I actual feel like I learn a lot from seeing how the subtitles differ from a literal translation.
I learn seeing how the English to Spanish translation differs from how I would have more directly translated it in my head.
But when I’m watching something in Spanish and they’re speaking really fast, it’s important to know what exact words that mash of sounds correlates to!
Hmm ok I guess I’m off on that
If you are watching something that was originally in English and then dubbed into Spanish with Spanish subtitles, then the reason for the discrepancy is more or less what you guessed. Different people do the dubbing and the subtitles. They’re both independently translating from the English. The subtitle people don’t listen to the dubbed version and write that down.
If you watched something originally in Spanish with Spanish subtitles (i.e., what deaf people use), then it’s going to be nearly verbatim.
Devil: Ok Google, translate [Spanish word].
Google Smart Speaker: It sounds like you’re asking for a translation, is that right?
Devil: Yes.
Speaker: What language would you like me to translate to?
Devil: English.
Speaker: I’m sorry, I can’t translate from English to English.
Devil: lol
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How do you all normally start with a language you’ve never touched before? I’d like to add basic French to my repertoire and feel like the pronunciations are so different from Spanish that I’m struggling out of the gate. Are there any good resources that can help frame everything, maybe run through the alphabet and the various sounds, etc? I started Duolingo French and it immediately dropped me into word matching. Everything makes sense but I want more of a structural or base understanding before I even get to vocab.
I feel like learning IPA would be a good start, anyone gone that route?
I started with Portuguese about 8 months ago and went through the Portuguese pronunciation trainers produced by this guy and found it extremely helpful. It costs a bit ($12 I think), but sounds like exactly what you need. I just drilled the pronunciations for about 15 min. a day for a month and then felt comfortable with the Portuguese sounds after that.
Bon courage !
Question for @Yuv and anyone else. I read that when the Canaanites invented the first alphabet, it had no vowels - which were finally added later by the Greeks. But that didn’t matter because in Semitic languages like what the Canaanites spoke, and modern Hebrew and Arabic, don’t care about vowels.
How does that work exactly? Is every vowel basically the same sound?
I mean I can read niqqud if I put some effort in it, but no one actually write it unless they pretend to be a poet. Also no idea why the thumbnail is so weird.
Thanks, that’s interesting.
I still wonder though why I keep reading that vowels don’t matter in Hebrew and Arabic. Like apparently it’s easy to represent the language w/o symbols for vowels - in a way that would be impossible trying to represent say English w/o vowels.
There are a billion words in Hebrew that are written the same (assuming there is no Niqqud) but pronounced differently. You just know by the context. So no idea if it’s a good system or not.
This will give you some more idea -
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For those of you who speak multiple language - are there words/phrases you really miss that you can’t really replace?
One I have a problem replacing is “Tithadesh”, which literally translates to “to be renewed”, but figuratively is a type of “congratulations” on something new, but in a non-formal way. Someone got a haircut? “Tithadesh”. New shirt? Promotion? It’s super useful and uses one word to save a lot of awkward small talk.
I’m not sure if it’s what you’re asking, but it seems like people expect there to be a one to one mapping of words, phrases, expressions, and meanings in one language to words, phrases, expressions and meanings in another. It’s not like that. I might take a paragraph of English to give a sense of what a Spanish word or phrase means. I mean, yeah it could mean my knowledge of one or both languages is not good or I’m just a shitty translator, but not necessarily.
Related to this, I understand the compulsion to want to get a grip on a language by breaking it up certain ways: by working on making the sounds and expanding vocabulary and drilling on this or that. I do that too, and not just with language, but if I step back it seems like a wrong-headed way to learn language. That popular language learning program whose name I can’t think of atm stresses learning phrases and interacting with people as a more organic way of learning. At least that’s what it says in the commercials. I guess it could be I’ve been seduced by Big Language.
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Thnks, tht‘s ntrstng.
I stll wndr wh I kp rdng tht vwls dn‘t mttr n Hbrw nd Arbc. Lk pprntl t‘s easy t rprsnt th lngg wtht smbls fr vwls - n a way tht wld b mpssbl trng t rprsnt say nglsh wtht vwls.
I don‘t think vowels are absolutely necessary to understand a text. You will be able make out at least some of the words in the almost vowelless sentences above. Now imagine you had practised this your whole life. This will work better for some languages than for others.
Arabic has only three short vowels and they don‘t change the meaning of a word. There are also long versions of those vowels and those are written down.
Arabic speakers learning German for example struggle with the difference between u/o and i/e. It doesn‘t matter/exist in Arabic but is very important in German.
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Swearing. I’m a big fan in English (“fuck” is so versatile) but ime with S.American spanish there’s a distinct lack of creativity when it comes to cursing. I miss it fuckloads.
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Ha, the tja reminds me of the Uruguayan “ta” (from the verb to be estar, he/she/it está but here the “es” sound is freuqently dropped; “más o menos” becomes “ma o meno”.
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It’s like “dude” in English.
My German coworker always said “tja”. I just mentally substituted “yeah yeah”.
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Switch to Mexican Spanish. They are pretty much the kings of colourful curse words.
They actually have a dictionary for the most common word “chingar”:
For additional fun, they have a team that’s so hated that it’s a national pasttime for non-fans of that team to often declare “qué se chingué a su puta madre el América” (America can go fuck it’s goddamn mother)
Soccer player Rodolfo Pizarro randomly yelling it for laughs at a victory celebration (they didn’t even play Club América)
Mexicans getting randoms around the world to say it for the laughs:
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Why use lot word when few word do trick?
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