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On Reading Easy Stuff | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| robarb Nonaglot Senior Member United States languagenpluson Joined 4847 days ago 361 posts - 921 votes  Speaks: Portuguese, English*, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, French Studies: Mandarin, Danish, Russian, Norwegian, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Greek, Latin, Nepali, Modern Hebrew | Message 41 of 44 12 October 2014 at 2:24am | IP Logged | ||
Sure, there are some bad translations out there. However, many are good. In my experience, translations start to feel a lot weirder when you know the original language. You start to see things where infrequent words and constructions are used frequently because they're used to render frequent constructions in the original language. They seem a lot more natural when you can't "see through the translation" to the original text. Reading works written originally in the target language is preferable in a lot of circumstances, but I favor the idea that in this particular circumstance of extensive unaided reading of easy texts in a language you haven't yet mastered, the most important thing is for the text to be on a familiar topic and preferable something you've already read. If there are books that fit this bill that you've already read a translation of, then great! You can then go read the original, and get the best of both worlds. In a lot of countries, the majority of reading in certain genres is done in translation. For instance, in English- speaking countries most reading of religious texts is done in translation. In Brazil people read more translated popular fiction books (Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Detective thrillers, Dan Brown, etc) than Portuguese- originals, but mostly read Portuguese-original nonfiction. I assume in a smaller language like Slovene or Catalan a high proportion of books people read are translations no matter the genre. Perception of what sounds right and what sounds weird will vary accordingly, but as long as you trust the translation's quality, it should not contain any structures that are so unnatural that you should avoid learning to use them. Another consideration is that certain language pairs are harder than others to translate. For instance, a book translated from Chinese to English usually reads a little weird. In contrast, it's pretty hard to tell if something has been translated from Norwegian to Swedish unless some Norway-specific content comes up. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5218 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 42 of 44 13 October 2014 at 8:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm now reading a self-help book translated from American English to Spanish. For my purposes the translation is
very good. The problem that I see when comparing the translation to Spanish-language works is more the cultural references that are hard to translate. I can see how the translator has tried to adapt for the Spanish reader some typical American anecdote that one finds constantly in these kind of books. It's not exactly weird but it does mean that this work does not have a ring of Spanish authenticity. It feels like a translation. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| luke Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6993 days ago 3133 posts - 4351 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Esperanto, French | Message 43 of 44 14 October 2014 at 1:18am | IP Logged | ||
I found Los Siete Pasos para Ser Mas Feliz to be a good self-help read. Fonolibro used to release the unabridged audio, which was read by the author and very good. I liked the book because it's not a translation and found it really helped my Spanish. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| robarb Nonaglot Senior Member United States languagenpluson Joined 4847 days ago 361 posts - 921 votes Speaks: Portuguese, English*, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, French Studies: Mandarin, Danish, Russian, Norwegian, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Greek, Latin, Nepali, Modern Hebrew | Message 44 of 44 14 October 2014 at 5:41am | IP Logged | ||
As an American, I find it useful to have read examples of how to say in Spanish things that Americans typically say, but Spanish speakers don't. Sure it's nice to be able to tell anecdotes like a native, but there are also times when I want to say something really culturally American, but in a language other than English. It depends on your goals; if your goal is to be just like a native all the time, it's not useful, but I want to be able to be my American self in Spanish at least sometimes. 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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