Guest Post #003 – Top 10 Mistakes English Speakers Make When Learning Italian

Top 10 Mistakes English Speakers Make When Learning Italian

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When Translators (and Language Students) Meet the Rest of the World

• MYTH: Translation/language students and translators/interpreters are living dictionaries.
• REALITY: Yes, we speak more than one language. No, we don’t know all the words in a given language. It’s impossible to know EVERY. SINGLE. WORD, even in your mother tongue. Vocabulary is important, but we are no living dictionaries and us humans can’t know everything.

I find situations like these annoying:

PERSON I’M TALKING TO: “How do you say *insert word here* in *insert language here*?”

I usually ask them to tell me the context (and think “Ah, if only they realized that a word has different meanings in different contexts…”), a sentence in which they would use that word. Staying on topic, here’s a joke:

• How many translators does it take to change a light bulb?
• It depends on the context.

So, for translation/interpreting professionals, student translators and language students, context is extremely important. We can’t read your mind, and guessing possible meanings might lead to making mistakes.

Next conversation:

• PERSON I’M TALKING TO: “Wow, you study languages! How many do you speak?”
• ME: “Four: Italian, English, French and some German.”
• PERSON I’M TALKING TO: “You only know those?” or “Why don’t/didn’t you study Arabic/Chinese/etc?”

You usually study two to three languages at university. It takes a lot of time to learn a language well, let alone two or three. In my opinion, it’s better to know two or three languages at an advanced level than five or six at an elementary level. In this case, quality matters more than quantity but, if you manage to speak five to six languages at an advanced level… well, congratulations! I chose to study English and French because I like(d) them and I’ve studied them since I started middle school. I can speak them fluently and I’m looking forward to improving more and more. I chose English in particular because it is “my passion, my obsession, my life” (as I wrote on some social networking site). Why should I study languages I’m not interested in learning? It also takes many years and stays abroad to learn languages like Arabic and Chinese well.

If you’re on Twitter, maybe in the last few days you read some tweets on “Tips to date a translator” (or an interpreter). I had tons of fun reading them, and I couldn’t have enough of them, haha. Two words: compulsive reading. You can find all the tweets here.

My favourite ones:

• Do not take us too literally and always be faithful. @judittur
• And for God’s sake, spell check your written correspondence. Nothing turns translators off more. @jackiedeal
• Suggesting Google Translate will replace human translators will lead to you making love *without* human translators. @miguelllorens
• Resign yourself to this: The woman loudly criticizing the subtitles in the midst of an action movie is your girlfriend. @miguelllorens
• Don’t brag about your knowledge of a foreign language UNLESS you are really fluent! @avinc1
• Distract the waiter while your translator friend takes photos of the ill translated menu. @petra_s_ger 
• We love puns. We LOVE them. If you play on words smartly, you’ll get 100 extra points.  @toolupwithwords
• Don’t be surprised if you buy them chocolates and the 1st thing they do is read the ingredients in all the languages! @Silvia_MediaLoc 
• Be ready to put up with pointless arguments about grammar and etymology when fellow translators are around. @carlosckw
• If you ask the translation of a word and she doesn’t know it don’t reply “what kind of translator r u?” @Laura_Solana
• Pour son anniversaire, un bon dictionnaire fera toujours l’affaire. @juliettelemerle

Some blog posts on the same topic:

• Che bello che sai le lingue – Storia della mia vita (in Italian)
• Le cinque cose da sapere prima di uscire con un traduttore/interprete (in Italian)
• 5 cosas que uno debe saber antes de salir con un traductor/intérprete (in Spanish)
• The Freelance Translator at Home: Instructions for Use

Guest Post #002 – Learn a language while translating the web with Duolingo

Gisele Navarro Mendez, My Life In Translation‘s second guest blogger, is a SEO consultant, has experience as a web writer and works with a leading language school in London. She defines herself as a “social media lover” and can speak four languages (Spanish, English, Italian and Portuguese).

P.S.: if you’re interested in writing a guest post, you can contact me at learningbytranslating@gmail.com.

Learn a language while translating the web with Duolingo

Duolingo  is an ambitious new project that helps you learn a language while you help others by translating the web. The mutually beneficial service means you improve your skills in a foreign language, and the World Wide Web gets its content translated so that more people can enjoy it. Duolingo is a free service with no ads, no fees and no subscriptions. Learn more about it here.

What is Duolingo?

Duolingo is a language-learning website, which helps students improve their foreign language skills. Students progress through lessons by translating phrases from their chosen language into their native tongue. The service is also a text translation platform. Users learn by translating text from other websites and documents. These translations then add to the multilingual content on the web.

