ELK PUBLISHING
  • WELCOME
    • WATCH >
      • Watch
  • BROWSE BOOKS
    • Browse Unique Books
    • Bedtime Tales
    • Colour & Frame Books
    • Teens~Young Adult Novels
    • MEET US >
      • Meet the Characters
      • Meet the Authors
      • Meet the Illustrators
  • READ
    • Editor's Desk
    • News & Events
    • The World of Publishing
    • The World of Books
    • Read or Request - Book Reviews
  • PURCHASE
    • ELK BOOKS
  • ABOUT US
    • About Us
    • Press Room
    • Testimonials
    • Useful Links
    • Contact Us
    • OPPORTUNITIES >
      • Opportunities
      • Artists, Authors & Illustrators
      • SHARE >
        • Sell ELK Books

Translations cause concern for many countries

9/7/2017

1 Comment

 
Picture
Sketa Oz Images
Everywhere we go, we can see literature translated - be that in book form or digital; advertising or promotion; packaging or labelling that is devised for business, pleasure or leisure.  Translation encompasses every corner of the globe and getting it right will mean the difference between success or failure; understood or misunderstood; learnt or mislearnt.  Individuals in businesses, governments and educational institutions spend thousands of hours trying to get it right and spend thousands of dollars to ensure no stuff ups are present.  However, well laid plans do go astray - often in the biggest and most public of ways.
Picture
ELK / ELK Publishing
I was introduced to a wonderful article, shown to me by a scholarly friend of many years.  He did not divulge his disbelief upon reading the article; I guess, being a professional linguist, one sees all sorts of things. However, being a speaker of languages myself, my initial response was quite different.  I could do nothing, but laugh.  It brought back memories of my first few interactions with learning a new language.

​However, I truly understand the problems and reasons why these sorts of mistakes happen.  Yet, I am baffled as to how they continue to occur, given legitimate businesses, governments and education institutions require precision in the transfer of knowledge and information presented to the masses.
Picture
Sketa Oz Images
In Korean, 'bi' or '비' - pronounced as 'pee', means rain.  So if I said, "bi-ga omnida' or 비가 옵니다",  it would mean - It's raining.  In a blend between English and Korean - more widely known as 'Konglish', I remember playing with the language, saying "So the heavens are 'pee-ing' on us?"  Of course this is not a translation. For me, it was just a way to remember, what the Korean word meant.  However, my Korean students heard me say this and forever more, I was known as the funny teacher who thought God rained on people.  It was funny at the time and still brings laughter to my soul.  When, I see translations gone wrong, I understand the fun and associated temporary embarrassment that language discrepancies can bring.
Picture
Image Credit - People's Daily
  So without further 'adieu'...ado, you can enjoy the article for yourselves.  
Absolutely, place your comments or your language mishaps, in the comments box below.  Enjoy!



1 Comment

    Thoughts from
    ​Editor's Desk

    Picture

    By Selina Kucks
    @_sketa



    Tags

    All
    Children's Books
    Inspiration
    Publishing
    Storytelling
    Top Books


    Past Articles

    November 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    July 2018
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017


    Picture

    Need to publish?
    ​Get in Touch.


    Picture
    Buy a Book

    RSS Feed

Publish with ELK Publishing

Design my book
​Illustrate my book
Publish Books
​
Review my Book

Get to know us!

About Us
​
Sitemap


Purchase
ELK Books

Need Support?

Contact Us
FAQ
Terms of Use
©  SKETA OZ DESIGN  2020
​ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Picture
Australia | Korea 
  • WELCOME
    • WATCH >
      • Watch
  • BROWSE BOOKS
    • Browse Unique Books
    • Bedtime Tales
    • Colour & Frame Books
    • Teens~Young Adult Novels
    • MEET US >
      • Meet the Characters
      • Meet the Authors
      • Meet the Illustrators
  • READ
    • Editor's Desk
    • News & Events
    • The World of Publishing
    • The World of Books
    • Read or Request - Book Reviews
  • PURCHASE
    • ELK BOOKS
  • ABOUT US
    • About Us
    • Press Room
    • Testimonials
    • Useful Links
    • Contact Us
    • OPPORTUNITIES >
      • Opportunities
      • Artists, Authors & Illustrators
      • SHARE >
        • Sell ELK Books