I believe that translating is taking a notion or idea in one’s head and using communication to relay and recreate that same idea in the receiver’s head. The tricky part is finding the right phrase or terminology to do that, because in many circumstances, direct translation of a word doesn’t work. You have to understand the culture of the target language in order to acurately do this sometimes.
For example, the Chinese word “hao” means “good” in English and the term “bu cuo” literally translates to “no error” or “not bad.” In English we have a general sense of what “not bad” means. It means “ok”. Not great, not terrible, just fine. However, sometimes in Chinese, using the negative of an opposite adjective (not bad) is stronger than using the normal word (good). So if I were to ask someone how their day was and they said “hao,” that translates to “ok” even though the word “hao” technically mean good. If they said “bu cuo,” that translates more like “pretty good” versus the literal meaning which is “not bad.”
Translation is the art of being able to navigate all of that; using the right words as understood by the receiver so he/she understands your meaning how you intended it.