[Repost] El talón de Aquiles del traductor: dudas recurrentes (por Merche – traducirco)

DOMINGO, 20 DE ABRIL DE 2014

Cfr. original: http://www.traducirco.com/2014/04/el-talon-de-aquiles-del-traductor-dudas.html por Merche – traducirco.com

El talón de Aquiles del traductor:
dudas recurrentes

¿De dónde viene aquello de “el talón de Aquiles”?

Ya hace un tiempo escribí una entrada sobre errores comunes y su solución según la Comisión Europea y precisamente hace unos días me encontré con otro documento (esta vez de la Fundéu) que también me guardaréde referencia para otro tipo de dudas que, al menos a mí, se me presentan cada cierto tiempo.

Cuando uno se pasa el día redactando en castellano le surgen miles de dudas imposibles de imaginar previamente, ya que en muchas ocasiones se trata de usos tan concretos que solo se pueden solucionar preguntándolos de manera individual. Sin embargo, en muchos otros casos son precisamente las expresiones más habituales las que nos hacen dudar y nos sorprendemos buscando una y otra vez la respuesta a la misma cuestión, incluso cuando ya pensábamos que lo teníamos claro.

En esta (breve) entrada compartiré una serie de expresiones o términos que me suelen hacer dudar a menudo y otras que he querido incluir porque veo que se traducen mal frecuentemente. Aunque la lista es relativamente breve, como podéis imaginar estos son solo algunos ejemplos y me propongo seguir ampliando la lista en el futuro. Además, os animo a plasmar aquellas expresiones que siempre acabáis teniendo que volver a buscar. Con ello conseguiríamos, por un lado, conocer dónde “flaquean” (entendiendo por “flaquear” conocer los conceptos que se nos resisten una y otra vez) otros traductores, aprender de sus dudas y tomar esta entrada como una compilación de preguntas frecuentes de compañeros del sector. Así pues, ¡espero vuestros comentarios!

Aquí van algunas de mis dudas recurrentes.

• “According to” se traduce por “de acuerdo con”, no “de acuerdo a”: “Cuando la locución introduce un sustantivo de persona y significa ‘con arreglo o conforme a lo que dice u opina esa persona’, el uso culto solo admite de acuerdo con”.
• “Result in” se traduce por “dar como resultado” (no “resultar en”) y tiene sinónimos como “ocasionar”, “conllevar”, “implicar”, etc.
• “En base a“ no es correcto; sí lo es “con base en”, “basándonos en”, “según”, etc.
• Traducir “any” por “cualquier(a)” en ocasiones es un anglicismo. Y cuidado, a veces se traduce por “todo”.
• En general, “eficiente” se aplica a personas; “eficaz”, a cosas (aunque también a personas). Nótese lo que dice la Fundéu al respecto, con especial mención a nuestro gremio: “El uso de eficaz-eficacia y eficiente-eficiencia es motivo de muchas discusiones, sobre todo entre los traductores, ya que los términos efficacy, efficiency y effectiveness no siempre son traducibles directamente por eficacia, eficiencia y efectividad. Sobre el empleo de estos términos en traducción médica, le recomendamos la entrada ‘effectiveness’ (pág. 313) del Diccionario crítico de dudas inglés-español de medicina (2.ª ed.), de Fernando Navarro (Madrid: McGraw-Hill, 2005)”. El Norte de Castilla también dedicó una reflexión llamado “efectivo, eficiente, eficaz”.
• “En relación con” y “con relación a” son correctas, “en relación a”, no. (Esta es de las que acabo buscando más habitualmente)
• “Estado” se escribe con mayúscula solo si se refiere al conjunto de órganos de un país.
• “Eventually” se traduce por “finalmente”, “a la larga”, “con el tiempo”, etc., no por “eventualmente”.
• Finés es el idioma; finlandés, el gentilicio.
• Malayo es el idioma; malasio, el gentilicio.
• Gran Bretaña está formada por Inglaterra, Escocia y el País de Gales; el Reino Unido, por Gran Bretaña e Irlanda del Norte.
• “Impredecible” es lo que no se puede predecir; “imprevisible”, lo que no se puede prever.
• “Influir” e “influenciar” son sinónimos en sentido, pero se construyen de forma distinta.
• Infringir una ley e infligir daño, no “inflingir”.
• “Junto a” expresa cercanía física; “junto con”, la idea de colaboración.
• Las dudas no se levantan; se suscitan, se siembran, se despiertan, surgen…
• “Memorial” en inglés se traduce por “monumento”.

