| Pages in topic: [1 2 3 4] > | Poll: Do you understand songs and films in your source language(s)? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you understand songs and films in your source language(s)?".
This poll was originally submitted by Natalia Pedrosa. View the poll results »
| | | | Alex Lichanow
Germany
Local time: 12:57
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
I have a hard time understanding certain accents and dialects, so even after countless fantasy games and films with dwarves, I still need subtitles in order to understand Scottish English. And then there's the fact that most of my favorite music uses harsh vocals that even native speakers find hard to understand
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My source languages are English, French, Italian and Spanish. In general, I understand films and songs in English (except for some British dialects), French and Spanish and some Italian (depending on the dialect). The same may apply to some dialects in my target language, I can’t understand some Azores dialect (in fact, even local people have a hard time understanding people from Rabo de Peixe, for example, it’s not just the pronunciation, but also the use of archaisms and local slang that w... See more My source languages are English, French, Italian and Spanish. In general, I understand films and songs in English (except for some British dialects), French and Spanish and some Italian (depending on the dialect). The same may apply to some dialects in my target language, I can’t understand some Azores dialect (in fact, even local people have a hard time understanding people from Rabo de Peixe, for example, it’s not just the pronunciation, but also the use of archaisms and local slang that we “continentals” are not used to). Some Madeira dialect is also difficult, but my ears are more used to it as my mother was from Madeira and I lived there for a few years… ▲ Collapse
| | | | | As much as the natives do, and better than some! | Jan 8 |
Besides living in the country where my source language is spoken for most of my life, I have also had the privilege of knowing my husband´s family, who introduced me to its culture and literature.
The old hymns and classic songs and the tradition of singing together are a treasure trove for linguists. The old films are funny now, but they were a good way to learn the language, as actors spoke clearly! Later, there was a phase when younger actors mumbled, and it was very difficult t... See more Besides living in the country where my source language is spoken for most of my life, I have also had the privilege of knowing my husband´s family, who introduced me to its culture and literature.
The old hymns and classic songs and the tradition of singing together are a treasure trove for linguists. The old films are funny now, but they were a good way to learn the language, as actors spoke clearly! Later, there was a phase when younger actors mumbled, and it was very difficult to hear what they said in series such as The Killing and The Bridge! If you could catch the words, they were usually easy enough to understand. Several of our friends joked that we were lucky: we could wait until the English subtitles came - then we could understand what was going on.
I am grandmother age and work hard to keep up with both my languages, but very few of my generation understand everything the younger people say. ▲ Collapse
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Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 12:57
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| What an odd question, but an eye-opener for sure | Jan 8 |
To me, spoken language and written language are not separable. You can't have written language without hearing something in your brain while reading or writing it. And surely you would not be hearing something else than what native speakers of that language would normally say anyway, right? I mean, when I read English, I hear the English, and I hear it IN ENGLISH. The English that I hear when I write or read English doesn't sound like Dutch or German or Russian or Japanese... it sounds Engli... See more To me, spoken language and written language are not separable. You can't have written language without hearing something in your brain while reading or writing it. And surely you would not be hearing something else than what native speakers of that language would normally say anyway, right? I mean, when I read English, I hear the English, and I hear it IN ENGLISH. The English that I hear when I write or read English doesn't sound like Dutch or German or Russian or Japanese... it sounds English. Isn't it like this for all translators? Are there really translators (of modern languages) who can only read a language, but not understand it when they hear it?
I understand that some students of ancient languages may not be able to speak it even though they are able to "read" it and do "translation exercises" with a dictionary in hand, but that's something different. Those people are not translators. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Zea_Mays
Italy
Local time: 12:57
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
| spoken is not the same as written language | Jan 8 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
To me, spoken language and written language are not separable. You can't have written language without hearing something in your brain while reading or writing it. And surely you would not be hearing something else than what native speakers of that language would normally say anyway, right? I mean, when I read English, I hear the English, and I hear it IN ENGLISH. The English that I hear when I write or read English doesn't sound like Dutch or German or Russian or Japanese... it sounds English. Isn't it like this for all translators? Are there really translators (of modern languages) who can only read a language, but not understand it when they hear it?
I understand that some students of ancient languages may not be able to speak it even though they are able to "read" it and do "translation exercises" with a dictionary in hand, but that's something different. Those people are not translators.
Well, there is a big difference between spoken and written language. In written language, you can even "hear" words wrongly pronunciated while you still understand what you are reading.
In spoken language there are so many facettes, that sometimes you simply don't understand what is being said even if you can read technical specs or poems in that language.
| | | | | The way written language "sounds" in your head | Jan 8 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
And surely you would not be hearing something else than what native speakers of that language would normally say anyway, right? I mean, when I read English, I hear the English, and I hear it IN ENGLISH. The English that I hear when I write or read English doesn't sound like Dutch or German or Russian or Japanese... it sounds English. Isn't it like this for all translators?
