English - Spanish - Social Sciences (news item on missing house in Malaysia)
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Mar 23, 2011

Source text:


A Malaysian landlord was shocked to find his double-storey wooden house missing while making his rent call, local daily The Star reported on Friday.

Zuria Ali, 30, said he was greeted by the sight of scattered wood, a damaged television set and twenty-four concrete pillar holders when he went to the site of his house in Malaysia's northern Perlis state bordering Thailand.

"I had heard that my house had vanished and was curious to find out the truth," Zuria was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

He lost his furniture, cutlery, cupboards, a dining table and a refrigerator and estimated his losses to be about 30,000 ringgit ($10,000).

Zuria's neighbor, Ah Kiung, said he saw three men and a trailer arriving at the house last month.

"I thought the three were carrying out the dismantling work on instructions from the landlord," Ah Kiung said. "I did not suspect anything until he (Zuria) asked me about it.

Police confirmed receiving a report about the "missing" house, the newspaper said. ($1 = 3.034 Malaysian Ringgit)


Translation:


El propietario malasio de una casa de madera de dos pisos entró en estado de shock cuando, mientras se disponía a cobrar el alquiler, descubrió que su casa había desaparecido, según informó el periódico local The Star el viernes.

Zuria Ali (30) dijo que, cuando llegó al lugar en donde se ubicaba su casa en Perlis, estado del norte de Malasia que limita con Tailandia, se encontró con trozos de madera esparcidos por el lugar, un televisor dañado y veinticuatro bases de columnas de hormigón.

"Oí que mi casa había desaparecido y sentí curiosidad por saber la verdad", dijo Zuria según cita el periódico.

Perdió sus muebles, cubiertos, armarios, la mesa del comedor y una heladera y se estima que las pérdidas ascienden a 30 000 MYR (10 000 USD).

El vecino de Zuria, Ah Kiung, indicó que había visto a tres hombres llegar a la casa con un tráiler el mes anterior.

"Pensé que los tres hombres estaban cumpliendo con las instrucciones de desmantelamiento del propietario", Ah Kiung dijo. "No sospeché nada hasta que él (Zuria) me preguntó sobre el tema.

La policía confirmó haber recibido una denuncia sobre una casa "desaparecida", según informó el periódico. (1 USD = 3,034 MYR)


 
Walter Landesman
Walter Landesman  Identity Verified
Uruguay
Local time: 05:09
English to Spanish
+ ...
Motivo Mar 23, 2011

¿Esta traducción está en discusión porque alguien la ha impugnado o criticado, o es sólo un ejercicio de prueba/ensayo para esta nueva sección?

 
Jared Tabor
Jared Tabor
Local time: 05:09
SITE STAFF
Translation submitted for feedback as per the feature's guidelines Mar 23, 2011

Hi Walter,

Sorry for the reply in English. This translation was submitted for feedback as per the scope and guidelines for the feature at http://www.proz.com/topic/192944 . To my knowledge there is no questioning of the translation's quality involved beforehand.

Jared


 
Walter Landesman
Walter Landesman  Identity Verified
Uruguay
Local time: 05:09
English to Spanish
+ ...
Thanks Mar 23, 2011

Hi Jared,

Thanks for answering.

A few weeks ago there was a discussion in the forums on having this or a similar feature to function as a paid-arbitrarion between translator and client in case of client refusing to pay for so-called bad quality transation.

I just wanted to know if this was one of those cases.


 
Walter Landesman
Walter Landesman  Identity Verified
Uruguay
Local time: 05:09
English to Spanish
+ ...
Comentario Mar 23, 2011

I would do some minor changes to this translation, i.e. "was shocked" is translated as "entró en estado de shock". Estado de shock is something much more serious, is a physical condition or state of mind.

The author in this case only meant "fue sorprendido" or the like, I beleive.

Other than that, all in all this translation looks fine to me.


 
Luisa Ramos, CT
Luisa Ramos, CT  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 04:09
English to Spanish
Agree with Walter Apr 11, 2011

I agree with everything Walter has said. And I add:

"Pensé que los tres hombres estaban cumpliendo con las instrucciones de desmantelamiento del propietario", Ah Kiung dijo. "No sospeché nada hasta que él (Zuria) me preguntó sobre el tema.

"Pensé que los tres hombres estaban cumpliendo con las instrucciones de desmantelamiento del propietario", dijo Ah Kiung. "No sospeché nada hasta que él (Zuria) me preguntó sobre el tema."


 
traductorchile
traductorchile  Identity Verified
Chile
Local time: 04:09
English to Spanish
+ ...
Malaysian Jul 8, 2011

A Malaysian landlord was shocked to find

This has been translated as "El propietario malasio de una casa de madera..."

I believe that "Malaysian" has been used here not to express that the owner has that nationality but that the house is in Malaysia (or that the events occur in Malaysia).
I would have put it as:
"El propietario de una casa de madera en Malasia....

On the other hand "shocked" is an expression quite more serious than "surprised".
... See more
A Malaysian landlord was shocked to find

This has been translated as "El propietario malasio de una casa de madera..."

I believe that "Malaysian" has been used here not to express that the owner has that nationality but that the house is in Malaysia (or that the events occur in Malaysia).
I would have put it as:
"El propietario de una casa de madera en Malasia....

On the other hand "shocked" is an expression quite more serious than "surprised". Maybe conmocionado, horrorizado, would be better off than using a term that has a medical tinge.
Collapse


 
traductorchile
traductorchile  Identity Verified
Chile
Local time: 04:09
English to Spanish
+ ...
Missing Jul 8, 2011

I also like the use of "desaparecida" as a translation for "missing" (although "perdida" o "extraviada" could have expressed the same sense of humour), a humoristic ending that is captured in spanish, but that in english isn't that clearly expressed (could easily have been translated as "faltante").

 


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:

Moderator(s) of this forum
Jared Tabor[Call to this topic]

You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

English - Spanish - Social Sciences (news item on missing house in Malaysia)







Trados Studio 2022 Freelance
The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.

Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.

More info »
Wordfast Pro
Translation Memory Software for Any Platform

Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users! Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value

Buy now! »