[English] „Polskie morze” Nie do końca rozumiem entuzjazm, który wielu Polaków okazuje, jeśli chodzi o Bałtyk. No i to wierne przywiązanie do tego miejsca! Przypuszczam, że to może kolejny przejaw polskiego patriotyzmu, naszej dumy, że mamy dostęp do morza. To morze może być całkiem przyjemne, przyznaję. Niekończące się piaszczyste plaże, zdrowe, bogate w jod powietrze [...]

If they can’t afford expensive Polish seaside or they want a short weekend break, the Poles go for allotments. Small (often tiny) gardens in a whole complex alongside similar ones give the Poles a feeling of holiday even if they are situated in the middle of a city or a town.

Friday has arrived! And our videos and time-wasters as well! Sit back, put your headphones on and enjoy this week’s selection.

Japanese people are surely tired of exposure to the sun! Many people prefer to stay indoors rather than going outside, but there are still popular places to go in summer!

…it is difficult to translate words and phrases that originate from one culture but have nothing to do with the culture that it needs to be translated into…

[English] भैंस के आगे बीन बजाना: यह कहावत इस हफ़्ते के वार्तालाप के लिए बिल्कुल सही है. अगर हम इस कहावत को अँग्रेज़ी में उल्था करें तो वह ठीक नहीं सुनाई देगा. इसी का समकक्ष अँग्रेज़ी में होगा, Pearls before swine. हिंदी में इसका मतलब होगा सूअर के सामने मोती. लेकिन हिंदी में यह कभी [...]

[English] 和来自英国的同事聊天，无意中说了一句: love me, love my dog.不用解释，没想到同事睁大眼睛问我什么意思，他是主修语言类专业的地道英国人，一时间轮到我无言以对，这个句子在中国可是作为如何翻译成语的例子被不断使用的，现在英语母语者却不明白，以后大约可以做为Chinglish 的典范吧。 后来我在网上找了很多中国人很熟悉的“成语翻译”问我的英国同事，结果大部分他都不理解，个别情况甚至不认识其中的单词。中文的成语是长期使用，锤炼而成有固定意思的语言现象，而且多为四个字，很多时候只看字面意思中国人自己也难以理解，所以如果单纯按照字面翻译，很多时候不仅不能传达确切的含义，甚至让人更加困惑，阻碍交流。 但是英语中也有很多固定用法和中文的成语表达相同意思，比如to kill two birds with one stone就是“一石二鸟”的意思；a friend in need is a friend indeed可以恰当地翻译成“患难之交”，三天打鱼，两天晒网也可以在英语里找到如work by fits and starts或two steps forward, one step backward等合理地表达。获取这些固定表达最好的办法是在日常中积累，只要留心，就会发现不少中文成语都能在英语中找到对应的表达。 更多的情况，可能需要对中文成语进行解释，即意译所要表达的内容，虽然这样可能失去中文成语的意境，修辞或者幽默感，但是成语毕竟带有强烈的中国文化色彩，首要的还是让外国人理解我们要传达的意思。比如“不管三七二十一”可以译为regardless of the consequences .或者也可以先翻译出中文成语的表面含义再进行必要的解释，如“巧妇难为无米之炊”翻成even the cleverest housewife cannot cook rice without rice后可以简单解释为without the right materials, no matter how good man is, he [...]

Chatting with a colleague from Great Britain, I used the expression love me, love my dog unintentionally. I didn’t realize that I needed to explain what it meant until he asked me open-eyed.

La France n’est certainement l’élève la plus douée en matière d’écologie et de développement durable…et l’exercice périlleux de la traduction en français n’arrange en rien les choses…

More people than ever are living abroad, which is one of the reasons that more and more people speak multiple languages. But how many people are living abroad exactly? While browsing the web we found some interesting expatriate statistics on the expatriate portal Just Landed. According to them, more than 200 million people will be [...]