Como decía, estos son solo algunas de mis dudas recurrentes. Ahora, ¡me encantaría leer las vuestras!

[Repost] How to keep an English conversation going (by Clare from english-at-home)

How to keep an English conversation going

It can be difficult to keep a conversation going. Even if you understand what the other person is saying, you can feel “blocked” or “frozen” when it’s your turn to speak. The words or phrases you need don’t often come quickly enough to mind.

The more opportunities you can get to use and speak English, the easier it is to find the right words when you need them. Take every chance you get to use your English! See How to practise your English for lots of ideas to find speaking opportunities.

Sounding fluent and confident in a few words

Here are some useful ways to keep the conversation going. The “secret” is that you don’t actually need many words to do this!

1. Show interest in the other speaker
You don’t need to say much. Often just one word is needed to show you are interested and listening. Try “Really?” (with a rising intonation), “Right” or “Sure”. You could even show you are listening with a non-word such as “Mmm” or Uh-huh”.

“I hate watching rubbish on the TV.”
“Right.”

2. Use a short phrase to show your feelings
For example, “How awful”, “Oh no!”, “You’re joking”, “What a pity” etc.

“My neighbour had a car accident yesterday.”
“Oh no!”
“Yes, but thankfully he wasn’t hurt.”
“Mmm.”

3. Ask a short question 
You can use an auxiliary verb to make a short question which will encourage the other speaker to keep talking:

“We tried out the new Chinese restaurant last night.”
“Did you?”

“I’m going to Barbados next week on holiday.”
“Are you? Lucky you!”

“It’s snowing again.”
“Is it?”

4. Repeat what the other person said
Do this especially if the other person has said something surprising.

“He won £200 on the lottery.”
“£200!”

“I’m going to Barbados next week.”
“Barbados!”

Other ways to avoid silence

Here are some more tips to help you say something – even if you haven’t understood the other person or there’s nothing else to say.

If you don’t understand

“Sorry, I don’t understand.”
“Sorry, could you repeat that?”
“Sorry? I didn’t get that.”

If you don’t know the word

“I can’t find the word I’m looking for…”
“I’m not sure that this is the right word, but…”
“What I want to say is…”

If you can’t find the word immediately

You don’t want to be completely silent, but you need time to find the words.

“Well…”
“OK…”
“So…”

You can even make some “noises”

“Hmmm…”
“Uh-huh”
“Umm…”

Agreeing with the other person

You want to show that you agree, but you don’t have anything else to say.

“Yeah.”
“Right.”

Changing the subject

Everyone in the conversation has given an opinion, and now you want to talk about something else.

“Anyway,…”
“Well, as I was saying…”
“So, back to …”
“So, we were saying …”

Rephrase

Sometimes we say things that other people don’t understand, or we give the wrong impression. Here are some expressions you can use to say something again.

“What I meant to say was…”
“Let me rephrase that…”
“Let me put this another way…”
“Perhaps I’m not making myself clear…”

Go back to the beginning

If you’re explaining something, and you realise that the other person doesn’t understand, you can use the following phrases:

“If we go back to the beginning…”
“The basic idea is…”
“One way of looking at it is…”
“Another way of looking at it is…”

For more help with English conversations and speaking, see Better English speaking skills.

[Repost] Internet Radio Provides Musical Space-Weather Reports from NASA’s LRO Mission (by Elizabeth Zubritsky)

Internet Radio Provides Musical Space-Weather Reports from NASA’s LRO Mission

January 9, 2014

 

The Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation, or CRaTER, on NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has six detectors to monitor the energetic charged particles from galactic cosmic rays and solar events.

