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ronin1
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| Location: | S.F. Bay Area, California USA |
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Posted: Monday October 9th, 2006 09:52 pm |
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Transliteration vs. Translation…
For those that embark on this endeavor, most will be faced with the daunting task of communicating from afar. No matter what your approach maybe, few will escape the pearl of miscommunications.
There are different levels of miscommunication with the written word. Those who are writing letters must be particularly careful. The proliferation of translator programs would make it appear a simple matter. Though not all programs are created equal. Most all programs will fall short in providing an accurate ‘translation’ of your letter as well as hers. In truth, such programs will give something between a translation and a transliteration. ‘Transliteration’ means a word for word translation. At first thought a transliteration sounds like an accurate conversion from one language to another. Taking each word one at a time and converting it into another language. The problem is that languages, especially ones that are significantly removed from each other such as Russian and English, have wide differences in grammar and structure. This fact allows many good meaning first contact letters to be passed on by serious RW and vice-a-versa.
What to do? Try this method, but remember that it is not by no means bullet proof.
- Remove all slang, lingo and technical jargon out of your letters.
- Use simple standard English with proper grammar and usage.
- If you must use a translator program, use the best ones you can find.
- If you can, process your letter on several programs and see if they come out the same. If they don’t come out the same you may have a potential translation error. Perhaps they're all incorrect or that the best on is correct the the others are not.
- Change your grammar or simplify your words in the problem areas and then reprocess in the programs.
- If all the converted texts are the same, you may have most of the common errors out, however this is not a guarantee.
- The last thing to do if you really want to be certain is to have your letter reviewed by a living-breathing translator or intepreter.
RWP E-mail and Correspondence Resources has links to some of the most popular free translation sites. Most have restrictions. If you use them, let us know what kind of restrictions they are.
Ronin
Last edited on Sunday October 22nd, 2006 03:40 pm by ronin1
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honestman
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| Joined: | Saturday September 30th, 2006 |
| Location: | Exeter, United Kingdom |
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Posted: Tuesday October 10th, 2006 09:19 pm |
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When I mail a letter in Russian, to my lady, I use http://www.online-translator.com and it was recommened to me. (from the agency forum I am with) When I do write I try to keep the wording as basic as possible in account of the Russian grammer being so different. In my first few letters I kept repeating the fact that I was using an on-line translator and apologised in case there were any misunderstandings. She has told me that she enjoys the translated wording and as long as she understands that it is not foolproof, then she can accept the translations as they stand. I do not always write completely in translated Russian on the account that she will have to learn english one day, if, she is to move to the west. Another point-I hand write the letters (this can take a long time depending on the length of the letter,) and the lettering is in capital letters. ( I think it will be a while before I can write lower case letters in Russian!!  .
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ronin1
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| Location: | S.F. Bay Area, California USA |
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Posted: Wednesday October 11th, 2006 02:14 am |
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honestman,
Handwriting letters? I’m impressed.
You bring up a good point about presenting a disclaimer. Prefacing your letters with the understanding that the grammar and structure will not be perfect will provide some latitude. Good call.
The translator programs will transliterate perhaps close to 95% correct. They fail in determining the correct word definition that a person would know intuitively. Picking the wrong definition and the translations can become comical if not disastrous. For instance, “I raise horses for a living” sounds like a perfectly simple and accurate statement. Most programs will translate this to, “I lift horses for a living.” Another on is, “I live in a split level house.” This translates close to, “I live in a broken house.”
One must be careful to purge all slang and keep to the first definitions of words as much as possible.
Ronin
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honestman
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Posted: Wednesday October 11th, 2006 09:17 am |
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Hi Ronin,
The writing takes me a while but it really does impress my lady as well. Particularly as she said she did not receive much in her mail box. There were a few reasons for writing a mailled letter. I asked her early on, when e-mailling, for her home address. This helped me to understand how keen she was on communicating with me and also, you never quite know whether she maybe a scammer or not. I know this is not foolproof but it gave me a good idea that she was not one. The e-maills I used to send her were not translated, so she would have to translate them herself at home. Also, how was I supposed to send her flowers? I do not use her agency to send flowers but searched the internet and after only a few weeks she was amazed to find some flowers delivered to her door. I also researched on the best type of flowers to send and the ones I did were for the start of a relationship (these Russian women really know their flowers and meanings!!) At only $34.00 it was an inexpensive way of making my lady feel special. I send her flowers now and then, regularly write(about once every two weeks-sometimes just a short letter, with a few photos) and the odd small gift parcel. Plus of course e-mailling her at her agency, which Inow pay for her translations. oh...and I telephone her twice a week!!!
I hope this helps other Romeos!!
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LarryB
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| Joined: | Tuesday January 22nd, 2008 |
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Posted: Friday January 25th, 2008 08:21 pm |
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I had been writing to my Ukrainian women for awhile and all was well. To make a point I wrote, "you reap what you sow." The translation used the word "sow" as pig instead of "to plant." I had written to her and told her that I had reaped a pig.  Telling a woman she's a pig is not the way to win a woman's heart over. That took two e-mails to straighten out. I always translate the English to Russian and then back to English again to be safe.
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