The strategies

Teresa Tomaszkiewicz, the author of Audiovisual Translation, offers the strategy in film sutitling.
The strategies are:

- Omission when the cultural reference is omitted altogether
- Literar translation where the solution in the target text matches, original as closely as possible
- Borrowing where original terms from the source text are used in target text
- Equivalence where translation has a similar meaning and function as the target culture
- Adaptation where the translation is adjusted to the target language and culture in an attempt to evoke similar connotations to the original text.
- Generalisation which might also be referred to as neutralisation of original.
- Explication which usualy involes a paraphrase to explain cultural term.

The mode of translation usually limits the strategies available to translator. Teresa Tomaszkiewicz discussed eight strategies in operation in film subtitling.

Voice-over method

The third audiovisual translation is a professional voice-over which is still very important in certain countries and for certain types of videos and audiences. Voice-over is method which consists of record over the original audio which can be heard in the background, using a single voice. This method is most commonly used for documentaries, training materials but also for movies. One of advantages of voice-over translation is better focus on the action displayed (especially if there are graphics or on-screen information). In other words the voice-over is a process of replacing a narration voice track in a foreign language in a multimedia medium. This method is very popular in Poland. Lectors which are traditionally men with husky voices read all dialogue in Polish. While the lector drones on, viewers hear the original soundtrack faintly in the background. I think that most Polish people prefer to watch movie with voice-over. But I would like to point out the education value of subtitles in the process of learning a foreign language. If you learn Italian watch movies with subtitles.

Dubbing

Dubbing. I think that dubbing is a really complex job, amazing process of translation, adaptation and recording of movie or television program to create the feeling of illusion that the characters talk in the target language. People who cannot read the subtitles can always watch movies because dubbed film reach more people (I have in mind the blind people, children or dyslexics). The dubbing process is highly complex and involves many factors. The first difficulty is matching the lip movements of the actor. So we have to change the order of the words to accomplish this or find synonyms that will fit. Recording of the translated text is done a professional sound studio by professional actors or specialists of this area. After the test is recorded and specialists provide the file montage. In Italy, for example, dubbing is systematic with a tradition going back to the 1932. Dubbed movies had golden years in Mussolini’s period when the foreign language movies was banned for political reasons

                                                                            Video about dubbing

Subtitles

In audiovisual translation, subtitles, which are not preferred by Italian people, are text of movie, television program, video game usually displayed at the bottom of the screen. In my opinion, creating subtitles is not only the cheapest method of translation, but it is also usually preferred by people all around the world. They want to hear the original voices of the favourite actors. Voice-over can destroy everything. However, subtitles translation differs form what we hear. During the process of creating subtitles for a film or television program, the picture and each sentence of the audio are analyzed by the subtitle translator. Why? It is not possible to translate all sentences. Sentences of language A can be completely different from sentences of language B. In other words, the meaning is more important than the form. In addition, culturally implied meanings cannot be conveyed in the written subtitles (for example, Beh! - Italian expression which is untranslatable in another language).

Audiovisual Translation

I think that the term philology is not only the study of culture but also the study of translation. Recently, I have the opportunity to know translation strategies and techniques in Audiovisual Translation. At the beginning, I would like to start from “what does Audiovisual Translation mean?!”. Actually, Audiovisual Translation is the term which is used to refer to the transfer from one language to another of verbal components contained in audiovisual works and products. In other words, this kind of Translation deals with translation of films, television programs, Web pages or video games. Audiovisual translation is completely new field in translation studies that convers not only dubbing, but also voice-over, subtitling or surtitling. I think thay my new course of audiovisual translation will be very interesting and I hope that it will help me during my work.

If you are interested in this kind of translation, I recommend the following books:

1) "Przekład audiowizualny" Teresa Tomaszkiewicz

This book offers not only  theory of audiovisual translation but also practice of translation. The author presents the secrets of translation, considering the translation of many famous movies.

2) "Tłumaczenie filmowe w praktyce" G. Adamowicz-Grzyb

The books is intended  for anyone interested in film translation which presents the principle of creating a film version for people with impaired vision and hearing, or audio description and subtitles for the hearing impaired and the important issues of copyright.

