• Translation is the art of rewording speech or writing into a different language. A translator cannot just sit down with a Spanish-English dictionary, look up the meaning of each Spanish word, and write down its meaning in English. Nor could a person do this to translate from English to Spanish. A literal translation out of a dictionary would create a lot of gibberish. Words and phrases in one language may be meaningless or have a completely altered meaning when translated literally. For example, if you were to say, “That new kid is cool,” and someone translated that sentence literally into another language, without thinking about slang and shades of meaning, those hearing the translation might believe that you are talking about a chilly newborn goat.
• Translating poetry is even more difficult than translating prose or speech because the translator has to worry about preserving in his or her translation the poetic techniques the author used. It can be very difficult to keep a poem’s rhyme and rhythm when translating it, and sometimes translators have to sacrifice the use of these techniques in their translations. Translators also have their own ideas about what is important to preserve in a literary work. Two different translators could create two very different translations of the same poem.
• The poem “Good Hot Dogs” was first written by Sandra Cisneros in English. Cisneros translated the poem herself into the Spanish “Buenos Hot Dogs.” Many of her works in English include Spanish terms that lend a cultural flavor and an authentic feeling to the stories and poems.
On your own paper, make symbols to represent each of the five senses. Then, rewrite each sensory detail next to each of the symbols that apply.
What is your favorite food? What do you like about it?
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