Image Credit: NASA/GSFC

The latest tool for checking space weather is an internet radio station fed by data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO.

The radio station essentially operates in real time, receiving measurements of how much radiation the spacecraft is experiencing and converting those into a constant stream of music. The radiation levels determine which instrument is featured, the musical key being used and the pitches played.

“Our minds love music, so this offers a pleasurable way to interface with the data,” said the leader of the music project, Marty Quinn of the University of New Hampshire, Durham. “It also provides accessibility for people with visual impairments.”

The radiation levels are determined by LRO’s Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation, or CRaTER. Equipped with six detectors, CRaTER monitors the energetic charged particles from galactic cosmic rays and solar events.

The instrument makes two kinds of crucial measurements. One type studies the interaction of radiation in space with a material that is like human tissue; this is helping scientists assess the effects that exposure would have on people and organisms. The other type looks at radiation hitting the moon and the products generated by that interaction, which provides a way to explore the composition of the regolith on the moon.

“CRaTER has discovered wide-ranging and fundamental aspects of such radiation,” said Nathan Schwadron, the principal investigator for CRaTER. “For example, we have discovered that tissue-equivalent plastics and other lightweight materials can provide even more effective protection than standard shielding, such as aluminum.”

 

An internet radio station converts radiation measurements from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter into a musical space-weather report.

Image Credit: University of New Hampshire

 

Each detector on CRaTER reports the number of particles registered every second. These counts are relayed to CRaTER Live Radio, where software converts the numbers into pitches in a four-octave scale. Six pitches are played every second, one for each detector. Higher, tinkly pitches indicate less activity, whereas lower, somber-sounding pitches indicate more activity.

The software selects the primary instrument and a musical key based on recent activity. At the lowest radiation levels, the main instrument will be a piano, playing pitches from one of the major scales. But as the peak radiation level climbs, one of the minor scales will be selected instead, and the piano will be replaced by one of seven other instruments.

For example, when CRaTER picked up elevated radiation counts caused by the solar flare on Jan. 7, 2014, the primary instrument changed to a marimba, which is two instruments up from the piano. A steel drum or guitar instead of a marimba would mean the radiation level had ramped up more. A banjo would mean the peak had climbed to the top of the normal operating range.

If the counts climb beyond the top of the normal operating range – as might happen during a very big event – the software would switch into a second operating range. The piano would again represent the bottom of this range, and the banjo would represent the top. To indicate which range is current, a violin and a cello play sustained notes in the background. If those sustained notes are played at the highest pitches on the scale, the normal operating range is in effect; if those notes drop by even one pitch, the second range is being used.

The radio station is one of CRaTER’s official data products and is available online and through an app. The data feed from LRO is live, with one caveat. Whenever the spacecraft moves behind the moon, it cannot line up with data-collecting antennas on Earth, so there is a blackout period of about an hour. During that time, the station reuses the previous hour’s data. To indicate that the music is not live, the sound of the bongo drum in the background is changed, and the chiming of the triangle is muted.

The most familiar example of data sonification – conversion into sound – is a simple one: The Geiger counter produces a click every time it detects a radioactive particle.

In the past few decades, scientists in many fields have experimented with sonification, hoping to capitalize on humans’ ability to hear small changes instantly, even against a noisy background. Music has the added advantage of making it easy to process many changes at once through variations in pitch, rhythm, tempo, scale, loudness and instrumentation.

“Music makes it easy for people to take in the data, and it seems to be a natural fit for space missions,” said LRO’s project scientist, John Keller of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Sonification has been used to present data from several NASA spacecraft, especially Voyagers 1 and 2 and Kepler. Quinn previously worked on sonification for other NASA missions, including Mars Odyssey, the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory, the Advanced Composition Explorer and the Interstellar Boundary Explorer.

LRO is managed by NASA Goddard for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Related Links

› NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
› CRaTER Live Radio and links to the app

Elizabeth Zubritsky
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.