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Working languages: Spanish to English
French to English
| Michael Dorrity
NA Local time: 10:18 WEST (GMT+1)
Native in: English  | |
Freelancer,  Verified site user | | Translation, Interpreting, Editing/proofreading | | Specializes in: | | Government / Politics | Management | | Tourism & Travel |
| Also works in: | | Cinema, Film, TV, Drama | Poetry & Literature | | Materials (Plastics, Ceramics, etc.) | Music | | Other | Photography/Imaging (& Graphic Arts) | | Printing & Publishing | Retail | | Science (general) | Telecom(munications) | | Slang | Human Resources | | History | Computers: Hardware | | Computers: Software | Computers: Systems, Networks | | Cooking / Culinary | Engineering (general) | | Environment & Ecology | Food & Dairy | | Furniture / Household Appliances | Games / Video Games / Gaming / Casino | | General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters | Certificates, Diplomas, Licenses, CVs |
More Less | Spanish to English - Standard rate: 0.07 EUR per word / 20 EUR per hour
| | PRO-level points: 28, Questions answered: 21, Questions asked: 11 | Sample translations submitted: 1 | Spanish to English: Rich people Cry Too | Source text - Spanish
Hace un par de meses leí una noticia de lo más chocante que lleva dando tumbos por el interior de mi cabeza desde entonces. Según la asociación World Values Survey, que hizo una investigación sobre 65 países que engloban al 80% de la población mundial, las personas más felices del mundo viven en Nigeria. A continuación, y por orden descendente, los más dichosos están en México, Venezuela y El Salvador. Al otro extremo de la escala, ocupando los tres puestos finales como lugares con más cantidad de desgraciados, están Rusia, Armenia y Rumania, que sería el país más triste de la tierra.
El trabajo salió publicado en la revista New Scientist y se supone que es un estudio serio, pero a mí me resulta un tanto estrafalario. En primer lugar, intentar hacer un ranking de algo tan fugitivo, incierto e ilusorio como la felicidad roza el disparate. Por otro lado, puede que los rusos, los armenios y los rumanos arrastren ciertas cuotas de incomodidad y desconsuelo, pero lo que ya resulta imposible de creer son los resultados más altos de la tabla. No conozco Nigeria, pero sí México, Venezuela y El Salvador, y en todos estos países he visto muchedumbres de seres desprotegidos y necesitados que no parecían estarse pasando la vida estupendamente.
Los resultados obtenidos por este estudio parecen abundar en los viejos tópicos del tipo “el dinero no da la felicidad” y “los ricos también lloran”. Grandes verdades o grandes estupideces, según como se mire: porque desde luego el dinero no da la felicidad, pero ¡evita tantas y tan desesperadas infelicidades! El ser humano se caracteriza por la insatisfacción: siempre queremos más de lo que no tenemos, siempre deseamos ser otra cosa. Esa inquietud permanente es nuestro núcleo, lo que nos pone en marcha. Cuanto más libres seamos, cuanto más dominemos nuestras circunstancias, cuanto más control tengamos sobre nuestras vidas, más podremos entregarnos al desasosiego de la insatisfacción. En cambio, las personas que tienen que bregar duramente cada día para encontrar algo que comer no se pueden permitir el lujo de estar deprimidas: no se pueden permitir un sentimiento consciente de infelicidad porque dejarían de luchar, porque se matarían.
| Translation - English
A few months ago, I read an article which was just so shocking that I’ve had it buzzing around in my head ever since. According to a World Values Survey, which carried out a study across 60 countries (80% of the world’s population) the happiest people in the world live In Nigeria, followed by Mexico, Venezuela and El Salvador. At the other end of the table, occupying the lowest places and thus containing the greatest quantity of miserable people are Russia, Armenia and Romania, which would be the saddest country in all the world.
The paper was published in New Scientist and is supposedly a serious piece but it strikes me as more than a little odd. Firstly, to try to rank something as transient, uncertain and illusory as happiness verges on absurd. Secondly, it may well be that Russians, Armenians and Romanians are dogged by a certain amount of discomfort and despair in their lives, but what’s really impossible to believe are the highest results in the table. I’ve never been to Nigeria but I have been to Mexico, Venezuela and El Salvador and in all of these countries I’ve seen crowds of vulnerable people who did not seem to be living such wonderful lives.
The results of the study abound in old sayings such as “Money doesn’t buy happiness” and “rich people cry too”. Great truths or great stupidity depending on how you look at it; because of course money doesn’t buy happiness but it helps avoid so much hopeless unhappiness. Human beings are characterized by dissatisfaction, we always want more than what we have, we always want to be something else. This permanent anxiety is our very core, it’s what makes us tick. The freer we are, the more we can dominate our circumstances and the more control we have over our lives; the more we’ll succumb to this restless dissatisfaction. On the other hand, those who have to struggle arduously every day just to find something to eat can’t allow themselves the luxury of being depressed, they can’t allow themselves to consciously feel unhappy because they’d give up the fight, they’d kill themselves.
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More Less | | Iwith, Law, Literary, politics | | Bachelor's degree - Queens University Belfast | | Years of translation experience: 4. Registered at ProZ.com: Dec 2007. | | N/A | French to English (Queen University Belfast)
Spanish to English (Queens University Belfast)
| | N/A | | Adobe Acrobat, Frontpage, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Wordfast |  CV/Resume (DOC) | | About me Ever since I started studying translation as a component of my language degree, I've been fascinated with the discipline. Creative writing continues to be the element from which I derive the greatest satisfaction and at which I best excel. I relish the challenge of negotiating an accurate and functional understanding between source text and final translation. Working as a freelance translator gives me the opportunity to continue growing, learning, developing and evolving with each new project.
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Profile last updated
Aug 20, 2009 |
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