LL-L "Language proficiency" 2010.06.30 (01) [EN]

Wed Jun 30 16:04:15 UTC 2010

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*L O W L A N D S - L - 30 June 2010 - Volume 01*

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From: Andrys Onsman <Andrys.Onsman at monash.edu>

Subject: LL-L "Language proficiency" 2010.06.29 (01) [EN]

>From Andrys Onsman (Melbourne/Ljouwert)
Subject: Language proficiency.

Dear All

Thoroughly enjoying this conversation because I am giving a conference paper
(in Prato in September) titled ‘Capturing nuance in the translation of
cognate language literature’, which is so close to Ron's comment that I feel
I have to say that they asked me to talk about this a long time ago :-).

As well as congratulating another new grandparent, Heather's suggestion
about the manner in which a language is learnt has sent me scurrying off in
another direction - something I tend to do probably because I am not a
"real" translator either, just someone who finds it fascinating and gives it
a go sometimes. Heather, I was going to say a penny well spent, but then I
remembered that spending a penny means something very different.
Nonetheless, it was a thought provoking contribution.

I had forgotten LLL's discussion about false friends; thanks for reminding
me, Ron. So many wonderful examples from such a highly reputable and proudly
cited source.

Cheers
Andrys

 from Heather Rendall  heatherrendall at tiscali.co.uk

Fascinating string, this one but not ever having attained the giddy heights
of interpreter / translator I wonder whether this pennyworth contributes
much.

I can detect a clear difference in my own skills of translation of single
words / idioms; if they were learnt at school/college, I can usually match
them pretty immediately. However if they were acquired during a stay in the
country in question, then I am usually stumped and have to think up a
context or a quote and even then sometimes the appropriate word/s do not
come to mind.

I understand this to be reflective of how the new language was learnt; if by
lists of vocabulary i.e. in school / college - translation is instantaneous
( usually) : if by life and living in the country in contact with speakers
then it is not so immediate and can fail to produce a single adequate
translation.

Perhaps the connections between languages within the brain perform
differently when learn differently.

And can I tag onto this; at least half of these Language Proficiency mails
have appeared blank on my screen. I was getting so fed up missing what was
going on, that I decided to forward a blank screen to Ron as proof. Imagine
my surprise when I found the missing mail in the forwarded screen!!! I have
had to read most of the recent documents by pretending to Forward them! Does
anyone else suffer in this way?

best wishes

from a very busy grandmother who is helping out with two new grand-daughters
born within 3 weeks of each other hence my recent silence. There are days
when I don't even get round to switching the computer on! let alone dealing
with mails.

Heather

(Worcester UK)

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From: Tomás Ó Cárthaigh <tomasocarthaigh at yahoo.com>

Subject: LL-L "Language proficiency" 2010.06.28 (03) [EN]

The lost obvios false freinds in the Slavic languages is  the Adore / Love
problem in Polish and Russian, they mean the opposite in each others
languages!!!

*"a person with a good book is never alone... a writer until they've written
one is never at peace"*

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From: Jacqueline Bungenberg de Jong <Dutchmatters at comcast.net>

Subject: LL-L "Language proficiency" 2010.06.28 (03) [EN]

Vlad, re the experience of translation. I have on my wall above my PC  a
lithograph by Jeanne Verdoux, called “Duet for two pens” !!!!!!!!

Jacqueline BdJ

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From: M.-L. Lessing <marless at gmx.de>

Subject: LL-L "Language proficiency" 2010.06.28 (03) [EN]

One "false friend" recently caused some bad blood between football fans of
England and Germany before the match of sunday. The Kaiser (i.e. Franz
Beckenbauer) had said in an interview that this pairing would have made a
good quarterfinal, semifinal or final, but "*dummerweise* haben die
Engländer ja nicht ihre Gruppe gewonnen, sodass wir schon im Achtelfinale
gegen sie spielen." Some English media translated *dummerweise *as *stupidly
* (not *unfortunately*, as would have been correct) and fumed at
Beckenbauer's arrogance :-) It seems they save the money for even the
simplest intelligent translator. *That is* stupid. Unless, of course, they
invest it in football expertise :-))))

Marlou/Hamburg

----- Original Message -----

There are of course tons and tons of such false friends among the Lowlands
languages alone, not only words but also idiomatic phrases. This was one of
the aspects I had in mind when I proposed that translating between closely
related language varieties comes with its own set of problems.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
Seattle, USA

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