Comments on: Lessons Learned in translation http://www.testjutsu.com/lessons-learned-in-translation Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:34:28 +1000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Ben Kelly http://www.testjutsu.com/lessons-learned-in-translation/comment-page-1#comment-193 Ben Kelly Mon, 21 Sep 2009 03:06:32 +0000 http://www.testjutsu.com/?p=138#comment-193 Thanks Simon. Hmm, I'm not sure if it's a context thing. It wouldn't be too difficult to translate that text directly. My suspicion is that it's about tone of voice. It may be that a direct translation may sound preachy or condescending or similar. I'm not yet familiar enough with the language to comment authoritively on those sorts of nuances. I do tend to struggle with idiom and pop-culture references. Both are the sort of things that you tend not to learn in a classroom and tend to build up through immersion in the culture. I'll probably find a bunch of the former in this text. Hopefully not too many of the latter :) Thanks Simon.
Hmm, I’m not sure if it’s a context thing. It wouldn’t be too difficult to translate that text directly. My suspicion is that it’s about tone of voice. It may be that a direct translation may sound preachy or condescending or similar. I’m not yet familiar enough with the language to comment authoritively on those sorts of nuances.

I do tend to struggle with idiom and pop-culture references. Both are the sort of things that you tend not to learn in a classroom and tend to build up through immersion in the culture. I’ll probably find a bunch of the former in this text. Hopefully not too many of the latter :)

]]> By: Simon Morley http://www.testjutsu.com/lessons-learned-in-translation/comment-page-1#comment-192 Simon Morley Sat, 19 Sep 2009 19:31:09 +0000 http://www.testjutsu.com/?p=138#comment-192 It could be a language context factor... I work in both English and Swedish and sometimes "catch myself" changing some words around in my English if I've just been speaking or writing in Swedish. Some things don't translate that well - idiomatic phrases are an obvious example, eg "To be caught off-guard", in Swedish "tagen på sängen", translating literally as "taken in bed" or "caught in bed". This can be heard in common parlance - and of course there are many more obscure ones! It could be a language context factor…

I work in both English and Swedish and sometimes “catch myself” changing some words around in my English if I’ve just been speaking or writing in Swedish.

Some things don’t translate that well – idiomatic phrases are an obvious example, eg “To be caught off-guard”, in Swedish “tagen på sängen”, translating literally as “taken in bed” or “caught in bed”. This can be heard in common parlance – and of course there are many more obscure ones!

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