Swati Pandit is pursuing her BA in NMKRV College For Women. She loves learning languages and is fluent in 16 of them! She is passionate about music and is learning the violin and flute and can also play the keyboard, guitar, ukulele. She also sings, writes and composes poetry!  Recently her book of poetry Trilingual Poetry got released by professor Dr.S.Ranganath.
 

Q: What type of person do you think makes the best translator for children’s stories?

According to me a person who can think from the perspective of a child....A person who is open to various changes.... And a person who can imagine widely and wildly is the best translator for children's stories.

Q: Do you have any advice for anyone interested in becoming a translator?

My advice is that, please come and discover this amazing world of translating. This work requires a lot of patience and passion. So, people interested out there set your brains on fire and you'll fall in love with translating.

Q:  What is your personal relationship to language and/or translation?

Each language has its own beauty. And I see each language as a beautiful living entity. This is a musical instrument which brings people from various places together.

Q:  When you’ve been given a story to translate, what’s your process, and how long does it generally take?

I have a habit of reading the given story twice... First I give a general reading then I thoroughly read it again...I understand the gist and go on with the translation... It takes 4 to 5 days for the final version.

Q:  What do stories in translation bring to young readers?

If a story is translated in their very own or their dear language they will feel delighted to read it. They will read the story with ease and will get some interest towards reading more.

Q: You’ve translated stories for us. Which has been your favorite to work on?

My most favorite stories are Chutti and Cyborg Taata.
 

Q: What is the hardest thing about translating from English into Kannada? How do you navigate words or phrases that are tricky to translate??

Sometimes finding appropriate words at the right places becomes tricky and then choosing the nearer word becomes the solution. Sometimes this paves the way for inserting a new and interesting phrase. Sometimes change in the voice is needed. It's challenging but it's fun at the same time.

Q: How do you feel when your story reaches the child?

I feel satisfied and really happy that a child can understand and interpret things!

Q:  Translating stories must have required research when it came to STEM related terms and concepts.. How did you explore new objects and concepts?

When it comes to STEM stories I have referred to some books and understood what it is and then I proceeded. While translating Cyborg Dadu to Kannada I got to know various things about how cyborg can change mankind etc. It has really expanded my knowledge.

Q:  As a Multilingual Translator, Young Poet how do you connect yourself with Children's Literature, what do you feel is the challenge in this regard?

Children's literature is known for its widespread imagination and energising themes and being a poet requires childlike heart. More than challenge I feel that it is a trigger to the monotonous mind of mine.
 

Q:  As a student and voracious reader, Stories in which form are best received by kids? Poetry, Picture books, Read aloud etc?

According to me, poetry and picture books are the best ones to give into a child's hand because the rhythm of the  poetry tends to get registered in their minds. And picture books makes their thinking more colorful and picture is grasped by them very quickly. I personally am a great fan of picture and poetry books.

 

---

1 Comment