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The Way I Translate

I’ve just finished translating part of a text I’m going to deliver in the next few days (the deadline is on the 10th), and I was reflecting on how I usually translate a written text. I go through these steps:

1. Read the whole text before translating it  (I had to translate 34 pages once, I tried to translate the text paragraph by paragraph not knowing what came next, but it didn’t work for me);
2. Translate a sentence (I use monolingual and bilingual dictionaries, a collocations dictionary and other online translation resources);
3. Read the source language sentence to make sure that I translated everything;
4. Read the target language sentence to make sure that I translated it correctly and used natural Italian (unless it’s for a university assignment, I only translate into my mother tongue);
5. Translate the rest of the text in the same way;
6. Proofread the target language text, preferably on a printed version of it.

What about you? Do you use a different method?

2011-2012 Meme

1. What was the best part of 2011?
I’m not sure. It hasn’t been one of the best years of my life, but I’m definitely a different person from the one I was last year. I changed a lot. I’ve done lots of new experiences and learned a lot of things I never knew before. For me, 2011 will always be the year of the “first times”: the first time I baked a cake, the first time I traveled all by myself, the first time I went to a Summer camp, the first time I worked on a translation job, etc.

2. What do you look forward to in 2012?
First of all, I’m looking forward to improving as a person. In my opinion, you can’t do anything but improve. You become a better person every day.

3. Do you actually keep your New Year’s resolutions?
I try to. *reads 2011 ones* I’ve only accomplished three of them. I passed one exam, I lost some weight and, as I wrote above, I believe I became a better person.

4. What are your top 3 resolutions for the new year?

1. Lose more weight and be active;
2. Sit and pass at least 5 exams;
3. (see pic, even if it’s not really a resolution).

5. Do you have any fun new year’s traditions or plans?
I usually celebrate it with my relatives.

Alcune idee regalo creative

Natale sarà già passato, ma se state cercando ispirazione per dei regali da fare (non importa il periodo dell’anno), siete capitati nel posto giusto!

Questo post è particolarmente rivolto alle creative, a tutte coloro che amano il fai-da-te, le cose fatte a mano.

IDEA N.1 – LA “CALZA DELLA BEFANA”

Ho soprannominato così questo sacchettino (qui però andiamo più sul natalizio) da riempire con cibi in fimo (in particolar modo dolci), perline, e tutto ciò che la fantasia vi può suggerire. Per fare qualche esempio di cibi da inserire nella “calza”: ciambelle/donut, tavolette di cioccolato, marshmallow, hamburger, hot dog, liquirizie (rotelle o ripiene), Pan di Stelle, ecc… Per quanto riguarda i sacchettini di questo tipo, ne ho trovati alcuni di colori e con motivi diversi a “Happy Casa” e li ho pagati circa 1 € l’uno. Ciascun sacchettino si può personalizzare, volendo, con una mollettina (vedi foto sopra).

Una variante della “calza” è realizzata con delle perline: a parte il sacchettino, basta comprare delle perline (o magari, se ne avete, usarne alcune che non vi servono più), vanno benissimo anche quelle delle collane che vendono nei negozi cinesi.

IDEA N.2 – IL BARATTOLINO DECORATO

Questa, invece, è un’idea regalo creativa che si può realizzare tutto l’anno. Un’alternativa è riempire il barattolo di dolcetti in fimo. In ogni caso, il coperchio si può decorare a vostro piacere (nella foto sotto, come ho decorato il mio). Ad esempio, l’effetto “panna” l’ho realizzato con la colla a caldo, ma solitamente si usa il silicone.

*sings* I Wish You a Merry Christmas…

I¹ wish you a Merry Christmas, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

By the way, have you seen this year’s Google’s Christmas doodle yet? I love it!

I’m going to post my favourite Christmas songs below, I hope you enjoy them!

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Blogging Meme found on Sunday Stealing

Sunday Tuesday Stealing: The Bud is Back Meme

1. Why did you sign up for writing your blog?
Because I wanted to create one. That’s all.

2. Why did you choose your blog’s name? What does it mean?
I chose My Life In Translation because translation and foreign languages are a huge part of my life.

3. Do you ever had another blog?
Yes, my previous one was Learning by Translating.

4. What do you do online when you’re not on your blog?
Use online dictionaries and translation resources, search something related to what I’m studying on Google, check Facebook/Twitter, read blogs, watch videos on YouTube.

5. How about when you’re not on the computer?
I go to class, work out, hang out with friends and take care of myself and my household.

6. What do you wish people who read your blog knew about you?
I don’t know…

7. What is your favorite community in the blogosphere?
Does Technorati count?

8. What is your philosophy on your blog layout?
I usually get tired of my layouts easily, but I plan on keeping this one for a long time. I’m no WordPress expert (i.e. I can’t code), so I always use pre-made themes and customize them.

9. Tell me about your picture you use to represent you on your blog.
It’s a photo my Dad took on the day of my graduation, two years ago.

