Search results for 'tag:Translation tag:Speak english' matching tags 'Translation' and 'Speak english'

Writing for Easy Translation

Catchaotica — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:04:36 GMT

I recently heard of this concept, writing for easy translation, but I haven't been able to find any information on the subject. Is anyone aware of resources for native English speakers writing for a diverse audience of non-native English speakers?

Background Information: I am a marketing writer for a small company that sells lightning protection devices internationally. Our company sells a lot to South America, Africa, Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, and Europe. Given the wide variety of languages spoken in these areas, and our limited resources, it is not feasible for us to translate our documentation into several languages. In general, all of our clients speak English, however we would like to write in a way that accommodates varying degrees of English fluency.

Thanks!

Comments on Motivation Letter asked

Claire* — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:15:48 GMT

Dear members,

I am a Dutch scholar in my exam year of grammar school. Upcoming Friday I need to have sent in all my application papers for university. I saw the excellent help offered by all of you to correct motivation letters and give advise. I just finished my motivation letter and I would like some comments on it. I am applying for a university which is very selective. It is an international orientated institute and offers broad education (I want to study litarature, political theory, business and maybe some law) It is very intensive studying and I will be living on campus if everything turns out okÃ© and I will be accepted. But... only one out of five scholars get the chance to be accepted. So I can use all help offered by getting the best motivation letter ever. The yellow gaps represent fitting words I did not just come up. (sorry for some Dutch but thats for translation)

One special thing: I find it quite difficult to limit myself to two pages so if you have any advise on what to delete in this text it would be great (it is too long)

My motivation letter:

Dear Sir/Madame,

Hereby I am applying for a place in the liberal arts programme at University College Utrecht for fall 2008, and in this letter I will elaborate on the reasons of my motivation and why I am perfectly fit for the concept.

My name is Claire. I am a sixth form student at the Koningin Wilhelmina College in Culemborg, I will be graduating from grammar school (Dutch: gymnasium) in June 2008.

I must say I like all my subjects and in particular English and Social Studies. I started learning English from a young age and it has always felt like my second language. Sometimes I feel I can express myself better in English than in Dutch, or at least more beautifully.

I enjoyed the fact that my (former) secondary school is rather innovative. In 2006 Bizzgames was introduced; a simulation of a business environment. This is an excellent way of putting management and organisation skills into practice. Consequence was I came in first as a two-person team with a student I did not know. On the one hand working after school did result in less active extracurricular activities, on the other hand I did learn to â¦

I know people see me as an open-minded, ambitious, passionate and hardworking student. Academically I am a critical thinker. I am almost always passionately interested in a subject Travelling is one of my enduring passions. It gives me an indescribable feeling boundlessness.

From my point of view current students are definitely well educated; however we are also quite restrained by the borders of Europe. I think this attitude will no longer serve. We are naturally ignorant of â¦ I, on the contrary, am very driven and interested in breaking through this boundary. From these I want to get good the elements. I am eager to develop. I find it interesting to put economic/political problems into the pillory. I can be quite taken up by thinking of a balanced policy.

Having experienced the concept of liberal arts and science in 2006 my conviction to apply for University College has grown stronger as time passed. The completed Roosevelt Junior Academy days (see enclosed certificate) and the open day visited at University College Utrecht have only served as reinforcements. I am appealed by UCâs curriculum, campus, professors, students, students associations and ambiance. I felt at home immediately with the campus and I felt a connection with the students I spoke to. I want more than offered by general universities. General universities do not strive to exploit ones individual academic abilities and they do not offer academic excellence. I want to be challenged. My future prospects are at the limit of what I want to consider reachable by own means, and no less. This is because I know I will do the best I possibly can and therefore I identify my future with endless possibilities.

In summer 2007 I took an educational travel to Cambridge. I stayed in a host family, for the reason I wanted to experience British living closely. It gave me renewed my energy to focus on what I want to achieve and therefore made me so much stronger and more motivated. For me this was a very special/changing experience. I finished with the intensive English course, specialized in Academic English at Advanced level. My English has improved â¦ in England. My environment had continuingly existed of a very rich diversity of cultures, which I experienced as very inspiring. I think it takes quite some adaptability to get settled in a totally new country and culture, and I think this is a very important talent to posses. I can easily find a way and socialize in unfamiliar surroundings.

In my exam year an opportunity occurred. I was selected for the School of Economics programme. I signed up and I intensely wanted to participate, for several of itâs aspects appealed to me; the academic education, the English language in studying and specialising in one of my most favourable subjects. This rather demanding extracurricular activity I enjoyed fullest, I am convinced studying in English will increase my satisfaction of studying and turning to English education will cause least trouble. I wanted more of my education and this challenged me.

