Tom in London United Kingdom Local time: 15:40 Member (2008) Italian to English
I must say
Aug 18, 2011
philgoddard wrote:
If you ask KudoZ questions in the source language, isn't the implication that you're translating out of your mother tongue and are not sufficiently confident in your target language to ask questions in it? Or could there be other reasons? What do you think?
I must say that I'm often tempted to ask such questions as "Why did you take on this translating job, since you are obviously completely out of your depth?" and "If you don't know how to translate this very easy term, why are you translating a document of this type?"
In such cases it is very obvious that the translator is trying to translate out of their mother tongue and is going to make an awful mess of the translation.
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Christine Andersen Denmark Local time: 16:40 Member (2003) Danish to English + ...
My source language is my language of habitual usage
Aug 19, 2011
I think and dream in my source language and speak it at least as much as my target language.
If a question is as much about understanding an idiom or proverb as translating it, I am subconsciously asking the natives of the source language, so I write in their language.
I sometimes answer questions in Danish too, which is not strictly my native language, but it may be easier to explain the nuances, especially if the question is English to Danish.
I do it typically where there are two separate words in one language, but only one in the other.
For instance, there is only one word that covers seasonings, spices and herbs in Danish, and to get at the differences in English, it is sometimes easier to explain in Danish, because of course, the distinction is made and there are qualifying expressions.
Roasting/baking/frying is another spectrum of meaning where the Danish words do not correspond exactly to the English, and it may be easier to explain in Danish.
I can imagine that especially in pairs where the languages are less closely related, there will be plenty of situations where it is easier to explain in one language than the other, even if the translator is more or less bilingual.
I hope this just proves that I am reasonably fluent in both languages...
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Nicole Schnell United States Local time: 07:40 Member English to German + ...
Which reminds me...
Aug 19, 2011
Here is what a KudoZ moderator once replied to my apology after I figured out that I am supposed to ask my questions in the target language:
A person who doesn't understand your question if you are posting in your source language, doesn't have any business in this forum anyway.
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Diego Canossa Argentina Local time: 11:40 Member (2008) English to Spanish + ...
I didn't even know. I didn't even think of it...
Aug 20, 2011
I didn't know we were supposed to ask questions in the target language. In all honesty, I've noticed sometimes I ask questions in English, and sometimes in Spanish (my target language is 95% of the time Spanish), but with no particular reason. Same with the answers I give, sometimes I write in English and sometimes in Spanish. As a matter of fact, I've recently started a new topic in the forum, and it just happened to be in English. I guess I switch back and forth from one language to another so often, I don't even realize what language I'm speaking/writing! :-S
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