Translating Labels, real gold and silk, real silk, real what?

Is it real or fake? One hundred per cent or a mix? If you are buying gold or silver or jewellery, it helps to recognize the words for real silver and gold, and gold plated, or silver plated.

When buying leather, such as jackets, bag, or shoes, it helps to recognize both the symbols for leather and synthetics, and the words used. I have seen PU leather, which pops up in a search for leather boots, but it is fake lather, or leather look.

Sometimes you want the alternative. You might prefer plated items because they are cheaper. Or synthetic rather than leather or fur because you don[t want to be cruel to animals. 

You might want to find out the difference between 925 silver, and alloys. Also polyester cotton, which to my mind saves ironing

 I bought a scarf, second hand, pre-loved, whatever you want to call it. I loved it.

It had the label 100%. But 100% what?

 It had three letters I could not understand, not just in a foreign language, but also in a foreign alphabet.

It felt soft. But not quite as soft as silk. I had hoped for silk. Was it a good modern imitation?

I tried googling lists of words for silk in all languages. It was not silk.

What was the language. It looked like Russian. I worked out from another Russian word that the first letter was L.   What was the E with the two dots? The e pronounced like ay. The last letter looking like an H was N.  Lane?  The French for wool is laine. The word was not Russian for wool.

I had invited a friend to lunch with me at a restaurant. I showed her the scarf. She suggested linen. That sounded like the letters L A for ay, N. But the scarf did not feel thick and heavy and tightly woven, like linen suits which are stiff, resembling denim jeans.

Linen.

However, a search for the Russian word for linen produced a match. So did copying the word as an image and asking for a translation.

Photograph by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

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Translating Key Words From A French Speech

You have written a book or speech for a foreign audience. How many people will understand? How much will they understand?

Translating From French

Key words are vital. You may find a glossary helps.

I remember when I went to France with a group of travel writers and journalists, I offered to translate speeches for a friend who spoke no French.

Many technical words, the longest words, were the same as in English, because they came from Greek, or sometimes Latin.

Key Word Sentence Subject For Translating

I listened for key words. Sometimes the whole meaning was clear because of one vital word. For example, I could summarise the subject:

'Design Spec' in 'Handout'

 'They are talking about how this project started, the 'year' they started 'designing' the car. 

They are telling us to 'look' at the 'list' of specifications in the 'handout'. 

Car Cost

They are talking about what the consumer will spend on a car. They expect the cheaper car to sell more. But they hope the dearer one will also do well. 

Date = July

They say the new model will be launched in July. 

Thank You Dinner

They are thanking the mayor for attending the event. They are telling us all to stay on for dinner.'

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/get-your-document-s-readability-and-level-statistics-

How Learning A Language Can Help You Even If You Stay At Home

Problem
I am learning Portuguese. On Duolingo and TinyCards. Only about five minutes a day. Sometimes I miss a day. When I come back I feel  like I am starting all over again. Then it gets easier and I do double the daily amount. Suddenly the stystem tells me I am 17% fluent. Hurray!

They have put a lot of effort into what seems silly but apparently is vital to making people stick with the course. Continuous rewards, smiling faces, consoling words when you make mistakes. They have done a lot of research, compared language learning systems and popular games and which features make people start, and stay.

I read that on one of their information pages. At first I just wanted to get started learning, not bother with what I thought would a lot of self-congratulatory stuff.

Later, I was puzzed, as well as full of praise for the ingenuity of the sytem. I wanted to know how they made each change and why.

As for the 17% success, at first I thought that mean I had completed 17% of 100 lessons they set you, and that I would make continuous progress. Then it seemed that the system was simply testing my speed at answering questions, and my persistence in keep up with the course every day.

I wasn't sure that I would be going on the trip needing Portuguese. Then I got confirmation of flights. Suddenly, learning the language seemed more urgent. More relevant.

Apart from the 17% message, have I made any progress? Yes, definitely. Surprisingly, the page where I did not learn any new words has proved the most useful. It was the grammar page on Duolingo. At first I missed out on the grammar page at the start of a course or a section. It depends on the size of your screen. I hope to progress from a laptop to a full size screen, like a small TV.

