Hi guys! I know I've been a bit quiet lately, it is the dreaded exam time.

Here is the issue. On thursday I have an exam where they want us to translate quite a few scenes from various post-war Italian films. The thing is the only training any of us have had is last year we did level 1 Italian, but this only enables me to order food in a restaurant or at best give directions. So post-war existentialist soliloquies are a touch beyond me.

I've been using the internet to translate the scenes (to then memorise in English, since this seems the only way) but the problem is often they're in slightly off dialects (like Roman or Sicilian) or they're figures of speech, and the translators just do not get it at all.

Thus I was wondering if we had anyone who was any good at Italian, if I could run a few of these tricky phrases by them.

Let me summarize your problem using an analogy: you are taught only the alphabet in class but are required to write shakespeare in the exam?

Because that's how it sounds like.

__________________
I am me.
I am who I am.
I am Roarkiller.
No one else is me.

Roarkiller.net
Isakaya High RPG Site

quote:

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Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Roarkiller
Let me summarize your problem using an analogy: you are taught only the alphabet in class but are required to write shakespeare in the exam?

Because that's how it sounds like.

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On the bright side, you said it's "a few scenes" and from "various... film". That got me thinking how it's actually possible to just pull out scenes that only contain basic Italian. Or to make it more challenging, scenes where the lines can get a bit complicated, but one where enough simple vocabulary were used, and you have to translate the lines not literally but based on what you feel the scene is expressing, like literature.

If it's either of the two, maybe just revising on simple vocab and grammar should suffice. Why not check with your professor?

__________________
I am me.
I am who I am.
I am Roarkiller.
No one else is me.

Roarkiller.net
Isakaya High RPG Site

quote:

---

Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Roarkiller
On the bright side, you said it's "a few scenes" and from "various... film". That got me thinking how it's actually possible to just pull out scenes that only contain basic Italian. Or to make it more challenging, scenes where the lines can get a bit complicated, but one where enough simple vocabulary were used, and you have to translate the lines not literally but based on what you feel the scene is expressing, like literature.

If it's either of the two, maybe just revising on simple vocab and grammar should suffice. Why not check with your professor?

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