Writing Finnish/English Translation

[SleekSailor]

Last February, I had the opportunity to take a course in finnish language. However, due to the emphasis on conversational as opposed to writtian- I am struggling with composition. And no handouts were given to help with dialogue. I have been to many translation web sites and this is how I found the forum. I am interested in meeting finns for friendship and learning your language better. I have included a short paragraph for translation analysis. The original has been corrected to this new version- & I wish to know if the presentation is correct. I would appreciate true and direct response, for your intrepretation is the only true opportunity I have at this time. I am unable to find free translators that are error free. Intertran, has to be the worst & many sites use this translator as their free online service. I would appreciate your generosity in helping me now. Thanks!

Mitä kuuluu? Kiitos e mailista Mitä teit ajaa aikana viikonloppuna.Me olimme purjehtimassa jalkeilla(up) ajaa vapaalla.Tuuli oli itsepintaine kehiä , taivas alakuloinen.Mitä sinä teet vapaa aikana ?Minä tykkään tavata ja keskustella ihmisten kanssa . Jokaisella on mielenkiintoinen tarina.Onko sinulla mahdollisuus tulla rapu juhliin ? Minun ystävät pitävät hyvästä ruuasta , ja he tulevat juhliin jokavuosi . Pidatkö sinä kalasta ? Minä pidän äyriäisistä , osterista , hummerista , munakkaasta , Viisas veli teki nuudeli keittoa kun olin asettaa takaisin kana noodle keitto jahka huonosti kotona alusta kipeä .Kuka sinulle tekee ruuan kotona ? Ei ole parempaa kuin elävä musiikki , pidä musiikista erittäin paljon .Me menimme hyväntekeväisyys konsterttiin viimeviikolla , Meillä oli hauskaa. Meillä oli ruokaa . kossua , kylmää kaljaa , mukavaa viettää aikaa yhdessä !! Toivon että kirjoitat , haluan tuntea sinut paremmin . Odotan sinun e mailia tulevaisuudessa , Näkemiin nyt , halauksia !!

[Hank W.]

Not *that* bad, the latter part is more or less understandable. I don't know what the hell you are "chasing/driving time" for. Mitä teit viikonloppuna? is as coherent as it gets. Me olimme purjehtimassa. put a period. omit the silly "on foot drive freely" whatever you are translating from. I like the "sky being depressed", nice metaphor, though the wind in the playpen before it makes it almost too bizarre.

If you've done that on your own off a dictionary you're on a good track, I'm quite impressed.

[SleekSailor]

Thank-you for your prompt reply!!! Now I am truly embarassed, for what i thought had been a series of corrections to the original text- may instead have been a response to the dialogue. So with complete stupidty I once again appeal to you for help. Otherwise i will always be at a loss- and my Finnish will be a disgrace to all! I seriously wish to learn your language-even if it means crawling under the table- cheeks blushing!

Hyvää iltaa,(Good Evening,) Mitä kuuluu? (How are You?) Kiittää - te ajaksi sinun email.(Thank-you for your email.) Mikä valmis te ajaa aikana viikonloppu? (What did you do over the weekend? ) Me poissa purjehtiminen jalkeilla ajaa vapaalla. (We went sailing up the coast.)Paikalla itsepintainen kehiä , taivas aina joten alakuloinen.(There was a persistent wind, the sky ever so blue.) Mikä ajaa te ajaa kotona sinun armahtaa aika? (What do you do in your spare time?)Mikä kisat ajaa te ilakoida?(What sports do you play?)Syrjään lausutut sanat polveutua ajava , I- kuin jotta kiteboard , ja hulmuta lähetys ajaksi ammattiosasto armeliaisuus.(Aside from racing, I like to kiteboard, and fly missions for a local charity.) Me hulmuta kärsivällinen kotona kaivata -lta heti tapahtuva lääketieteellinen asento ajaksi vapauttaa. I- lempiä kokous & läksytys avulla veres ihmiset.We fly patients in need of immediate medical attention for free. I love meeting & talking with new people.Jokainen has by mielenkiintoinen juoni (Everyone has an interesting story.)

