Our translators translate from French - using several different versions - into Monkolé. I then check the Hebrew text against what we have in Monkolé. People sometimes ask me if it isn't good enough to simply translate from the French.
Here is just a small example of why I think we get a better translation if we compare it with the Hebrew. As we were translating II Samuel we came across several instances of the Israelites blowing a "trumpet". This had been translated from the French into Monkolé as "kãakãakĩ" and when I asked my translators what it was, to check, they said "a trumpet", and confirmed that it was a metallic instrument.
In Hebrew the word is (if I transliterate) "shofar", a ram's horn which is blown through to create a loud, carrying sound. And in Monkolé, a similar horn is called a "kuu". So where appropriate, we have been changing "kãakãakĩ" in our text to "kuu".
(I have just had a look in a few English versions out of interest and have found a lot of "trumpets" but one "horns"!)
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