I want to find native speakers of foreign languages who
want to translate works of literature or non-fiction from their native
language into English. They need a native English-speaking writer (who
doesn't know their language) to work with them to compose and polish
the English language product. How can I
find these people?

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Clarification of Question by geoff333-ga on 09 Apr 2005 15:18 PDT

I'm personally looking for someone who is interested in translating
their own culture's literature (that does not exist in English) into
English. They explain and roughly translate the original, and I write
and polish the English. This would be primarily a labor of love, but I
wouldn't be averse to business opportunities (i.e. working with
commercial materials) in addition.

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Clarification of Question by geoff333-ga on 09 Apr 2005 15:25 PDT

These would be individuals, very possibly amateurs, with a love of
material that they would like to see available to the English-speaking
world. Or even literary-minded people who would like to go through the
exercise of co-translating.

Usually, professional translation is done **to** the native language
(and not from it). Of course, it requires a very good command in the
language of origin, but it is considered more than necessary that the
translators would be native speakers (or at least, near
native-speakers), of the target language.

Another comment, regarding the second "job". It is difficult to
understand from your question if you're also looking for this person,
but in any case, publishers often employ professional editors, whose
job is to edit the translated text.

And then what are you going to do with the translation that you have "polished"?
Sell it as your own?  ...  Besides the ethical question of that, even
if you gave away the result to a publisher, he would still have to
worry about copywrite use and the accuracy of an amateur translation
and your "polishing".  That sounds like a sure way to do a disservice
to a literary work  - to put it mildly.

That's hilarious. You pay, you get criticized for your question.
Sorry, my first time. Are you a translator of some sort?

Sorry, Geoff, 
don't want you to get a wrong opinion about g-a.  Comments are just
that, and free, and may sometimes too free in content.  Only g-a
Researchers like politicalguro-ga, whose user names appear in blue,
can "answer" a guestion and get 75% of the price you offer.
Researchers, I have found, are very careful to differential between
posting an immediate answer, that would "take" your price unless you
complained (which they want to avoid for the reputation); the request
for a clarification, which would suggest that they think that could
answer the question correctly if they have some more info; or a
comment, that just reflects on the question, as did my own.

Yes, I do translate, not professionally, but have been paid for my
work, and agree with P-g's comments.
I can understand that you feel that mine is criticism, but it raises
points that  have a bearing: - forgetting my "ethical question" -
copywrite, accuracy.
From my experience (talks and a two books)  I know from the feedback
that a translator can misunderstand what the author intend  - which
can be his fault.  A person translating from his native language into
English will make the best of that, but it won't be as good as what a
native English speaker who understood the other language would.  But
either translation could suggest to a third person just minor changes,
that didn't really change the meaning of the English  - by itself - 
but got much further away from the original.

Okay?  Sorry if my comment seemed brutal.  G-a sometimes give comments
that a question raises that are pertinent but not anticipated.

Okay, thanks for your explanation, it's helpful. I didn't realize that
my question might imply possible exploitation. Not at all my intent.

"A person translating from his native language into
English will make the best of that, but it won't be as good as what a
native English speaker who understood the other language would.  But
either translation could suggest to a third person just minor changes,
that didn't really change the meaning of the English  - by itself - 
but got much further away from the original."

Yes, so close collaboration between the native-speaker who understands
the text and the culture and whose English is just good enough to
explain it in a highly roundabout way, and an interested and
inquisitive English writer, who does *not* submit it for 3rd person
editing, seems the best way to go about it (without knowing deeply
many languages and cultures). Again this would be for intrinsic
value-- all business considerations would come later if at all.