised by Tibetan translators and interpreters;

• Individual weekly sessions with an expert in Portuguese/Spanish/Swahili;

• Workshop and lecture sessions with experienced Dharma translators.

Objectives of the first year of training

• Introducing Tibetan for those who are already translating Dharma texts from English (or who are about to begin translating);

• Developing the habit of communicating with Tibetan scholars to clarify doubts, and collaborating with them on translations;

• Strengthening writing skills;

• Understanding all the processes involved in translating a Dharma text;

• Establishing a community of apprentice translators.

At the end of the first year, the best students will be selected to continue for the remaining four years of full-time training, will study 8 hours a day, and will be trained as Tibetan translators. 

Complete Program

1) Reading Comprehension of Buddhist texts

Given the depth and breadth of the teachings in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, a translator needs to be able to adapt to a great variety of contexts, schools and traditions. Thus, it is indispensable for translators to have a solid general understanding of all the subjects they might encounter. The “Treasury of Knowledge,” ཤེས་བྱ་ཀུན་ལ་ཁྱབ་པའི་མཛོད། (lit. “The Treasury that Covers All Areas of Knowledge”), composed by the great scholar Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thayé, is an encyclopedic text that comprises all such subjects. Over the course of five years, our students study it directly in Tibetan with qualified Tibetan scholars.

Having acquired this knowledge, our apprentices will be able to translate texts on general subjects on their own. Translating specialized texts, however, still requires the expertise of Tibetan scholars and the translation process for these texts will follow both the pandita-lotsawa workflow adopted when Buddhism was brought to Tibet, and the workflow of modern professional translators translating specialized content. 

By studying Dharma directly in Tibetan, our translators will be able to collaborate with top Tibetan scholars (many who don’t speak Western languages). Further, the knowledge and experience they acquire in their translation practicum will enable them to work with these Tibetan scholars to solve subtle translation-related issues.

2) Translation Practicum

From the start, students work on real translation projects.

• Supervised translations: A Tibetan scholar gives a detailed teaching on the text to be translated. An interpreter serves as an intermediary to relay these oral explanations and gets relevant answers to students’ questions that come up in the translation process. 

  Texts are chosen for their impact on target language communities and may become part of projects like 84000 and Lotsawa House

• Sangha Outreach: On translation projects requested by sanghas, students work on a team that includes a supervisor, Tibetan scholars, and a target language advisor. Indirectly, these translations are influenced by translation theory classes, translation workshops, and translation lab activities.

Besides that, the creativity in creating and implementing transfer strategies will be fostered by a translation theory component, and by translation workshops and translation lab activities.

Dharma Sagar also hosts weekly talks and workshops given by professional dharma and non-dharma translators who share their expertise with our apprentices.

3) Target Language Education

Students improve and fine-tune their literary competencies in their native languages with the help of target language advisors.

• Year 1 and 2:  Apprentices’ literary skills are evaluated and required to reach the minimum requirements for early-career literary translators on the PETRA Framework (C2 on the CEFR scale). 

• Year 3: Proficiency is further developed by advanced drills and exercises.

In addition, every translation completed in the translation practicum over the entire course of the program is reviewed and commented on by a target language advisor.