Lost In Translation

A new contact asked me what my job is. Strictly speaking I don't have a job, not regular like 9 to 5 job. I work at home often while watching TV at the same time!! Cushy job you might say. Not exactly. I do translation Spanish/English or vice versa, & often need to concentrate on what the context is not to use the wrong interpretation. Like 'Buffet Libre' in Spanish doesn't mean Free Buffet in the sense that you don't need to pay like many British mistakenly believe, but Help Yourself type lunch or dinner. And 'Soy caliente' would mean in English 'I am on heat' like a bitch, not 'I feel hot'.

Some years ago, a traffic sign in the city of Swansea (Wales) entered in the incipient history of the blunder of the digital era. The journalist Matthew Tree picked it up and published it in his column 'The Long Term Resident' of the Catalan Weekly in English, called 'Catalonia Today', which is also circulated by the British media. According to the Welsh law, any relevant news or report should be in both English and the Welsh language. There is therefore official department established for the service of translations.

A British civil servant sent some text in English to the translator be translated into Welsh the text 'No entry for heavy goods vehicles. Residential site only', a classic and well established prohibition. The translator was not at the time available but, even so, the civil servant received a reply in Welsh:

'Nid wyf yu y swyddfa AR hyn O bryd. Anfonwch unrhyw waith iw gyfieithu' text:

Without further ado, this was copied together with the English text onto a huge metallic traffic-sign board. The upper part with the English text, a divider, then the Welsh. From that moment on, the drivers that reached this sign read in English 'No entry for heavy goods vehicles. Residential site only' and below it the automatic computer generated reply to Welsh translated, which says: 'At this moment I am out of my office. Please send the text you want to translate.'

The fiasco clearly reflects the lack of foresight on the part of the translator, or his department, with a reply or statement in Welsh. Why would translation be solicited if the person asking for help knows Welch himself? To me such a reply shows ignorance, indolence & disdain.

On the bigger picture, since all communication should by law in dual languages, why government officials are not equipped with the minimum knowledge in both languages their day to day work requires? And for which they receive remuneration from the public treasury, don't they?

Tags:welsh,language,trafficsign

Current Mood: Annoyed