Seriously though, even with a very good translator, you can't get the full experience that you would actually reading the native language. Learning new languages is an extremely cool thing to do if you have the ability to do so
I'm not convinced that learning another language is necessarily better than a translation. Especially if a translator has studied the culture, history, and the author. For poetry or anything with a rhythm, i totally get, but just speaking another language isn't going to get me much more than a translation I don't think.
I mean there are certainly things from my native language that don't have a sufficient translation into English or many other languages, but the issue is unless you grew up with the language I don't think a non-native speaker will have any more appreciation than through a translation. For certain words and phrases you just need an emotional bond to them, and I don't think that can be learned through study necessarily.
For poetry or anything with a rhythm, i totally get
That's the thing though, most literature uses clever writing, jokes, and phrases that don't have a 1:1 translation. A good translator can theoretically make something equally good, but they can't make it the same. Depending on how much you care about the meaning/feeling of the original work, that can be really important.
That’s the thing though, most literature uses clever writing, jokes, and phrases that don’t have a 1:1 translation
As i said, I don't think simply speaking another language gives you access to these things that don't have a 1:1 translation. Being immersed in the culture does, having grown up with the language and forming an emotional bond to certain phrases distinct to the language does. If you learn the language as a non-native speaker I think for the most part the best you can do is come up with the closest meaning, but not the original intent.
I did French Immersion so that's like a solid 13 years of French study from age 5 on, I still couldn't call myself fully fluent but within a month of being in a majority French place i totally would be and learning it in school meant I learned the more technical aspects which combined with the grammar and shit for English means I can do alright enough reading Italian and Spanish as well. Not quite novel reading but I can do road signs and probably children's books level. If you get two languages based on the route under your belt you start to see the formula for all of them under that route.
Seriously though, even with a very good translator, you can't get the full experience that you would actually reading the native language. Learning new languages is an extremely cool thing to do if you have the ability to do so
I'm not convinced that learning another language is necessarily better than a translation. Especially if a translator has studied the culture, history, and the author. For poetry or anything with a rhythm, i totally get, but just speaking another language isn't going to get me much more than a translation I don't think.
I mean there are certainly things from my native language that don't have a sufficient translation into English or many other languages, but the issue is unless you grew up with the language I don't think a non-native speaker will have any more appreciation than through a translation. For certain words and phrases you just need an emotional bond to them, and I don't think that can be learned through study necessarily.
That's the thing though, most literature uses clever writing, jokes, and phrases that don't have a 1:1 translation. A good translator can theoretically make something equally good, but they can't make it the same. Depending on how much you care about the meaning/feeling of the original work, that can be really important.
As i said, I don't think simply speaking another language gives you access to these things that don't have a 1:1 translation. Being immersed in the culture does, having grown up with the language and forming an emotional bond to certain phrases distinct to the language does. If you learn the language as a non-native speaker I think for the most part the best you can do is come up with the closest meaning, but not the original intent.
??? If the translator were as good a writer as the original author, theyd be a writer, not a translator
Translators are just lazy writers :squidward-chill:
And if I were as good at understanding foreign literature as a translator, I'd be a translator .
Totally agree but the kicker is you need to know the language
yeah :kermit-pain:
It sucks knowing enough to have a feel for what you're missing but not enough to really enjoy it. I'll get there tho
I did French Immersion so that's like a solid 13 years of French study from age 5 on, I still couldn't call myself fully fluent but within a month of being in a majority French place i totally would be and learning it in school meant I learned the more technical aspects which combined with the grammar and shit for English means I can do alright enough reading Italian and Spanish as well. Not quite novel reading but I can do road signs and probably children's books level. If you get two languages based on the route under your belt you start to see the formula for all of them under that route.
Here's a good Jacob Geller video about that. It's largely about video games and he's often talking about translation in a broader sense than just translating from one language to another, but it is also about translating from one language to another