Hankkia te had mahdollisuudet jotta saapuvilla crabfest? (Have you had the opportunity to attend a crabfest?)Minun ystävyys lempiä hyvä elintarvikkeet ja etsiä edistää jotta pilkku jotta minun lobsterfest joka ikä. (My friends love good food and look forward to comming to my lobsterfest every year.)Ajaa te aterioida kalastaa?(Do you eat fish?) I-KIRJAIN lempiä äyriäinen ; osteri shrimp,crab , ja hummeri esp. seafood omelete.(I love shellfish; oysters, shrimp,crab, and lobster esp. seafood omelete)Clam keitto asettaa takaisin kana noodle keitto jahka huonosti kotona alusta. (Clam broth replaces chicken noodle soup when ill in bed.) Joka does tekeillä kotona sinun koti-? (Who does the cooking in your home?)

Paikalla ei ensinkään aivan kuin suorana lähetyksenä musiikki iloita musiikki erittäin hyvin. (There's nothing quite like live music, I enjoy music very much.)Me poissa jotta hyödyttää sopia kestää työviikko (We went to a benefit concert last week.) Mikä hauskuus! (What fun!)Me aivan aiheuttaa elintarvikkeet kossu / jäähtynyt kalja jotta annos - it's erinomainen elämäntapa jotta panna keskenään avulla friends. (We all bring food/kossu/cold beer to share- it's a great way to get together with friends.)How usea broder / sisarukset ajaa te hankkia?(How many broder/sisters do you have?)Ajaa he suorana lähetyksenä kotona Suomi kanssa?(Do they live in Finland too?)

Paikalla on joten hyvin enemmän jotta sananvalta. (There is so much more to say.) Haluta harus kotona hipaista , I- lempiä jotta panna jotta osata te vedonlyöjä.(Please stay in touch, I would love to get to know you better.) i-kirjain etsiä edistää jotta sinun email.( i look forward to your email.) Hyvästi ajaksi kas noin. Halaaminen _/)~~~ (Goodbye for now. Huggs, _/)~~~ ) Nyt kuluva on erittäin hutiloitu finnish.(This is very bad Finnish.)Haluta korjata erehtyä kotona kirjoitus , joten että I- toukokuu edistyä.(Please correct mistakes in text, so that I may improve.)

[sammy]

Syrjään lausutut sanat polveutua ajava , I- kuin jotta kiteboard , ja hulmuta lähetys ajaksi ammattiosasto armeliaisuus.(Aside from racing, I like to kiteboard, and fly missions for a local charity.)

pardon me, but those translation machines (I suppose you are using one?) do seem to make a complete mess of a job I hope you do not mind me saying this, but the Finnish sentence -if it can be called a sentence- in the quoted example above is just, erm, plain nonsense...

I'm just saying this because your first go was pretty good - although not "correct" Finnish, it was more or less understandable. So just to warn you of the dangers of machine translations - the damned things do not have any sense of the contents of what you're trying to say, they just (barely) recognise the individual words. For example "Ajaa te aterioida kalastaa", which was supposed to mean "Do you eat fish" ends up in reality to say something like "to drive, you, to have a meal, to fish" In effect, it does not actually communicate anything. Many of the resulting "Finnish" sentences are a bit like... erm, saying "I to wish sea gesundheit towards me anyone without goodbye lawnmower" to an Englishman. A set of words with no meaning, in other words, is an usual end result with those English-Finnish translation machines.

It may be that e.g. the AltaVista BabelFish works relatively well with certain languages... however I've never come across an on-line machine translator that could make ANY sense of Finnish, either way. Sad but true. Our Fenno-ugric lingo's too complicated it seems

So, to be honest, it makes not much sense to correct the mistakes in that machine translation, we'd need to re-write the whole damn thing. Explaining the "why" of each correction would take a better part of today, so I guess it's better if you get back to your Finnish textbooks. You won't really learn anything consulting the machines I'm afraid...

Where do you live? Would it be possible for you to attend some more Finnish courses?

[Hank W.]

You're getting worse. Buy a real dictionary you sound as a pervert.


Kiittää - te ajaksi sinun email.(Thank-you for your email.)
To thank- for duration your email.

