| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Do you live in your native country? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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| 1/2+1/2+1/2=? | Nov 10, 2006 |
mediamatrix wrote: So, I spent roughly the first half my life in the UK, the second half outside the UK - and I'm just wondering where I shall end up spending the third half  ! MediaMatrix [Edited at 2006-11-09 22:54]
A life and a half!!? You are not talking about afterlife, are you?
| | | | anulka 
Finland
Local time: 19:10
German to Polish
+ ...
| Not since 2003 | Nov 10, 2006 |
Born in Poland, moved to Germany 3 years ago and spent those years between Germany and Slovenia. And now I am typing those words from sunny Finland.
| | | | CMJ_Trans (X)
Local time: 18:10
French to English
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| Not sure what the underlying purpose of this poll is but... | Nov 10, 2006 |
I have lived outside the UK, where I was born and bred since forever. I have in fact lived longer in French-speaking countries than in the English-speaking world.
Although as a rule I will only translate into English, I write my articles mainly in French, because I find it easier (I then have to translate them into English!).
The one thing I have found is that, if you are not careful, you lose your mother tongue under such circumstances. Language evolves and you do not necessa... See more I have lived outside the UK, where I was born and bred since forever. I have in fact lived longer in French-speaking countries than in the English-speaking world.
Although as a rule I will only translate into English, I write my articles mainly in French, because I find it easier (I then have to translate them into English!).
The one thing I have found is that, if you are not careful, you lose your mother tongue under such circumstances. Language evolves and you do not necessarily evolve with it. I make a conscious effort nowadays only to read English language books - with rare exceptions for something very good. Once a week we buy a big fat UK paper and read it from cover to cover - not the "news" part because it tends to be rather parochial for those of us abroad. We try to remember to talk English at home.
OK - every day I exchange emails with people all over the world and mostly I do so in English, unless I know they are French or German, etc.
My biggest fear is being laughed at because my language is antidiluvian......
Anyone else feel that way? ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Poll was not edited | Nov 10, 2006 |
Dear ProZians,
I just wanted to clarify that I didn't edit the poll, since to me it clearly meant, in other words, do you live in the country where you were born. I had thought about tweaking it a little, but then again, one of the purposes of our daily polls is to to generate discussion which this one obviously has done:)
Thanks for participating!!
Regards,
Patrick
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| @ Olivia, CMJ_Trans and Balasubramaniam | Nov 10, 2006 |
Olivia MAHÉ wrote:
Do you live in your native LANGUAGE country, obviously!
No, I don't, but, like CMJ_Trans, I make a daily effort to keep it up, through book/magazine reading, satellite TV channels, Internet newspapers/sites and mere personal/email contact with native Spanish speakers (both from Spain and Latin America), as well as through yearly and/or monthly trips. The same applies to the language from which I translate (basically, USA English).
And yes!, CMJ_Trans, in regards to my country of birth's Spanish, as well as the language from which I translate, my *colloquial* version can definitely be from the times of Jurassic Park (the dinosaurs', not the movie's). I was born in Panama and I lived full-time in Panama till I was 19, with a short return for 2 1/2 years afterwards, and I have also lived in the USA (4 years), France (almost a year) and Spain (here for more than 15 years, with frequent visits).
Balasubramaniam wrote:
The question reveals a mainly 18th and 19th century mind set t this skewed linguistic situation of Europe cannot be taken as the norm for the world. [/quote]
Having lived in Europe for more than 20 years, I find your comment rather offensive. I think if there is a continent that has a solid tradition of a multilingual culture/attitude is definitely Europe, from which, for instance, originate a lot of the languages that are spoken elsewhere in other parts of the world. Why some of these languages are spoken elsewhere is irrelevant in regards to the question asked here.
IMHO, I think it would be wiser to keep the political comments separated from this question.
I believe what Olivia was probably aiming at was simply to know how well one can keep her/his "native" language command when not living in *a* country where the said native language is spoken daily. This is obviously important when working as a translator of the declared native language.
But, like I already said, this question could also be applied the other way around: to the language from which you translate.
Regards,
Ivette
[Edited at 2006-11-10 14:52]
| | | | Olivia MAHÉ
France
Local time: 18:10
English to French
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| No "underlying purpose"... just curiosity! | Nov 10, 2006 |
Initially, I simply wondered what percentage of prozians lived let’s say “abroad”, that is in a country different from their native one (or the one they consider such), both geographically AND linguistically.
Meaning: how many of you all daily use a language that is not your own, ie your first language?
I realise the question was ambiguous...
Would: do you prefer tea or coffee? be considered a better one?
| | | | Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:10
Serbian to English
+ ...
| Define "country" ... | Apr 10, 2022 |
The country I was born in vanished, to be replaced by another country that's also vanished by now.
Seems to be running in the family as my grand-mother lived in five countries without ever moving from her native village ...
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