You might have an old screen lying around, abandoned by a family member or co worker. I decide I was getting round-shouldered, poor posture, short-necked, with back and shoulder ache from being hunched over a laptop on a kitchen table or dining table, or hotel desk or study desk. I am waiting for the dable to arrive. Meanwhile, vital things are disappearing off the bottom of the screen. I rf=frequently fail to spot the vital button. I think I have entered information. The submit or continue button is on the bottom right of my screen.

Regarding the Portuguese, I discovered the grammar information below one of the first couple of pages I had been doing that day on Portuguese. I learned about two vital things. Orange juice in Enlgish becomes juice of orange in Portuguese. The use of the de, which is superflous in English, has to be inserted.

I may be likely to forget that. However, today on Facebook I was reading comments on a post showing a video of teeny turtles, red eared sliders. I turned on translate and read the English. Then I went back to what was Portuguese. I could see all the constructions in Portuguese using the word de. I could work out whether the translation was a mistake and awkward, or simply the way that the Portuguese language is constructed.

I was immensely pleased with myself and happy. The message I have for you is that learning a language has enormous benefits, to your morale, and your understanding and feel of control, not just when you visit a foreign country, but also before, during and after, simply when looking at translations on the itnernet.

Useful Websites
https://www.duolingo.com
https://tinycards.duolingo.com/courses/C2yji/duolingo-portuguese-course

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have several more posts on Portuguese and other languages as well as placed to visit. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Translating For Google And Conferences

Problem
Who translates for Google?

Answer
If you look up Wikipedia and the About us pages on Google and Duolingo and BUSUU and other language sites you will find the answers to your questions.

After I had been using Google translate for a long time, several times a day, I saw an option to translate and eventually clicked on it, tired it once, then started receiving a reminder or request.

I volunteered to help with Google translate, on translations from French to English. I expected this to be a doddle, for somebody like me. Not so. Most of the phrases and sentence requiring translation are those which are not dealt with by dictionaries and are challenging.

Firstly, technical terms and phrases. Then modern terms you get on websites are not in dictionaries so you need each piece to create the complete sentence picture.

You must get these right. The correct translation is not just fun, and useful; it is a responsibility not only to learners of language but consumers and businesses. Get the translation wrong and you risk misleading the consumer. You could get the website company into trouble with customer goodwill, wasted time in correspondence, loss of finance or trouble with the law.

The legal terms can be ambiguous in the English, as are long sentence. Translate from a language such as French into English what looks like a series of phrases which must make sense individually as well as in a whole sentence: For example: 'You may claim, for damaged goods, but goods damaged, in transit, require claim against the carrier, but, where faulty in manufacture, and on despatch from us ...'

Sentence structure is often different in other languages. For example, the adjective after the noun in one language but before it in another. (French - Moulin rouge - red windmill.)  German sentences have the verb at the end.

I can speak fairly fluent French but it would take too much of my time to translate that into French if not being paid. Correcting somebody else's translation from French, or supplying a complete translation, requires some time.

Luckily, you have the choice of clicking on 'skip'.

I can probably add the symbol for Google to illustrate this page. But first I would have to read their entire legal page to discover under what conditions I could use it.

In theory translating the written word is easy, easier than simultaneous translation at a conference, you have time to check every word.

The Joy Of Conferences
In practice I found working at a conference much more enjoyable. Working at home I had to invest in huge expensive dictionaries, £25 or more for each language. It was more stressful because a company's new business in foreign markets depended on my getting translations in several languages ready in time for the client meetings.

At a Conference I was getting free accommodation and meals, fun networking. Everybody was terribly impressed and grateful for me for translating everything from the restaurant menu to conference handouts and speeches. When I didn't know a word I could dash up to half a dozen people and get the important words translated.

Most journalists didn't need every word of every sentence, just the gist of the main points. They wanted to know who was who, quick enough for them to race up to the head of the company to thank them, compliment them and request information on a specific product such as a new car, and get that vital business card!

What I loved the most were thank you speeches. I love acting out, astonishment (with raised eyebrows and open mouth), gratitude, apologies with hand on heart.

My Experiences Include:
Conferences and Celebrations
Translating and Correcting French into English for translation handouts at Indian Legal Conferences.
Simultaneous Translating French into English and English into French at Motoring and Tourist Events in France.

Websites And Marketing
Editing Indian and Nepalese into correct English for Websites.
Editing English for Korean companies.