Mikä valmis te ajaa aikana viikonloppu? (What did you do over the weekend? )

What ready you drive duration of weekend


Me poissa purjehtiminen jalkeilla ajaa vapaalla. (We went sailing up the coast.)
We away the act of sailing afoot drive on freetime.


Paikalla itsepintainen kehiä , taivas aina joten alakuloinen.(There was a persistent wind, the sky ever so blue.)

On the spot persistent rim, the sky endlessly depressed.

Mikä ajaa te ajaa kotona sinun armahtaa aika? (What do you do in your spare time?)

What drive you drive home you parole time?

Mikä kisat ajaa te ilakoida?(What sports do you play?)

What games drive you frolicking.

Syrjään lausutut sanat polveutua ajava , I- kuin jotta kiteboard , ja hulmuta lähetys ajaksi ammattiosasto armeliaisuus.(Aside from racing, I like to kiteboard, and fly missions for a local charity.)

The words said on the side evolve from driving if then kiteboard and flutter during broadcast of the union chapter mercy of god.

Me hulmuta kärsivällinen kotona kaivata -lta heti tapahtuva lääketieteellinen asento ajaksi vapauttaa. I- lempiä kokous & läksytys avulla veres ihmiset.(We fly patients in need of immediate medical attention for free. I love meeting & talking with new people.)

We billow patience home yearning immediately happening medical position duration liberate. I make love and scold with help of raw people.


Jokainen has by mielenkiintoinen juoni (Everyone has an interesting story.)

Everyone has an interesting plot.

Hankkia te had mahdollisuudet jotta saapuvilla crabfest? (Have you had the opportunity to attend a crabfest?)

Have you procured the possibilities of that available crabfest?

Minun ystävyys lempiä hyvä elintarvikkeet ja etsiä edistää jotta pilkku jotta minun lobsterfest joka ikä. (My friends love good food and look forward to comming to my lobsterfest every year.)

My friendship makes love to groceries, and finds proliferates that if my lobsterfest every age.

Ajaa te aterioida kalastaa?(Do you eat fish?)

Do you dine fishing?

I-KIRJAIN lempiä äyriäinen ; osteri shrimp,crab , ja hummeri esp. seafood omelete.(I love shellfish; oysters, shrimp,crab, and lobster esp. seafood omelete)

The letter i makes love to shellfish

Clam keitto asettaa takaisin kana noodle keitto jahka huonosti kotona alusta. (Clam broth replaces chicken noodle soup when ill in bed.)

Clam soup puts back chicken noodle soup once badly at home from the beginning.

Joka does tekeillä kotona sinun koti-? (Who does the cooking in your home?)

That does under construction at home your home

Paikalla ei ensinkään aivan kuin suorana lähetyksenä musiikki iloita musiikki erittäin hyvin. (There's nothing quite like live music, I enjoy music very much.)

On location not at all just like live broadcast music rejoices music very well.


Me poissa jotta hyödyttää sopia kestää työviikko (We went to a benefit concert last week.)

We away so that it benefits to make an agreement unperishable work week


Mikä hauskuus! (What fun!)

what hilarity

Me aivan aiheuttaa elintarvikkeet kossu / jäähtynyt kalja jotta annos - it's erinomainen elämäntapa jotta panna keskenään avulla friends. (We all bring food/kossu/cold beer to share- it's a great way to get together with friends.)

We just cause groceries kossu, cold beer so that portion, its's great lifestyle to intercourse with one each other with the help of friends

How usea broder / sisarukset ajaa te hankkia?(How many broder/sisters do you have?)

How many brother, siblings do you procure?

Ajaa he suorana lähetyksenä kotona Suomi kanssa?(Do they live in Finland too?)

Do they drive a live broadcast at home with Finland?

Paikalla on joten hyvin enemmän jotta sananvalta. (There is so much more to say.)

In the place is so very more as if freedom of speech.

Haluta harus kotona hipaista , I- lempiä jotta panna jotta osata te vedonlyöjä.(Please stay in touch, I would love to get to know you better.)

I want to touch the sailstay at home, I make love to copulate to know how you gambler.

[sammy]

SleekSailor,

Hank summed it up pretty well

Please note however that we're not laughing at you, it's rather the translation machines given a trashing here (Actually they seem to be a bit like something that might have been manufactured by the Sirius Cybernetic Corporation, if you know your Douglas Adams...)

