| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Foreigners telling me how to write English Thread poster: philgoddard
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Yup, it's happened to me as well. (Probably happened to most x->Eng folks I imagine.)
I don't particularly object to the principle, as such. I've had a few great suggestions for improvement from non-native speakers.
What grinds my gears the most is when the comment takes the form of querying a structure by saying something like "shouldn't it be xxx" when a quick Google of "xxx" in quotes shows no-one has ever written or said "xxx", whereas the structure I used gets plenty of ... See more Yup, it's happened to me as well. (Probably happened to most x->Eng folks I imagine.)
I don't particularly object to the principle, as such. I've had a few great suggestions for improvement from non-native speakers.
What grinds my gears the most is when the comment takes the form of querying a structure by saying something like "shouldn't it be xxx" when a quick Google of "xxx" in quotes shows no-one has ever written or said "xxx", whereas the structure I used gets plenty of decent hits.
That said, I'm not sure the fact you can Google a given phrase by using quote marks is as widely-known as I'd like it to be..... ▲ Collapse
| | | | Michele Fauble 
United States
Local time: 09:46
Member (2006)
Norwegian to English
+ ...
| The price of rubbish | Sep 2, 2023 |
philgoddard wrote:
So I can either stand by my principles and refuse to produce a substandard translation that sounds weird, or just shrug and say the customer is always right, even when they're wrong.
Explain that producing a substandard translation is more work and that you will need to add a surcharge.
| | | | | Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep | Sep 2, 2023 |
https://youtube.com/watch?v=HSNSTerj2Kc&si=J0-z7zF3UXadqa5L
Here is the irrefutable evidence that a bird does say 'cheep cheep', but I can well imagine that your German connection will complain that it's not written with an a.
Edit: possible reaction: 'Ein Cheep ist ein Rechnerbauteil. Er hat überhaupt nichts mit „billig” zu tun. Das können Sie d... See more https://youtube.com/watch?v=HSNSTerj2Kc&si=J0-z7zF3UXadqa5L
Here is the irrefutable evidence that a bird does say 'cheep cheep', but I can well imagine that your German connection will complain that it's not written with an a.
Edit: possible reaction: 'Ein Cheep ist ein Rechnerbauteil. Er hat überhaupt nichts mit „billig” zu tun. Das können Sie doch sicher verstehen. Dummkopf!'
[Edited at 2023-09-02 20:27 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Try to meet these people in person | Sep 3, 2023 |
philgoddard wrote:
...but there's one thing that drives me up the wall: foreigners telling me my English is wrong.
Then you're in the wrong place here. It happens every day in the Kudoz arena, where certain non-NE contributors, sometimes with some knowledge of a subject in their own language, post very confidently in EN (some so obviously use MT/AI and propose CL5 answers). But some natives do that too. They're convinced no one notices!
Try to meet these people in person, if possible. Then their "weaknesses" become harder to hide.
I understand your point though. I can imagine finding it hard to keep one's cool and remain polite (so as not to lose a customer) when having to explain the bleedin' obvious to the deluded. It's frustrating in Kudoz too!
[Edited at 2023-09-03 03:41 GMT]
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:46
Member (2008)
Italian to English
I have great fun with my Italian friends in London, amusing ourselves by translating English idioms into completely meaningless Italian, and viceversa. Or even mixing them up.
Examples
"It's a piece of cake" = "E' un pezzo di torta"
"Facciamo un salto" = Let's make a jump"
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 18:46
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| The Dutch page | Sep 3, 2023 |
Tom in London wrote:
I have great fun with my Italian friends in London, amusing ourselves by translating English idioms into completely meaningless Italian, and viceversa.
The most well-known Dutch one is here:
https://www.facebook.com/MakeThatTheCatWise/
Example:
The Dutch word for trying to seduce someone is the same as the word for decorating a Christmas tree. Don't ask.
[Edited at 2023-09-03 09:45 GMT]
| | | | Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:46
Serbian to English
+ ...
| You could consider yourself lucky! | Sep 3, 2023 |
Well, sort of.
