Language

[El Caobo]

I want to talk about language learning, but first I need to ask a question...

Please give me at least 5 synonyms for the English word, 'pretty.' You can use slang if you'd like, such as 'fine.'

After a few of your answers, I'll explain where I'm going with this.

[sweavo]

I want to talk about language learning, but first I need to ask a question...

Please give me at least 5 synonyms for the English word, 'pretty.' You can use slang if you'd like, such as 'fine.'

After a few of your answers, I'll explain where I'm going with this.

pretty, handsome, gorgeous, bonny, cute

*waits*

[Ron Obvious]

beautiful, good-looking, attractive, stunning, striking

[peachexploration]

nice-looking, elegant, delightful, appealing, lovely

[tj]

Ok, I'm being tricky and used an online thesaurus - and I'm also going to go against the flow and use the "other" definition of pretty, as in fairly. (e.g. The weather is pretty cold, today.) I think your example of using fine slanted us all to use only the first definition of the word.

fairly, enough, kind of, like, moderately, more or less, quite, rather, relatively, something, somewhat, sort of

[Ron Obvious]

No, I thought of the other meanings as well, but didn't want be tricky. Now I guess this thread is a pretty mess ;)

[El Caobo]

By using the thesaurus you've ruined the surprise!

The point was that every language at times uses words in some strange ways. Anyone asked to come up with synonyms for 'pretty' usually comes up with words surrounding the idea of 'beautiful,' as did those who did not use a thesaurus. No one usually comes up with 'sort of,' 'kind of' or 'very.' This usage even at times leads to contradictory expressions; such as "He's pretty ugly."

So, when learning a foreign language it is important to learn 'meanings,' rather than individual words, as soon as we can. For example, the song made famous by Marco Antonio Solis, and recently covered with a salsa version by Tito Nieves, Si no te hubieras ido, can be translated into English with the addition of an English word that is understood, yet not expressed in the Spanish words: "If only you hadn't left." The use of the past subjunctive in Spanish, renders the idea of 'only,' as used by English speakers in these types of constructions. When translating from English to Spanish, someone not knowledgeable of this aspect of the language would probably end up saying "Si solo no te hubieras ido," which would not be the way Spanish speakers would normally express this sentiment; with an unnecessary and improper use of 'solo.'

So, the point simply is that rather than attempting to translate word for word, it is best to first hear an entire utterance before attempting to translate. Simultaneous interpreters are keenly aware of this.

The term simultaneous interpretation is a misnomer, in that the word simulaneous suggests that the interpreter is interpreting a message as he or she hears it. In fact, there is a delay between the moment the interpreter hears a thought and the moment he or she renders that thought into the target language, because it takes time to understand the original message and generate a target-language rendition of it. Meanwhile, the speaker goes on to the next thought, so the interpreter must generate the target-language version of the first thought while processing the speaker's second thought and so on. This is not an easy job! In the interpreting field, this delay is known as décalage, from the French word for 'time lag.' The longer the interpreter is able to wait before beginning the target-language version, the more information he or she will have and the more accurate his or her target-language version will be.

Note that I have been speaking in terms of thoughts rather than words. It is the interpreter's task to convey the meaning of the original message. Every language organizes meaning differently, and trying to find direct equivalents in two languages often leads to absurd results. For example, consider the English expression, often heard in court, to hand down a ruling[/b]. To translate that into Spanish as [i]a mano abajo una regla is clearly ludicrous. The correct Spanish equivalent would be dictar un fallo. If an interpreter were to try to translate this word by word, he or she would start off with "a mano...," at which point the translation would be all lost. As the interpreter is listening to the source-language message, he or she must cast aside the external structure, the words, and attend to the underlying meaning.

So, when learning a language, the sooner we can begin to learn meanings of utterances, as opposed to just the meaning of isolated words, the better.

[tj]

Sorry if I ruined your surprise, but your statement:


After a few of your answers, I'll explain where I'm going with this.

made me guess the direction you were going with this thread. Certainly an interesting subject that seems more obvious now that you've stated it.

[El Caobo]

Sorry if I ruined your surprise, but your statement:


After a few of your answers, I'll explain where I'm going with this.

made me guess the direction you were going with this thread. Certainly an interesting subject that seems more obvious now that you've stated it.

Yeah, the mere fact that I was asking the question in a thread called, "language" would probably be enough to make many people think more about the answers. So far, whenever I've done this is a classroom, no one ever gives answers beyond the realm of "beautiful."

[tj]

Sorry if I ruined your surprise, but your statement:


After a few of your answers, I'll explain where I'm going with this.

made me guess the direction you were going with this thread. Certainly an interesting subject that seems more obvious now that you've stated it.

Yeah, the mere fact that I was asking the question in a thread called, "language" would probably be enough to make many people think more about the answers. So far, whenever I've done this is a classroom, no one ever gives answers beyond the realm of "beautiful."
Yes, if you had asked me without the rest of what you said, I would've answered in a similar fashion.

Even though I "cheated", your points are still valid.