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English as She Is Spoke

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Re: English as She Is Spoke

#111

Post by SuoDuanDao »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #97
hermitcrab wrote: post #75

I have never understood why Chinese companies often have such hilariously bad English translations of their product instructions. Often the product quality is pretty good and the illustrations in the instructions are fine. But the English translation is terrible. There must be millions of Chinese people that speak decent English (in Hong Kong alone).

I love the English language and I have a deep fear that this is the final destination for our language; that given demographics it will start to permanently reflect Mandarin translationisms, at least in the workplace. So many code reviews and design docs I deal with now are full of missing articles and tenses. I try to help with corrections but it can honestly start to feel like you're a big jerk in a code review if…

It can be done better or worse - some of the best advice I got for teaching ESL was that if someone uses incorrect grammar, to simply repeat the clause with correct grammar and a 'go on?' tone. Immediate, low-friction feedback is one of the best ways to learn, what makes people think you're a jerk is if you call attention to their mistakes.

Of course, that's much easier in conversation than written communication. A good reason to make small talk with your co-workers.

Re: English as She Is Spoke

#112

Post by zekrioca »

hi41 wrote: post #108

As an Indian who is currently living in USA, how do I talk English like the white people? I try but fall short and my jokes are an embarrassment. I dream of one day talking like the white people. But my existence is lonely as no white person invite me home.

Start first by studying western philosophy.

Re: English as She Is Spoke

#113

Post by ASalazarMX »

zekrioca wrote: post #112
hi41 wrote: post #108

As an Indian who is currently living in USA, how do I talk English like the white people? I try but fall short and my jokes are an embarrassment. I dream of one day talking like the white people. But my existence is lonely as no white person invite me home.

Start first by studying western philosophy.

He said he was lonely already, do you want the white people to actually avoid him?

Re: English as She Is Spoke

#114

Post by hermitcrab »

Symbiote wrote: post #81
tim333 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they tend to be more expensive and thin in the ground in mainland China - Hong Kongers or native English speakers. That said Google translate does quite a decent job.

You need at least one person with at least basic English knowledge to know that the Chinese translation service is bad. (Google is blocked, remember.)

I forgot that Google was blocked in China.

Re: English as She Is Spoke

#115

Post by hermitcrab »

howlgarnish wrote: post #106
hermitcrab wrote: post #75

I have never understood why Chinese companies often have such hilariously bad English translations of their product instructions. Often the product quality is pretty good and the illustrations in the instructions are fine. But the English translation is terrible. There must be millions of Chinese people that speak decent English (in Hong Kong alone).

They just put the text in a local equivalent to Google Translate and that's it, no proofreading etc. There's a famous restaurant sign in China that says "Translation server error" on it: https://www.seriouseats.com/2008/07/translate-server-error-r... There was an early translation program in China that was both popular and notoriously bad. For example, the simplified character 干 has a number of meanings, most commonl…

>They just put the text in a local equivalent to Google Translate and that's it, no proofreading etc.

I guess that is what they must be doing. But I still don't quite understand why they would spend thousands of dollars creating a product, tooling, packaging, instructions etc and then not spend, what, ~$100 getting a half-way decent translation.

Re: English as She Is Spoke

#116

Post by lioeters »

hi41 wrote: post #108

As an Indian who is currently living in USA, how do I talk English like the white people? I try but fall short and my jokes are an embarrassment. I dream of one day talking like the white people. But my existence is lonely as no white person invite me home.

I've heard that watching a lot of American television shows can be effective. I think that can help you get familiar with commonly used slang, cultural values, typical patterns of behavior. Also, it would be essential to practice in real life, by interacting as much as possible with the "natives".

Re: English as She Is Spoke

#117

Post by hi41 »

lioeters wrote: post #116
hi41 wrote: post #108

As an Indian who is currently living in USA, how do I talk English like the white people? I try but fall short and my jokes are an embarrassment. I dream of one day talking like the white people. But my existence is lonely as no white person invite me home.

I've heard that watching a lot of American television shows can be effective. I think that can help you get familiar with commonly used slang, cultural values, typical patterns of behavior. Also, it would be essential to practice in real life, by interacting as much as possible with the "natives".

Thank you!

When I was talking , someone said that I talk like I am reading a book. Is spoken English different from written English in books? All English I know is from reading text books in school and college.

Re: English as She Is Spoke

#118

Post by quercusa »

mduncs wrote: post #48
exolymph wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

YES. I'm stoked about David Bentley Hart's New Testament translation for that reason: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/030024844X/ref=ox_sc_sav... > Reproducing the texts' often fragmentary formulations without augmentation or correction, he has produced a pitilessly literal translation, one that captures the texts' impenetrability and unfinished quality while awakening readers to an uncanniness that often lies hi…

If you're stoked for that, then I would be remiss to not say something about Robert Alter's one man translation of the Hebrew Bible. From wiki: "Alter's translation aims to convey the literary style of the original Hebrew text in English, recreating as much as possible its poetic rhythms and metaphors" I think many of the Psalms and Ecclesiastes in particular are more beautifully rendered in his translation

Agreed - I've found Alter's work to be very helpful and his notes are excellent.

Re: English as She Is Spoke

#119

Post by quercusa »

cbfrench wrote: post #54
exolymph wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

YES. I'm stoked about David Bentley Hart's New Testament translation for that reason: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/030024844X/ref=ox_sc_sav... > Reproducing the texts' often fragmentary formulations without augmentation or correction, he has produced a pitilessly literal translation, one that captures the texts' impenetrability and unfinished quality while awakening readers to an uncanniness that often lies hi…

It’s up for conjecture how “pitilessly literal” the DBH translation is. As is the case with most translations, he imports his own agenda (particularly with regard to his universalist soteriology). It’s good, but it’s also not as “pitilessly” objective as he may believe it to be. Traduttore, traditore, etc.

I'm dubious about any such claim to objectivity.

Re: English as She Is Spoke

#120

Post by temp0826 »

madrox wrote: post #24

A similarly unintentional comedy in translation was a book I found several years ago that I believe was an autotranslation: "How to Good-bye Depression: If You Constrict Anus 100 Times Everyday. Malarkey? or Effective Way?". The amazon reviews are similarly hilarious. https://www.amazon.com/How-Good-bye-Depression-Constrict-Eve...

Best coffee table book ever.
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