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Ziad Fazah - does he exist?

 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots (Topic Closed Topic Closed) Post Reply
377 messages over 48 pages: << Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 45 ... 47 48 Next >>
Serpent
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 Message 353 of 377
06 October 2007 at 2:56am | IP Logged 
mlewan wrote:


The Finnish lady:

koko maa... - the whole country

viisi milion... - four million
suomen... - Finnish

suomen ya ruotsi ya samen... - Finnish and Swedish and Sami

Koko maailmassa on noin viisi miljoonaa ihmistä, jotka puhuvat suomen kieltä. Varmaan myös tiedätte, että Suomessa puhutaan virallisesti suomea, ruotsia ja saamen kieltä.
There are about 5 million people in the whole world that speak Finnish. You probably also know, that Finnish, Swedish and Saami are the official languages of Finland (literally "are spoken officially")
I'm really curious how he translated such simple sentences :)
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mlewan
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 Message 354 of 377
06 October 2007 at 4:01am | IP Logged 
Serpent wrote:

Koko maailmassa on noin viisi miljoonaa ihmistä, jotka puhuvat suomen kieltä. Varmaan myös tiedätte, että Suomessa puhutaan virallisesti suomea, ruotsia ja saamen kieltä.
There are about 5 million people in the whole world that speak Finnish. You probably also know, that Finnish, Swedish and Saami are the official languages of Finland (literally "are spoken officially")
I'm really curious how he translated such simple sentences :)


Thanks! Fazah's Spanish translation is partly not audible at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy8FXzkwZhE, but I think it goes something like:

"... como aprender idiomas finlandes ... es un idioma di origen extranjera

como yo mi siento aprendiendo esta idioma... siento di una cultura differente"

Which would mean something like:

"... how to learn the Finnish language. It is a language of foreign origin...

how do I feel learning this language... I feel a different culture"

Corrections of the Spanish and my translation above are very welcome.
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Serpent
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serpent-849.livejour
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 Message 355 of 377
06 October 2007 at 8:10am | IP Logged 
Wow :o I thought the literal translation would at least help to understand why he could come up with his translation, but it's just SO far from the original text 0_0 I wonder if suomi is the only Finnish word he knows...
by the way, I don't get it how he didn't even understand the word "miljoonaa" - one doesn't really need to know Finnish to understand it...

Edited by Serpent on 06 October 2007 at 8:32am

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edwin
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 Message 356 of 377
06 October 2007 at 9:18am | IP Logged 
mlewan wrote:
The Chinese gentleman:

五十八

可谓

中国普通话

困难

在地球上

在月球上
看到唯一

是什么?

It is a little confusing as he starts talking about the 58 languages Fazah is supposed to understand and how difficult Chinese is (I think), and then suddenly comes the test question about what the only human made object is that can be seen from the moon.

It would be nice if someone could correct and fill in the blanks above.


Not far off.

你懂得五十八种语言 - You know fifty eight languages

真可谓是语言大师 - You are a great linguist

中国普通话是较困难 - Mandarin is quite difficult

那麽(我)向你题一个简单的问题 - So I am going to ask you a simple question

在地球上...在月球上能够看到唯一的地球上的 人造工程是什麽? - From the Earth ... from the moon, what is the only man-made object that can be seen on earth?

Now, could someone post his answer?

Edited by edwin on 06 October 2007 at 9:21am

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FSI
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 Message 357 of 377
06 October 2007 at 9:44am | IP Logged 
edwin wrote:

Not far off.

你懂得五十八种语言 - You know fifty eight languages

真可谓是语言大师 - You are a great linguist

中国普通话是较困难 - Mandarin is quite difficult

那麽(我)向你题一个简单的问题 - So I am going to ask you a simple question

在地球上...在月球上能够看到唯一的地球上的 人造工程是什麽? - From the Earth ... from the moon, what is the only man-made object that can be seen on earth?

Now, could someone post his answer?


Dónde [sp: had querió?] aprendió los conocimientos del idioma chino? e también en qué lugar usted lo absorbió con facilidad?

Where did you learn Chinese? And where did you learn it with ease?

[After the guy shakes his head, the announcer says "it seems you need to keep practicing a little more..."]

Edited by FSI on 06 October 2007 at 9:47am

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mcjon77
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 Message 358 of 377
06 October 2007 at 10:06am | IP Logged 
Is anyone noticing that every translation Ziad gives is basically "Where/How did you learn _______ Language"?

Was he told beforehand that that was the question? Or is he just assuming that that would be the question someone would ask?
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mlewan
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France
lewan.chez-alice.fr/
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 Message 359 of 377
06 October 2007 at 10:43am | IP Logged 
edwin wrote:


你懂得五十八种语言 - You know fifty eight languages

真可谓是语言大师 - You are a great linguist

中国普通话是较困难 - Mandarin is quite difficult

那麽(我)向你题一个简单的问题 - So I am going to ask you a simple question

在地球上...在月球上能够看到唯一的地球上的 人造工程是什麽? - From the Earth ... from the moon, what is the only man-made object that can be seen on earth?


Thanks!

It is much more understandable that he missed this one than the Russian question. The Chinese text was much more complicated. I understand written Chinese better than spoken, and even with the written text, I had to go to a dictionary a couple of times.

Still, someone who claims to master Chinese (I don't - usually) should really have understood it. And why did Fazah come up with a reply that had absolutely nothing to do with the question?
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edwin
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 Message 360 of 377
06 October 2007 at 2:37pm | IP Logged 
Dave M,

You have promised to get Ziad into this forum, or at least show us some audio clips, photos, or other information of Ziad. You also said you were trying to write a book referencing him or set up a website for him. We have been waiting for almost 2 years.

I wonder if you are still keeping your promise. If not, please say it. It's ok. People break promises from time to time. But you have been keeping us suspended, and many of us do have a feeling of being cheated.

Members new to this thread might not have this feeling. Come back in another year, and I bet you will be joining our club.


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