Please, I would like to know if I can use Scripture Forge to translate the Bible into a language that has never had a translation before. Please help me with this as I find it extremely difficult to use Paratext.
Thank you for your anticipated assistance
Steve - thanks for your interest in using Scripture Forge to help with a Bible translation project!
Scripture Forge does have a new drafting feature that can help a translation team as they work on their Bible translation. Teams can use the drafts created by Scripture Forge in several ways. For instance, they can add the drafts to their Paratext project and edit them to create a first draft. Or, they can consult the Scripture Forge draft as they work on their own draft of the translation.
This drafting feature can be used when the translation project has already completed some of their translation. Generally, we recommend it for projects that have completed their New Testament and are beginning work on the Old Testament, or for projects that have finished a similar amount of their project. It’s not, however, suitable for a team that’s just beginning their translation project.
So this Scripture Forge drafting capability is primarily for translation teams that are working in Paratext and have already completed some translation work, and it helps them as they continue to translation additional books.
Does that sound like it would apply to your translation effort?
Thank you for your response. I struggled to use Paratext, so I stopped working on the project. If it’s not suitable for a new project, I may need to find something else that is more user-friendly. If you have any recommendations, I would appreciate it.
Scripture Forge also has a simple interface for translating Scripture manually, so you can use it to get started on a translation even before the drafting feature that Michael mentioned. If you have already created the project in Paratext, you can log in with your Paratext account, connect the project, and then use the “Edit & review” page to type your translation while viewing it side-by-side with your reference text(s).
Let us know if it would be helpful to schedule a meeting for a walk-through sometime.
Thank you very much. I shall get back to you on this.