Job Applications
Translating Spanish and Portuguese into English for CVs and covering letters.
Translating Japanese into English for CVs and advertisements.

Conversation and Daily life
Translating and explaining supermarket and product labels for Japanese spouses in the UK.

Editing Hebrew translations on packaging and instructions for beauty products.
Translating English into French, German and Spanish for business presentations.

Speech Translation
Bilingual speeches in French and English for Toastmasters International speakers groups in the UK.
Translation into English of French slides on wine during a slide show for a French presenter.
Bilingual thank you speeches in French and English for English groups overseas.
Writing and translating bilingual English and French speeches for a bride and groom.
Translating English into French for guests at a barmitzvah.
Translating English into French and French into English at a dinner for English accommodation hosts paid for by French guests.

Wine & Holidays
Translation of requests for accommodation from English to French and replies from French to English.
Translation of slides on French wine for presentation in English.
Translation of letters to French vineyards from English to French for English speakers.
Translation of French wine bottle labels for Spanish and English speaking adults studying wine for exams.

Travel Translations
Translation of Greek names on road sign posts and plane exit doors.
Translation of Hebrew Names on Doors.
Translation of Chinese city names on road signs and railway stations.
Translation of French and Flemish (Dutch) signs on Belgian road.
Translation of signs for toilets and ladies and gents in Chinese, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Romanian.

Author
Angela Lansbury travel writer and photographer. Teacher of English and other languages and translator into English and for packaging into other languages, websites, and conference paper and conference translations.

Translating, understanding and learning from German tourist information

Problem
I have been going through my house trying to throw away old papers and objects which are out of date and creating such a clutter that I cannot find the recent stuff. But before throwing anything out, I have to take a look at it. I have a pile of souvenir CDs from travel shows and I am going through them one by one, one a day. Here's is what I found:

I have an old CD-ROM from Sachsen 2000.  I have the text here and a list of German-English and English-German words at the end. I looked at the paragraph and it was a mystery and hard going and I nearly shut my CD and threw away the disc, then I thought, just a minute, put this into Google translate. Here's what I saw. Glance at it and then read on.

Mit dem Leipziger Umland beginnt das “Sächsische Burgen- und Heideland” – eine reizvolle, hügelig schwingende Landschaft, die sich im Norden bis zur Dübener Heide, im Westen bis zur Dahlener Heide und den Elbauenlandschaften erstreckt und im Süden bis in das Erzgebirgsvorland im Chemnitzer Raum reicht. Handwerk und Landwirtschaft haben diese geschichtsträchtige landschaftlich reizvolle Region mit kleinen Städtchen, verschlafenen Dörfern und malerischen alten Schlössern, Burgen und Herrensitzen über Jahrhunderte geprägt.

Dem Besucher bieten sich vielfältige Möglichkeiten – sei es ein zünftiges Rittermahl oder ein kurfürstliches Gelage mit typisch mittelalterlichen Speisen und Flair auf einem der alten Adelssitze im “Tal der Burgen” am Muldenfluß, eine waschechte Floßtour auf der Zschopau, eine Fahrt mit der Schmalspurbahn “Wilder Robert”, Radwandertouren entlang gut markierter Radwanderstrecken an der Mulde und Zschopau, Wanderungen durch ausgedehnte Auenwälder oder entlang wildromantischer Flüsse oder eine Einfahrt in einen ehemaligen Silberstollen…

Zahlreiche alte Städte, wie Colditz, Rochlitz und Waldenburg, laden mit Geschichte und Geschichten zum Erleben in historische und originelle Museen ein. Stimmungsvolle Kloster- und Parkanlagen, z.B. in Altzella bei Nossen oder in Klosterbuch bei Leisnig, lassen eindrucksvoll das Leben der einstigen Zisterzienser-Mönche nachempfinden.

Gotische Dome, typisch sächsische Hallenkirchen mit reicher Innenausstattung und interessante Dorfkirchen markieren Höhepunkte der Baukunst der Region. Musikfreunde erwarten hier Konzerte, bei denen sie sich dem Klangwunder alter und kostbarer Orgeln, u.a. von Gottfried Silbermann, hingeben können. Es ist eine Region der feinen Töne, die ihren Reiz beim genauen Beobachten offenbart.

I have blown up the print size to normal so I and you can refer back to it.