10. Pick 3 random blogs from your blogroll and tell us about them.

• Dailynterpreter – Natacha’s blog. She’s a translator and conference interpreter who’s about to get her PhD.
• Rainy London Translations – Val’s blog. She’s an Italian translator and conference interpreter who lives and works in London.
• Mox’s Blog – “Mox is a young but well educated translator. Two PhDs, six languages… and he hardly earns the minimum wage.” – the description says it all. It’s a webcomic, and now also a book.

11. What features do you think your blog should have that it doesn’t currently?
A site map.

12. What do you consider the 10 most “telling” interests that we would infer from what you blog persona?
Translation, English, foreign languages, online resources, Apple products, baking, creative hobbies… I counted 7.

13. Do you have any unique interests that you have never shared before? What are they?
Maybe running? I was into it a few years ago!

14. The best thing about blogging is all of the friends that you make. Beside from those folks, do you think your blog has fans?
Check my Facebook Page!

15. What’s your current obsession? What about it captures your imagination?
“In the Groove 2″, a dancing game similar to “Dance Dance Revolution”. I used to play DDR on my PlayStation many years ago, but with a gamepad. I had looked forward to playing the actual game (i.e. using a dance pad) for years until I played it for the first time about two months ago!

16. What are you glad you did but haven’t really had a chance to post about?
I’ve lost 11 kgs (24 lbs) so far!

17. How many people that first became a blog friend, have you met face to face?
Two.

18. What don’t you talk about here, either because it’s too personal or because you don’t have the energy?
Private stuff.

19. What’s a question that you’d love to answer?
Any question about my blog/studies.

20. Have you ever lost a blogging friendship and regretted it?
No.

21. Have you ever lost a blogging friendship and thought, “Was that overdue!”
No.

Guest Post #001 – La localizzazione software: un inquadramento analitico

Il primo guest post di My Life In Translation è a cura di Roberto Silva Perluzzo, traduttore e localizzatore presso Localsoft e dottorando di ricerca in Video Game Translation presso la Dublin City University. È un onore avere lui come mio primo guest blogger perché mette tanta passione e dedizione in ciò che fa e studia. Il testo che segue è tratto da un suo saggio e lo possiamo definire un’introduzione alla localizzazione software. Buona lettura!

P.S.: se sei interessato a diventare il prossimo guest blogger di My Life In Translation, contattami via e-mail all’indirizzo learningbytranslating @ gmail.com.

LA LOCALIZZAZIONE SOFTWARE: UN INQUADRAMENTO ANALITICO

Sin dagli anni ’90 il termine “localizzazione” è stato quello più comunemente usato per indicare una delle industrie linguistiche più redditizie dei giorni nostri. Con il notevole sviluppo, infatti, avutosi nel predetto decennio nel campo dell’informatica, in particolare per quanto concerne lo sviluppo di software e di siti web, la localizzazione è stata una delle forme più praticate, ma anche quasi mai analizzate, di “traduzione”. In base a quanto si accennava si è soliti pensare al traduttore come uno scrivano impegnato assiduamente nella resa del messaggio da lingua di partenza a lingua d’arrivo.

Per quanto, ovviamente, di fondamentale importanza per la realizzazione finale della localizzazione tout court, il processo di resa linguistica, di “traduzione interlinguistica o propriamente detta” si rivela esclusivamente una sola delle fasi complessive che compongono il processo localizzativo. La traduzione, difatti, è molto spesso vista solo come una piccola parte della localizzazione, mentre al contrario la localizzazione è sentita come forma molto elaborata di traduzione. I due termini potenzialmente antagonisti, tuttavia, definiscono in sostanza semplicemente modi diversi nell’approcciarsi a una comunicazione interculturale, seppur l’uno di natura particolarmente “settoriale” per la specificità del passaggio linguistico – culturale in ambito informatico e l’altro “generalista”.

Una definizione molto chiara che esplica in maniera immediata la varietà di concetti che ruotano al termine localizzazione la fornisce Esselink:

“In linea generale la localizzazione è la traduzione e l’adattamento di un software o di un prodotto web che includa anche l’applicazione software in sé e tutta l’annessa documentazione”. E’ subito lampante, quindi, come il termine racchiuda in sé diversi altri procedimenti che vanno ben aldilà della già citata traduzione “propriamente detta”.

L’adattamento al quale si riferisce Esselink come parte integrante della localizzazione stessa non è altro che l’applicazione del testo tradotto (più opportunamente chiamato in gergo informatico inserimento) nelle stringhe testuali del codice sorgente del software originario per un dato mercato di destinazione. Tradizionalmente, infatti, la traduzione propriamente detta è solamente una delle attività all’interno di un ben più vasto progetto di resa linguistica il quale include normalmente anche ricerca terminologica, correzioni di eventuali refusi e revisione testuale.