A friendly word on your way towards mastery of Finnish - do not rely too much on the Internet in this respect. Do some more courses, try and get some real textbooks, etc... they'll help you instead of leading you completely astray.

Just thought of something. Check out this link:

http://finland.cimo.fi/links/studying_f ... links.html

Good luck on your journey!

[sammy]

Now, isn't this funny

Just to show you that on-line translation services may (or may not) work!

This is an original French poem called "La Mer est infinie" by Jean de la Ville de Mirmont:

La Mer est infinie et mes rêves sont fous.
La mer chante au soleil en battant les falaises
Et mes rêves légers ne se sentent plus d'aise
De danser sur la mer comme des oiseaux soûls.
Le vaste mouvement des vagues les emporte,
La brise les agite et les roule en ses plis ;
Jouant dans le sillage. Ils feront une escorte
Aux vaisseaux que mon coeur dans leur fuite a suivis.
Ivres d'air et de sel et brûlés par l'écume
De la mer qui console et qui lave des pleurs
Ils connaîtront le large et sa bonne amertume ;
Les goélands perdus les prendront pour des leurs.

The AltaVista BabelFish makes a pretty good effort on translating it to English; not half bad, considering it's by a machine

The Sea is infinite and my dreams are insane.
The sea sings with the sun by beating cliffs
And my light dreams do not feel any more ease
to dance on the sea like drunk birds.
The vast movement of the waves carries them,
the breeze agitates them and rolls them in its folds;
Playing in the wake. They will make an escort
With the vessels that my heart in their escape followed.
Drunk of air and salt and burned by sea foam
which comforts and which washes tears
They will know the broad one and its good bitterness;
The lost seagulls will take them for theirs.

Now then, we'll take the original French again and feed it into the famous Intertrans (as BabelFish doesn't even pretend it could do the trick in Finnish as well )

Et voilà, le fait accompli

Häntä Aallokko olen määrätön ja minun haaveilla aari fous.
Häntä aallokko olen laulu kotona aurinko aikaa taisteleminen kallio
Ja minun haaveilla huikenteleva them itse tuomita anymore häpeämätön
Jokseenkin aikaa jokseenkin häntä aallokko koska jokin hempukka humalassa.
Hänelle hempukka ele jokin epäselvä kaartaa,
Häntä ilmavirta ravistella ja coil aikaa häntä menninkäinen;
Esiintyvä kotona 1994 hinata.
He jälkisäädös ajaa saattue Aikaa alus
koska minun kuulla aikaa heidän kaikota has koherentti.
Humala häpeämätön ja keittosuola ja luona kuohua
Aallokko thanksggiving hallitus ja thanksggiving bandstand jokin vaikeroiva
Heidät jälkisäädös osata auki aallokko ja häntä hyvä karvaus;
goélands poissa jälkisäädös ajaa ajaksi jokin heidän.

"A Tail, waves - I'm without bounds and mine to dream an acre, fous!
A tail, waves - I'm a song at home... the sun, some time, fighting, a rock...
and mine dreaming light-mannered (them), itself to judge anymore shameless...
Somewhat, some time, somewhat him the waves because some drunken tart!
For him a tart, some gesture unclear to swerve... him, rush of air to shake and (coil) him - a goblin! Someone who performs.. at home, 1994 ( ), to tow..."

Nah, I can't go on anymore :lol:

YIKES Absolute winner of the Vogon poetry competition 2005

[Hank W.]

Please note however that we're not laughing at you, it's rather the translation machines given a trashing here

Indeed, these traslation machines are the source of endless mirth. There was a hotel/travel site recently that popped up. http://www.hotelus.com/fi/
... Milan, nice hotel, is city like not at home Italy, something dodgy home, street robber home

Now I know why all the religious sited claim "Jesus is uppermost hotelboy" in "Finnish".

Could we make a class-action suit against the vendor of that software? They're causing me emotional distress.

[sammy]

http://www.hotelus.com/fi/

"Aikuinen Alennuksia hotelleista Kahleet"

(approximately = "adult discounts, chains provided by the hotels")

Erm... what kinda hotels are they advertising?!?