I put it into Google translate and looked at the English. In Google I had the texts side by side   so I could read through each sentence. I read the English first, getting the general gist. Then took each sentence. Finally, I went back and read both again, and noted down the easy, instantly recognized, and the new words.

Mit dem Leipziger Umland beginnt das “Sächsische Burgen- und Heideland” – eine reizvolle, hügelig schwingende Landschaft, die sich im Norden bis zur Dübener Heide, im Westen bis zur Dahlener Heide und den Elbauenlandschaften erstreckt und im Süden bis in das Erzgebirgsvorland im Chemnitzer Raum reicht. Handwerk und Landwirtschaft haben diese geschichtsträchtige landschaftlich reizvolle Region mit kleinen Städtchen, verschlafenen Dörfern und malerischen alten Schlössern, Burgen und Herrensitzen über Jahrhunderte geprägt.

Dem Besucher bieten sich vielfältige Möglichkeiten – sei es ein zünftiges Rittermahl oder ein kurfürstliches Gelage mit typisch mittelalterlichen Speisen und Flair auf einem der alten Adelssitze im “Tal der Burgen” am Muldenfluß, eine waschechte Floßtour auf der Zschopau, eine Fahrt mit der Schmalspurbahn “Wilder Robert”, Radwandertouren entlang gut markierter Radwanderstrecken an der Mulde und Zschopau, Wanderungen durch ausgedehnte Auenwälder oder entlang wildromantischer Flüsse oder eine Einfahrt in einen ehemaligen Silberstollen…

Zahlreiche alte Städte, wie Colditz, Rochlitz und Waldenburg, laden mit Geschichte und Geschichten zum Erleben in historische und originelle Museen ein. Stimmungsvolle Kloster- und Parkanlagen, z.B. in Altzella bei Nossen oder in Klosterbuch bei Leisnig, lassen eindrucksvoll das Leben der einstigen Zisterzienser-Mönche nachempfinden.

Gotische Dome, typisch sächsische Hallenkirchen mit reicher Innenausstattung und interessante Dorfkirchen markieren Höhepunkte der Baukunst der Region. Musikfreunde erwarten hier Konzerte, bei denen sie sich dem Klangwunder alter und kostbarer Orgeln, u.a. von Gottfried Silbermann, hingeben können. Es ist eine Region der feinen Töne, die ihren Reiz beim genauen Beobachten offenbart.

English translation:

The "Saxon Castle and Heideland", a Saxon castle and Heideland, begins with the Leipzig region, which stretches to the Dübener Heide in the north, the west to the Dahlener Heide and the Elbaulandschaften and in the south to the Erzgebirgsvorland in the Chemnitz area enough. Handicrafts and agriculture have characterized this historical landscape with its small towns, sleepy villages and picturesque old castles, castles and manor houses for centuries.

The visitor is offered a wide range of possibilities - be it a real knightly meal or a Kurfürstliches banquet with typical medieval food and flair on one of the old nobility seats in the "valley of the castles" at the Mulden river, a washed rafting tour on the Zschopau, a ride with the Schmalspurbahn "Wilder Robert ", cycle tours along well-marked bike trails along the Mulde and Zschopau, hiking through extensive floodplain forests or along wild-romantic rivers or a drive into a former silver tunnel ...

Numerous old towns, such as Colditz, Rochlitz and Waldenburg, invite you to experience historical and original museums with history and stories. Moody monastery and park facilities, e.g. in Altzella near Nossen or in Klosterbuch near Leisnig, impressively reflect the life of the former Cistercian monks.

Gothic domes, typical Saxon Hallenkirchen with rich interior equipment and interesting village churches highlight the architecture of the region. Music lovers can expect concerts here, where they can listen to the sound wonder of old and precious organs, among others. by Gottfried Silbermann. It is a region of fine tones, which reveals its charm when closely observed.

Here are my ten easy words:

ENGLISH - GERMAN

(Spaces inserted where a spell checker changes spellings after a time lapse to be sure it doesn't occur again even though I have checked it.)

and - und

by or near - bei

dome - Dome - (Same word except that nouns in German start with capital letters which makes it easy to spot them.) 

Gothic - Gotische

monks - Mönche

music - Muzik

silver - Silber

typical - typische

with - mit

wonder -wunder (as in the old song, 'Wunderbar, Wunderbar (wonderful, wonderful) I wonder what you are ...')

