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Linguistics in daily life. Draw attention to the worldwide language problem and the promotion of Esperanto as the global interlanguage for the global village. Encourage learning Esperanto as a second lanaguage for everyone, to be a tool for international understanding among millions of its speakers in hundreds of countries. Free instruction offered online or off.

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Please Speak English

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Contributed by: Richard Shrout on 4/9/2007

IN OTHER WORDS
by the Micco Morpheme Addict

"PLEASE SPEAK ENGLISH"

The foremost rule in translating from one language to another is to translate ideas, not words.

People who try to translate "word for word" using a bilingual dictionary end up with meaningless gibberish.

But before the idea behind the words can be translated, you have to know what it is. This isn't always easy. You have to be able to restate the sentence in other words in order to get to its meaning. This isn't always easy either.

Not long ago Ir ead an item about a college-bound boy who tried to make tuition money auctioning his unskilled labor on eBay. He talked a friend into joining him.

The friend explained in these words why he collaborated. "Whoa, Dude. That's, like, tight."

(I hope the college they're heading for provides Freshman Remedial English.)

That sentence is untranslatable into any language as it stands. What's the idea? Try to say in other words what it means.

If you can't say something in other words, you really don't know what you're talking about. In its context what does "Whoa, Dude, That's, like, tight" mean? Tell me.

I mulled it over for several days trying to break the code, that is, to say it in other words. The best I could come up with was "Okay, Pal, that's a good idea."

I don't think you can claim it loses anything in the translation. On the contrary, it gains meaning. Now it could be translated into any language on earth and be understood.

We don't translate words, we translate ideas. English-speaking foreigners can't understand "Whoa, Dude. That's, like, tight."

When dealing with foreigners who are struggling to express themselves, many people grumble "Why don't they speak English?"

Well, why don't we?

Can we express our meaning in other words? We can if we really know that we're talking about. Try translating the following expressions into plainer English.

structured environment
drop-dead gorgeous
most bang for the buck
level playing field
ground zero
gutless wonder
chicken hearted
all options are on the table
problems down the road
talk turkey
tickled pink (try translating THAT into Swahili!)

We all use idiomatic expressions like these and, of course, it's okay to do so. However, we should be aware of the confusing, ambiguous nature of English and be more tolerant of foreigners trying to learn it. And it's an amusing hobby to translate what we say "into other words" to be sure we really know what we're talking about.

Treasure Coast Esperantists invite you to join their informal discussion on the Global Interlanguage every Tuesday at 7 p.m. on the veranda overlooking the fountain at the Village Square Coffee & Ice Cream Shop, 925 Village Square, Unit One, U.S. 1, Sebastian. Call Richard at 772-532-7612 for details.

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