3) "Jak redagować napisy do filmów. Abc tłumacza filmowego" G. Adamowicz-GrzybThe author tells how to avoid basic mistakes. This guide contains many examples of different films and presents useful strategies.

Studiare / Learn !

I want to study Spanish and Romanian so I try to show the best strategies for learning a new language:

1) Make language-learning a lifestyle change. Find a language habit that you can follow. 

2) Play house with the language. I think that if you want to study a new language you should invite a foreign language into your daily life. Use every opportunity to get exposed to the new language. 

3) Let technology help you out. I think that a funny thing is resetting the language on your phone which can help you learn new words. 

4) Watch undubbed versions of your favorite movies.

5)  Make new friends. Interacting in the new language is key. Find native speakers near you. Or search for foreign penpals or set up a language tandem online, where two volunteers help one another practice their respective languages.

and particulary

6) Do not worry about making mistakes. One of the most common barriers to conversing in a new language is the fear of making mistakes. 

And also:

                                                                                       google.pl

Can translator work in both language directions equally well? What do you think?

It’s very rare when a translator is able to translate equally well in both directions. Even if translator speaks fluently both languages. Writing well with correct grammar requires particular skills and expertise than spoken fluency. In general, a translator working into his native language is less likely to make grammatical errors. Moreover translator is more likely to be able to produce text in the desired style of the target language. Conversely, a translator working from his or her native language is less likely to make mistakes in comprehension of the source text, but is more likely to make grammatical errors and to be limited in his or her command of syntax and style in producing the translation. In addition, in certain specialized fields it is simply not possible to find a good translator who is a native speaker of the target language and has the requisite field-specific knowledge to understand the topic.

To be a good translator

Do you want to work as a translator? So if you are looking to become a translator you  need more than just knowledge of another language to be considered for a job. Definitely, the professional translation industry would need someone who is articulate in different languages, more than his native tongue. You need to be eloquent to be able to translate documents fittingly. You must know how to expand your resources in interpreting the language you are assigned to. That is one way of being effective and becoming a suitable candidate for more professional translation projects. Being skilled in research also means that you know the translation tools available to you to help you carry out the task at hand. You must be knowledgeable in different subjects, fields, and industries to get as much work as is available. You must remember that you need to be an authority in the topics or subjects that you claim you can handle. You cannot be a 'jack of all trades, master of none' in the translation service industry. Moreover, an effective translator is someone who can meet his deadlines.

 

                                                                                                          google.com

 

 

Italian? Why not?!

Italian is beautiful, fun and sexy. Here I would like to show you 8 reasons to learn Italian.

1. According to UNESCO the most of the world’s cultural heritage sites are in Italy. 
2. Do you like music, design, arts, architecture, opera? Knowing Italian is greatly beneficial in several career fields because Italy is a world leader in the culinary arts, interior design, fashion (Milan!)m graphic design, furniture design but also machine tool, manufacturing and construction machinery.
3. Travelling in Italy is pleasurable. I think that of all the countries in the world there is none more magical than Italy. This place is the tourist paradise! So speaking Italian allows you to meet amazing people and get to know this wonderfully rich culture.
4. You don’t need subtitles to see Fellini’s or Visconti’s movies.
5.  Italian is recognized as one of the most beautiful spoken languages on the planet. If you want to pick up a girl you always can speak with Italian accent.
6.  Italian has the highest number of words for describing food! Italian cuisine is rated as one of the best in the world. Order with confidence on your next visit at an authentic Italian restaurant and show off your prowess with your impeccable pronunciation (how to say bruschetta or gnocchi)
7. The Italian language is the closest to latin. Knowing Italian will help you in learning Spanish or French. Learning a foreign language will improve your problem solving skills, your creativity and will be a powerful open minder. It gives you a greater opportunity, through comparison, to know yourself better, your culture and your language.
8. Read Camilleri’s novels without English translation.

 

Camilleri - Italian writer

Andrea Camilleri, Italian writer, in 1994 pubblished the first series of novels La forma dell’Acqua featured the character of Insepctor Montalbano who is a fractious Sicilian detective in the police force of Vigata, an imaginary Sicilian town. For Camilleri, language is one of the main characters of the story. In any novel he uses numerous variteties of Italian, dialect from Italian regions, in particular Sicilian,  Anglicisms, slang, neologisms and much more.

