BULGARIAN TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS – CHRISTMAS
Christmas is one of the greatest Christian holidays. It celebrates the birth of Jesus, the Saviour. It also has pagan roots, since it was noticed that at that time of year the days start growing again, i.e. the sun is born again. In time the holiday changed its customs and meanings. The Church chose to blend the celebration of Jesus' birth with the old traditions to establish and strengthen the Christian values and morals.
The Christmas celebrations begin on December 24th and end on December 26th.
December 24th is also called Small Christmas (Christmas Eve), December 25th – Great Christmas, and December 26th is the holiday of Jesus' family.
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The Christmas celebrations begin on December 24th and end on December 26th.
December 24th is also called Small Christmas (Christmas Eve), December 25th – Great Christmas, and December 26th is the holiday of Jesus' family.
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BULGARIAN TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS – CHRISTMAS EVE
Christmas Eve is one of the most important family holidays in Bulgarian calendar. Its celebrating includes many rituals, both Christian and pagan, with which to bring luck and a fruitful year for the family.
According to Bulgarian tradition the family should gather for the holiday and each member has a role. Men choose and cut down the Yule log – a large oak or pear log symbolizing the world tree (keeper of order and harmony in the world). The eldest of the men sets it on fire and it's left to burn all night. That fire is believed to have purifying and protective power. Part of the ash is spread on the fields to bring fertility, and other is kept for protection against evil powers.
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According to Bulgarian tradition the family should gather for the holiday and each member has a role. Men choose and cut down the Yule log – a large oak or pear log symbolizing the world tree (keeper of order and harmony in the world). The eldest of the men sets it on fire and it's left to burn all night. That fire is believed to have purifying and protective power. Part of the ash is spread on the fields to bring fertility, and other is kept for protection against evil powers.
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How many types of interpretation do you know? Part II
As we promised you in part I, we continue to surprise you with the different types of interpreting services.
What is Asymmetric interpretation?
All delegates speak in their mother tongue, but listen to interpretation into only a few languages.
In many cases, delegates understand one or (more) widely spoken languages, but do not feel comfortable speaking in it. One way to make a scarce resource (interpreters) go further is to use asymmetric interpretation.
A team interpreting back and forth between the current official languages requires 69 or more interpreters, but if you limit the active languages to three, you can get by with only a dozen or so interpreters. Delegates can all speak their mother tongue, but they can listen to only one of the three languages.
Naturally, for asymmetric interpretation to be feasible you need to be sure all delegates understand one or more of the active languages.
Definition: European Commission, Directorate General for Interpretation
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What is Asymmetric interpretation?
All delegates speak in their mother tongue, but listen to interpretation into only a few languages.
In many cases, delegates understand one or (more) widely spoken languages, but do not feel comfortable speaking in it. One way to make a scarce resource (interpreters) go further is to use asymmetric interpretation.
A team interpreting back and forth between the current official languages requires 69 or more interpreters, but if you limit the active languages to three, you can get by with only a dozen or so interpreters. Delegates can all speak their mother tongue, but they can listen to only one of the three languages.
Naturally, for asymmetric interpretation to be feasible you need to be sure all delegates understand one or more of the active languages.
Definition: European Commission, Directorate General for Interpretation
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How many types of interpretation do you know? Part I
We can assure you, at the end of this article you'll be more than surprise of the many (many, many) types of interpretation that exist today. So, let's begin...
What is consecutive interpreting?
Interpreting after the speaker has finished
The interpreter sits with the delegates, listens to the speech and renders it, at the end, in a different language, generally with the aid of notes. In the modern world consecutive interpreting has been largely replaced by simultaneous, but it remains relevant for certain kinds of meetings (e.g. highly technical meetings, working lunches, small groups, field trips).
Well-trained interpreters can render speeches of 10 minutes or more with great accuracy.
Definition: European Commission, Directorate General for Interpretation
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What is consecutive interpreting?
Interpreting after the speaker has finished
The interpreter sits with the delegates, listens to the speech and renders it, at the end, in a different language, generally with the aid of notes. In the modern world consecutive interpreting has been largely replaced by simultaneous, but it remains relevant for certain kinds of meetings (e.g. highly technical meetings, working lunches, small groups, field trips).
Well-trained interpreters can render speeches of 10 minutes or more with great accuracy.
Definition: European Commission, Directorate General for Interpretation
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Interpretation Terminology
Since we find the interpretation an interesting, yet relatively unknown subject we decided to unveil a little bit more of it by giving you some basic terminology.
Active Language: The language the interpreters speak that delegates can listen to.
Active A-Language: The interpreter's native language (or another language strictly equivalent to a native language), into which the interpreter works from all her or his other languages in both modes of interpretation, simultaneous and consecutive.
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Active Language: The language the interpreters speak that delegates can listen to.
Active A-Language: The interpreter's native language (or another language strictly equivalent to a native language), into which the interpreter works from all her or his other languages in both modes of interpretation, simultaneous and consecutive.
