Dutch + spelling
Today I read a nice article about the Silent Disco (half a page of newspaper: 19 unknown words, 14 of which I couldn't infer from context.
Dutch word order can be *very* difficult sometimes:
de bestuurder van tramlijn 4 die voor de derde keer de tractors met aanhangers op zijn route tegenkomt, ziet er de lol al lang niet meer van in.
subject, translated for meaning: the driver of tram line 4, who comes across the tractors with adherents for the third time on his route,
predicate, translated for meaning:
does not see the fun in/of it anymore in/for a long time. (I think there's no non-awkward way to express this sentence in English: I want to say "the driver has not seen the fun in it for a long time" in the present tense)
predicate, word-by-word:
ziet er de lol al lang niet meer van in.
sees there the fun already long not more of in.
Why they use both "van" and "in", I'm not sure! "fun of it" "fun in it" seem reasonable, but "fun of in it"??
---
here's a simple translation algorithm:
* translate word-by-word
* rearrange words to be grammatical, preserving intended meaning
* translate expressions
I wish we had names for these different levels of translation. The deeper down, the more interpretation this kind of translation requires.
---
Today a recruiter gave me a spelling test in Dutch:
I just went to a job agency, and they said the only job of the kind I wanted was for native speakers of Dutch. So she asked how good my Dutch was.
She - spreek je vloeiend Nederlands?
Me - redelijk vloeiend.
So she administered a dictée (spelling test), which I failed, making 5 mistakes in 4 long sentences, not counting tremas (including mishearing "verleent" as "verlengt" and one "dt" that I'm embarassed to have missed).
Still, she found it "ontzettend knap" that I had learned such reasonable Dutch in 2 years, and invited me to send her a CV anyway.
---
My English spelling:
you may have noticed that I deviate from both American and British standards. I'm closer to the Canadian standard, but that's still not.
Words taken from here. I invite all persons with ambiguous dialects to fill this out as well
Here are my spelling preferences:
COLOUR
CENTER
CIGARETTE
PRACTICE (v)
DEFENSE (n)
AESTHETIC
ORGANIZE
CHEQUE
ENROLL
ADVISOR
COMPLETE
COORDINATE
GREY
SKEPTICAL
SULFUR/SULPHUR, no preference
ZEE/ZED, no preference
and my vocabulary:
bill (not check)
billion = 10^9 (same as American: UK is 10^12)
bucket (not pail)
trunk
can (not tin)
pharmacy (not drugstore (US), chemist (UK))
sofa / couch: no preference
fries / chips = soft, fat, oily potatos things eaten in UK with fish
college = university (like US), although I often prefer to use "university"
curb (not kerb)
eh? = huh?
elevator / lift: no preference
lemonade (US) = natural lemon juice, never carbonated (unlike UK)
tap (not faucet)
interested in doing (US) / interested to do (UK) (slight preference for US)
floor vs. storey: I sometimes say "storey" when describing how many floors a building has
gas (not petrol)
holiday (not vacation)
call (not phone (CA) )
pissed (US): if I say this, I mean "angry"/"pissed off" (US)
napkin (not serviette)
sneakers (I don't express this concept very much, but if I do, I'll say "tennis shoes")
soda
toilet (not washroom (CA), although I may say "bathroom" (US))
Dutch word order can be *very* difficult sometimes:
de bestuurder van tramlijn 4 die voor de derde keer de tractors met aanhangers op zijn route tegenkomt, ziet er de lol al lang niet meer van in.
subject, translated for meaning: the driver of tram line 4, who comes across the tractors with adherents for the third time on his route,
predicate, translated for meaning:
does not see the fun in/of it anymore in/for a long time. (I think there's no non-awkward way to express this sentence in English: I want to say "the driver has not seen the fun in it for a long time" in the present tense)
predicate, word-by-word:
ziet er de lol al lang niet meer van in.
sees there the fun already long not more of in.
Why they use both "van" and "in", I'm not sure! "fun of it" "fun in it" seem reasonable, but "fun of in it"??
---
here's a simple translation algorithm:
* translate word-by-word
* rearrange words to be grammatical, preserving intended meaning
* translate expressions
I wish we had names for these different levels of translation. The deeper down, the more interpretation this kind of translation requires.
---
Today a recruiter gave me a spelling test in Dutch:
I just went to a job agency, and they said the only job of the kind I wanted was for native speakers of Dutch. So she asked how good my Dutch was.
She - spreek je vloeiend Nederlands?
Me - redelijk vloeiend.
So she administered a dictée (spelling test), which I failed, making 5 mistakes in 4 long sentences, not counting tremas (including mishearing "verleent" as "verlengt" and one "dt" that I'm embarassed to have missed).
Still, she found it "ontzettend knap" that I had learned such reasonable Dutch in 2 years, and invited me to send her a CV anyway.
---
My English spelling:
you may have noticed that I deviate from both American and British standards. I'm closer to the Canadian standard, but that's still not.
Words taken from here. I invite all persons with ambiguous dialects to fill this out as well
Here are my spelling preferences:
COLOUR
CENTER
CIGARETTE
PRACTICE (v)
DEFENSE (n)
AESTHETIC
ORGANIZE
CHEQUE
ENROLL
ADVISOR
COMPLETE
COORDINATE
GREY
SKEPTICAL
SULFUR/SULPHUR, no preference
ZEE/ZED, no preference
and my vocabulary:
bill (not check)
billion = 10^9 (same as American: UK is 10^12)
bucket (not pail)
trunk
can (not tin)
pharmacy (not drugstore (US), chemist (UK))
sofa / couch: no preference
fries / chips = soft, fat, oily potatos things eaten in UK with fish
college = university (like US), although I often prefer to use "university"
curb (not kerb)
eh? = huh?
elevator / lift: no preference
lemonade (US) = natural lemon juice, never carbonated (unlike UK)
tap (not faucet)
interested in doing (US) / interested to do (UK) (slight preference for US)
floor vs. storey: I sometimes say "storey" when describing how many floors a building has
gas (not petrol)
holiday (not vacation)
call (not phone (CA) )
pissed (US): if I say this, I mean "angry"/"pissed off" (US)
napkin (not serviette)
sneakers (I don't express this concept very much, but if I do, I'll say "tennis shoes")
soda
toilet (not washroom (CA), although I may say "bathroom" (US))