It is clear that the conscious use of dialect constitutes the most obvious element of this writer’s style. A translator faces two different challenges of various difficulties. The first is the problem of translating Italian into English. The second is the frequent use of the Sicilian language, in particular in dialogues with people who for one reason or another speak in that language. The easiest way of translating these dialogues is to add a qualifying sentence - these words were spoken in Sicilian. Another way could be to translate the dialogues into slang or colloquial speech.

If you’re curious about Camilleri’s Sicilian, we can visit the Dizionario on the Camilleri Fans Club website. This dictionary provides a list of the Sicilian vocabulary utilized in Camilleri’s literature. It’s important to know that Camilleri italianizes most of his Sicilian to make it more understandable for his non-Sicilian readers.

Dialect - could we translate it?

What is dialect?

Dialect is a form of a language that is spoken in a particular part of country or by a particular group of people. When we translate a book we can simply ignore the dialect and translate it as standard language. But an author has chosen to use dialect for a reason, dismissing that choice isn’t respectful of the author or his work. Of course, for some languages, ignoring the dialect may be the only solution. If we decide to translate the dialect, what choices do we have?

- Geographic translation – it means that we choose an equivalent region in the target culture and pick one of its dialects.

-  Translating socioeconomically – it means that a translator working with an upper class dialect in the source text chooses an upper class dialect in the target language. When the original author uses a lower-class dialect, the translator can use a lower-class dialect from another region. Translating socioeconomically can be challenging if the source cultures have very different populations and thus different class-based dialects.

Moreover, if an author chooses a dialect to suggest a character is stupid, an equivalent dialectical representation can be picked in the target language. But we can remember that not all languages have dialects with the same stereotypes.

The five Neorealist films to watch

Neorealist cinema is a new strain Italian film-making took shape in the Second World War. I think that Neorealism was born in part of necessity: new directors wanted to show the realty in documentary style giving the lead roles to non-professional actors, with mixed results.


The five Neorealist films to watch:

1. Roma, città aperta (Robert Rossellini) - the film was shot on Roman streets six months after the Nazis left. It told the tense story of partisans fighting Germans. Anna Magnani emerged as Neorealism's leading lady. 

2. Sciuscià􀀃 (Vittorio De Sica) -  the film describes the story of two shoeshine boys, played with impressive subtlety by a couple of untrained actors, come unstuck in unsympathetic post-war

Rome.

3. La terra trema (Luchino Visconti) - Vinsconti describes living conditions in the Sicily, using Sicilian dialect, rendered the lives of poor, exploited fishing folk.

4. Ladri di biciclette􀀃 (Vittorio De Sica) - The film describes  a destitute man and his son scour Roma for the stolen bike on which his job hanging posters depends. Ladri di biciclette has become the most acclaimed of the Neorealist films, combining critical and commercial success.

5. Riso Amaro (Giuseppe De Santis) -The film describes migrant workers in the paddy fields of the Po Valley.

21st century best-sellers

I would like to show you the 21st century best-sellers of Italian literature.

1. 'La rabbia e l'orgoglio' is a book written by Oriana Fallacci. Controversial commentary on Islam and European Muslims, originally published as a series of articles in the Correre della Sera. 'La rabia e l'orgoglio' (The Rage and the Pride) have been translated into idiosyncratic English by Fallaci herself

2. 'Io non ho paura' by Niccolò Ammaniti. Someday a boy finds a kidnap victim in an old farmhouse and then discovers his parents are in on the sercret. Ammaniti got the idea for the book during a road trip to Apulia in the late 1990s. The story is based on a true story of a kidnapped boy from Milan drugin the Anni di Piombo in the 1970s, a time of terrorism in Italy. At the time, it was common to kidnap people from the North and transport them to the South, where they would be hidden and sametimes killed inless the ransom was paid.

3. 'Senza sangue' by Allesandro Baricco. A young girl hides from the muderers of her parents, but grows up to avenge their deaths.

4. '100 colpi di spazzola prima di andare a dormire' by Melissa Panarello. Blockbuster diary of a schoolgirl's sexual odyssey. Melissa's secret life is concealed from family and friends, revealed only in her diary entries.