[Hank W.]

Probably the ones where the letter i goes to make love to the shellfish

[Mark I.]

... Me hulmuta kärsivällinen kotona kaivata -lta heti tapahtuva lääketieteellinen asento ajaksi vapauttaa. I- lempiä kokous & läksytys avulla veres ihmiset. Minun ystävyys lempiä hyvä elintarvikkeet ja etsiä edistää jotta pilkku jotta minun lobsterfest joka ikä. Mikä hauskuus! (What fun!)Me aivan aiheuttaa elintarvikkeet kossu / jäähtynyt kalja jotta annos - it's erinomainen elämäntapa jotta panna keskenään avulla friends. Haluta harus kotona hipaista , I- lempiä jotta panna jotta osata te vedonlyöjä

"Haluta harus kotona hipaista" pervert sex machine.

[yamoussoukro]

It was really funny to read those computer translations.
I think we could still make a group effort with, SleekSailors second post.
I take the first part. I don't go to grammatical details, you can learn gramma in web. For the verbs check verbix.com and check other links on this site. Good luck with studying. Now someone could correct me for a change.

These were already correct:

Good evening = Hyvää iltaa!
How are you? = Mitä Kuuluu?/ Miten menee?

And these not:

Thank you for your email. = Kiitos sähköpostista(si) /emailista(si).
(-si suffix means your)

What did you do over the weekend? = Mitä teit viikonloppuna?

We went sailing up the coast. = Purjehdimme rannikkoa pitkin ylös(up)/pohjoiseen(north).

There was a persistent wind, = Siellä oli itsepintainen tuuli, taivas oli koko
the sky ever so blue. ajan sininen(color)/alakuloinen(depressed)



(Koko ajan = all the time.)
(siellä oli = there was)
(You can also say tuuli oli itsepintainen= the wind was persistent)

What do you do in your spare time? = Mitä teet vapaa-aikana(si)?
(or mitä teet vapaa-ajalla(si)?)

What sports do you play? = Mitä urheilua harrastat? / Mitä urheilulajeja
harrastat?

Aside from racing, I like to kiteboard, and fly missions for a local charity.
We fly patients in need of immediate medical attention for free.

!!!!Could someone else help with these ones???
I doubt that I could translate them correctly.


I love meeting & talking with new people. = Tykkään/Minusta on kiva/
Pidän/On kiva tavata uusia
ihmisiä ja jutella heidän
kanssaan.

tykkään = I like
Minusta on kiva = I like(it nice for me to)
Pidän = I like
On kiva = It's nice to
tavata uusia ihmisiä = to meet new people.
Jutella heidän kanssaan = to talk with them.
(When there are two verbs in a roll, the second one is in infinitive form. Just as in english or Spanish. Tykkään kalastaa/ I like to fish/ Me gusta pescar.

(To love= rakastaa is a strong word in Finnish, seldom used about hobbies, though it's not impossible. Lempiä is an old expression for the same thing, but as Hank pointed out, many younger people would understand it as 'to make love' instead.

Everyone has an interesting story. = Jokaisella on mielenkiintoinen tarina.

(Everyone has his/her story. = Jokaisella on tarinansa.

[GaffiGubbi]

That so-called translation with making love to shellfish etc. had me rolling on the floor laughing! It seems as if the translator deliberately chose the worst possible meanings to a word without any concept of grammar. I mean, hulmuta instead of lentää? Sananvalta instead of sanoa? Alakuloinen instead of sininen?

[Clive]

Mmmmmm... shellfish

[Hank W.]

It seems as if the translator deliberately chose the worst possible meanings to a word without any concept of grammar. I mean, hulmuta instead of lentää? Sananvalta instead of sanoa? Alakuloinen instead of sininen?

It lists them alpahbetically. the person then is supposed to pick the correct synonym. Now if the people designing the software would use some sort of holistic listing by the commonness of the word the translator might give a slightly better outcome. But in cases of homonyms one does need to know if haen lakkaa satamasta kun lakkaa satamasta what lakkaa and satamasta are in which position. Or it probably would get I get quit from rain when I lacquer the harbor...