My inner voice sounds English when I read (or think in) English, but it's my own Dunglish representation of British English, even if I read something in American English. And Danish (not one of my source languages, but I can read it fairly well because of my knowledge of Swedish) actually "sounds" Swedish in my head! I can't understand spoken Danish because its pronunciation is so different.
| | | | | Fwiw, I also occasionally need subtitles in order to understand Scottish English | Jan 8 |
Alex Lichanow wrote: I have a hard time understanding certain accents and dialects, so even after countless fantasy games and films with dwarves, I still need subtitles in order to understand Scottish English. And then there's the fact that most of my favorite music uses harsh vocals that even native speakers find hard to understand
Especially if it's Glaswegian.
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Alex Lichanow
Germany
Local time: 12:57
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
writeaway wrote: Alex Lichanow wrote: I have a hard time understanding certain accents and dialects, so even after countless fantasy games and films with dwarves, I still need subtitles in order to understand Scottish English. And then there's the fact that most of my favorite music uses harsh vocals that even native speakers find hard to understand Especially if it's Glaswegian.
There are also certain regional varieties of German I have a hard time understanding. Having grown up in Bavaria, I find the variant of Bavarian spoken in the Bavarian Forest area of Upper Palatinate somewhat inaccessible - and I have completely given up on even trying to understand Swiss German and just speak English when I'm in the German-speaking regions of Switzerland.
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Samuel Murray wrote:
To me, spoken language and written language are not separable. You can't have written language without hearing something in your brain while reading or writing it. And surely you would not be hearing something else than what native speakers of that language would normally say anyway, right? I mean, when I read English, I hear the English, and I hear it IN ENGLISH. The English that I hear when I write or read English doesn't sound like Dutch or German or Russian or Japanese... it sounds English. Isn't it like this for all translators? Are there really translators (of modern languages) who can only read a language, but not understand it when they hear it?
I understand that some students of ancient languages may not be able to speak it even though they are able to "read" it and do "translation exercises" with a dictionary in hand, but that's something different. Those people are not translators.
Where do I start?!
Of course you can "have written language without hearing something in your brain while reading or writing it" - the same as you can understand spoken language without writing it down!
When I read, I just read; I don't "hear" anything. Unless I'm translating I don't register words or even sentences. I just scan the page.
I don't understand spoken Danish but I do turn written Danish into written English rather well, despite not counting as a translator in your book.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 12:57
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Christopher Schröder wrote:
I don't understand spoken Danish but I do turn written Danish into written English rather well, despite not counting as a translator in your book.
I do not regard Danish as an "ancient language", though. I meant really, really ancient languages, like the ones that are no longer spoken.
Plus, Danish is a special case in that you have three very similar languages whose speakers all have very similar cultures (contrast that to Dutch and Afrikaans, which are also very similar to each other, but their speakers have very dissimilar cultures). An Afrikaans person can probably read a Dutch text, and what they hear in their brain sounds nothing like normal Dutch, and they might struggle to understand spoken Dutch, but I would prefer not to rely on such a person as a translator. Still, there are exceptional people who are brilliant, I'll grant you that.
When I read, I just read; I don't "hear" anything. Unless I'm translating I don't register words or even sentences. I just scan the page.
Same here. When I'm not translating, and I read deliberately quickly, I don't "hear", but I still understand. E.g. when I read a novel and I get to a boring section but I don't want to just skip it.
[Edited at 2024-01-08 12:13 GMT]
| | | | Zea_Mays
Italy
Local time: 12:57
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
I think you are confusing interpreters with translators... English alone has so many variants (not to mention dialects) and so many people do not speak clearly, that there will always be situations where you will not understand everything that is being said.
NB: we are talking about songs and movies.
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Inge Schumacher
France
Local time: 12:57
Member (2023)
French to German
+ ...
| Understanding source language | Jan 8 |
I grew up in Bavaria (not far from the "frontier" with Baden-Württemberg) as well.
Although having lived in Munich for several years, I do have the same problem with heavy Bavarian accent, and I will NEVER forget an experience I had at a professional meeting in Austria where I just didn't understand ONE SINGLE WORD of my colleagues coming from the Vorarlberg region.
[Bearbeitet am 2024-01-08 13:14 GMT]
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:57
Member (2008)
Italian to English
"Do you understand songs and films in your source language(s)?"
Obviously yes. I would expect all translators to give the same answer.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 12:57
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Zea_Mays wrote:
NB: we are talking about songs and movies.
Yes, and specifically about the types of songs and types of movies that you would normally be able to understand in your native language. There are, of course, songs of certain styles and genres that would be difficult or impossible to understand or fully understand even in one's native language, but we're not talking about those. And there are movies in one's native language with characters that speak an odd kind of lingo that you can only understand partially or only if you listen closely or have lived in the character's region or socio-economic sphere, but we're not talking about that, surely. Even in my native language, half of the words of half of the songs on the hit parades are gibberish to me, so from my perspective, songs in my second language that I struggle to understand don't count.
[Edited at 2024-01-08 13:22 GMT]
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