Without exception, the translators are students of A Course in Miracles who were inspired by the English version and who felt compelled and guided to render their services in translating it. Through our first translation, the Spanish edition, we soon discovered that it was critical to establish a very strict translator protocol to insure that each translator, or group of translators, was fully qualified for such a monumental task and willing to commit to it for at least five years. We learned that an unqualified translator, who is an amateur or not thoroughly familiar with English, though certainly well meaning, will often render an initial translation that is a mechanical word-for-word version of the English. Such a flawed effort immediately warns us that the student, as a teacher of God, lacks confidence to heed the guidance of the Course itself. "...[A] good translator, although he must alter the form of what he translates, never changes the meaning. In fact, his whole purpose is to change the form so that the original meaning is retained." [T. 7.II.4:3] Furthermore, word-for-word translations are usually incomprehensible to native speakers of the foreign language. So such an amateurish effort would be all but useless anyway. That's why our established and essential protocol mediates two often conflicting criteria: idiomatic fluency and accuracy. To ensure that a translator fully understands the Course, Dr. Kenneth Wapnick has devoted many hours to personal instruction of each translator at The Foundation for A Course in Miracles in Temecula, California, where he serves as administrator and chief instructor. Given that the translator must commit to a minimum of five years for the task, translations usually require seven to ten years to complete and are extremely costly.

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Often people expect that these unusually committed individuals must be extraordinary people. But in truth they are just like Helen Schucman and Bill Thetford: ordinary people performing an extraordinary "assignment." Metaphorically speaking, they are midwives rebirthing the Course for untold numbers of students of future generations, with personal stories that are unique yet surprisingly similar. The Foundation for Inner Peace is forever grateful to these dedicated translators who have rendered an invaluable service to all who embrace A Course in Miracles and who now find it available in a language they can love and understand.

Moreover, this “love and understanding” the translators render in their vital translation work is also reflected in Lesson 195, of the Course’s Workbook for Students, titled: “Love is the way I walk in gratitude”, which states at the Lesson’s end: “For love can walk no road except the way of gratitude, and thus we go who walk the way to God.”

To learn about the translator of a specific language, click on that Language Button above.

We also invite you to visit our "Adopt-A-Language" program section to see how you can help support translations of A Course in Miracles into more of the World's languages.