Saturday, November 4, 2017

Learning Languages By Reading Translated Letters - a few words of Spanish and Portuguese




Problem
What do the translations say on the back of the NHS letter? I received an advance notice letter from the NHS (British National Health Service) about a bowel cancer screening programme. On the back the letter is translated into 15 languages.

Interestingly, not French, nor German, but:
Arabic
Bengali
Chinese
Farsi
Greek
Gjurati
Hindi
Polish
Portuguese
Punjabi
Somali
Spanish
Turkish
Vietnamese
Urdu

By folding the paper, I could compare the English and the Spanish and Portuguese more easily.

The English reads:
If you are unable to read this letter or the enclosed leaflet because English is not your first language, please ask someone who speaks English to telephone the Freephone helpline for further information and help.

The only two languages I have a hope of translating and understanding are Spanish and Portuguese, both of which I have been learning on Duolingo and the Spanish through Duolingo's Tinycards.

English - Spanish
and - e
English -inglés
first language - lengua materna (like English words linguistic and maternal)
for / or order to - para
free - gratuita (like gratuity)
help - ayuda
If - si
language - lengua
leaflet - folleto (like the English word folio or portfolio)
maternal - materna
more information - información adicional
no / no /cannot (with a verb) - no
obtain - obtener
or - o
read - ler
the - el
this - esta
your - su

English - Portuguese
and - e
English - inglês
first - primeira (like the English word prime)
first language - primeira lingua
for  / in order to - para
help/assistance - assistência
If - se
language - lingua
leaflet - folheto
more information - mais informação
no/not/cannot (with a verb)  - não (the wobbly sign above the a is called a tilda)
obtain - obter
or -ou
read - ler
the - o
this - esta
your - sua


Spanish - English
alguien - someone
ayuda - help
carta - letter
e - and
el - the
esta - this
folleto - leaflet
gratuita - free (similar to the English word gratuity)
habla - speaks
información adicional - more information
(el) inglés - English
lengua - language
lengua materna - mother tongue
leer - read (memory aid - leer at somebody, read a letter)
llame - called
materna - maternal
obtener - obtain
para - for / in order to
pidale - ask him
que - what
si -if
su - your

Portuguese - English
assistência - help
carta - letter
e - and
esta - this
fale - speak
conseguir - get
(o) inglês - English
ler - read
lingua - language
mais informação - more information
não - no/not
o - the
obter - obtain
ou - or
para - for / in order to
peça - ask
pessoa - person
portanto - therefore
primeira - first
primeira lingua - first language
se - if
sua - your
uma - an


I used to buy a small dictionary on every trip overseas. I always found a great choice of dictionaries in tourist shops at the destination. I must confess, I often had to buy a dictionary because I had forgotten to pack the one I had at home.

To help me with translations of packaging in French, Spanish and German, I bought giant one-volume dictionaries.
For a choice of small or large dictionaries, go to Amazon.

Useful websites:
www.Amazon.com
www.amazon.co.uk
www.duolingo.com
www.tinycards.duolingo.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher of English and languages.
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