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How George Orwell Liked His Tea

I really enjoyed reading (and translating) this article for the English Language and Translation course I’m attending. It was first published on the Evening Standard on January 12, 1946.

George Orwell - A Nice Cup of Tea

If you look up “tea” in the first cookery book that comes to hand you will probably find that it is unmentioned; or at most you will find a few lines of sketchy instructions which give no ruling on several of the most important points.
This is curious, not only because tea is one of the mainstays of civilisation in this country, as well as in Eire, Australia and New Zealand, but because the best manner of making it is the subject of violent disputes.
When I look through my own recipe for the perfect cup of tea, I find no fewer than eleven outstanding points. On perhaps two of them there would be pretty general agreement, but at least four others are acutely controversial. Here are my own eleven rules, every one of which I regard as golden:
First of all, one should use Indian or Ceylonese tea. China tea has virtues which are not to be despised nowadays—it is economical, and one can drink it without milk—but there is not much stimulation in it. One does not feel wiser, braver or more optimistic after drinking it. Anyone who uses that comforting phrase “a nice cup of tea” invariably means Indian tea. Secondly, tea should be made in small quantities—that is, in a teapot. Tea out of an urn is always tasteless, while army tea, made in a cauldron, tastes of grease and whitewash. The teapot should be made of china or earthenware. Silver or Britannia-ware pots produce inferior tea and enamel pots are worse: though curiously enough a pewter teapot (a rarity nowadays) is not so bad. Thirdly, the pot should be warmed beforehand. This is better done by placing it on the hob than by the usual method of swilling it out with hot water. Fourthly, the tea should be strong. For a pot holding a quart, if you are going to fill it nearly to the brim, six heaped teaspoons would be about right. In a time of rationing this is not an idea that can be realised on every day of the week, but I maintain that one strong cup of tea is better than 20 weak ones. All true tea-lovers not only like their tea strong, but like it a little stronger with each year that passes—a fact which is recognised in the extra ration issued to old-age pensioners. Fifthly, the tea should be put straight into the pot. No strainers, muslin bags or other devices to imprison the tea. In some countries teapots are fitted with little dangling baskets under the spout to catch the stray leaves, which are supposed to be harmful. Actually one can swallow tea-leaves in considerable quantities without ill effect, and if the tea is not loose in the pot it never infuses properly. Sixthly, one should take the teapot to the kettle and not the other way about.
The water should be actually boiling at the moment of impact, which means that one should keep it on the flame while one pours. Some people add that one should only use water that has been freshly brought to the boil, but I have never noticed that this makes any difference. Seventhly, after making the tea, one should stir it, or better, give the pot a good shake, afterwards allowing the leaves to settle. Eighthly, one should drink out of a breakfast cup—that is the cylindrical type of cup, not the flat, shallow type. The breakfast cup holds more, and with the other kind one’s tea is always half cold before one has well started on it. Ninthly, one should pour the cream off the milk before using it for tea. Milk that is too creamy always gives tea a sickly taste. Tenthly, one should pour tea into the cup first. This is one of the most controversial points of all; indeed in every family in Britain there are probably two schools of thought on the subject. The milk-first school can bring forward some fairly strong arguments, but I maintain that my own argument is unanswerable. This is that, by putting the tea in first and stirring as one pours, one can exactly regulate the amount of milk whereas one is liable to put in too much milk if one does it the other way round.
Lastly, tea—unless one is drinking it in the Russian style—should be drunk without sugar. I know very well that I am in a minority here. But still, how can you call yourself a true tea-lover if you destroy the flavour of your tea by putting sugar in it? It would be equally reasonable to put pepper or salt. Tea is meant to be bitter, just as beer is meant to be bitter. If you sweeten it, you are no longer tasting the tea, you are merely tasting the sugar; you could make a very similar drink by dissolving sugar in plain hot water.
Some people would answer that they don’t like tea in itself, that they only drink it in order to be warmed and stimulated, and they need sugar to take the taste away. To those misguided people I would say: Try drinking tea without sugar for, say, a fortnight and it is very unlikely that you will ever want to ruin your tea by sweetening it again.
These are not the only controversial points that arise in connection with tea-drinking, but they are sufficient to show how subtilised the whole business has become. There is also the mysterious social etiquette surrounding the teapot (why is it considered vulgar to drink out of your saucer, for instance?) and much might be written about the subsidiary uses of tea-leaves, such as telling fortunes, predicting the arrival of visitors, feeding rabbits, healing burns and sweeping the carpet. It is worth paying attention to such details as warming the pot and using water that is really boiling, so as to make quite sure of wringing out of one’s ration the twenty good, strong cups that two ounces, properly handled, ought to represent.