At least you didn't have to deal with someone haugthily lecturing you about how wrong your translation is based on some unquestionable authority such as ... the Google Translate output!
I had few times to deal with "self appointed experts" questioning my translations into French, people who couldn't string a sentence in French even if their life depended on it, based on what similarly sounding false-friends mean in English!
"Customer i... See more Well, sort of.
At least you didn't have to deal with someone haugthily lecturing you about how wrong your translation is based on some unquestionable authority such as ... the Google Translate output!
I had few times to deal with "self appointed experts" questioning my translations into French, people who couldn't string a sentence in French even if their life depended on it, based on what similarly sounding false-friends mean in English!
"Customer is NOT always right". Whether it's worth your time pointing to them where they are not right is another matter.
If they want to sabotage their own marketing in an English speaking country by ignoring what natives have to say, let them!
OTOH there is also a good argument for the opposite position: I can understand that no professional would want their name associated with shoddy work. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Is this better for the German? | Sep 3, 2023 |
'Excuse me, do you have any kittens that go cheap?'
'Nein, se kittens do not ship our orders. Ve do.'
(In Germany, a chip card is pronounced 'shipkarte'.)
[Edited at 2023-09-03 18:52 GMT]
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| No German humour, please | Sep 4, 2023 |
I have been informed that we are not allowed to discuss German humour because someone is offended. It seems everybody has to take offence at something these days, so we can only debate at kindergarten level.
But if we are not allowed to debate the very object of the topic, the whole topic becomes pointless.
| | | | | Of course, German humour, please! | Sep 4, 2023 |
Please, don't stop the discussion just because someone feels - or might feel - offended. I find this thread interesting and amusing. This "political correctness" is ridiculous.
(This was written by a German native speaker)
| | | | | German humour | Sep 4, 2023 |
Dr. Tilmann Kleinau wrote:
Please, don't stop the discussion just because someone feels - or might feel - offended. I find this thread interesting and amusing. This "political correctness" is ridiculous.
(This was written by a German native speaker)
Having spent many years in Germany, I know this single offended person does not represent the typical German character, but moderators these days seem to side with the offended ones, preferred to suffocate the debate of the majority to please an offended minority.
I don't mind stereotypes about my own nationality, country and culture. Many of them are true. If we can't laugh at ourselves sometimes, life would be so boring.
The linguistic topic relates to the German sense of humour (or lack of), so it is absurd to ban us from talking about it. Stereotypes do not mean that every single individual is that way but capture a sometimes subtle tendency, which can be relevant in cases like this, since we are all affected by the culture we grow up in.
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expressisverbis wrote:
She was Polish, but she definitely never managed to polish my translations...
Well spotted! 😉
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:46
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Thomas T. Frost wrote:
the German sense of humour (or lack of)
Actually (as we know) Germans can be very funny, but in a German way. Anything to do with toilets, etc. And practical jokes. Like the time I was on a late evening train from Frankfurt Airport into the city, on a freezing cold night, with many sleepers who were probably just there to keep warm and a man suddenly came along the train saying Fahrkarten Bitte, making everyone jump. That was a German joke and indeed, it was no laughing matter.
[Edited at 2023-09-04 11:37 GMT]
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philgoddard wrote:
The agency said the client had complained about the last job I did because I didn't put the periods in the same places as in the source text.
That's simply ridiculous!! Though for me it's the other way round, as English is my source language and my usual target & mother tongue is Finnish - but Finnish comma usage differs greatly from English one, usually when there's a comma in English you can't have it in Finnish, and when Finnish grammar requires a comma, English never has one - and I don't even want to imagine a client telling me it's wrong to adhere to grammatical comma or other punctuation usage in my target language!! I'd go nuts, TBH.
[Edited at 2023-09-04 10:28 GMT]
[Edited at 2023-09-04 12:12 GMT]
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 18:46
French to English
I've got a German joke:
You can be the Kindest person ever but German children will always be Kinder.
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