Lost in Translation! So much for Welsh traffic signs..

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Lost in Translation! So much for Welsh traffic signs..

Postby root on Wed Nov 05, 2008 9:39 pm

Funny story caught from the Wales Online (don't ask me why I was reading this!).
The sign gets translated based on an email auto-reply message.

Ironically, we have a similar problem in UAE where many times the Arabic translation is not really correct. Many times the spellings are also more 'Egyptian Arabic' than Khaleeji, as the translators are Egyptians.
wales.jpg
wales.jpg (3.24 KiB) Viewed 16552 times

Traffic sign’s language gaffe

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... -22160921/

A BLUNDER by officials has led to a council erecting a road sign asking drivers to e-mail in any translation work instead of its intended message of banning lorries from a street.

The sign in English read: “No entry for heavy goods vehicles. Residential site only.”

But the Welsh version directly underneath translates as: “I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated.”

The error occurred when an office worker at Swansea Council sent an e-mail to a colleague asking for the correct wording in Welsh. But the interpreter was not at his desk so an automated reply was sent.

Aran Jones, of Welsh language and community campaigners Cymuned, said: “I was in Swansea last week and spoke to plenty of people who could speak Welsh.

“On one hand you could give them a pat on the back for trying, but on the other how serious are they about the Welsh language?

“There must be Welsh speaking people at Swansea Council. How difficult would it have been to ask them to have a quick look at it?

“The bottom line with this kind of stuff is that every individual example is funny. I will not forget that photo for a long time.

“It reminds me of a joke about someone who got lost in Mid Wales so got on the phone and called the emergency service.

“And they said ‘It’s tricky for us to help without some idea of where you are. Can you see any signs?’

“So he came back and torturously pronounced the Welsh for ‘public footpath’.

“But if Swansea as a council are capable of this kind of mistake it’s hard to believe they have got a genuinely positive attitude to the Welsh language. It is simple mismanagement.

“They wouldn’t have this kind of mismanagement with anything they considered serious.”

Ffred Ffransis, of Welsh language society Cymdeithas yr Iaith, said: “Common sense goes out the window when things get institutionalised. It is more a reflection on departmentalism and a lack of overall strategic planning in the local authority, rather than a language issue as such.”

The mix-up came to light after Dylan Iorwerth, managing editor of Welsh language magazine Golwg, was told of the error by a reader who spotted the sign in Morriston, Swansea.

“When they’re proofing these signs, they should really use someone who speaks Welsh,” he said. “Everything these days seems to be written first in English and then translated. Ideally, they should be written separately in both languages.”

Swansea Council said the confusion occurred after the in-house translator was contacted. A spokesperson said: “Our attention was drawn to the mistranslation of a sign at the junction of Clase Road and Pant-y-Blawd Road.

“We took it down as soon as we were made aware of it and a correct sign will be re-instated as soon as possible.”
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