Dynamischer Erschütterungsaufnehmer ???

boomio!

 

Silver, would you please add your name to the translator thread for Welsh?

 

what is boomio ? Welsh for scorchio ?

 

Thanks, alors, now I know what to call this hot weather we've been having. Skorchio!

Alors, I think I forgot to ask you about adding your translating skills (Welsh?) to our translation thread. Here it is:
https://www.antiquers.com/threads/calling-all-translators.27668/#post-368090
Would you, please?

 

I don't do any translations anymore; I've done it a long time on the old ebay community, but don't feel fit enough anymore. sorry.
reason is, that in the olden days it went out of hand really - people coming to certain boards and discussions to get free translations at no cost and not even thanking for the done work. amd then there were a few - obviously American-Germans - that thought their German was better than mine because they were taught a few words by their grandparents or because pops was a memeber of the German-American Bund.

 

That is fine, alors. I agree, many people don't appreciate the effort that goes into it. And if they only take advantage of you, that would mean no more translations for me either. Those who think they speak your native language better than you do, might as well be the designated translator in future.

Some people tag our Chinese members to translate mundane texts on cheap, recent items. I try to get in first to say it is not worth it (in more diplomatic terms), in order to protect our valued Chinese. It is better to keep them on board for the significant item identification and translations, than chase them away with frequent questions that won't add anything to the value of a piece.

Every language has its own culture, concepts and logic. When you translate, you not only translate words, but you have to switch between two different cultures, concepts and logic. This is going against the normal functioning of the brain, which is geared towards blocking other languages to concentrate on one language.
When people speak just one language, it is difficult for them to understand the effort that can take. So give your brain a well-deserved rest.

 

my first language is not German but Swiss. my GF even refuses to speak German in Germany, she's always telling me "you know dear, if they wanted to understand they could understand me"...
the most evil and shocking case I had was that of a girl asking for a translation of papers from a KZ that were from one side of their Hungarian family. first, there were people around that shouted at her to get lost and pay a normal translation service, then after I offered to look into it I was aggressed as well. so I gave her my mail address and she sent me copies.
very tragic story indeed. they even had Yad Vashem look at it and they couldn't make heads nor tails as well, because nobody was around to read the sloppy handwriting on the original registration cards of Hungarian Sammellager and German camps. so in the end I had to give them the bad news that the greatgrand parents had died in a camp (handwritten " i.Lag.gest." = im Lager gestorben") and that another part of the family has disappeared on one of the Todesmärsche from Hungary to Austria and one person has most probably survived, but there was no further notice to be found.

 

and now it's time for streching and warm up; in half an hour it's France _ Uruguay.

 

That is awful, especially in such a sensitive situation. I am glad you were able to clarify her family members' fate, even though it was heart-wrenching.

Even I can understand most Swiss, and I am Dutch.
I guess it is like in some parts of France, where they pretend not to understand foreigners who try their best to speak French because it doesn't sound the way they are used to in their little corner of the world.

Dutch television, with headquarters in Holland, tends to use subtitles for anyone that doesn't speak with a Hollands accent. I am from Brabant, in the south, where everyone is innately stupid (in spite of having the highest average IQ in the country), so it often takes me a while to understand why something in perfectly understandable Dutch is subtitled. Then I realise, it is for the Hollanders!

 

the interesting thing is that the University of Munich proved that dialect speakers have a "better" or more flexible brain, because we tend to constantly translate from one dialect to "correct/written" German or another dialect.

 

Yes, I have heard that before, it is the same as speaking two or more languages. Good for the brain, and for expanding your view on the world.