TRANSLATING INTO LOCAL MEDIA LANGUAGES: THE IGBO EXAMPLE

Abstract

Observations and experiences show that educated Nigerians of Igbo extraction do not like to listen to or watch media programmes (Radio and Television. When asked why, some have said that what you get in Igbo news is a far cry from what you get in English. Others have also described Igbo
versions of such programs like the news with some derogatory words as garbage, nonsense etc. Meanwhile these news items, news talks etc are translated from English to Igbo or to any other Nigerian language. We have tried to establish in this paper that translating for the media, otherwise called media translation is a technical and professional activity. It is not a simple act of bilingualism. Bilingualism or multilingualism is simply a human condition that makes it possible for an individual to function at some level, in more than one or more languages. The absence of trained career media translators has not only adversely affected the translation of media items from English to Igbo or to any other Nigerian language, it has also affected the depth and frequency of news items from non–English speaking nations of the world, even on our national print and broadcast media. In this paper, we have tried to prove that translation as a discipline goes beyond bilingualism. We have also proffered solutions to the problems of mass media
translation in Nigeria.