Furthermore I arranged I will not be making a general PWS, but to complete this in a more academic, specialized and scientific way at School of Economics (Utrecht University) in the British language.

I put a lot of energy and satisfaction into the art of debating. When I was fifteen, I joined the students association Utrecht Debating Society. Speaking in public now represents one of my skills. As a scholar I had to catch up the gap between me and the student members. This only stimulated my ability in learning faster. Besides regular debating I am very interested in performing eloquentia en Iâm considering making that one of my extracurricular activities in the future. I have also been a co-judge at the NK debating tournament 2007 in Tilburg. In my leisure time I like to â¦ in the ancient theory of pleading, especially to read the great works of Cicero, Socrates and Plato.

I am already making efforts to make arrangements to go abroad upcoming summer. My aunt and uncle are very active in Africa concerning charity and voluntary activities, with this connection I hope it is possible to obtain a safe and valuable place to analyze and learn about unbalanced political/economical systems, and experience helping people for whom I think I can contribute to transfer knowledge to people unable to get education. There are still two sides of the badge, because I think such an experience enriches me as a human being. I also like to analyze the as it seems bottomless situation.

I have a broad range of interests and I have quite a few requirements fit for a study to my personal wishes. My contribution to University College Utrecht would be valuable, if given the opportunity. One of the reasons I am so passionately firm about studying liberal arts and sciences is the great international orientation. I would be honoured to join/strengthen the Future Leaders Project. The living environment of a large diversity of cultures does seem only tremendously inspiring to me. Considering UCU students make use of â¦ a lot, my debating skills will definitely be an advantage for me and liveliness in class. My active class-participation will be a mentionable contribution. I would also like to be actively involved in several committees at University College Utrecht. In my high school there was no occasion to have been involved in MUN, Model United Nations. Since Iâm aware of the MUN at university level is offered at University College Utrecht Iâm determined to become member of this organisation.

UCU could give me the possibility to fulfil my academic needs, such as Future Leaders Project and an MUN-foundation. It will also shape me exactly fit for my future plans.

I think it is a huge prÃ© for a student ambitioning an academic international carreer to be all-round. UCU is able to offer, in my opinion, optimal âvormingâ. Highly academic skills, an intensive network with motivated people all over the world, an international âblikâ, broad but good knowledge and ability to speak English almost as a native speaker.

During my high school I have personally been through a hard time regarding my domestic situation and I have no doubt this had also restrained me in performing to my fullest academic capability. Especially in de 4^th and 5^th class I was most affected by this, and therefore my exam grades averages started at a lower rank. It took me a while to be able to remain least affected by this negativity with help from a psychologist. I managed to get my grades up with hard work and high grades, but considering my own personal capability this couldâve been a lot more and will be at University College Utrecht. I think it did make me a lot stronger as an individual. In my opinion a human must strive to take advantage of every event.

Enclosed you will find a form of recommendation from Dr. Verbraak and Dr. Filius. Mr Verbraak is my teacher of management and organisation. Mr. Verbraak knows me well as a student and as an individual. Mr Filius has been my mentor in the sixth class and has been most aware of my personal circumstances. Mr Visschers has been my English teacher for several years and is well aware of my English level of proficiency, enclosed you find his comments on this matter.

Finally, I consider myself a suitable candidate for this program. In my time at KWC I have really showed my motivation, both academically and socially. I hope that I have convinced you of my motivation and that you will grant me this opportunity.

Yours faithfully,
Claire Wientjes

people who can speak english wanted :) !

Chica.eslovaca — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 19:38:23 GMT

Hi there,

I'm 19 years old student of english from Slovakia. I've started to study translation and interpretation at University. But I feel that my speaking skills are not so good. I really need to improve them, it is very important for me. Is there anyone who wants to help me? I mean I look for native speakers or someone who speak english perfectly with who I can talk to through Skype. Seriously. I will really enjoy our meetings because I love this language :) .

So, here is my email: (Email removed, please add it to your profile) I will be glad if you write me some information about you :) and than we can decide what we will do. And if you have any question, feel free to contact me.

Thank you sooo much :)

Re: Difference between European English and US English.

Bokeh — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 20:14:07 GMT

Nona The Brit wrote:
slum prudery? Interesting turn of phrase.

It's from "My Fair Lady".

