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Fourth ProZ.com Translation Contest

English to Portuguese (EU)


Finalists:7

Source text:

When my wife told me she was pregnant, I got that stomach-churning sensation that hits you on a plunging roller coaster. I was excited, yes, but... oh my God. Parenting was for, well, parents.

So here I stand, bug-eyed and sweating buckets like some poorly-drawn cartoon character, the question marks floating in the air around my head while I try to prepare myself for the complete care and responsibility of another living being besides my cat. I'm responsible for making sure this little human doesn't grow up and turn into a complete monster. If the child turns out a social moron-- my fault. If the babe can't find Luxembourg on the map, blame me for not providing a better education. They'll need therapy, and of course that will be on my head too. So many opportunities for wrong turns!

I remember the day my father sat me down and awkwardly told me about the birds and the bees; it was perhaps the most excruciating and embarrassing half hour of both our lives. I can't do that to another human being.

Maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself here. I can do this, I say; I'll be a great father. My child will be reared a well-rounded, educated, upstanding citizen of the world, and he or she won't hate me.

And then I imagine the baby, still safe within the confines of my wife's belly, suddenly opening an alarmed eye as the thought enters his or her mind: "What if my dad just can't hack it?


Entry #2218 - Points: 14 - WINNER!
AnaLouro
Quando a minha mulher me disse que estava grávida, senti no estômago a sensação de quem desce a grande velocidade numa montanha russa. Fiquei entusiasmado, sim, mas… meu Deus. Ser pai era para… bem… para pais.

Assim fiquei, de olhos esbugalhados e a transpirar por todos os poros, parecendo uma figura de banda desenhada, com pontos de interrogação a flutuarem no ar à volta da minha cabeça, enquanto me tentava preparar para a responsabilidade de cuidar de outro ser vivo que não Show full text

jack_speak
Parabens, Ana!! Gostei!
Beta Cummins
Os adjetivos em Portugues-PT soam tao mais... veementes!
Parabens, Ana!!!
AnaLouro
Obrigada Jack e obrigada Beta. Acho realmente que devia haver votações distintas para PT Europeu e PT do Brasil. Eu por exemplo acho que não consigo distinguir mto bem se uma tradução em brasileiro está boa, por isso tenho sempre tendência a votar nas traduções de portugal, o que deixa os meus colegas em desvantagem.
Katarina Peters
Parabens, Ana, Voce mereceu! Mas como disse à Maria, concordo plenamente que devia ter distinção entre o Portugues brasileiro e europeu...
Entry #1436 - Points: 12
Elisabete Cunha
Quando a minha mulher me disse que estava grávida, senti aquele friozinho no estômago que temos quando andamos na montanha-russa. Fiquei contente, é claro, mas... valha-me Deus. Ser pai era para… pais.

E assim fiquei, de olhos esbugalhados e todo a transpirar, como uma personagem animada mal desenhada, com os pontos de interrogação a pairar à volta da minha cabeça, enquanto me tentava preparar para todos os cuidados e responsabilidade que teria por outro ser vivo, para além do meu Show full text

Entry #1534 - Points: 11
Fjfjcbv hjfjh
Quando a minha mulher me disse que estava grávida, eu senti aquela sensação de aperto no estômago que se apodera de nós quando andamos numa montanha russa. Eu estava muito entusiasmado, mas… meu deus!!!
Ser pai era algo para, bom, para pais.

Então, aqui estou eu, com aquele olhar de insecto e a suar em bica, como uma personagem de um desenho animado mal desenhado, a pergunta paira no ar em torno da minha cabeça, enquanto eu tento preparar-me para os enormes cuidados e responsabilidades Show full text

Entry #2308 - Points: 11
Eneide Moreira
Quando minha mulher me contou que estava grávida, veio aquele frio na barriga que a gente sente despencando numa montanha russa. Fiquei empolgado, claro, mas... ai, minha nossa! A paternidade é um negócio, digamos, para pais.

Fico parado, com os olhos arregalados e suando em bicas como um personagem mal acabado de um desenho animado, os pontos de interrogação flutuando no ar em torno da minha cabeça, enquanto tento me preparar para todos os cuidados e a responsabilidade com outro ser Show full text

Entry #1289 - Points: 9
Maria Proenca
Quando a minha mulher me disse que estava grávida, senti um formigueiro no estômago como se estivesse a descer uma montanha russa. Sim, estava entusiasmado, mas …. Oh, meu Deus!  Ser pai ou mãe era para…. bem, para pais.

