What if you want a translation of something but don't know what the original language is?
Thread poster: George Trail
George Trail
George Trail  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:44
Member (2009)
French to English
+ ...
Dec 3, 2019

Maybe this is not in the right comments section, in which case I apologise, but here goes...

Suppose you want a translation of something but you don't know what the original language even is? And you can't even use Google Translate's detect language feature or something to find an answer (which is easy to imagine if the language is a non-Roman script) and can't even copy and paste it? Where would you turn? LinkedIn? An online forum designed specifically for translators like ProZ? Is
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Maybe this is not in the right comments section, in which case I apologise, but here goes...

Suppose you want a translation of something but you don't know what the original language even is? And you can't even use Google Translate's detect language feature or something to find an answer (which is easy to imagine if the language is a non-Roman script) and can't even copy and paste it? Where would you turn? LinkedIn? An online forum designed specifically for translators like ProZ? Is there anyone on ProZ who could tell me what language is spoken from 0.08 onwards in this video, and what is being said? I'm curious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qA0YGz8inE
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patyjs
patyjs  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 06:44
Spanish to English
+ ...
Look in the comments Dec 3, 2019

It's right there in the comments: Jeg kan en sang der kan drive dig til vanvid. It means "I know a song that will drive you insane" and the language is (surprisingly) Danish.

 
Maxi Schwarz
Maxi Schwarz  Identity Verified
Local time: 07:44
German to English
+ ...
You look for clues as first step Dec 4, 2019

(for the general question)
In this case, the info provided says the song is called:
Hellere Se Dig Død If you paste that into Google translate, > detect language, it is recognized as Danish.
The artist's name is given as: Humleridderne Looking up the name you might get info on the artist. All I saw was info in the original language which I'd guess was Danish. It is also the name of a beer or ale.
Finally, in the comments, as was pointed out, the lyrics are asked abo
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(for the general question)
In this case, the info provided says the song is called:
Hellere Se Dig Død If you paste that into Google translate, > detect language, it is recognized as Danish.
The artist's name is given as: Humleridderne Looking up the name you might get info on the artist. All I saw was info in the original language which I'd guess was Danish. It is also the name of a beer or ale.
Finally, in the comments, as was pointed out, the lyrics are asked about, given, and identified as Danish.
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Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 13:44
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
What the agencies do Dec 4, 2019

George Trail wrote:
Suppose you want a translation of something but you don't know what the original language even is?


Then you ask as many people as possible. I've had translation agencies send me audio files like that, asking me if I know the language. This is usually done as a "favour".


Ivana Kahle
 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 13:44
French to English
. Dec 5, 2019

The other day I was translating a French text sprinkled with bits in Portuguese, so I just put those bits in Linguee to see what it might bring up.
At one point I copied a phrase in and Linguee put up a message asking whether I wouldn't rather translate it from Spanish. Then later on it suggested I searched Italian.
I did point out to the client that I only translate from French, and that the bits in other languages would need to be checked by people who could actually boast profic
... See more
The other day I was translating a French text sprinkled with bits in Portuguese, so I just put those bits in Linguee to see what it might bring up.
At one point I copied a phrase in and Linguee put up a message asking whether I wouldn't rather translate it from Spanish. Then later on it suggested I searched Italian.
I did point out to the client that I only translate from French, and that the bits in other languages would need to be checked by people who could actually boast proficiency in those languages.
I thought Linguee was being pretty nifty suggesting I changed source language for more hits.
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What if you want a translation of something but don't know what the original language is?






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