GERMAN - ENGLISH

bei - by or near

Dome - dome

Gotische - Gothic  

mit - with

Mönche - monks

Muzik - music

S i l b e r - silver 

typische - typical

und - and

wonder - wunder (as in the old song, Wunderbar, Wunderbar (wonderful, wonderful) I wonder what you are)

Here are ten words you might know and recognize:

ENGLISH - GERMAN

concert - k o n z e r t e

old - alte (plural)

or - oder

organs - Orgeln

life - Leben

rich - reicher

Saxon - Sächsische

sound - klang

towns - Städtle / Städtlen (think of little city states abbreviated, state-little)

west - Westen

That's ten words. But I've got one more, so I'll add a bonus:

fine - feinen (plural)- fine

GERMAN -ENGLISH ten words you might know and recognize

(Notice than in German you add an n for the plural)

k o n z e r t e - concert

alte (plural) - old

oder - or

Orgeln - organs

Leben - life

reicher - rich

Sächsische - Saxon

klang - sound

Städtle / Städtlen (think of little city states abbreviated, state-little) - town(s) 

Westen - west

That's ten words. But I've got one more, so I'll add a bonus:

fine - feinen (plural)- fine

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Blogger. Teacher of English and other languages. Please see my other posts on destinations and German and other languages. If you need a language teacher, translation or any other business help, contact me through Facebook messenger.

Translating Signs - Danger in Malay and Indonesian

I saw a sign warning pedestrians to keep out and wondered what the words meant, in case I saw them again without the translation.

Problem
What do the words actually mean?

Answer
The English says
Danger keep out

The Malay says
B a h a y a jangan dekat (I had to insert spaces because the automatic spell checker prefers the more frequently used word b a h a s a which means language

The Malay language is very similar to Indonesian with a few words different, just vocabulary. The language is easy to read because it is phonetic - the letters convey the sounds. (Phone is Greek for sound.)

Google translate tells me the translation is:

B a h a y a - danger / hazard
jangan - do not
dekat - get close

I shall eventually use Duolingo, a free website, to learn the language.

Stories
Always use anything free as soon as you find it, because you don't know how long it will remain free. When ISBN numbers first came out they were free. I could have applied for ten or even 100 ISBN numbers. Now they cost of money, a lot of money if you want to keep publishing books.

Tips
I write down Malay words in the back of my diary.
I shall eventually use Duolingo, a free website, to learn the language.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer

Translation Services - what rude words are we saying?

Four problems arise in translation.
1 You translate your words and your new friends/acquaintances/shopkeepers don't understand you.
2 They understand and reply - but you don't understand the answer.
3 They understand and laugh and you wonder what you said wrongly.
4 They mutter to each other or make hostile remarks and you wonder what they are saying about you.

I dutifully learned to say goodbye and thank you in Korean and happily waved goodbye as I left restaurants and hotels. My efforts were not greeted by polite, appreciative thanks, but by hilarity. The smiled incredulously and equaled with laughter into their handkerchiefs, tears of laughter streaming down their faces as I left.

When I returned to Singapore I found out why. I asked a Japanese lady friend if she knew any Korean. She knew a little. I asked if she could explain why my attempts to say goodbye and thank you were greeted with hysterical laughter.

She smiled knowingly. Ah so. Japanese, and, Korean sta-ca-to.  Eng -rish - ve-ry sing-song.

Ah - like the time a man from Cardiff tried to chat me up on the phone in a Welsh accent. When he said I was ve-ry pre-tea, instead of being pleased at the compliment, I could not stop laughing. I now know I could give a humorous speech in Korean or Japan and my accent alone would get them grinning.

So, what do I think of a live translation service as an alternative to the computer generated ones? As far as I'm concerned, the more the merrier.

Any problems? What about people who deliberately send rude translations, or insult you for your efforts?

If somebody says something to you, or about you, and it's rude, you might want to know what they are saying. The trick in translation is you translate from your language into another, then use another source to translate back.

I once tried to do French, Spanish and German translations for a beauty product including a nail file. In French the automatic translators came up with the kind of nail you hit with a hammer (chou - the translation hadn't a clue), followed by portmanteau, clearly a file for carrying papers.

