Reading: How To Grow More Vegetables by John Jeavons
One of the last Spanish classes I took was one on how to work through the art of translating. Basicamente, the gist of the class is that translation is quite difficult, especially when trying to convey the nuances of a culture. This can create a whole host of humorous situations, so others that are frustrating and then a handful of others that are just unfortunate (watching Blade 4 with subtitles). And so I give you – Things That Translate and Things That Don’t:
Translates: Harry Potter Movies
Ecuadorian kids seem to be just as infatuated with HP as Americans (not limited to children). Consequently, I’ve watched HP 1-3 and 7p1 in the last two months. Luckily, it seems to be working as a great integration tool, plus it’s a pleasant reminder that I can actually understand Spanish even though I still don’t understand the coastal butchering of the language.
Doesn’t Translate: The Idea of Reading the Harry Potter Books
Most of us in my generation grew up eagerly anticipating each new release of one of the HP novels. So when they finally hit the big screen, we knew exactly what was going to happen – the movies were just buttresses to the vivid imagery that enchanted us in print. However, the thought of reading a HP novel is completely foreign to most Ecuadorians. Perhaps this is due to the fact that a culture of reading is much more prevalent in the United States then it is in Ecuador. Books here are crazy expensive and I’ve only had one encounter of leisure reading since I’ve been here. This is bad news for HP because not only is British humor lost in translation from English to Spanish, most of the gritty details are lost in the translation from text to film.
Translates: Bad Vampire Movies
Following that movie thought, any sort of poor quality movie is in an over abundance here. Best example of this would have to be terrible vampire movies, like the Blade series. I don’t know if it’s because pirated movies are so cheap here – we’re talking $1.5 for anything you could possible want, although Dances w/ Wolves cost me $3 because it’s a double disk. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t change the fact that I have now seen Blade 4 (horrible), Twilight (terrible), Eight Legged Freaks (also terrible), and Anaconda 2 (apparently they thought they could out do the first one, they didn’t).
Doesn’t Translate: Vampires Worth Watching
So even though you can basically find any movie ever made and the majority of TV shows, Ecuador has not tapped into the wonderful world of TV dramas that that includes True Blood. It’s also lacking Boardwalk Empire and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
Translates: Using Slang
Since moving to Guayas, I have been inundated by this coastal dialect of Spanish that involves aspirating the last syllable of words, particularly those that end in an ‘s.’ There’s also a tendency to rapid-fire colloquialism, without that last syllable, which results in me understanding very little of daily conversations. Because there is no…
(side note: Denali is currently climbing my mosquito net.)
Doesn’t Translate: Understanding that non-native Spanish speakers don’t understand slang
Basically, it comes down to that no one can ever hear their own accent and so how do you explain to someone what it’s not that you don’t know the language, you just can’t understand the attempt at words coming out of their mouth. The result: I’ve been reduced from a pre-puberty boy to a three year old. But I’m still technically an ingenia…
Translates: Bad Pop Music
Since the death of my ipod, I’ve become quite acquainted with such fine American inventions as the Black Eyed Peas, Akon, Rihanna, Florider, Pitbull, Don Omar (is he American?), and Daddy Yankee (not American?). Not only do I have to listen these sonic wonders on the bus, but the kids in my site also insist on playing them on my computer in my house. Bravo America, way to culture dump, vampires included.
Doesn’t Translate: Good Pop Music
I so after listening to Waka Waka for the hundredth time (seriously, Shakira made it to my top 25, needless to say I’m not pleased) I thought I would try to induce some decent pop music. Unfortunately, Cee Lo is not up to Ecuadorian music standards. Good thing I can fall back on Our Lady of the Gaga.
Translates: Freeze Tag and Volleyball
The kids in my site taught me how to play freeze tag tonight, which to their surprise I actually understood… once they stopped explaining and just showed me. We’ve also played a good deal of equivoli, which resembles volleyball except for you play it with a deflated basketball or soccer ball and ends with conspicuous bruise on one’s forearms. But you ignore all rules that apply to real volleyball and including that rule about lifting, which seems to be the key to playing equivoli. Bingo, unfortunately, also translates.
Doesn’t Translate: Exercising
Equivoli for hours, acceptable. Futbol for hours, more than acceptable. Going for a morning run or doing an hour of yoga, completely foreign.
Translates: Having Pets
Every one here has them. Literally. We have cats, dogs, rabbits, birds and things that resemble dogs as pets at my site...
Doesn’t Translate: Pet Care
However, actually caring for these animals seems to be less of a priority. I mean, why would you feed your cat cat-food when you could just give it your left over rice. And a vet check-up, completely unnecessary. As for having an animal fixed, how could you ever be so cruel as to rob your pet of the enjoyment of having a boyfriend/girlfriend? No joke, direct translation from an Ecuadorian.
Translates: Catholicism
So in true latino fashion, Ecuador is a Catholic state, which makes assuming the importance of religion pretty reasonable. However, when you are asked what religion you are, it’s already assumed that you’re Christian… what the requester really wants to know is whether you’re catholic or evangelical. The thought of being something other than one of those two doesn’t even register, including Protestantism…
Doesn’t Translate: Lutheranism
Saying that you were raised Lutheran, even when using correct Spanish, doesn’t translate. With this is lost that endearing Lutheran modesty that Midwesterners grow up immersed in. Outcome: it is cultural acceptable to call someone “gordita” or “little fat one,” “flacita” or “little skinny one,” to ask someone while in a group how much they weigh, to ask them about their pimples or other personal things of this natural that make this private Midwesterner more than uncomfortable. Especially when these questions are directed at her…
That’s all I got for now, mostly because Denali is in the process of pulling down my mosquito net…
One of the last Spanish classes I took was one on how to work through the art of translating. Basicamente, the gist of the class is that translation is quite difficult, especially when trying to convey the nuances of a culture. This can create a whole host of humorous situations, so others that are frustrating and then a handful of others that are just unfortunate (watching Blade 4 with subtitles). And so I give you – Things That Translate and Things That Don’t:
Translates: Harry Potter Movies
Ecuadorian kids seem to be just as infatuated with HP as Americans (not limited to children). Consequently, I’ve watched HP 1-3 and 7p1 in the last two months. Luckily, it seems to be working as a great integration tool, plus it’s a pleasant reminder that I can actually understand Spanish even though I still don’t understand the coastal butchering of the language.
