[Sca-cooks] Translations - re Old French Ailliee or whatver
Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius
adamantius1 at verizon.net
Thu May 1 21:58:46 PDT 2008
On May 2, 2008, at 12:05 AM, Suey wrote:
> SCA members may have the finest minds
We're pretty much like any other cross-section of population, I
suspect. On the surface we have a common interest, but the interest
level varies, as do levels of education and intelligence. On this list
we have a lot of scholars both professional and amateur, both in the
sense of non-professional, and in the sense that we do what we do for
the love of it.
> but as I recall there are no
> language requirements except English.
I think it is more of a practical expedient than a requirement.
> As I have lived an international
> life I certainly do admire people who can speak many languages but
> that
> does not mean that we all have had that privilege. I really feel
> people
> who knowingly speak a foreign language are snobs when they do that
> front
> of people they know do not speak that language. When I am the victim I
> feel hurt, irritated and rejected from their society if no one
> thinks of
> providing me with the gist of the matter.
> My opinion is that I don't think either you Emilio or Johnnea mean
> that
> but to prevent non-participation from intelligent, knowledgeable
> members
> who may not understand the language in which you are writing, a
> summary,
> at least, in English is in order. You know they may know more than
> we do
> on the subject!
All true. However, one has to walk the fine line between sharing
freely what we've learned, and patronizing people. It's difficult to
know how much time and effort to spend explaining, or translating, or
otherwise pre-processing information for people who might just as
easily be offended by any assumption that they need a little help, as
by our failure to consider their needs in advance. It's a no-win
situation, _unless_ we present information in reasonable-sized
portions, treat all questions with respect, and grant our fellow list
members the courtesy of trusting them to respond courteously and
respectfully if we ask a question, so we needn't be afraid to.
In the case of the link to the Godefroy dictionary, as I said, I'm not
very fluent in standard conversational French, but this is not
something for me to be ashamed of, or for me to feel victimized by
some failure to address my needs. Nobody's obliged to be responsible
for my education but myself. If I can't get the gist of it, the
Babelfish translation site isn't bad if used correctly, and if I have
to ask for help, there's no more shame in asking for it than there is
in giving it when asked-- we're brothers and sisters in the knife, the
apron, the spoon, the cooking-pot, and in the book.
Adamantius
"Most men worry about their own bellies, and other people's souls,
when we all ought to worry about our own souls, and other people's
bellies."
-- Rabbi Israel Salanter
More information about the Sca-cooks
mailing list