Literal Translations Can Sometimes Trip You Up!
When learning English as a second language it is sometimes difficult because when you look up a phrase in your little dictionary that translates for you – say from Chinese to English – Where is the bathroom? Your dictionary might give a literal translation with the result being – bathroom is where? Or where room for bath?
This can happen with any translation from any language because most people translate it exactly the way you stated it making it incorrect grammatically – but hopefully it is clear enough to get the message across. Sometimes a word in Italian or Japanese can mean more than one thing making the translation even more problematic.
For instance you might end up at a bathhouse where you bathe – rather than a place that has a toilet! This can be embarrassing for you and might result in some awkward moments. Literal translations might be all you have to work with and can many times lead you off in a different direction as demonstrated above. The quality of the translation can also be affected by the person who is translating – so depending on their depth and knowledge it could be open to interpretation.
Translating from another language to English can be difficult as it is important to ensure that the person gets the “meaning of the total phrase across” rather than translating each word specifically. Most people will be helpful and try to assist a stranger by ensuring that the person thoroughly understands what is being said – therefore they will do give a “literal” translation because that would be more confusing. It can also be difficult when idioms or local dialects come into play as the word or phrase might be pertinent only to that particular area of the country so translating it could be tricky.
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