Off topic: US Army: Arabic-disabled Thread poster: Fuad Yahya
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By now, I suppose everybody has had a good laugh at the hilarious US Army ad on ProZ.com: "New careers come to those who speak Arabic." Apart from the uninspired, uninspiring copy, the Arabic translation in the ad's background is a hoot. I have been thinking: what is the US Army really trying to say by using such inferior Arabic in a national campaign? Here are some possibilities:
- US Army: No Arabic spoken here!
- US Army: We don't speak Arabic, and we sure can prove ... See more By now, I suppose everybody has had a good laugh at the hilarious US Army ad on ProZ.com: "New careers come to those who speak Arabic." Apart from the uninspired, uninspiring copy, the Arabic translation in the ad's background is a hoot. I have been thinking: what is the US Army really trying to say by using such inferior Arabic in a national campaign? Here are some possibilities:
- US Army: No Arabic spoken here!
- US Army: We don't speak Arabic, and we sure can prove it!
- US Army: Linguists we are not!
- US Army: We speak one language -- barely.
- You think this is bad Arabic? Wait until you hear us speak it!
- You say you speak Arabic? How can we tell?
- If you speak Arabic, come and get quickly hired: we don't test for competency!
- The English and the Arabic do not match? Why should they?
- The translation is too literal? You just said it didn't match! Make up your mind.
- It reads like machine translation? We had no idea it was that good. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Useful ad or not? | Aug 1, 2004 |
Not to divert attention from Fuad´s thread, but may I add for dicussion the following: As always when we get a new form of advertising, I would be interested in hearing whether or not members find this form of advertising valuable.
Show them or no?
| | | | Randa Farhat 
Lebanon
Local time: 03:51
English to Arabic
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| | It is a yellow banner ad | Aug 1, 2004 |
You can find it either at the top of ProZ pages or on the left hand margin below the menu.
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Randa Farhat
Lebanon
Local time: 03:51
English to Arabic
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Hello Fuad,
The banner ad I see is about Translation Office 3000.
That's the only banner I see on top and left of page(s).
Maybe I missed the one you're talking about. But I'm curious to know how was the Arabic ad content phrased! Could you post it in Arabic?
Thank you & Regards!
| | | | | Here is a link to an image of the ad | Aug 2, 2004 |
randa2 wrote: how was the Arabic ad content phrased!
I have copied the add to a PDF file. If you want to see it, take a look here:
http://www.arabicfreelance.com/army.pdf
The ad says:
وظائف جديدة تأتي لهؤلاء الذين يتكلمون اللغة العربية
It appears that different ads are posted simultaneously, and that not all viewers see the same ad at the same time. It is also possible that you are looking at the ad in your cache. If you empty your cache, you may be able to see the army ad, because it is still there, and I am looking at it right now.
[Edited at 2004-11-20 21:47]
| | | | Randa Farhat
Lebanon
Local time: 03:51
English to Arabic
+ ...
Hello Fuad,
thanks for posting the URL.. yes, how odd! must be a "machine translation" or a "word-by-word translation"! quite funny
actually my cache is always cleaned! and browser always refreshed, but till now "no ads"!!
so, how would a translator respond to a poorly-phrased ad? hmm! i guess by offering to correct it, in the first place.
cheers!
| | | | | You cannot see the ad unless your decalred location is the US | Aug 4, 2004 |
randa2 wrote:
The banner ad I see is about Translation Office 3000.
That's the only banner I see. Maybe I missed the one you're talking about.
I have just found out that the ad is targeted to ProZ members whose declared location in their profiles is the United States. To see the ad, you can temporarily switch your location to the US, empty your cache, close your browser, then open it again. You can switch back to your real location after you see the ad.
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Randa Farhat
Lebanon
Local time: 03:51
English to Arabic
+ ...
| thank you, Fuad | Aug 5, 2004 |
that's right!
i did what you said and temporarily changed my location to the US, and there it was! the ad on top and left of page!
hmm, interesting! i didn't know you could only view ads according to location, but obviously because it's made for target audience.
thank you!
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