Happy International Translation Day!

Come all ye wordsmiths, linguists, and keen logophiles!
Because today it is, indeed, International Translation Day!
So, get out your dictionaries, thesauri, and pens.
How many words will you put out today?
St. Jerome, patron saint of our curious trade,
perhaps first inspired or guided you along the way.
But now, to the keyboard and Web you go look,
To yield the necessary answers by hook or by crook,
But fear not, my friends, as we end this terrible poème.
Because with an edit or two, your words will ring true!

Joyeuse journée mondiale de la traduction!

Scottish Roots

So, on a recent call home (Canada), I was discussing the situation in another part of the Commonwealth (Scotland), and as my mom and I were discussing the politics of separation (should they stay? should they go? what kind of currency will they use? will they have their own army, passports, etc.), it got me thinking about the definition of a Scotsman, and of Scotland in general. What makes a culture? What defines a nation? As this is a linguistic blog, of course our ears are primarily attuned to questions of language. So, without delving too deeply into the politics of the times, we thought we’d present some English words of Scottish origin. Here are a few:

caddie/caddy               cosy/cozy                  clan               glamour

golf                             gumption                   laddie             lassie

plaid                           pony                           raid                rampage

tweed                         wee                             weird              wraith

Know of any others? A common expression supposedly uttered by many Canadians is oot and aboot (as in, “I’ll be oot and about [out and about] today on some errands). But personally, I’ve never heard anyone use this pronunciation (maybe more common in the eastern provinces). However, the Scots, it seems, employ the pronunciation “oot” in the word “outside.” And as many early settlers in Canada were Scots, perhaps therein lies the answer?

Be a true friend, not a false friend*!

If you’ve ever travelled to France, or to another French-speaking country, or delighted in a French-language book or movie, perhaps you’ve come across words that sound oh-so-familiar, yet seem to have an entirely different meaning. Words like “actuellement,” “librairie,” or “souvenir.”  Because of the many shared roots of the English and French languages, there are many instances where a = a and b = b (e.g. a table =  “une table” and a document = “un document”); but there are also many cases where two identical-looking words are not…identique.

Here are a few examples to whet your appétit!

French            English

actuellement – actually

In French, actuellement means “now” or “currently,” whereas the English “actually” indicates what’s real or truly exists.

envie – envy

If you have “une envie de faire quelque chose,” it means you wish to do something, like perhaps visit the vallée de la Loire, or go to the Louvre. If you have “envy” though, you might be eyeballing those en route to the airport…

librairie – library

The “librairie” is where you go to purchase your new, pristine copy of  “Du Côté de Chez Swann” or other oeuvre; whereas, the library is where you go to borrow a copy.

entrée – entrée

So, these two words aren’t so far apart in meaning (both make reference to the world of cooking). But, in French, an “entrée” is the main course of your meal, whereas the English “entrée” is an appetizer.

menu – menu

This is a mistake I’ve commonly made – going to a restaurant, and asking for “un menu.” If you want to investigate the restaurant’s general offerings, you ask for “une carte,” but if you want a set deal (starter, main dish, and dessert), “un menu” is the way to go.

photographe – photograph

Here, it’s the “e” that makes the difference! “Photographe,” in French, is the person capturing the picture, while in English, “photograph” is what the photographer captures.

and...

soldes – sold

Now, it’s the season of “les soldes” in France. In French, “soldes” means “sales,” while in English, “sold” is the past tense of “to sell” (vendre).

What other false friends have you encountered on your literary/cultural/travel journeys? Let us know in the comments section below!

*a.k.a “false cognate” – two identical-looking words in two different languages that have different meanings

An Olympic Error!

So, Olympic fever has subdued. During the last two weeks, all eyes have been on London, which became the most linguistically diverse city in the world. Us Brits will probably talking about it for years to come (1966 World Cup win, anyone?) and about how we inspired a nation. Well, that’s all very well. But lets get down to what this blog is all about. Translation. There was one translation mistake that hit headlines across the world and served as a great deal of embarrassment... At Westfield Shopping centre, 'Welcome to London' signs were erected in various languages. A nice, welcoming gesture. That is until we see that not only was the Arabic text written backwards and also not joined up to form a coherent Arabic text. It does beg the question as to how the error was not spotted before the banner was printed off and the sign put up. Thankfully no major offence was caused but it does highlight the importance of proofreading, which is why at Linguaspirit, your translated documents are always proofread by a second translator.

CV translation (and other stuff too)

Want to study or work abroad? Need to translate official documents before you move for a job or go on holidays?

We're pretty frikkin' close to launching a website dedicated entirely to CVs, covering letters and sworn translation. We provide translations, revision and editing, localization, or we can even draft the document for you in the target language.

We also handle the sworn translation of official documents to prepare you for the mind-numbing administrative joys you'll face when you come over here or head over there.

The site has a tool for generating an automatic quote so you don't actually have to talk to us to find out how much it will cost either.
We're watching over the webmaster's shoulder, crossing Ts and dotting lower case Js.

Let us know if you have any suggestions.

Ah yes, the blog...

Apparently it's been some time since anything was last put something up here, hhhmmm. Not to make excuses, but if I were...: holidays (mine and others); interns coming and going; my stature as a marketing and business translation specialist steadily rising with my word count (that's right, I said it); and my preference for the pencil and paper variety of expression that gets sent into Canadian postal strikes rather than scanned and posted up here would all be mediocre ones. Besides, the subject matter of my letters wouldn't interest anyone and might find me answering a few questions here at work. So for now suffice to say that things have slowed and settled a bit and our office is juggling a few new contract negotiations we're excited about and I'm looking forward to finishing up our translation of a White Paper on Enterprise 2.0. Let me know if you want to talk productivity and communication strategies. More to follow; no really.