You might well want to allow the enquirer to ask for a translation of something rude. The large dictionaries manage to translate lots of words and phrases. They say ... pejorative or .... (vulgar).
I might legitimately ask - somebody is talking about me - saying .... what does this mean?

Instead of blocking, the site could just add some neutral explanation (eg 'The speaker/taxi driver/seller/passer by is insulting you using an exaggerated compliment, terms referring to acts/body parts/the speaker thinks you are stupid/naive' .... ' 

"A non-confrontational reply would be: 
(I understand (language. 
No need to be rude. 
/Please don't make personal remarks. 
Thanks, I'll take another taxi. 
I don't expect personal remarks from the staff of ... ) 

You might want to know if your romantic interest who just swore undying love is telling his friends unromantic things about you. Or if the shopkeeper or hotel staff are not happy to oblige.

My former neighbour in Singapore was a young man studying to be a doctor who did National Service. He was taught all the terms for male and female body parts, both the technical terms and the 'street names' in assorted languages: English, Chinese (Mandarin), Cantonese, Malay, Tamil and more.

A male doctor in a clinic with pregnant women might want to know how to translate rude words for body parts or sexual activity into polite terms. The male patient at a clinic faced with a lady doctor might want to know the polite words to describe where he has the problem. As a translator, I might need another translator to help me translate new words in my own language. It could be quite educational!

More details of the site:
https://www.techinasia.com/linqapp-live-launch-real-time-human-translation/

Angela Lansbury B A, travel writer and photographer, author, speaker.

Reading and Translating a Spanish Wine Bottle Labels

Here is the wine bottle and the labels back and front which I shall translate. Isn't Google translate wonderful. You don't even need to tell it which language any more. It just translates automatically from its bank of dictionaries into English. Here goes with the label translation.

Marques means marquis, as I guessed.

According to Google translate Heredos del - heredos del is Spanish for inheritors of. I thought of translating it as descended from. But inheritors of includes people who have bought the company or work for them or with them. Del is Spanish for of, like de in French. Os is a Spanish plural, just like English adding s for a plural. 

Denominacion de origen - place of origin. Denomaination=naming or of the name.

Elciego I guessed was a place name.

1. Elciego is a town and municipality located at the southern end of the province of Álava, in the Basque Country, northern Spain. Wikipedia
   
   Bodegas fundadas en - Bodega (literally cellar - now wine cellar or winery) founded in
   
   bodegas - wine cellars
   
   The label on the back tells you that the company was founded in 1860 and they believe they are the oldest bodega in the Rioja region. I have not checked when anybody else makes a rival claim.
   
   The label also informs you that the wine has a fruity bouquet (meaning aroma) and a lingering oaky flavour. Oaky flavour comes from oak barrels. (The oak from France or elsewhere such as in the USA may have a different flavour.) The French oak with strong flavour is needed to match the strength of flavour of a rich red wine.
   
   

   

   This is the Marques de Riscal hotel designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry, mentioned in my earlier post.
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

   Photos of the town of Elciego (Eltziego in Basque) by Nicola from Wikipedia

   
   

   

   
   

   Picture from Wikipedia of the town of Elciego, photo by Nicola and Imamon or unknown

   
   

   RIOJA IN LONDON

   If you want to taste Rioja in London, note in your diary that September is the month when the trade shows are held in London for the importers. Sometimes the trade show is daytime in working hours in a hotel conference room. A public show may be held in the evening. A charge might be made. Customers who buy regularly from a wine shop or wine organisation might be sent a free ticket to one or both of these shows. Look out for dates of shows, blogs about shows and the new wines.

   
   

   If you see Gran Reserva on a bottle, this means that the bottle has been reserved, not sold but saved for more years. It is worth doing this only with the best wine. Most of this will come from Rioja in the north, which they will tell you has the best wines. The rule for red Rioja is that a Gran Reserva must be stores for two years in the barrel, then another three bottles. The winemakers owner must wait for five years and invest in costly barrels and equipment and manpower, so this is only done in regions with the best wine.

   
   

   Unfortunately this length of time  2 in barrel then 3 in bottle, is the rule made by the Rioja Region 'guardians' (my word, not theirs) to preserve the quality and consistency and reputation of wines sold under their region's name. So another region might store wines for different lengths of time. However, all most members of the public need to do is look for Gran Reserva on the label.