Hi everybody.

Today I'd like to bring up an interesting topic on translating. The temptation for many people is to translate directly, which can be problematic when trying to progress with your chosen langauge.

Here's an example of a Spanish to English direct translation;

"de par en par" ≠ two by two, pair by pair

"de par en par" = wide open.

La ventana está abierta de par en par. No me extraña que tengas frío.

The window is wide open. I'm not surprised you're cold.

Here's an example of an English to Spanish direct translation;

"the day after tomorrow" ≠ el día después de mañana.

"the day after tomorrow" = pasado mañana.

My girlfriend gets here the day after tomorrow! I haven't seen her in months.

¡Mi novia llega pasado mañana! Llevo meses sin verla.

Elsewhere we find quirky ways of understanding a culture by the way that culture translates. Here we have an interesting example from Mandarin Chinese:

"the day after tomorrow" = 后天 (hòutiān)

"the day before yesterday" = 前天 (qiántiān)

Now let's look at the same translation in both Spanish and Italian;

"the day before yesterday" = anteayer

I scheduled an interview with the company's CEO the day before yesterday.

Programé una entrevista con el director general de la empresa anteayer.

"the day before yesterday" = l'altro ieri

Gliel'avevo prestato l'altro ieri.

I loaned it to him the day before yesterday.

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Thanks!

感谢。

Gracias.

Grazie.