Então cá estou eu com olhos esbugalhados e a escorrer rios de suor  qual uma personagem de banda desenhada de má qualidade, os pontos de interrogação a flutuar à volta da minha cabeça enquanto me preparo para assumir a responsabilidade de Show full text

Entry #1450 - Points: 9
Beta Cummins
jack_speak
Quando minha mulher me contou que estava grávida, eu tive aquela sensação de frio no estômago que te pega quando você voa montanha-russa abaixo. Eu estava animado, sim, mas. Ai, meu Deus. Ser pais era para, bem, pais.

Então aqui estou eu, de olho arregalado e suando em bicas feito um personagem de desenho animado muito mal desenhado, com sinais de interrogação voando em volta da minha cabeça enquanto tento me preparar para o total cuidado e responsabilidade por outro ser vivo além Show full text

Entry #1853 - Points: 8
Anonymous
Quando a minha mulher me disse que estava grávida, senti aquele aperto no estômago típico de quando descemos uma montanha russa. Fiquei entusiasmado, claro, mas… meu Deus. A paternidade, bem, é coisa de pais.

Portanto aqui estou eu, de olhos esbugalhados e a suar as estopinhas como um cartoon mal desenhado, com pontos de interrogação a flutuar à volta da cabeça enquanto tento preparar uma vida de dedicação e responsabilidade por outro ser vivo que não o meu gato. Sou responsável Show full text

Feedback - Fourth ProZ.com Translation Contest
This space is provided for feedback and suggestions about the contest in this particular language pair.
As we have already planned, this feature is now open to all members (full, community and student members).
Maria Proenca
It was my first contest. Thanks for all the votes I had.
Maria Proenca
In the future I think there should be a distinction between Brazilian and European Portuguese. There are more differences between them then you can imagine.
Katarina Peters
Maria, I'm glad you brought it up, I fully agree with you, there should definitely be a distinction between Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese, but the differences are not apparent to those who don't speak the language. I say this because a while ago I wrote to Florencia about it, and there was even a forum discussion in favour of it, but it seems that ProZcom doesn't agree...and that's really unfortunate, for either side...
Beta Cummins
I am glad I decided to comment on the differences between PT/BR Portuguese and the necessity of voting becoming available for both. Everybody else is voicing their opinions and who knows, ProZ might change its mind on the matter for a next contest.
A colleague mentioned that only two Brazilian peers participated in this last contest, myself being one of them. Nonetheless, it is still an official (and the only one, in Brazil) language and for that, should be taken into consideration.

Regards to all,

Beta
Rafa Lombardino
I'm all for having some kind of differentiation. Even after the spelling rules pass for all Portuguese-speaking countries (will they this time?), Brazilian and European Portuguese have deep grammar and vocabulary differences and a distinction should be made regarding that.
Beta Cummins
Rafa,

Exactly! I just recently got an assignment (unfinished by a previous translator) targeted to Sao Paulo audience and the previous translator was from Portugal. Had I not checked the material and warned my client, imagine the fiasco that presentation would've been... So that is to prove that, in fact, most people do not know the difference between the two.
Rafa Lombardino
Hi, Beta!

Couldn't agree with you more! I work with Elisabete (2nd place) and I have been learning bit by bit the differences between her beautiful Portuguese and ours. :) BTW, esqueci-me de dar-te os parabéns, Elisabete! :o*
Katarina Peters
To all supporters of distinction between BPT and EPT, I found Florencia's answer when I raised the issue to her at the second contest, here it is:

"Dear Katarina,
Please accept my apologies for the delay. I have read the Portuguese forum and my opinion as regards making the distinction between Brazilian Portuguese and European Portugese is this: I really believe this is a delicate and difficult issue. The same as with Portuguese, the Spanish in Argentina is not the same as the Spanish in Spain, or Mexico, or Colombia.
I think this distinction represents an additional issue
that should be evaluated by the voters and also represents another challenge for the participants.
In my opinion the contest should reamain at the language level."

Any more comments on this issue are welcome, as it is of interest to all of us, participants...