Nona The Brit wrote:
I think it is pretty true that a lot of British people don't consider us as part of Europe in quite the same way as other Europeans. Politically, yes.

I think the British people scared to embrace being Europeans are those who believe the imperialistic conservative nonsense that to be British is to be better.

Nona The Brit wrote:
But geographically, no.

Geographically, yes! The UK and Eire sit on the European continental shelf with a sea depth of less than 50 metres right the way around.

Nona The Brit wrote:
No other European countries have English as their native mother-tongue language.

That's true but it is also true that it's not the mother tongue of several million British subjects. (According to Wikipedia 70% of the UK population speak English monolingually.)

Nona The Brit wrote:
I think there are European countries which teach American English rather than the British version so how does that factor in?

Try doing a search on the web for British schools in Europe compared to American ones. Look at translation agencies and see how their FAQs specifically point out that they do British English. Also if you look at style guides for documents translated for the European Union you would see they state spellings and grammar should be British. Lastly it doesn't make sense that mainland Europe should learn US English in place of British English. Trade between the UK and its EU partners far exceeds any trade between the US and mainland Europe.

Re: about meaning of 'english only ballots'

Ahn — Thu, 24 May 2007 01:20:35 GMT

By the way, I read an article below.

<Voting Rights Act Includes Amendment For English-Only Ballots
July 13, 2006 â The reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act (H.R. 9) is expected to be voted on in the House on July 13 to extend the Act once again.

Representatives will vote on an amendment offered by Rep. Steve King (R-IA) that will strike a provision for bilingual ballots in jurisdictions where at least 5% of the population does not speak English.

This amendment will be opposed by liberals in the House. TVC supports this amendment and urges its supporters to contact their legislators immediately to ask that they vote YES on the King amendment. âIf you are a U.S. citizen and vote in America, you should be able to read English on a ballot,â said TVC Executive Director Andrea Lafferty. âThis is a common sense amendment that all legislators should support.â

Foreign language ballots are a severe financial burden on taxpayers; they are an open invitation to fraud; and greatly increase the likelihood of errors in translationâwhere voters may vote NO when they should be voting YES on legislation.

Nearly 80 Congressman have sent a letter of concern to House leaders asking that they include the King amendment to nix multi-lingual ballots. Here is their letter: Letter To Leadership.

TAKE ACTION: Contact your Representative today and ask that he or she support the King amendment to the Voting Rights Act reauthorization bill: CapWiz.

I think 'English-only ballots' here means 'ballots written in English' and 'English-only ballots' in the article I wrote can also refer to it.

It's somewhat confusing.

Read Catcher in the Rye to learn English

Elfsleepy — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 08:00:45 GMT

Hello all!

I am reading the English novel written by J.D Salinger The catcher in the Rye for improving my English skill. This used to be one of my favorite novel when I was around 18, but I only read the Chinese translation at that time for quite a many times.

Iâve never read any original English literature before this one, and I have lots of problems with my English, like I canât make a sentence very quickly, I need to think a while to organize the structure and wording, this also effects my oral English. So I want to take this novel as a chance to get myself be familiar with English language, thatâs the novel I like, I can read it easily and enjoyably. It would be difficult if I read some other literature which is also outstanding in English language but I donât have any feeling at all. So Iâve decided to read The Catcher in the Rye and maybe recite the whole novel.

Now I got a problem, there are lots of foul languages in this novel and the expression is a little bit vulgar, will I speak like Holden does after reading up the novel? My English is not that good so I am not able to select which word to use or which expression to use when I speak, I can only speak naturally with what I have in my brain. I have a worry that I would come out with lots of dirty words without controlling my mouth, I really donât want to look like a coarse person when I speak English, lolâ¦â¦

Iâve read several pages of its English version, so it is just a start now, anyone has any comments or suggestion would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Re: INTRODUCE YOURSELF!!

Little Cloud — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 20:00:03 GMT

Thanks for the translation. I can speak english, French and I began studying Spanish since a month ago on the www.forodeespanol.com

Have a nice time!

Re: How to learn a new vocab!

Forbes — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 13:36:38 GMT

I'm Egyptian and very interested in English I'm only 16 years and aim to speak English better than Americans.

A very praiseworthy aim! However, you should remember that all native speakers of English speak it perfectly and you cannot improve on perfection. I expect you mean that you are looking to acquire a large vocabulary. There are of course many non-native speakers of English who have vocabularies larger than the average native speaker. You should also remember that language is part of one's experience so there will always be areas of English that are likely to remain closed to you.

