On translating TEDTalks into Dutch
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0:01 - 0:04Did any of you translate
Erin McKean's talk? -
0:04 - 0:07For those who haven't,
here is a small extract. -
0:07 - 0:10'Lexicographical' is the same pattern
as higgeldy piggeldy. -
0:10 - 0:12It’s a fun word to say,
and I get to say it a lot. -
0:12 - 0:14I would add to that:
-
0:14 - 0:18higgeldy-piggeldy is also
a fun word to translate. -
0:18 - 0:21In Dutch, I used "olleke bolleke," as in…
-
0:21 - 0:24Olleke bolleke, rubisolleke,
-
0:24 - 0:27olleke bolleke, rubisolleke,
olleke bolleke, knol! -
0:27 - 0:30Luckily, this nursery rhyme is known
-
0:30 - 0:33in both of the major regions
where Dutch is spoken. -
0:33 - 0:37Dutch is the mother tongue
of 23 million people, -
0:37 - 0:40of whom 16 million live
in the Netherlands, -
0:40 - 0:446 mln in the Northern part of Belgium,
also known as Flanders, -
0:44 - 0:48and 400.000 in Suriname
in South-America. -
0:48 - 0:51We have an official
"Dutch Language Union." -
0:51 - 0:53So, where's the problem?
-
0:53 - 0:57Dutch from the Netherlands
and Dutch from Flanders -
0:57 - 0:58sound very different.
-
0:58 - 1:01If you meet Johan Cruyff
in the morning, -
1:01 - 1:06and if you're lucky, he will say
"Goeiemorgen" to you. -
1:06 - 1:09Kim Clijsters will say "Goeiemorgen."
-
1:09 - 1:12In subtitling,
this is of course irrelevant. -
1:12 - 1:15So once again: where's the problem?
-
1:15 - 1:18We also use different words.
-
1:18 - 1:20A Dutchman will call this a "klokkromme."
-
1:20 - 1:23In Flanders we call it a "Gauss-curve."
-
1:23 - 1:28Last but not least, each group has
their set of "typical doubts," -
1:28 - 1:30or deviations from Standard Dutch
-
1:30 - 1:33that occur more
in one or the other region. -
1:33 - 1:37Over the years,
the Dutch have lost their sensitivity -
1:37 - 1:39to the gender of Dutch nouns.
-
1:39 - 1:42And so only a Dutchman might wonder
-
1:42 - 1:45whether a cow is male or female
-
1:45 - 1:47… or so we teasingly say in Flanders.
-
1:47 - 1:51In Belgium, on the other hand,
whether we like it or not, -
1:51 - 1:54our language is influenced
-
1:54 - 1:56by our French-speaking fellow countrymen,
-
1:56 - 1:59leading to sometimes awkward
constructions borrowed from French. -
1:59 - 2:02So there's the problem.
-
2:02 - 2:04If a reviewer from the Netherlands
-
2:04 - 2:07reviews the work of a colleague
from Belgium, -
2:07 - 2:10she might see a text which she herself
-
2:10 - 2:12would never have written that way,
-
2:12 - 2:13and the other way round.
-
2:13 - 2:15If she starts correcting it,
-
2:15 - 2:17before she knows it,
she will be caught up -
2:17 - 2:19in an endless yes-no-discussion.
-
2:19 - 2:22It happened to me in my early TED days.
-
2:22 - 2:26I even confess that
for my very first translation, -
2:26 - 2:29I made sure I asked a translator
from my own country -
2:29 - 2:32to review it, because I felt uncomfortable
-
2:32 - 2:34with a review from the "other side."
-
2:34 - 2:37But I quickly learned that if you stick
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2:37 - 2:39to a limited number of ground rules,
-
2:39 - 2:42you can easily overcome this difficulty.
-
2:42 - 2:45This is what I want to share
with you today. -
2:45 - 2:49The best way to stop discussions
about "who is right," -
2:49 - 2:51is to agree on the standards you use.
-
2:51 - 2:53For Dutch, that is quite easy.
-
2:53 - 2:56The official thesaurus,
the main dictionary -
2:56 - 3:00and the standard grammar
are all accessible online. -
3:00 - 3:03All three are widely used and accepted
-
3:03 - 3:05in the Netherlands and in Belgium.
-
3:05 - 3:07If you indicate from the beginning
-
3:07 - 3:09that you will use these as a standard,
-
3:09 - 3:12you can avoid a lot of tension
and discussion. -
3:12 - 3:14But even if a word exists,
-
3:14 - 3:16it may be highly unusual
in one of the two regions. -
3:18 - 3:19Take the "klokkromme."
