[nabs-l] Spanish translation

[Harry Hogue]

Hello,

Without going into great complicated detail, the bottom line is this:

Dictionaries, online translators, and other translation software packages are used mainly to translate a short word or common phrase and are not designed to translate longer passages of texts such as plays, novels, essays, and the like.  No tool exists to meet this need for a very simple reason:  the human translator is always superior to a computer for the reason that a human can select the phrasing that works within a given context, a nonstandard but nevertheless appropriate phrasal verb construction in place of a more generalized and widely comprehended single two-partEnglish verb (i.e. to manage vs. to deal with), and, also, the less widely understood but equally important reason--culture.  Culture plays a vital role in foreign language text translation, literary interpretation, and sociological context.  A very simple example of this may be seen with idiomatic expressions:  it's raining cats and dogs, give me a break, take a load off, etc.  Each of
 these expressions will have their own variations in a given foreign language, and this results from the way the people, who collectively form the culture, interpret their environment.  The environment, of course, is effected by geography, climate, livestock, varieties of foodstuffs, and so forth.
Now.  Was that sufficiently far more than you wanted to know?  <smile>


If you've any more questions, please do not hesitate to contact me either on or off list at harryhogue at yahoo.com.

Best,

Harry Hogue

--- On Fri, 10/9/09, V Nork <ginisd at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> From: V Nork <ginisd at sbcglobal.net>
> Subject: [nabs-l] Spanish translation
> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Date: Friday, October 9, 2009, 9:22 PM
> Dear list, Does anyone have any
> advice on seeking Spanish to English translations on
> line?  I am enrolled in a three unit college classin
> Chicano Literature here in San Diego, California. 
> While most of the texts were written in English or are in
> translation to English, a couple of the texts have 
> sizeable Spanish  passages interspersed within the
> English  text.  For example, in the works of Luis
> Valdez, his acto or short play called Soldado Razo is mostly
> Spanish, and without knowing the language, you miss most of
> the characterization and plotline. I  was lucky enough
> to find a bilingual student to translate the short playfor
> me, but I wonder if there is a way to translate spanish
> passages into English that is better than the google
> language tool I have tried on the main page of Google. 
> I have taken a fair amount of Spanish, but it is a bit
> rusty.   Most of the class is bilingual, so I
> am finding it interesting to experience, even in a minor
> way, the obstacles faced by many ESL students on a daily
> basis.  Thanks for any thoughts on a translation
> program or utility, Ginnie
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