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INTRODUCING OUR NEW COLLEAGUE ALEXANDRINA IVANOVA
My name is Alexandrina Ivanova and I will be a translator at translation and legalization agency arte.doc. I have graduated from an English and American Studies programme at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", where I am currently completing my Master's degree as well, in the programme of "Translation". During my translation training I learned a lot about the theory and practice of translation. That, however, was done at a training environment that can never provide what could be learned through professional practice.
Currently, there are probably dozens of translation agencies in Sofia, but what pointed me towards arte.doc was above all the company's good reputation and the fact that it is among the large companies on the market, providing stability and security for its employees.
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Currently, there are probably dozens of translation agencies in Sofia, but what pointed me towards arte.doc was above all the company's good reputation and the fact that it is among the large companies on the market, providing stability and security for its employees.
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Translation and Interpretation
Many people seem to be confused when it comes to clarifying the difference between translation and interpretation. Here we'll take a look on the specifics of these two branches of translating.
We'll start with the purpose — both share the same which is transmitting information from one language to another. The difference between them is in the means with which they serve that purpose — translation uses the written format while interpretation is verbal.
So, what are the requirements for a translator and an interpreter? In the first place, both need to be proficient in the languages they translate from/to. The translator on one hand need to be an excellent analyzer with great writing skills and well grounded in grammar, but he has the advantage of time to get to know the document before converting it. The interpreter on the other hand transmits the information (usually translating sign language or a foreign language) as an ongoing process and for that needs inventiveness and a quick mind; there are two types of interpreters — simultaneous and consecutive: the first translate as the person talks and the latter translates segments of the speech, allowing the speaker to talk a few sentences.
Read more ...
We'll start with the purpose — both share the same which is transmitting information from one language to another. The difference between them is in the means with which they serve that purpose — translation uses the written format while interpretation is verbal.
So, what are the requirements for a translator and an interpreter? In the first place, both need to be proficient in the languages they translate from/to. The translator on one hand need to be an excellent analyzer with great writing skills and well grounded in grammar, but he has the advantage of time to get to know the document before converting it. The interpreter on the other hand transmits the information (usually translating sign language or a foreign language) as an ongoing process and for that needs inventiveness and a quick mind; there are two types of interpreters — simultaneous and consecutive: the first translate as the person talks and the latter translates segments of the speech, allowing the speaker to talk a few sentences.
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Talking about translation…
You probably know that the Harry Potter books were translated in nearly 70 languages. What you probably don't know is that one of the translations is made from English to... English!
Yes, that's right — the American audience got to read specially adapted for them version of the wizards' book. For example, the first book, published in UK, carried the title "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", but in the US it was published as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". The American publisher changed the name due to apprehensions that children in the US would be confused by the apparent reference to philosophy not knowing about the actual reference to the mythical substance that turns metals into gold. The "translation" also included a list of unpopular in the US British English terms and words. Here are a only a few examples: dustbin (UK) — trashcan (US); bonnet (UK) — hood (US); torch (UK) — flashlight (US); biscuits (UK) — cookies (US); crumpets — English muffins (US).
What do you think — is that good for the children, so that they can read the book without unknown word popping up, or this way they have missed the chance to learn and enrich their vocabulary?
Yes, that's right — the American audience got to read specially adapted for them version of the wizards' book. For example, the first book, published in UK, carried the title "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", but in the US it was published as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". The American publisher changed the name due to apprehensions that children in the US would be confused by the apparent reference to philosophy not knowing about the actual reference to the mythical substance that turns metals into gold. The "translation" also included a list of unpopular in the US British English terms and words. Here are a only a few examples: dustbin (UK) — trashcan (US); bonnet (UK) — hood (US); torch (UK) — flashlight (US); biscuits (UK) — cookies (US); crumpets — English muffins (US).
What do you think — is that good for the children, so that they can read the book without unknown word popping up, or this way they have missed the chance to learn and enrich their vocabulary?
Translation Memory Software — general information
First, let's start with a clarification what is CAT. It means 'computer aided translation' and works as a tool for achieving more efficient translation process of text documents. It has several basic functions: setting the text in segments, this way facilitating the translation; combining the source and the translated text in translation units; preserving the translation units in a Translation Memory bank, allowing this way for them to be used later and matching source text segments with translated ones; automatic search in terminology database. It can also have different additional functions for text search, indexing, import/export function, statistics, harmonizing, use of Internet tools for information search.
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Quotes about translation
Lewis Carroll — "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less."
Friedrich Nietzsche — "It is neither the best nor the worst things in a book that defy translation."
Yevgeny Yevtushenko — "Translation is like a woman: if she is faithful, she is not beautiful; if she is beautiful, she is not faithful."
Voltaire — "It is impossible to translate poetry. Can you translate music?".
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Friedrich Nietzsche — "It is neither the best nor the worst things in a book that defy translation."
Yevgeny Yevtushenko — "Translation is like a woman: if she is faithful, she is not beautiful; if she is beautiful, she is not faithful."
Voltaire — "It is impossible to translate poetry. Can you translate music?".
Read more ...
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