What knowledge do I need to translate for the CPRC website?
- Knowledge of the English language (source language)
- Knowledge of the receptor or target language (preferably your first language)
- Knowledge of Scripture and theology
What other skills do I need?
- Word processing
- Proofreading
What are the personal characteristics of people who translate for the CPRC website?
- People who love, and are committed to, the truth of the inspired and infallible Word of the Triune God
- People who want to spread the glorious biblical and Reformed faith in their language
- People who are motivated to serve the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ
- People who are sufficiently self-disciplined
What materials are available for translation?
Most of the written English materials found on the CPRC website are suitable, including,
- Covenant Reformed News (all these 500 or so pieces are short)
- Articles (numbering about 250 and ranging from a few paragraphs to many pages with lots of footnotes)
- Pamphlets (130 or so, which vary in length from about a page to many pages with footnotes)
- Our 11 liturgical forms (usually about 1-4 pages) and Church Order of Dordt, located on the Faith page
- Our webpages of dozens of Quotes on key issues
Can I translate materials not on the CPRC website?
Yes, the written materials of our sister churches and other bodies with which we are closely affiliated, such as,
- Standard Bearer articles
- Reformed Witness Hour articles
- Beacon Lights articles
- Protestant Reformed Theological Journal articles
- British Reformed Journal articles
- British Reformed Fellowship books (as much as you want to translate, including all of each book, if you wish!)
- Reformed Free Publishing Association books (up to 10% of each book; for more, you must ask permission from the RFPA)
Of these materials on the CPRC website and elsewhere, what should I translate?
Here are some things you should take into consideration in making your decision:
- What materials did you especially benefit from or like? Others may do so too!
- What do you think others who use your language would find particularly helpful and encouraging?
- What are the deficiencies and gaps in (on-line) Christian literature in your mother tongue?
- What are the theological errors that especially need refuting among those who speak your language?
Have you any other thoughts on what I should translate?
Please take into account these two factors:
- Length of the article (it is best to start small; do not commit yourself to more than you can manage!)
- Difficulty level of the article (in relation to your linguistic and theological skills)
What if I still cannot decide which materials to translate?
E-mail Rev. Stewart to ask for further advice or recommendations.
How do I avoid duplicating a translation?
- If the original is on the CPRC website, check the listing to see if the name of your language is given after the article
- View the Languages page to see if the proposed material has already been translated into your language
- Let Rev. Stewart know beforehand what material you plan to translate, lest someone else is currently working on it
Any key points regarding the translation itself?
- Translating is not merely using Babelfish or Google Translate or any other automatic translator (and then tidying it up a bit)!
- The articles must be translated as they are, without additions to them or subtractions from them
What should I do when I have finished a translation?
- Proofread it very carefully and make corrections (if possible, print it out and check it rigorously)
- E-mail it to Rev. Stewart in an attachment, indicating clearly its English source (and webpage address, if applicable)
What benefits do I receive for my translations?
- We do not send people money, or buy them computers, motorbikes, cars or houses, or pay their internet access, university fees or weddings, so please do not ask
- We post you some of our books as a thankyou (in general, the more you translate, the more you receive; afterwards some even decide to translate parts of the books they are given!)
- Personal edification—our translators often remark how much they enjoy, and grow through, the Reformed materials they translate
- Spiritual satisfaction in serving the covenant God in Jesus Christ, helping the readers of your translations and assisting the CPRC
- You can post or share your translation on your Facebook page or blog, etc.
Have people from various walks of life provided translations for the CPRC website?
Yes, they include
- Church members, elders, theological students, pastors, missionaries, seminary professors and Christian bloggers
- Single people, wives and husbands (sometimes with both translating together), widows and widowers
- Students, housewives, school teachers, English-language teachers, software engineers, lawyers, historians. scientists. book publishers, etc., as well as those who are unemployed or retired
- People working in various sectors, including medicine, law, civil government, music, education, communications, computing, security, agriculture, policing, hospitality, technology, etc.
In what parts of the world do translators for the CPRC website live?
We have been helped by scores of translators from many countries in all of the inhabited continents of the globe, reflecting Christ’s catholic or universal church! They include saints in Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Burundi, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, the Republic of Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Malawi, Malta, Mexico, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, N. Ireland, N. Macedonia, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, S. Africa, S. Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the US, Uzbekistan, etc. We are always looking for more people to assist us in this rewarding work!
For more, read or watch this presentation by Rev. Stewart: “The RFPA, the CPRC and the Spread of the Truth.”
Have these translations been of much benefit to others?
Including the ecumenical creeds (Apostles’, Nicene, Chalcedonian and Athanasian), the Three Forms of Unity (Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism and Canons of Dordt) and our Reformed Forms—some of which our helpers have located or translated—we have over 4,100 non-English items on or linked from the CPRC website. The number keeps growing on a weekly, and sometimes even daily, basis. Long may this continue and flourish!
Our translations receive a lot of hits from people all around the world. The total hits for the various languages combined is probably greater than for our English written materials! We have gotten excellent feedback from God’s people in many countries who enjoy and share the translations on the CPRC website, and want more translations into their languages! Some of our translated materials have been or will be made into books. Truly, “their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world” (Romans 10:18)!
How have these translations grown over the years?
These charts of the numbers of translations in various languages gave a fair indication of the growth of this witness:
