Off topic: Translating for pleasure only Thread poster: Tom in London
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:10
Member (2008)
Italian to English
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I currently have a lengthy article on art, written 20 years ago by a famous critic, which may or may not need to be translated (I'm waiting to see if the client accepts my quote).
But on beginning to read the article I became so enthralled by it that I have begun to translate it anyway, for pure pleasure and as a way of really getting inside the mind of the famous critic.
I'm finding this deeply rewarding.
Do you, too, sometimes just translate things just because it's interesting and rewarding even though you have no idea whether you'll ever need to deliver it to a client ?
| | | | Usch Pilz
Local time: 22:10
English to German
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| Sometimes ... | Jan 21, 2012 |
... sometimes I do song lyrics or try with poetry - just for fun. It can be quite mind-boggling.
When I was still studying for my translators' exams, I caught myself translating billboard slogans while staring out of train windows.
[Edited at 2012-01-21 17:38 GMT]
[Edited at 2012-01-21 17:39 GMT]
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:10
Member (2008)
Italian to English
TOPIC STARTER
Usch Pilz wrote:
... sometimes I do song lyrics or try with poetry - just for fun. It can be quite mind-boggling.
When I was still studying for my translators' exams, I caught myself translating billboard slogans while staring out of train windows.
[Edited at 2012-01-21 17:38 GMT]
[Edited at 2012-01-21 17:39 GMT]
Ha ha yes, I do that all the time - I go around London mentally translating into Italian the English phrases I see on notices, ads, etc.
Or secretly listening to Italians on the bus, talking loudly on their phones about their personal problems - because they (wrongly) assume that nobody else on the bus understands Italian 
[Edited at 2012-01-21 19:30 GMT]
| | | | Mailand 
Local time: 22:10
Member (2009)
Italian to German
+ ...
| Good to know I´m not the only one .... | Jan 22, 2012 |
could be a sort of professional handicap .... (mentally translating advertising, chatter ...) and yes, it happens that I do translate something for interest, to see how it would look - but rarely. And I do work on "open-ended" projects (specialty dictionaries) without having someone to do it for .
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| second nature | Jan 22, 2012 |
Now that Tom has brought this up, I realise that it has been my second nature to mentally translate words, signboards, adverts, texts that catch my fancy into the languages I know. When I was in the army, I was so impacted by Rudyard Kipling's "IF", that I translated it into Hindi and displayed both the versions in the Unit Information Room so that they would inspire Other Ranks who visited the Info Room. Just for pleasure and satisfaction of having done some creative work.
| | | | Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:10
Hebrew to English
| All the time....just not anymore :-/ | Jan 22, 2012 |
When I was studying when I was younger, my teacher got me listening to Israeli music for exposure to the target culture. She also got me to translate the lyrics for vocabulary. I also did the same with children's literature, which I would really suggest, although my language output can sometimes be quite poetic/lyrical as a result. (The children's books often contained more "lofty" words rather than their everyday counterparts).
I'm surprised I don't naturally rhyme as a res... See more When I was studying when I was younger, my teacher got me listening to Israeli music for exposure to the target culture. She also got me to translate the lyrics for vocabulary. I also did the same with children's literature, which I would really suggest, although my language output can sometimes be quite poetic/lyrical as a result. (The children's books often contained more "lofty" words rather than their everyday counterparts).
I'm surprised I don't naturally rhyme as a result of all those song translations too
I did it for years, even when not being instructed to do so. I think its' a habit I should perhaps resurrect from the grave.... ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ledja
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:10
English to Albanian
+ ...
I am in the habit of translating a chapter or two from fiction books I like and then, if I happen to find the translated version on my holidays abroad, I'll scoop it off the shelf and bring it home to compare to the original. (My son often comments how weird it is that one would enjoy reading a book while double checking with another and scribbling notes all over the pages, but I have gradually broken my family in - they are all starting to call out whenever seeing mistranslated phrases in movie... See more I am in the habit of translating a chapter or two from fiction books I like and then, if I happen to find the translated version on my holidays abroad, I'll scoop it off the shelf and bring it home to compare to the original. (My son often comments how weird it is that one would enjoy reading a book while double checking with another and scribbling notes all over the pages, but I have gradually broken my family in - they are all starting to call out whenever seeing mistranslated phrases in movie subtitles) ▲ Collapse
| | | | Berna Bleeke (X)
Local time: 22:10
English to Dutch
| I hate it when that happens | Jan 23, 2012 |
Mailand wrote:
could be a sort of professional handicap ....
It can be, indeed. Sometimes I'll be reading an especially good passage in a book, and suddenly I'll find myself thinking about how I would translate it, instead of enjoying the book. I hate it when that happens.