Maria Proenca
In fact in Portugal we are used to listening to BPT because of soap operas but it's difficult for Brazilian people to understand us. In Brazil they translate the Portuguese soap operas so that in Brazil people can understand what the actors are saying!!! But we also have some dificulties:there are lots of words with different meanings! There's a bank ad on Portuguese TV with our Brazilian football coach and they "play" with this subject. The fact is that he says the Brazilian word for shoelaces and it's so different from the European Portuguese that it seems another language!
Deolindo
I recently read somewhere that the issue of standardizing Portuguese spelling was a first step to bolster the case for making Portuguese a UN working language. The news piece, which was actually posted on a Brazilian website, went on to claim that the effort was aimed at pulling Brazil out of "linguistic isolation" so that Portuguese speaking countries could support their arguments at the UN as a block. Who is more interested in seeing Portuguese as a UN working language than we? Based on Florencia's advice, which I fully endorse, I don't think it is a very good and wise idea trying to push this matter for the sake of a Proz.com contest.
Eneide Moreira
My congratulations to the winner, to the ones who qualified, and also to ones who didn't, for their effort and good job. Also thank you all for the votes. Brazilian Portuguese is so different from European, and not only in spelling. It's a pity that Proz keeps forgetting we are 180 million people and quite a market!
Elisabete Cunha
I agree with all the colleagues regarding the differentiation that should be made between Pt-Br and Pt-Pt. When I voted on this contest for instance I have chosen Pt-Pt translations, not because I didn't liked the others, it's just that I don't feel I can accurately evaluate a Pt-Br translation. I mean, there really are so many differences that the two should be handled separately.
Congratulations to Ana and to all the other contestants as well.
Maria Amorim (X)
About the discussion regarding the differentiation between PT-PT and PT-BR, just some reflections: There is only one Portuguese language with its natural cultural specificities and this happens with many other languages ( as I already pointed out by Florencia) and within the same country. If this contest was within Brazilian territory, the translation differences would be rather amusing and fantastically different between north and south, east and west. But we don’t need to travel such a long distance: just imagine a carioca (from Rio de Janeiro) and a “mineiro” (from Minas Gerais) translating this same text.

One point that has not been observed is that the contest text was rather colloquial and naturally enabled an informal writing accentuating language particularities. My suggestion is that in future contests the text to be translated should stress the literary quality, be less informal.

Let’s preserve the Portuguese language as a unity. Diversity is richness, not a limit neither a border.

Deolindo
"Let’s preserve the Portuguese language as a unity. Diversity is richness, not a limit neither a border."

I couldn't agree with you more on this and everything you said, Maria!

Are the Australians, the Nigerians, and the Britons having the same kind of debate about English or the Canadians, the Senegalese, and the Belgians in relation to French?
Maria Amorim (X)
Thank you for your post, Deolindo! I am really glad to hear the opinion of a representative of a Portuguese spoken African country, as the debate was confined to PT-PT and PT-BR, and to know we share the same view about the unity of the Portuguese language.
Katarina Peters
In reading all that has been said here, (and I'm not disagreeing with the Portuguese language as a unity), the only point I'd like to stress is that a PTB text cannot be judged, evaluated or appreciated by a PTP speaker who is not thoroughly familiar with the complexities of PTB...and vice versa!
There are hundres of websites on the net dealing with this issue, of which I'm citing just one here, and I wish everyone would read it and realize how important an issue this is, especially for translators!

http://www.necco.ca/faq_what_is_the_difference.htm

And, as far as differences between other languages, be it Spanish, French, African, etc., the MSOffice Proofing Tools makes those dfferentiations by listing each separately (i.e., Spanish (Argentina); Spanish (Colombia); French (Canada); French (France); Portuguese (Portugal); Portuguese (Angola), Portuguese (Brazil)....etc.etc.etc.
Maria Proenca
Thanks for expressing your opinion Katarina! I completely agree with you, I mean I see Portuguese language as a unity but I am aware of the fact that there are huge differences.
Katarina Peters
Thank you for your support, Maria. I should have added that no other language has such a huge variation. Interestingly, KudoZ does make some distinctions for answering KudoZ questions, by having you select the target dialect: English (UK) and English (US); (Portuguese (Portugal) and Portuguese (Brazil). So why not in Translation Contests? Isn't it equally (or more) important in the translation of a full story, not only of a specific word or term? I'd really like to know the answer to this one, as there seems to be a contradiction somewhere...

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