I asked a lot of English teachers, native speaker and other famous persons who speak English about the best way to learn English and this is some advices to be good in English:

1- Try to take an English course in American university in your country.

Fine if you want to concentrate on American English.

2- Listen to the radio about 2 hours per day.

Good idea - but rememebr there is not only the Voice of America and the BBC but other English speaking countries that broadcast. e.g. Australia.

3- Try to speak English with anyone in your family or of your friends.

This is good as long as the people you speak with are fairly competent in English - but remember that you are Egypian and you need to speak in your local language as well!

4- Watch American films without looking to the translation.

Don't just watch American films. I would be inclined to read the subtitles - watching the film should be enjoyable as well as helping you with your English. If you have DVD you should watch a few film with the subtitles on and then without and see how much you remember. When you think you are doing well watch a film without the subtitiles and then with. If you missed a lot go back to watching with subtitles first.

5- Make friends through the internet who speak English from USA and UK.

Nothing wrong with that. If you speak to people your own age you will of course learn a lot of non-standard English!

6- Decide if you'll learn American English or British English. (About me I prefer American English because it's simple and easy but Americans speak very quick. About British Englsih I think it's complicated and use difficult words

There is a misconception that there is a big difference between Standard American English and Standard British English. These two varieties of English are about 99.9% the same. Some words are spelled differently - the differences can be set out on a page. There are some differences in every day vocabulary, mainly to do wth food, clothing and household items - again these can be set out on a page. There are some other differences that most American and British speakers do not notice as they are as much matters of style and preference as anything else. If you can read The Times of London you can read The Washington Post. There are of course different accents and you need to decide which one you are going to try and imitate. Unless you have a very acute ear, I suspect you will always sound more Egyptian than either American or British. It all depends on who you think you are likely to be dealing with. Remember that most Europeans learn to speak using what is sometimes termed a Standard Southern English, i.e. a British accent. An American accent has virtually no prestige in the UK. On the other hand many Americans love to hear what they consider a cultivated English accent. Others, however, do not find it so charming. If you expect to meet native English speakers from all over the world you should try and get as much experience as you can of different varieties of English. You should also remember that within the UK there is a great variety in the way people speak. A man from from Glasgow and a man from London will probably have more difficulty understanding each other than either will have in understanding an American TV show.

Re: How to learn a new vocab!

M_Hesham — Mon, 05 Sep 2005 12:45:38 GMT

Dear,

I'm Egyptian and very interested in English I'm only 16 years and aim to speak English better than Americans.

I asked a lot of English teachers, native speaker and other famous persons who speak English about the best way to learn English and this is some advices to be good in English:

1- Try to take an English course in American university in your country.

2- Listen to the radio about 2 hours per day.

3- Try to speak English with anyone in your family or of your friends.

4- Watch Americn films without looking to the translation.

5- Make friends through the interenet who speak English from USA and UK.

Reagrds

Re: I have hoped that

paco2004 — Thu, 26 May 2005 02:46:24 GMT

Thank you for the quick reply.

"Hope" seems a very simple verb, but frankly I'm really far from confident about how to use the phrase "I hope that...." and its kin phrases. My grammar book (Egawa's "A New Guide to English Grammar) says we can use "hope" in the present perfect tense. Actually, however, "I have hoped that..." seems to be rarely used, as you know. So I am suspecting whether what the book is saying would be true.

Let me make a direct translation of a Japanese sentence that comes to my mind. That is,
"Since my school days, I have always hoped that I can(could?) speak English."
The original Japanese sentence sounds quite natural to me. But how about this translation? Is it natural as an English sentence? If it sounds unnatural to your ears, something might be wrong in my understanding the sense of the English verb "hope".

You seem to use "I had hoped that..." a lot, compared with "I have hoped that...". This may be because that construct has a special implication. Let me show you an example.
"I had hoped that I could speak in English fluently until I visited the States for the first time."
I think the past perfect construct "I had hoped that .,." here used implies the hope got fainted at the time of the first visit to the States. Is this interpretation right?

paco

Search results for 'tag:Translation tag:Speak english' matching tags 'Translation' and 'Speak english'

Writing for Easy Translation

** Comments on Motivation Letter asked **

people who can speak english wanted :) !

Re: Difference between European English and US English.

Re: about meaning of 'english only ballots'

Read Catcher in the Rye to learn English

Re: INTRODUCE YOURSELF!!

Re: How to learn a new vocab!

Re: How to learn a new vocab!

Re: I have hoped that

Comments on Motivation Letter asked