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Yes, I do occasionally translate for fun. For instance, I love 18th century French drama (indeed, 18th century French everything) and once translated Marivaux's Le Jeux de l'Amour et du Hasard" [The Game of Love and Chance] for my own entertainment - it's an amusing play. My main reason for tackling it was that I read somewhere that it was deemed untranslateable. It was tricky in some respects but not (in my arrogant opinion) untranslateable. We did a rehearsed reading of it at the local Arts Cl... See more Yes, I do occasionally translate for fun. For instance, I love 18th century French drama (indeed, 18th century French everything) and once translated Marivaux's Le Jeux de l'Amour et du Hasard" [The Game of Love and Chance] for my own entertainment - it's an amusing play. My main reason for tackling it was that I read somewhere that it was deemed untranslateable. It was tricky in some respects but not (in my arrogant opinion) untranslateable. We did a rehearsed reading of it at the local Arts Club to some acclaim.
As to slogans, yes, I mentally translate everything I see around me - even Weetabix packets. Maybe I should get a life?
Regards,
Jenny ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:10
Member (2008)
Italian to English
TOPIC STARTER
Jenny Forbes wrote:
Yes, I do occasionally translate for fun. For instance, I love 18th century French drama (indeed, 18th century French everything) and once translated Marivaux's Le Jeux de l'Amour et du Hasard" [The Game of Love and Chance] for my own entertainment - it's an amusing play. My main reason for tackling it was that I read somewhere that it was deemed untranslateable. It was tricky in some respects but not (in my arrogant opinion) untranslateable. We did a rehearsed reading of it at the local Arts Club to some acclaim.
As to slogans, yes, I mentally translate everything I see around me - even Weetabix packets. Maybe I should get a life?
Regards,
Jenny
For some reason I keep trying to translate an old Lavazza coffee slogan for the benefit of my non-Italian-speaking friends. Dating from the 1980s, it featured Nino Manfredi saying in his fine Roman accent:
"O ma è Lavazza è! Più lo mandi giù, e più ti tira sù!"
Translated into English this has not the slightest effect on people. I wish I could stop.
[Edited at 2012-01-23 13:08 GMT]
| | | | | Yes, I do too. | Jan 23, 2012 |
When I've been sent a job which has not yet been cleared for translation but that I need to provide a quote for, I sometimes am so taken with the article I end up translating it just to discover what it is all about.
I had an absolutely fascinating book on a shipping company to translate which had me completely spell-bound. During the history of the company several people died which brought tears to my eyes as I had so enjoyed following their exploits. I put in long working hours j... See more When I've been sent a job which has not yet been cleared for translation but that I need to provide a quote for, I sometimes am so taken with the article I end up translating it just to discover what it is all about.
I had an absolutely fascinating book on a shipping company to translate which had me completely spell-bound. During the history of the company several people died which brought tears to my eyes as I had so enjoyed following their exploits. I put in long working hours just to see what happened next. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Germaine
Canada
Local time: 16:10
English to French
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| I'm curious... | Jan 23, 2012 |
Tom in London wrote:
For some reason I keep trying to translate an old Lavazza coffee slogan for the benefit of my non-Italian-speaking friends. Dating from the 1980s, it featured Nino Manfredi saying in his fine Roman accent:
"O ma è Lavazza è! Più lo mandi giù, e più ti tira sù!"
Translated into English this has not the slightest effect on people. I wish I could stop.
What is your translation?
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Ledja
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:10
English to Albanian
+ ...
| That 80's slogan... | Jan 23, 2012 |
Tom in London wrote:
...it featured Nino Manfredi saying in his fine Roman accent:
"O ma è Lavazza è! Più lo mandi giù, e più ti tira sù!"
Translated into English this has not the slightest effect on people. I wish I could stop.
[Edited at 2012-01-23 13:08 GMT]
It's true, I can almost hear the raw authentic accent in that first part - impossible to "transfer".
The best I can do: "That's Lavazza, that is! The more you down it, the more it lifts you up!". For some reason, my Albanian part of the brain has gone blank on this.
| | | | opolt
Germany
Local time: 22:10
English to German
+ ...
| Count me in too | Jan 23, 2012 |
Some years ago I translated some Tom Waits lyrics, like "In the Colloseum", "Murder in the Red Barn" etc., just for fun and to show some friends... The goal was not only to translate it well, but also to keep the rhythm, the rhyme, and all the rest of the semi-musical T.W. voodoo, such that the translations could be sung along with the original music ... In German you have to make do with words much longer than in English.
"...
unter der spüle hat er gift versteckt
was ... See more Some years ago I translated some Tom Waits lyrics, like "In the Colloseum", "Murder in the Red Barn" etc., just for fun and to show some friends... The goal was not only to translate it well, but also to keep the rhythm, the rhyme, and all the rest of the semi-musical T.W. voodoo, such that the translations could be sung along with the original music ... In German you have to make do with words much longer than in English.
"...
unter der spüle hat er gift versteckt
was sonst · und auch formalin
soviel daß jeder gaul die hufe streckt
..."
[Edited at 2012-01-23 19:58 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I have once translated an entire book for fun | Jan 27, 2012 |
While I was still working as a translation project manager, I had this idea to translate the novel version of "Saturday Night Fever" just for fun. I wanted to practise and see how many words I could translate per hour and my boss was so thrilled about that that he helped me binding the book and I gave it as a Christmas present to my sister.
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