Does anybody in Leeds(anywhere?)speak Welsh?

Si · Post by Si » Thu 17 Dec, 2009 10:47 am

Keg wrote: IMHO all official docs should be in english and english only... No. Latin, surely.... PS As an example of the pitfalls of translating into different languages, years ago, I had to supervise the recording of a voice-over for a Twix TV ad, translated into Arabic. The v/o artist was also the translator. However fast he spoke, we had real trouble fitting it into the required 30 seconds. When the off-line version was played to an Arabic market research group, they all fell about laughing. The bloke had read the script (caramel, biscuit, etc) and then added "for all your Arabic translation needs, ring Ali on 016112345678!!!"

Trojan · Post by **Trojan** » Thu 17 Dec, 2009 11:07 am

Keg wrote: IMHO all official docs should be in english and english only... Not Urdu, Hindi, Arabic, Polish, and Hebrew then?

Cardiarms · Post by **Cardiarms** » Thu 17 Dec, 2009 11:17 am

An exrsise of the perils of translation by non native speakers was done by a group, first a English group translated the phrase "out of sight, out of mind" into French with the aid of a English/French dictionary. Their effort was then given to some French people who were asked to translate it back into English, with the aid of the same dictionary. Their result was "invisible and mad". It's not wrong but the meaning is totally different.

Si · Post by Si » Thu 17 Dec, 2009 11:27 am

I found a couple of nice mis-translations on Google.A dish on an English version of the menu of a restaurant in China was described as "Translation Server Error." Mmmm. Delicious.The other was Welsh/English. In English, a road sign said "No Entry For Heavy Goods Vehicles. Residential Site Only." The Welsh version translated as "I am out of the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated."

Trojan · Post by **Trojan** » Thu 17 Dec, 2009 12:02 pm

I was once researching travel in Normandy on line, and asked for a Google translation of the area I was looking at - it came up with "Apple Brandy" - Calvados - correct but not exactly what I was looking for.

Post by **cnosni** » Thu 17 Dec, 2009 5:54 pm

Trojan wrote: I was once researching travel in Normandy on line, and asked for a Google translation of the area I was looking at - it came up with "Apple Brandy" - Calvados - correct but not exactly what I was looking for. It'd do me!!I used to live with a welsh speaker,from West Wales.Welsh was the primary language spoken there,they could all speak English,but they chose to speak welsh to each other,which is fine.However,after a night in the local pub,the thinly veiled dislike of the English began to seep out.I gave them some food for thought when i explained that it was infact the same people took over Wales that took over England,the Normans.Much mumbling took over,then the mention of the attempted aglicisation of their language and placenames waas down to the English.I then pointed out that the chief culprit for this attempted strangling of their language and customs was infact one of their own,Henry the 8th,son of Henry Tudor (who usurped the throne at Bosworth),whos Tudor forebares were from Anglesey.What i found really funny was that there were loads of coverstions all around me in welsh,but when they swore it was done so,in mid welsh sentence,in full on anglo saxon,the "f" word being the most used.You will also notice that the welsh have no word for "Television""Computer"or"My Round"

Trojan · Post by **Trojan** » Thu 17 Dec, 2009 11:16 pm

cnosni wrote: Trojan wrote: I was once researching travel in Normandy on line, and asked for a Google translation of the area I was looking at - it came up with "Apple Brandy" - Calvados - correct but not exactly what I was looking for. It'd do me!!I used to live with a welsh speaker,from West Wales.Welsh was the primary language spoken there,they could all speak English,but they chose to speak welsh to each other,which is fine.However,after a night in the local pub,the thinly veiled dislike of the English began to seep out.I gave them some food for thought when i explained that it was infact the same people took over Wales that took over England,the Normans.Much mumbling took over,then the mention of the attempted aglicisation of their language and placenames waas down to the English.I then pointed out that the chief culprit for this attempted strangling of their language and customs was infact one of their own,Henry the 8th,son of Henry Tudor (who usurped the throne at Bosworth),whos Tudor forebares were from Anglesey.What i found really funny was that there were loads of coverstions all around me in welsh,but when they swore it was done so,in mid welsh sentence,in full on anglo saxon,the "f" word being the most used.You will also notice that the welsh have no word for "Television""Computer"or"My Round" The Welsh for ambulance is ambwlance. To quote Count Arthur Strong "whats the point of a foreign language that's just English spelled differently - a foreign language is supposed to be one you can't understand"

Trojan · Post by **Trojan** » Thu 17 Dec, 2009 11:19 pm

Perhaps we could start on Scots and Ulster Scots next?http://www.scotslanguage.com/books/view/2/

simong · Post by **simong** » Fri 18 Dec, 2009 9:48 am

Trojan wrote: Perhaps we could start on Scots and Ulster Scots next?http://www.scotslanguage.com/books/view/2/ Scots really does bend the concept of language. Where Welsh is at least an identifiable language for all its modern transliterations, Scots has very few if any unique words. Languages do attract money and prestige though, which is why the Scottish Government has supported its adoption.

Keg · Post by **Keg** » Fri 18 Dec, 2009 10:59 am

Good point Si! :-)But seriously, why do we go to the cost of translating into all these different languages.This isn't an anti imigration rant, far from it but i really do think that we need to stop all this stuff.