-
3:19 - 3:22It's a word hardly any
Belgian would use, -
3:22 - 3:25but on the other hand,
it is not difficult to understand -
3:25 - 3:27especially not in context,
-
3:27 - 3:29as is the case in TED Talks.
-
3:29 - 3:31There's really no point in replacing it
-
3:31 - 3:34with a term that no Dutchman
would ever use. -
3:34 - 3:36I much rather treat it
-
3:36 - 3:38as a "word worth spreading."
-
3:38 - 3:42Of course, if the unusual word
is difficult to understand, -
3:42 - 3:43the story is different.
-
3:43 - 3:44But then again,
-
3:44 - 3:47rather than replacing the word
with a Flemish one, -
3:47 - 3:50I invite my translation partner
-
3:50 - 3:53to look for an alternative
that is acceptable to both of us. -
3:53 - 3:55I would like to end with a few words
-
3:55 - 3:57about what I try to to keep in mind
-
3:57 - 3:59when reviewing or translating into Dutch.
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4:00 - 4:03First of all, I keep my audience in mind.
-
4:03 - 4:05I'm writing for people
from different regions. -
4:05 - 4:08I might as well try
to step into their shoes -
4:08 - 4:10and avoid words or expressions
-
4:10 - 4:12that I know are confusing.
-
4:12 - 4:15Secondly, I keep in mind
my translation partner, -
4:15 - 4:17especially when reviewing.
-
4:17 - 4:18In one of my early reviews,
-
4:18 - 4:21I made the mistake of marking
the translation as reviewed -
4:21 - 4:24without having contacted my partner.
-
4:24 - 4:27After all, I thought I had only
-
4:27 - 4:29corrected some obvious mistakes.
-
4:29 - 4:32Since then, I always contact
the translator -
4:32 - 4:34and invite them to let me know
-
4:34 - 4:36whether they agree with my proposals.
-
4:36 - 4:39Thirdly, I keep in mind
that I translate for TED -
4:39 - 4:43in order to help spreading
the interesting ideas of the speakers. -
4:43 - 4:46It's not about “winning” discussions
with other translators, -
4:46 - 4:48it's about working together
-
4:48 - 4:50to provide access to TED
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4:50 - 4:52to as large an audience as possible.
-
4:52 - 4:56Last year, a TED Translator
from the Netherlands -
4:56 - 4:58asked me whether I thought we should
-
4:58 - 5:00have separate sets of translations
-
5:00 - 5:03for Dutch from the Netherlands
and from Belgium. -
5:03 - 5:04I told him that to me,
-
5:04 - 5:06that made no sense at all,
-
5:06 - 5:08since it would only double the effort
-
5:08 - 5:10to spread the ideas.
-
5:10 - 5:12It did spur me to get better
-
5:12 - 5:15at finding common ground
across the regions. -
5:15 - 5:17Last but not least, I can tell you
-
5:17 - 5:19that translating for TED has been
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5:19 - 5:21an immensely enriching experience to me.
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5:21 - 5:23My closing thoughts are therefore
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5:23 - 5:25for my fellow TED Translators.
-
5:25 - 5:27I would have liked to create
-
5:27 - 5:29some kind of "Hans Rosling graph,"
-
5:29 - 5:32but you will have to do
with a wordle, -
5:32 - 5:34in which the size of the name
-
5:34 - 5:36represents the number of times
I worked with them. -
5:36 - 5:40I wish all of you an excellent workshop
-
5:40 - 5:46and an exciting TED Global 2011.
- Title:
- On translating TEDTalks into Dutch
- Description:
-
Els De Keyser's contribution to the TED Global 2011 Translators Workshop.
Subtitles:
Dutch:
Translator: Els De KeyserEnglish:
Transcript: Els De Keyser
Review: Krystian ApartaFrench:
Translator: Hugo WagnerGreek:
Translator: Dimitra PapageorgiouItalian:
Translator: Elelena MontrasioPolish:
Translator: Krystian Aparta - Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED Translator Resources
- Duration:
- 05:47
Krystian Aparta approved English subtitles for On translating TEDTalks into Dutch | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for On translating TEDTalks into Dutch | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for On translating TEDTalks into Dutch | ||
Gaurav Gupta accepted English subtitles for On translating TEDTalks into Dutch | ||
Reiko Bovee edited English subtitles for On translating TEDTalks into Dutch | ||
Reiko Bovee edited English subtitles for On translating TEDTalks into Dutch | ||
Reiko Bovee edited English subtitles for On translating TEDTalks into Dutch | ||
Reiko Bovee edited English subtitles for On translating TEDTalks into Dutch |