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Situation related interpreting
Thread poster: wonita (X)
wonita (X)
wonita (X)
China
Local time: 09:01
Dec 14, 2007

When somebody sneezes at the table, a German would say: "Gesundheit!", which means "health" in English, whilst a Brit would say: "bless you!". And a Chinese would just keep silent, as if nothing happened. Quite often, people from different cultures react differently to a certain situation. When I am asked again in one of many such situations:" How to say 'Bless you' in Chinese?" I know there would be a lang explanation of the cultural difference after making a literal translation of the few word... See more
When somebody sneezes at the table, a German would say: "Gesundheit!", which means "health" in English, whilst a Brit would say: "bless you!". And a Chinese would just keep silent, as if nothing happened. Quite often, people from different cultures react differently to a certain situation. When I am asked again in one of many such situations:" How to say 'Bless you' in Chinese?" I know there would be a lang explanation of the cultural difference after making a literal translation of the few words .

Just want to share.

Thanks for reading and have a nice weekend!
Bin

[Edited at 2007-12-14 20:57] ▲ Collapse
 
NancyLynn
NancyLynn
Canada
Local time: 09:01
Member (2002)
French to English
+ ...

Moderator of this forum
You'd better hope Elaine Bennis wasn't around ;-) Dec 14, 2007

Imagine having to explain the "You're so good-looking" episode of Seinfeld.



You too, have a nice weekend!

Nancy
 
Parrot
Parrot  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 15:01
Spanish to English
+ ...
I missed this one Jan 18, 2008

I used to work in a convention bureau -- went the whole works. Came up from the information desk to registration, did time in the secretariat, up to translation and congress pre-publishing, and finally left for abroad as part of my interpretation training.

Do you know that the longer a Japanese delegate keeps quiet in front of a microphone during an open forum, the more important he is?

When we published the proceedings, we had to delete all that protocolary silence. Th... See more
I used to work in a convention bureau -- went the whole works. Came up from the information desk to registration, did time in the secretariat, up to translation and congress pre-publishing, and finally left for abroad as part of my interpretation training.

Do you know that the longer a Japanese delegate keeps quiet in front of a microphone during an open forum, the more important he is?

When we published the proceedings, we had to delete all that protocolary silence. There was a whole lot of that at the OECD...

[Edited at 2008-01-18 01:52] ▲ Collapse
 


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Situation related interpreting







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