Dangers of translating literally
A friend of mine from Liverpool and English teacher in Spain, after having lived for some years between us, told me few weeks ago a story that I liked very much: a Spanish person is perfectly recognizable out of Spain (for instance) in a restaurant because we (Spanich people) call the waiter saying: "Please, please".
For this guy this was a clear example of a too literal translation from Spanish to Englisg: "Por favor, por favor" is the natural expression we would use in Spanish ... at least in Spain :-)
This situation makes me asking if I'm thanking your corrections, kind italkers, in a good way or using a too literal translation; some recent thanks I've done have been like this ones:
hi again XXX. thank you very much for your corrections. i learn very mucho from them.
hi YYY. i really appreciate very much your corrections. THANKS A LOT.
hi ZZZ. corrections from a teacher as you are always very well received. THANKS A LOT.
What do you think about them? Do they sound "natural" or not at all?
Search from various English teachers...
Corrections · 6
1
Dangers of translating literally
A few weeks ago, a friend of mine from Liverpool who is an English teacher in Spain told me a story that I liked very much: a Spanish person is perfectly recognizable outside of Spain (for instance) in a restaurant because we (Spanish people) call the waiter saying, "Please, please."
To my friend, this was a clear example of a translation from Spanish to English that is too literal. "Por favor, por favor" is the natural expression we would use in Spanish...at least in Spain. :-)
This situation makes me wonder if I'm thanking you kind italkers for your corrections in a good way or using translation that are too literal. Some recent thanks I've done have been like these:
"Hi again, XXX. Thank you very much for your corrections. I learn very mucho from them."
"Hi, YYY. I really appreciate very much your corrections. THANKS A LOT."
"Hi ZZZ. corrections from a teacher as you are always very well received. THANKS A LOT."
What do you think about them? Do they sound natural or not at all?
0
Dangers of translating literally
A friend of mine from Liverpool who isand an English teacher in Spain, after having lived with me for a few some years between us, told me a story a few weeks ago that I liked very much. He said a Spanish person is easilyperfectly recognizable outside of Spain because in a restaurant, for instance, we (i.e Spanisch people) call the waiter saying: "Please, please".
For my friendthis guy this was a clear example of a too literal translation from Spanish into English as "Por favor, por favor" is the natural expression we would use in Spanish ... at least in Spain :-)
This situation makes me asking wonder/think if I'm thanking you for your corrections, kind italkers, in a good way or using a too literal a translation. Some recent thank you's I've done have been like these this ones:
Hi again XXX. Thank you very much for your corrections. I learn a lot very mucho from them.
Hi YYY. I really appreciate very much* your corrections. THANKS A LOT.
Hi ZZZ. Corrections from a teacher such as you are always very well-received. THANKS A LOT.
What do you think about them? Do they sound "natural" or not at all?
Your thank you's are fine (with the minor corrections) - no problem there.
* If you say 'really' before a verb you don't need an extra 'very much'. The adverb 'really' already contains the meaning of 'very much' (mucho).
eg I really like her. = I like her a lot. = I like her very much.
0
Completely agree with you about literal translations being tricky.
For XXX, you can say "I learned a lot from them."
For YYY, it would be better to say, "I really appreciate your corrections" or "I appreciate your corrections very much."
For ZZZ, you can just say, "Corrections from a teacher are always welcome."
I hope this was helpful!
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