Lost in Translation...

I've been wondering how to write something about translation for a few months now... There are lots of things to say, vaguely connected. So I am afraid you'll have to bear with me as I offload them...

The Greek script is the first hurdle and for someone learning the language it is not a big hurdle, but for friends and family visiting it is enough to put them off learning to read Greek at all, mostly. Now if we see a familiar Greek brand sign transliterated into English it doesn't just look weird, it feels weird that the word can exist in the other script. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but it's true. Sadly I can't find a photo of the western script version, but imagine this sign reading ALFA instead of ΑΛΦΑ and you'll get the gist.

Some Greek words have become the most natural word for an item or feeling: we never say kiosk (περίπτερο - periptero), rarely say aubergines (μελιτζάνες - melitzanes), I generally ask Clarkie what the time is in Greek (I don't have a watch! It's "Τι ώρα είναι;" - "Tee ora eenay?") and I am hardly ever tired these days (κουρασμένη - kourasmeni) and we pray that that would become more and more the case... Some English words will never be ceded to Greek - there is no word for 'nod'. I have been reading Harry Potter 1 in Greek (am just about to start the Magician's Nephew - Narnia 1) and there was a lot of nodding which had to be translated as 'moving head in a positive indication'...

I've also been pondering the difference between the decision to translate or to transliterate. The metro signs, for example, are mostly transliterated (they are, after all, place names) - the airport being the exception. I wonder if it would be more helpful though for some of them to be translated, so you know you're at the Ministry for National Defence (Εθνική Άμυνα - Ethniki Amyna) or at Constitution Square, by the parliament (Σύνταγμα - Syntagma). I wonder how many non-guidebook-dependent tourists miss these places as a result (not that there's much to see at Ethniki Amyna!).

Sometimes, as an anglophone, you read translated guides or menus and want to get out a red pen (the teacher in me) and correct the spelling or syntax errors.

The real translation issue though, living as an ex-pat, is not the translation from Greek to English and vice versa but from American English to British English and vice versa. Most of our Greek friends are (obviously) more familiar with American English, some have lived in North America at some point, and most of our anglophonic friends are American or Canadian. So, here's a little test - I'll give you the American word, you give the British word...

1. onesie
2. diaper
3. pacifier
4. crib
5. stroller
6. teeter-totter
7. pants
8. jumper dress
9. bib-and-brace
10. sweater
11. sneakers
12. couch
13. biscuit
14. cookie
15. granola bar
16. scallion
17. zucchini
18. eggplant
19. shopping cart
20. stickshift (car)
21. garbage
22. sidewalk
23. highway
24. elevator
25. gas
26. faucet
27. "i gotta go bathroom"
28. "where did you go to school?"

Click here for the answers: http://alltheclarks.googlepages.com/thelostintranslationanswers

Some of them are seeping into our vocabulary - hopefully just for the sake of being understood (we hope to retain the British words in our active vocabulary as much as we are able to!).

Trying to become fluent in another language does hamper my eloquence in English but it also makes me value the richness of both English and Greek. Most importantly though, it makes me again "look forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." (Hebrews 11:10)

Here's what we can look forward to, no matter how limited our language skills are:

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb."

All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

"Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and
thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!"

Revelation 7:9-12