5. 'La pazienza del ragno' by Andrea Camilleri. The eighth in the wildly popular Insepctor Montalbano series of crime novels.

6. 'Gomorra' by Roberto Saviano. A frightening non fiction novel about the Camorra, the Naples mafia. The author lives in hiding following death threats. In this book Saviano employs prose and news-reporting style to narrate the story of the Camorra, exposing its territory and business connections.

Ferdydurke - translation problems

Gombrowicz's language is very difficult because the Polish author used several types of idiomatic Polish-colloquial, the language of Polish peasants and the literary language. Difficult words to translate is Polish exclamations like "Jakże!". It was trasnlated by Danuta Borchardt as "Oh, sure!". The same problem is with the word "onegdaj" as "once" and "chłystek" like "a juvenile". Another problem is the Polish prefix "niedo" which was trasnlated as "not quite" - "niedoświadek ludzi niedoludzkich" as "the little not-quite world of the not-quite humans".
Moreover, the use of diminutives is very pervalent in Polish. Gombrowicz used them in the service of the ridiculous. The sentence "noga stała się nóżką, ręka - rączką, istota - stotką, dzieło - dziełkiem, ciało - ciałkiem" was translated by Danuta as "my leg became a little leg, my hand - a little hand, my persona - a little persona, my being - a little being, my oeuvre - a little oeuvre." Another problem is inversion which in Polish appears and changes style. As an example is "Słowacki wielkim poetą był" - Danuta, in order to make it more similar to the Polish original, translated it as "Because Słowacki - oh, what a great poet he was". The novel is really challenge for translators.

Ferdydurke

Ferdydurke - the work of Gombrowicz was considered to be an untranslatable work, just like other him's novels. The specific vocabulary and long, complicated sentences made the novel very difficult in reading and understanding. Ferdydurke is a book about a 30-year-old man, who finds himself imprisoned in the world of schoolboys by a professor who whises to reduce him to childhood. The novel was published in Poland in 1937 and made young Gombrowicz famous.


Ferdydurke translated in 1961 by Eric Mosbacher was insufficient because it was not translated directly form Polish into English, but form French. The first translation seemed to be very poor because of lost of fragments missing. In 2000 Danuta Borchardt has finished a direct translation of novel. In 1961 the work of Gombrowicz was also translated from French into Italian by Sergio Miniussi. The first Italian version of Ferdydurke was very ungainly so in 2004 the work was translated by Vera Verdiani once again. In Ferdydurke there are two main metaphors, very difficult to translate. One of them is "pupa" and the other one "gęba". "Gęba" is a metaphor for a kind of disguise. Danuta Bortchardt translated it as "a mug". In Italian version "gęba" is "muso". Moreover, "pupa" is the symbol of childhood. In English "pupa" can be translated as buttocks or backside, but Danuta Bortchardt decided to leave this word. In Italian translated as "culetto". Gombrowicz's language is complicated because he describing the world and a certain process used synonyms which cause problems during translation. For exemple "wewnętrzne rozdarcie, rozproszenie i rozproszkowanie" was translated by Danuta Bortchardt in descriptive way:


                       "disintegration when all would be blown to pieces and scattered to the winds".


I postawił mu kica.
E con sommo rammarico gli mise un bell’uno sul registro.

Widzieliście, jak złośliwie dydaktyczny Pimko mnie upupił.
Avete visto come quel malignazzo di pimko mi abbia cuculizzato con la sua pedagogia.

... że co najwyżej, w obecnej fazie waszego rozwoju jesteście li tylko półszekspirami i ćwierćszopenami.
In questa fase del vostro sviluppo siete a malapena dei mezzi Shakespeare e dei quarti di Chopin.

Great poetry must be admired, because it is great and because it is poetry, and so we admire it.
Wielka poezja, będąc wielką i będąc poezją, nie może nie zachwycać nas, a więc zachwyca.



The final fragment of Ferdydurke is very funny. However is also very difficult to translate. Eric Mosbacher, the first author of English version, omitted "koniec i bomba, kto czytał ten trąba". Maybe it proved to be too difficult to translate. Danuta Borchardt translated it successfully:


It's the end, what a gas,
and who's read it is an ass!


Vera Verdiani in Italian:


Termine ho messo,
chi legge è flesso!