You know what’s cute? Four sweet people have contacted me today in some form or another, worried that Babelfish might have done me a disservice by improperly translating that fax I sent to the Count. Really, people, it’s okay! I was extremely careful. After about three to four years of playing with Babelfish, I’m familiar with many of its quirks. Just to make sure we’re all clear on this, here’s what I do when translating through Babelfish:
First: Do not use slang or English words that have multiple meanings. For example, the word “for” has been practically impossible to translate correctly because it can mean a multitude of different things. Babelfish just grabs one of those meanings, and more often than not it’s not the right one. It’s an application; it can’t read your mind. Be as clear and as concise as possible when choosing which words you use. (“Use” is another word with multiple meanings…)
Second: It’s handy to have a basic understanding of the grammatical structure of the foreign language you’re attempting to translate into. With German, it’s pretty simple. I’ve studied their grammatical structure quite a bit and it’s pretty easy to guestimate. Just imagine what you’re trying to say as if Shakespeare had written it, and that should come pretty close. By organizing the words correctly, this will make it easier for Babelfish to translate properly.
Third: Translate sentence by sentence, then break it down to word by word. It’s also helpful to have a printed translation dictionary on hand to cross-reference usage and meaning. Taking you back to those words with multiple meanings, a good foreign language dictionary will translate each use of the word. With this dictionary on hand, you can start to pick the Babelfish translation apart bit by bit. Start with a sentence, organized a la Shakespeare, then translate it into German. Copy the translated text and paste it back into the field of things to translate. Now, translate it from German back to English. Does it reasonably match what you originally tried to say? Did those words come out as you intended? If not, pick it apart with your handy dictionary. Rearrange some words if you have to to best match German grammar. Then, repeat the process until it best matches your original thought.
Fourth: Apologize for any mistakes in the text. This isn’t going to be perfect, but it’s going to be pretty dang close.
The most important thing to remember is to be concise and not too flowery. The fax I sent was probably only five sentences long, but I got everything across that I needed to, because the very next day I got a very pleasant, polite phonecall from the Count’s translator. If you make an effort to communicate in someone else’s native language – even if your efforts aren’t spot-on perfect – you’ll still make a good impression. It’ll show that you’re at least trying, and that’s the important bit. Get your message across, make them happy, and everything’s good.
See? We can all calm down now. Everything is under control. 🙂
I asked around about this whole Jimmy Stewart business with him donating his personal collection to BYU. Turns out he had a thing for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, that he had always had a deep respect for them and one of his life-long goals was to direct them. So, he filmed, “Mr. Kreuger’s Christmas” (no, not Freddy), that has some connection to the LDS church, but I don’t know what. (Mormons, don’t lambast me – I’ve at least seen Johnny Lingo.) In that film, Mr. Stewart got to conduct the MoTabs, which made him very happy indeed. As a gesture of his appreciation and respect, he donated his collection to BYU. Pretty nice of him, wasn’t it?
You’ll probably never guess what movie I watched tonight! I just love Tivo – it’s been recording movies for me while I sleep! I got to lay down on the couch, wrap up in a big fluffy blanket, and watch ‘The Misadventures of Merlin Jones’. I hadn’t seen that movie in *ages*. I remember watching it with my brother Steven about a million times when we were little, laughing our heads off at the opening credits, and enjoying the general campiness of it all. It’s not one of the greatest films of all time or anything, but I really enjoyed it tonight. Walt Disney was definitely good at those goofy 60’s science phemonenon movies. And joy of joys! It’s coming out on DVD just in time for my birthday! 🙂 Hehe. How strange is that? I’ll be nineteen years old, and I want *that* on DVD. Does the fact that I want “Gilda” on DVD make up for anything? Oh, sorry, I bet not… it’s strange that a nineteen year old would want a Rita Hayworth/Glenn Ford movie too these days.
I signed up with the gym today! I had a great time. Such a great time, in fact, that I’m going to go back tomorrow, even though I’m not scheduled for another session until Monday. It was really cheap, too – the gym manager worked this amazing deal for me where not only did I not have to pay my first month’s dues, but he lowered the initiation fee too! I was certainly very happy with that. Then, we launched right into my first personal training session and he walked me through a whole lower body work-out as well as working on my abdoman. It was amazing – in only 30 minutes, I did as much work as most other people do in an hour or two. The trick was doing everything slowly. For example, I had to make one stomach curl last for 20 seconds with a weight of 50 pounds. I repeated that for a total of 90 seconds, and that was it. The most remarkable thing is even though I can feel a difference, I’m not sore. I think I’m going to see how I feel in the morning, but if my muscles are still fine, I want to do some more tomorrow on my own.
I think I’d better get to sleep now. I get to sleep in tomorrow. Hoorah!