Translating Languages 'Exactly'...

When translators translate from one language to another, at the UN for example, there is no way to render an exact translation. Certain cultural norms with languages come into play. And some languages just express things differently.

For example in French they Quelle age a tu? which translates literally as "what age have you?" We would normally say how old are you. And they say Quelle temp fait il? We would just say what's the weather like.

Some expressions don't translate exactly either. In Latin they say Tempus fugit, "time flees". We would say time flies. And in French they say C'est la geste qui compte, n'est-ce pas? It's the gesture that counts, isn't it? Again we'd say it's the thought that counts.

There's probably no way to exactly translate from one language to another.

 

Right. However translators have improved a lot through last years. I use "Bing Translator" belongs to Google, and it's able to make an excellent work. I use it mostly from English to Spanish (my native language)

 

It all depends on whether we are translating the grammar, French is difficult, because they place adjectives after nouns. For example, 'the blue shirt' in French would read.'the shirt that is blue' on a more literal translation.

 

To have so many different languages among the peoples of the earth is very interesting. What humans in differing locations first decided to call or designate items , places , situations , etc, must have sounded strange as they morphed into the finality of each language and were accepted as the proper way to communicate.

 

Also I wanted to bring up insults. They're interesting in other languages. Some languages just use them differently. When Romanian Olympic coach Béla Károlyi defected to the US during the Cold War, he was learning English. When he first heard the English word bitch, he thought it might be a compliment. In Romania, dogs are valued and admired for their loyalty and friendship. Anyways, long-story-short, for a while he was calling everyone an SOB here. So with insults, the translator has to ask, What has the same emotional impact? Or what is just as insulting?

 

My housemate's favorite Eastern European soul food is a vegetable paste made mostly of roasted bell peppers called "havahd". The English translation from Cyrillic? "Avjar".
Vastly superior to American spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce, by the way.

 

Just found this:

Language