Science fiction to fact
隨身即時翻譯 昔日科幻小說 今日真實世界
Not that long ago, portable translation devices were only commonplace in works of science fiction. Travelers headed to foreign countries took bilingual dictionaries or phrasebooks with them. But now people can access instant translation services almost anywhere they go.
Online translations are free, and when you use translation apps like Google Translate or iTranslate, sometimes you don't even have to look things up! Just point your phone's camera at some text, and a translation instantly appears. If you want to translate something being said aloud, just turn on your phone's microphone. Some apps even have a conversation mode where you take turns speaking with someone in a different language. Apps can even produce audio translations, just like C3PO from Star Wars.
Translation apps make foreign travel much easier than before. They are invaluable when it comes to communicating with taxi drivers or hotel staff who don't speak your language. But these apps are far from perfect. Sometimes a translation makes no sense, and you can only guess at the gist of what it means. Other times, you might not know that the translation has failed until you try it on a native speaker.
Info Cloud
lost in translation 在翻譯中流失
Welcome to Info Cloud, everyone. Anne Marie, do you speak any other languages?
Yes, I speak a little Spanish, but I've forgotten most of it. Why?
Well, I was wondering if you've ever had the experience of something being lost in translation.
Oh, you mean when something has been translated, it becomes impossible to understand.
Yes. That often happens with jokes. When a word or phrase is translated from one language to another, some of its deeper meaning might be lost.
An idea that might come from one culture may be different or not even exist in another culture.
So something might get lost in translation. I can give you an example in Chinese. We have a word “辛苦了!”. In English, we might say "Good job!" or "Thanks for your effort" to someone. But in the Chinese, there is an acknowledgement of the hard work someone has done and not just a simple praise or encouragement.
That is a great example. Rex, is there any other way to use this phrase?
We might use it when something is presented in a new way, for example, when they make a book into a movie. Some things get lost in translation in the movie version since not everything can be shown on screen.
當我們聽到或是看到一些中文翻譯，有的時候會覺得怪怪的，那是因為翻譯並沒有辦法百分之百的呈現原汁原味，你可以用 lost in translation 來形容這種狀況。lost in translation 就是在翻譯中流失的意思，舉例來說，很多美國笑話翻譯成中文，是完全行不通的，這是因為文化上的差別，或是在中文，我們常說「辛苦了」，翻成英文可能就是"Good job!" 做得好，或是"Thanks for your effort" 謝謝你的付出，但是「辛苦了」這句話裡面，代表說話的人看到一個人在勞力上所承擔的某些痛苦，這部分翻譯成英文就會變成 lost in translation 在翻譯中流失。
Language Lab
commonplace adj. 普通、普遍的 (因為常常會發生或常常看得到)
happening or appearing in many places and not unusual : very common or ordinary
- It seems rather commonplace to hear about professional athletes getting ankle injuries.
聽到職業運動員傷到腳踝的新聞，感覺很普遍又常見。
- Nothing in the bazaar attracted Trina because everything looked rather commonplace.
市場裡沒有一樣東西吸引Trina，因為她覺得所有的東西看起來都很普通。
- To John, the second-hand store was full of commonplace things, but to Cindy it was a pile of treasures.
對John而言，二手店裡的貨物都是很普通的東西，但對Cindy而言，卻是一堆寶物。
mode n. 模式
the state in which a machine does a particular function
- When I was on the plane, I put my tablet on airplane mode.
我搭飛機時，會把我的平板轉到飛航模式。
- Dereck always puts his phone on silent mode before he goes to sleep.
Dereck 睡覺前會把手機轉到靜音模式。
mode n. 方式
a particular form or type of something (such as transportation or behavior)
- We have a lot of food for the disaster victims but we need to figure out our mode of transport.
我們有很多糧食要送給災民，但是我們要想出最佳的運輸方式。
- The new manager finds the company's mode of operation to be very inefficient.
新的經理認為公司的運作方式非常沒有效率。
staff n. 工作人員
a group of people who work for an organization or business
- The boss has an important announcement and wants to speak to the entire staff.
老闆有一件重要的事情要宣布，所以要跟全體員工見面。
- The restaurant isn’t very big and there are only five people on the staff.
餐廳不大，員工就只有五位。
staff n. 一根很長的手杖或棍棒
a long stick that you carry in your hand for support while walking
- A man with a shepherd’s staff walked by with several sheep.
一位拿著牧羊杖的人跟著幾隻羊，就這樣子經過。
staff v. 提供人員
to supply (an organization or business) with workers
- The factory had to shut down because it was completely staffed with illegal immigrants.
工廠必須關閉，因為他們的工作人員通通都是非法移民。
gist n. 要點、大意
/ˈʤɪst/
the general or basic meaning of something said or written — usually + of
- Betty didn't know French but she watched the street performer’s body language and got the gist of what he was saying.
Betty 雖然不懂法文，但是她光看街頭藝人的肢體語言就大概知道他的意思。
- I didn't pay attention to the entire speech but I think I got the gist.
我沒有注意聽整個演講，但是我大概知道演講的大意。
- We don't have time to hear the entire report so please just give us the gist.
我們沒有時間聽整篇報告，只要跟我們說報告的大意就好了。