Doesn’t Translate: The Idea of Reading the Harry Potter Books
Most of us in my generation grew up eagerly anticipating each new release of one of the HP novels. So when they finally hit the big screen, we knew exactly what was going to happen – the movies were just buttresses to the vivid imagery that enchanted us in print. However, the thought of reading a HP novel is completely foreign to most Ecuadorians. Perhaps this is due to the fact that a culture of reading is much more prevalent in the United States then it is in Ecuador. Books here are crazy expensive and I’ve only had one encounter of leisure reading since I’ve been here. This is bad news for HP because not only is British humor lost in translation from English to Spanish, most of the gritty details are lost in the translation from text to film.
Translates: Bad Vampire Movies
Following that movie thought, any sort of poor quality movie is in an over abundance here. Best example of this would have to be terrible vampire movies, like the Blade series. I don’t know if it’s because pirated movies are so cheap here – we’re talking $1.5 for anything you could possible want, although Dances w/ Wolves cost me $3 because it’s a double disk. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t change the fact that I have now seen Blade 4 (horrible), Twilight (terrible), Eight Legged Freaks (also terrible), and Anaconda 2 (apparently they thought they could out do the first one, they didn’t).
Doesn’t Translate: Vampires Worth Watching
So even though you can basically find any movie ever made and the majority of TV shows, Ecuador has not tapped into the wonderful world of TV dramas that that includes True Blood. It’s also lacking Boardwalk Empire and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
Translates: Using Slang
Since moving to Guayas, I have been inundated by this coastal dialect of Spanish that involves aspirating the last syllable of words, particularly those that end in an ‘s.’ There’s also a tendency to rapid-fire colloquialism, without that last syllable, which results in me understanding very little of daily conversations. Because there is no…
(side note: Denali is currently climbing my mosquito net.)
Doesn’t Translate: Understanding that non-native Spanish speakers don’t understand slang
Basically, it comes down to that no one can ever hear their own accent and so how do you explain to someone what it’s not that you don’t know the language, you just can’t understand the attempt at words coming out of their mouth. The result: I’ve been reduced from a pre-puberty boy to a three year old. But I’m still technically an ingenia…
Translates: Bad Pop Music
Since the death of my ipod, I’ve become quite acquainted with such fine American inventions as the Black Eyed Peas, Akon, Rihanna, Florider, Pitbull, Don Omar (is he American?), and Daddy Yankee (not American?). Not only do I have to listen these sonic wonders on the bus, but the kids in my site also insist on playing them on my computer in my house. Bravo America, way to culture dump, vampires included.
Doesn’t Translate: Good Pop Music
I so after listening to Waka Waka for the hundredth time (seriously, Shakira made it to my top 25, needless to say I’m not pleased) I thought I would try to induce some decent pop music. Unfortunately, Cee Lo is not up to Ecuadorian music standards. Good thing I can fall back on Our Lady of the Gaga.
Translates: Freeze Tag and Volleyball
The kids in my site taught me how to play freeze tag tonight, which to their surprise I actually understood… once they stopped explaining and just showed me. We’ve also played a good deal of equivoli, which resembles volleyball except for you play it with a deflated basketball or soccer ball and ends with conspicuous bruise on one’s forearms. But you ignore all rules that apply to real volleyball and including that rule about lifting, which seems to be the key to playing equivoli. Bingo, unfortunately, also translates.
Doesn’t Translate: Exercising
Equivoli for hours, acceptable. Futbol for hours, more than acceptable. Going for a morning run or doing an hour of yoga, completely foreign.
Translates: Having Pets
Every one here has them. Literally. We have cats, dogs, rabbits, birds and things that resemble dogs as pets at my site...
Doesn’t Translate: Pet Care
However, actually caring for these animals seems to be less of a priority. I mean, why would you feed your cat cat-food when you could just give it your left over rice. And a vet check-up, completely unnecessary. As for having an animal fixed, how could you ever be so cruel as to rob your pet of the enjoyment of having a boyfriend/girlfriend? No joke, direct translation from an Ecuadorian.
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| BasÃlica del Voto Nacional, Quito |
So in true latino fashion, Ecuador is a Catholic state, which makes assuming the importance of religion pretty reasonable. However, when you are asked what religion you are, it’s already assumed that you’re Christian… what the requester really wants to know is whether you’re catholic or evangelical. The thought of being something other than one of those two doesn’t even register, including Protestantism…
Doesn’t Translate: Lutheranism
Saying that you were raised Lutheran, even when using correct Spanish, doesn’t translate. With this is lost that endearing Lutheran modesty that Midwesterners grow up immersed in. Outcome: it is cultural acceptable to call someone “gordita” or “little fat one,” “flacita” or “little skinny one,” to ask someone while in a group how much they weigh, to ask them about their pimples or other personal things of this natural that make this private Midwesterner more than uncomfortable. Especially when these questions are directed at her…
That’s all I got for now, mostly because Denali is in the process of pulling down my mosquito net…
I love everything about this post.
ReplyDeleteI really do enjoy the way you write - and I find so much humor in your observations. Take care.
ReplyDelete