When I first developed the idea for this project, I obviously grossly overestimated myself. I do not have enough time to get through the entire book, go back and fix the trouble spots, plus compare to
the published English translation. Since I want to actually get into the translation and not be rushed to get through the entire story, my first order of business is to modify my goal to translating the first nine chapters of the book. I would round it off to ten, except that the end of chapter nine marks a natural transition in the story.
I guess I should have realized that this would take more time then I have. I’m four chapters into the book and I don’t even know how many words I’ve had to look up. There are words that I don’t know, but there are also words that may have a different meaning depending on the context. Take the word encore, for instance. Encore means “again” as in “Je veux aller encore” (I want to go again). But the word encore can also mean “still”, as in “Tu manges encore?” (You’re still eating?). According to wordreference.com it can also mean “yet”, “now”, and “only”, based on the context. There are tons of other words like that, and then there are words that I think I know but put together in an idiom mean something else. Like the phrase “tant bien que mal”. If I translated that word by word it would be “so much good that bad”. But it really means “after a fashion” or “somehow”.
Another word I’m struggling with is the word “bonhomme”. If you dissected that word, literally it would be “goodman”. It’s sort of slang and it’s like “guy” or “fellow” but there are tons of different versions of it in English. According to wordreference and my dictionary it could mean anything from “chap”, to “fellow”, to “bloke”, to “sonny”. The word is thrown around a lot in the story and I’m never sure which form fits best where.
Once I accumulate years of using French and experience immersion in French language and culture, hopefully I will be able to recognize idioms and phrases. Right now I will have to rely on my dictionaries and my French teacher. The site wordreference.com is an extremely helpful online dictionary which presents definitions in context, and my other dictionary is Le Robert et Collins 9th edition. I’m going to mark the spots/phrases that are really confusing and ask Madame MacDermott about them.
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| This is what I use when I can't find what I want on wordreference. Like the word for stylographe (fountain pen). |
I think that this is awesome! It seems like a great way to strengthen your vocabulary! Just from reading this I was able to learn new French words that I could use during class. I think that checking your translation with the original english translation once you are done is a smart way to check how you did with your translation. I hope you have fun with the rest of your translation!
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