Hi, everybody!
I need help in correct translation of two short skiing phases from English into several languages.
I think the result can be useful for many designers.
English: Enjoy skiing
French: ?
German: ?
Italian: ?
Spanish: ?
(Any other language): ?
English: Skiing makes me happy
French: ?
German: ?
Italian: ?
Spanish: ?
(Any other language): ?
Could you help, please? )
Do a search for online translation, there’s quite a few that will translate sentences from one language to another
Use Google translation, Google Translate
The online translators are good with single words, but translating phrases and sentences from other languages into English often shows results that give the gist of the phrase or sentence but are awkward. If at all possible, finding people who actually speak the language will likely be better.
In my high school French class, we had an exchange student from France. He periodically had to correct the teacher, and would sometimes even laugh.
Portuguese (Brazil):
Enjoy skiing: Curta esquiar
Skiing makes me happy:
Esquiar é D+ ! (This means: esquiar é demais)
Esquiar me deixa feliz (literally, skiing makes me happy)
Na dúvida, pratique esqui (“If you don’t know what to do, go skiing”, that would be a variation of the phrase “if you don’t know what to do, do what makes you happy”, which in Portuguese is “Na dúvida, faça o que te faz feliz”).
Portuguese (Portugal): I don’t know but I’ll check it with a friend and then update this comment! 🤗
Thank you!
ONLINE Google translation may be too primitive and not correct as a true phrase! That’s why I asked a question. Any dictionary info may be too outdated, phases may be not in use anymore. That’s why I (and all of us, I suppose) need LIVE, real native phases. )
For Brazil phrases like Enjoy football, swimming, water skiing, diving, snorkeling, etc., seem more relevant than downhill skiing because of vast plains, ocean, and tropical climate. )))
I agree with both of your comments. The phrase “Na dúvida, pratique esqui”, google would translate as “When in doubt, go skiing”, that’s not the same as saying “when you don’t know what to do, go skiing”, which is how it sounds in Portuguese.
Now, considering Brazil’s climate and culture, I think these sound very good:
)
)These are my suggestions. 🤗
Thank you very much, Lais!
I did not quite understand why you laugh out loud on point 3. )
)
According to WebMD, acai (Euterpe oleracea), pronounced AH-sigh-EE, is a palm tree found throughout South America. Its berries are dark purple and used to make medicine.
Thank you, Barbara. But why the phase is so funny? ) We are not in the Brazil culture, so possibly cannot understand what is so funny in the phrase. )
I don’t know if I can explain why this sounds funny, but I think it’s this:
Think about the original phrase
Na dúvida, faça o que te faz feliz. (When you don’t know what to do, do what makes you happy.)
Now we can create other phrases by replacing the part “do what makes you happy” with things people actually do to feel happy. And one of these things in Brazil is to have an açai. You can think of açai as some sort of ice cream, it’s cold and sweet and people love it. (Actually in the north people don’t think of açai that way, but that’s another discussion).
So that’s why the phrase sounds funny.
However, it does not apply to phrase number 4. Because to drink water is not something that makes us happy, but instead something that we must do very often due to the high temperatures here. So we can think of 4 as a variation of “when you don’t know what to do, do something that you must do”.
Thahk you, Lais! Just one more vivid color of the national culture of the human civilization. )
yes. something definitely gets lost in translation with the Google Translator.
W.H.
Maybe you could tell also, in which context the phrases would be displayed? Because it is a difference between translating the short sentences in a text or to translate it for example to put it on front of a greeting card.
English: Enjoy skiing
German: “Genieße das Skifahren” or “Hab Spaß am Skifahren”
English: Skiing makes me happy
German: Skifahren macht mich glücklich
Thanks, Soraya. The context is simple: Imagine a T-shirt with a drawing of a downhill or Alpine skier and a text Skiing makes me happy. Or it may be a cross-country skier.
OK. French and Italian languages, please! PLEASE!
Spanish
(I) Enjoy skiing … Me gusta esquiar
Skiing makes me happy… Esquiar me hace feliz