A lot of people have mentioned parallel texts for learning Italian.
Personally, I’ve never been a big fan, but that said, I’ve not really made much use of them, so what do I know?
Anyway, I was thinking, let’s take an Italian classic and do a bit of group translation on it, a sort of “do-it-yourself” parallel text project.
Fun, right? For all you language nerds out there.
So, I started looking for a suitable text, something easy and accessible. What about Pinocchio?? It’s a kids’ book after all.
Which lead me to this. (Do click the link, it’s worth it.)
You get the text in the original language, then just double click on the word or sentence and the cursed Google Translate pops you up the English equivalent, more or less.
Oh, well, so much for the parallel texts project. Technology has beaten me to it.
Wonder what else they have, besides Pinocchio?
Ma guarda! Il fu Mattia Pascal, subject of my last post on simplified Italian readers.
If you were one of the people who requested the proof copy of our first simplified book (and actually read it) you might like to take a look at the original text.
Beh, what’s left to say? The damned Google is making translators and language teachers redundant. Time for me to start looking for another career.
P.S. If anyone IS interested in the “Do-it-yourself” parallel texts idea, leave a comment with suggestions regarding a text we can start with, which must be something already in the public domain (out of copyright).
John Thomson says
Hi Daniel
I must say that computer generated parallel text does not impress me, see below. I do like the idea of a group translation though, a bit like a group hug !
I selected the second paragraph – “non era un legno di lusso ma un semplice pezzo da catasta di quelli che d’inverno si mettono nelle stufe e nei caminetti per accendere il fuoco e riscaldare le stanze”
Their translation – “it was not a luxury wood but a simple piece pile the kind that you put in the winter in stoves and fireplaces to light the fire and heat rooms”
The significance of ‘da’ = ‘from’ has been lost, “catasta” = “pile” = “wood pile” so it should be “from a wood pile”
I passed it through google translate – “was not a luxury wood but a simple piece from the pile of those winter you put in stoves and fireplaces to light the fire and heat rooms”
At least they got the “from”
My translation – “it was not luxury wood but a simple piece from the wood pile of those what , in winter, one puts in stoves and in fireplaces in order to light the fire and in order to heat the rooms”
I rest my case in defence of the human brain
John Thomson
Daniel says
But I thought YOU were the big fan of the demon Google Translate, John?
I agree, it’s not perfect, but enough to get the gist, surely?
Still, as you have laid down the guantlet with your translation, here’s my attempt:
“non era un legno di lusso ma un semplice pezzo da catasta di quelli che d’inverno si mettono nelle stufe e nei caminetti per accendere il fuoco e riscaldare le stanze”
You can see I’ve taken a few liberties…
John Thomson says
una piccola liberta. beh, dammi una svolta !
Ora non sono un tifoso di google translate,ma di wordreference.com
penso io, che l’idea di Sergey e eccellente. Noi tutti sappiamo che tu hai un pesante carico di lavoro, forse una delle ragazze potrebbe farlo per te
non vedo l’ora dell’ inizio
so, so molte errori; non me ne frega
post scriptum
mi piace molto wordrefernce.com da dove pensi post scriptum viene ?
Sergey Trofimov says
Hi everybody!
I use another one method for studying Italian. I have some friends (actually, they are my pen-friends) in Italia. I ask them make me the audio files reading some texts, any kind of texts, whatever they want to read. They make this files (with the extention .m4a) using simple standart routine of Microsoft Windows, it’s very easy. Then they send me those files through e-mail. My task is to listen those recordings and write what I’ve heard and understood. Then I send back my text-files to my friends for checking and correcting errors. This helps me not only make exersises in writing Italian, but also I learn to listen to Italians and to understand what they have said.
Best regards,
Sergey.
Daniel says
Sounds like an excellent idea, Sergey. Maybe it’s something we could try here? I post a recording made by an Italian and you guys try to transcribe it.
What do people think??
Karen says
Hi Daniel, I don’t like parallel texts because I am so lazy and can’t help cheating. I also don’t like google translate because it is a bit crazy and I am not confident about it being right. I haven’t started the ebook yet but it is a great idea. I have done a little bit of Pinnocchio and Il cuore but am not too happy about the classic texts due to the old fashioned language and lots of historic past. What I want to learn is grammatically correct modern speaking language, not old fashioned formal language or sloppy slang
Daniel says
Hi Karen,
Yes, there is always the temptation to cheat… but that said, if you compare the versions, that helps you learn. And even finding the errors in the automated translation can be good practice!
Classics are more difficult, in English too. But modern texts can be hard. There’s slang, as you mention, but also the cultural knowledge you need to understand the various references…
I guess the solution is just to keep on with your lessons!
A presto,
Daniel
John Thomson says
On a slightly different tack :-
I have no doubt that Daniel’s book project, the group translate rather than parallel text, will help me with writing and reading Italian.
As I keep bleating on about my biggest problem being conversational Italian, I have decided to carry out an experiment as described below
1 I will collect real questions I ask in every day life, for example “I cannot find my lighter, do you know where it is”
2 translate these into Italian
3 use them as the source material for a Skype lesson
4 My teacher would then make up reasonable answers, in Italian and reply to my questions at normal speed
5 find out how much I understand of the reply and reply accordingly
6 my teacher will send me a recording of the lesson
This is the nearest I will ever get to being in Italy, I will let you know how I get on
John Thomson
Daniel says
Sounds like a good approach…
Why not try watching Italian TV?
John Thomson says
I watch Commisario Montalbano all the time, a good deries
I have no idea what Cattarella says but I pick up a little more each time
Pronto , Montalbano sono , avanti , prego , si accomadi etc.
Daniel says
That’s the way to do it. You’d be amazed at the difference it makes in the medium/long term….