Re: [lace] Online Translators
I also wanted some German text translated (from Ulrike's 400 Tricks...) several years ago. As it happened, a nice young couple had moved into the house next-door to me. He was German, and she was American, but had studied German extensively and had worked as a translator for the American embassy. What more could I ask!? So I finagled an invitation, took my book next door, and we got to work. The trouble is, as my translators told me, German is a impoverished language than English. They use the same word in many different ways, the meaning of which comes to light in the context with other words. So even though both of them knew what the words meant in their own frame of reference, when used in the context of lace, they were mystified, because they didn't understand lace. So the translation was a matter of me explaining what I could of the process being discussed, and they would toss out possible meanings of a word encountered until an option made sense to me. It was not an easy process, and was so time-consuming that I was reluctant to ask them to do it again. The best possible option for translation is to find a lacemaker who also knows the German language quite well. So it's not that the on-line translators are inacurate. It's just that when they were set up, there was one meaning assigned to each word, and it does not always apply to the context of the text you're trying to translate. Clay -Original Message- From: Barbara Joyce [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Oct 23, 2005 9:36 PM To: lace Arachne lace@arachne.com Subject: [lace] Online Translators I did actually run some of the German text through an online translator before I made my design. The problem is, although the translators can process the more common words, they're completely lost with anything that's a lace-related term. I still don't know what the title means, so I decided to have a little fun. I used three online translating sites and tried each one with Gekloppelter Weihnachtsschmuck. Here's what I got: Freetranslation.com: gekloppelter christmas jewelry Babelfish/Alta Vista: more gekloppelter weihnachtsschmuck translation2.paralink.com: gekloppelter one Christmas-smart I rest my case. ;-) Barbara Joyce Snoqualmie, WA USA - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Online Translators/Weihnachtsschmuck
Hi all On 10/24/05, Clay Blackwell [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: So it's not that the on-line translators are inacurate. It's just that when they were set up, there was one meaning assigned to each word, and it does not always apply to the context of the text you're trying to translate. Quite - so when using the translator it helps to think in terms of synonyms. LIkewise to Clay, I asked my German neighbour to help with several of the patterns in Weihnachtsschmuck - it took both of us ;) I know the lace terms, but I don't know the connecting and generic words. In the end, I realized that the brief instructions mostly reiterate what is in the diagram. As she had taken some trouble to work on it with me, I made several of the ornaments for her - it was the least I could do. -- bye for now Bev in Sooke BC (on Vancouver Island, west coast of Canada) Cdn. floral bobbins www.woodhavenbobbins.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Online Translators
On Mon, 24 Oct 2005 10:26:50 -0400 (GMT-04:00), Clay wrote: The best possible option for translation is to find a lacemaker who also knows the German language quite well. And, if not a native German speaker, has taken classes or learnt lacemaking from books in German. So it's not that the on-line translators are inacurate. It's just that when they were set up, there was one meaning assigned to each word, and it does not always apply to the context of the text you're trying to translate. e.g. Spitze = lace, but the translation in most dictionaries would be summit or peak. Similarly the words for stitch and bobbin also have different primary meanings - a strike (as in hit) and the clapper in a bell. Even worse, there are things that can't be translated in the same number of words. If a lace book mentions a windmill crossing in English text the German translation has to use a couple of sentences describe how to do one, as there is no name in common enough use. No dictionary is ever going to manage that! -- On the other hand, you have different fingers. Stephen Wright Steph Peters, Manchester, England [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Online Translators
Let me help you with that case ;) I used three online translating sites and tried each one with Gekloppelter Weihnachtsschmuck. If you really have time to waste, you can type in portions of the word in the translator - sometimes a wording then makes sense - if the word has 'kloppel' in it, its bobbin-related, and Weihnacht is Christmas, 'schmuck' is decoration. -- bye for now Bev in Sooke BC (on Vancouver Island, west coast of Canada) Cdn. floral bobbins www.woodhavenbobbins.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
