Creating Translations out of Love—Urantia Foundation’s Quality Process


By Marilynn Kulieke, Chair of Translations, vice president, Urantia Foundation, Illinois, United States
Editor’s Note: During the Cultural Symposium held at Urantia Foundation in April, Marilynn gave an excellent and informative presentation on the process used to produce quality translations. It was video recorded, so please view it here. The end result is a deeper appreciation for the incredible work required to translate The Urantia Book.
A main avenue in fulfilling Urantia Foundation’s principal object is the production of translations of The Urantia Book into the many languages of our world. They are a vital part of our work in fulfilling the mission of seeding The Urantia Book and its teachings globally.
It is my pleasure to serve as chair of the Translation Committee. Other members are Georges Michelson-Dupont (manager of translations), Henk Mylanus, Jay Peregrine, Minoo Claire, and Tamara Strumfeld. Our work, including the creation of this process, is truly a team effort.
It is our goal to be the producer of the highest-quality translations, and therefore our translation committee created a systematic process based on our love for the Urantia Revelation. The process development began in 2006, and is based on the Standard Guide for Quality Assurance in Translation that was adopted by ASTM International.
As we applied these standards, it became clear to us that a five-stage process of approximately 40 years or more was needed to produce a high-quality translation. These stages are outlined as follows:

At the end of this process, when the revision has matured, it is time to reintegrate the enhanced language and clarity of thinking into the evolutionary channels and cultures just waiting for this new truth. The following quote truly sums up the work we are engaged in:
The spread of civilization must wait upon language. Live and growing languages insure the expansion of civilized thinking and planning. During the early ages important advances were made in language. Today, there is great need for further linguistic development to facilitate the expression of evolving thought. 81:6.16 (908.5)
Annual Reports
Appointments
Audio Urantia Book
Board Meeting Decisions
Chinese Translation
Committee Reports
Czech Translation
Danish Translation
Distribution
Dutch Publishing
Education Outreach
English Publishing
Esperanto Translation
Estonian Publishing
Farsi Translation
Filipino Translation
Finnish Publishing
French Publishing
Fundraising
Gatherings
German Publishing
Greek Translation
Hebrew Translation
Hungarian Publishing
In Memoriam
Indonesian Translation
Inspirational
Italian Publishing
Japanese Translation
Korean Publishing
Lithuanian Publishing
Polish Publishing
Portuguese Publishing
Reader Comments
Russian Publishing
Spanish Publishing
Swedish Publishing
Turkish Translation
Urantia Foundation History
Video