In France, I helped translate Buddhist texts from French to English. I say "helped" because it was all done by translation committees where every sentence was the fruit of a joint effort.
For the translation of Tantric meditation texts however, the output provided to practitioners of that divinity consisted of the original text in Tibetan, a transliteration that practitioners recite and a translation so that non-speakers of Tibetan can match the Tibetan text and sounds with the appropriate visualization that accompanies it. In effect, the sounds and their sequencing(call it "poetry power" if you like) is considered to exert Tantra-therapeutic effect on the practitioner. As do the accompanying visualizations.
The original Tibetan language and visualizations package both the poetry power and picture power in the same sentence while the French translation settles only for transmitting the picture power. The lamas say this is inevitable until, one day, a fully enlightened practitioner who is a native French speaker sits down and translates the original Tantric rituals. Only then will French practitioners be able to dispense with the Tibetan transliteration.
