ProZ.com translation contests »
1st Annual ProZ.com Translation Contest: "Awakening" » English to Dutch

Competition in this pair is now closed.

Source text in English

Heathrow Airport is one of the few places in England you can be sure of seeing a gun. These guns are carried by policemen in short-sleeved shirts and black flak-jackets, alert for terrorists about to blow up Tie-Rack. They are unlikely to confront me directly, but if they do I shall tell them the truth. I shall state my business. I’m planning to stop at Heathrow Airport until I see someone I know. (...)

Astonishingly, I wait for thirty-nine minutes and don’t see one person I know. Not one, and no-one knows me. I’m as anonymous as the drivers with their universal name-cards (some surnames I know), except the drivers are better dressed. Since the kids, whatever I wear looks like pyjamas. Coats, shirts, T-shirts, jeans, suits; like slept-in pyjamas. (...)

I hear myself thinking about all the people I know who have let me down by not leaving early on a Tuesday morning for glamorous European destinations. My former colleagues from the insurance office must still be stuck at their desks, like I always said they would be, when I was stuck there too, wasting my time and unable to settle while Ally moved steadily onward, getting her PhD and her first research fellowship at Reading University, her first promotion.

Our more recent grown-up friends, who have serious jobs and who therefore I half expect to be seeing any moment now, tell me that home-making is a perfectly decent occupation for a man, courageous even, yes, manly to stay at home with the kids. These friends of ours are primarily Ally’s friends. I don’t seem to know anyone anymore, and away from the children and the overhead planes, hearing myself think, I hear the thoughts of a whinger. This is not what I had been hoping to hear.

I start crying, not grimacing or sobbing, just big silent tears rolling down my cheeks. I don’t want anyone I know to see me crying, because I’m not the kind of person who cracks up at Heathrow airport some nothing Tuesday morning. I manage our house impeccably, like a business. It’s a serious job. I have spreadsheets to monitor the hoover-bag situation and colour-coded print-outs about the ethical consequences of nappies. I am not myself this morning. I don’t know who I am.

The winning entry has been announced in this pair.

There were 10 entries submitted in this pair during the submission phase, 4 of which were selected by peers to advance to the finals round. The winning entry was determined based on finals round voting by peers.

Competition in this pair is now closed.


Entries (10 total; 4 finalists) Expand all entries

Entry #6430
Els Spin
Els Spin
Netherlands
Winner
Voting points1st2nd3rd
7413 x48 x26 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.653.75 (12 ratings)3.55 (11 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 4 users entered 9 "like" tags
  • 6 users agreed with "likes" (12 total agrees)
+2
gespitst
Good term selection
Antoinette Verburg
+2
rond te hangen
Flows well
Evert DELOOF-SYS
negenendertig minuten
Good term selection
Spelling i​t out like​ in the so​urce stres​ses it eve​n more. Go​od choice.
Mark Straver
+1
waarmee ik zojuist uit bed ben gestapt
Flows well
Antoinette Verburg
vastgeroest aan
Flows well
Esther Hay
+1
min of meer
Good term selection
Goede vond​st voor 'h​alf'.
Antoinette Verburg
+2
Gedachten vol zelfbeklag
Flows well
Antoinette Verburg
+3
Dankzij mij draait ons huishouden op rolletjes
Flows well
Antoinette Verburg
Entry #8011
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
6814 x45 x22 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.503.50 (14 ratings)3.50 (12 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 3 users entered 9 "like" tags
  • 6 users agreed with "likes" (15 total agrees)
+2
Heathrow Airport
Good term selection
Better tha​n vliegvel​d or lucht​haven f.i.​ 'couleur ​locale'
Herman De Sutter
+1
de stropdassenwinkel
Good term selection
better tha​n keeping ​Tie Rack, ​unknown re​ference fo​r many peo​ple
Herman De Sutter
naambordjes
Good term selection
better tha​n e.g. naa​mkaartjes
Evert DELOOF-SYS
+2
lijkt het of ik er altijd in m'n pyjama bij loop
Flows well
mooi, zou ​wel alsof ​zetten ipv​ of
Herman De Sutter
+2
dieselde
Good term selection
Evert DELOOF-SYS
+2
dat ik voor de kinderen zorg
Good term selection
Antoinette Verburg
+1
Wat een gezanik
Flows well
Antoinette Verburg
+3
Ons huishouden loopt op rolletjes
Flows well
Antoinette Verburg
Entry #6839
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
6410 x48 x28 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry4.004.09 (11 ratings)3.91 (11 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 3 "like" tags
  • 3 users agreed with "likes" (3 total agrees)
+3
1
Tot mijn verbazing heb ik na 39 minuten wachten nog steeds niemand gezien die ik ken
Flows well
Antoinette Verburg
in de steek hebben gelaten
Good term selection
Esther Hay
verbruik
Good term selection
Esther Hay
Entry #7517
Hans van Leeuwen
Hans van Leeuwen
Netherlands
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
355 x45 x25 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.373.30 (10 ratings)3.44 (9 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 3 users entered 4 "like" tags
  • 1 user agreed with "likes" (1 total agree)
gewichtige
Good term selection
Goede vond​st voor 's​erious'
jandorp (X)
+1
min of meer
Good term selection
Goede vond​st voor 'h​alf'.
Antoinette Verburg
gewoon
Flows well
Esther Hay
gewoon grote stille tranen die langs mijn wangen biggelen
Flows well
jandorp (X)