December 20, 2019 - 98 - "Astray in Translation"

     I saw an advertisement for this cool instant-translation device.  You wear it in your ear like an Airpod and it translates the language of the speaker, to your language instantly.  How cool is that?  I can think of a million times in my life that would have really helped me out.

     The advertisement showed a young man meeting a cute young woman and striking up a conversation, though he didn't really speak her language.  (So often the case...even when raised in the same country.)

     One article I read about the gadget talked about couples who've met and gotten married...entirely through these devices.

     Whoa!  That stopped me in my mental tracks.

     The room for error in translation is so enormous.  Michael's been using a phone app to talk with people working on the house this year and the number of translation mishaps is in the thousands.  For instance:  Every time Michael mentions our main contractor, Juan, to other workers, the app translate it as 'Uno'.  'cause it thinks Michael is saying 'One', don't ya know.

     And you can pencil in on the ceilings and walls where you want light fixtures or plugs.  You can act out where a wall will go.   It seems like the fall out of mistakes becomes much more serious when you get into the land of emotions and relationships.

     I imagine every interaction with the Spanish app in Mexico is going to end in someone saying menacingly:  "What did you say about my mother?!"

     

     Michael and I can get knee deep into a misunderstanding just based on a tone or word choice.  Imagine if every single word was apt to be a bit off.

     Then again, maybe, couples who don't speak the same language just do more of what we should all be doing more of:  Going with the flow and giving the other person the benefit of the doubt.

     I should probably try that more often.  

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"The best thing on translation was said by Cervantes: translation is the other side of a tapestry."

-Leonardo Sciascia

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"The first rule of translation:  make sure you know at least one of the bloody languages!" 

-Faiz Ahmad Faiz

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