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Conseil General de l'Isere

English translation: Isère Départemental Council

20:05 Dec 3, 2006
French to English translations [Non-PRO]
Government / Politics / Local
French term or phrase: Conseil General de l'Isere
Just wondered if Isere County Council was acceptable or should it be Isere Regional Authority or something else entirely?
MEB
Local time: 06:26
English translation:Isère Départemental Council
Explanation:
As a matter of policy, I do not translate 'département' unless a client specifically requests it, since the word is a specifically French administrative institution.

As a result, I think this is the least confusing way to express it, exactly paralleling the GB: County Council construction.



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Note added at 1 day43 mins (2006-12-04 20:49:28 GMT)
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Well, that's fine, if as a matter of course you translate 'département' by 'department', then naturally you would use 'departmental'; my own feeling is that informed readers generally are not stupid, and that it is no less meaningful to keep the specifically FR word 'département' to designate a specifically FR administrative entity than it is to translate it by 'department', which at best sounds odd, and at worst could be misread as referring to some other kind of organizational structure.

Of course, it all depends on your intended readership, their knowledge of French life and culture, and just how important it is for them to understand the niceties of FR local government organization. If a full and complete understanding is required, then you are probably looking at some kind of explanatory note anyway.
Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 06:26
Grading comment
Thanks for all the comments - most helpful though I shall probably still keep it in English!
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +6Isère Départemental Council
Tony M
4 +1Isère General council
Dolores Vázquez


Discussion entries: 5





  

Answers


13 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Isère General council


Explanation:
OK


    Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is%C3%A8re
    Reference: http://ec.europa.eu/eurodicautom/Controller
Dolores Vázquez
Native speaker of: Native in GalicianGalician, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 2

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  writeaway: Eurodicatom says Isère General Council? and Wikipedia is as reliable as Wikiwords.
7 mins
agree  Jana Cole (X)
1 hr
  -> Thanks.
neutral  Tony M: Not ideal, since it raises the question in the reader's mind "what do they have besides 'general' — 'special'?
1 hr
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
Isère Départemental Council


Explanation:
As a matter of policy, I do not translate 'département' unless a client specifically requests it, since the word is a specifically French administrative institution.

As a result, I think this is the least confusing way to express it, exactly paralleling the GB: County Council construction.



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day43 mins (2006-12-04 20:49:28 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Well, that's fine, if as a matter of course you translate 'département' by 'department', then naturally you would use 'departmental'; my own feeling is that informed readers generally are not stupid, and that it is no less meaningful to keep the specifically FR word 'département' to designate a specifically FR administrative entity than it is to translate it by 'department', which at best sounds odd, and at worst could be misread as referring to some other kind of organizational structure.

Of course, it all depends on your intended readership, their knowledge of French life and culture, and just how important it is for them to understand the niceties of FR local government organization. If a full and complete understanding is required, then you are probably looking at some kind of explanatory note anyway.

Tony M
France
Local time: 06:26
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 56
Grading comment
Thanks for all the comments - most helpful though I shall probably still keep it in English!
Notes to answerer
Asker:

Asker: Must admit, I'm not convinced about using keeping the French bu do like the idea of 'departmental' which I notice Wikipedia does use (in English). So not sure how to grade this one!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Angela Dickson (X): yes, I like this one and would like to borrow it if that's OK.
5 mins
  -> Thanks, Angela! :-))
agree  Jennifer Forbes
28 mins
  -> Thanks, Jenny!
agree  Nicky Over
30 mins
  -> Thanks, Nicky!
agree  Assimina Vavoula
9 hrs
  -> Thanks Assimina!
agree  Ian Davies: Yes, agreed Tony.
10 hrs
  -> Thanks, Ian!
agree  xuebai
14 hrs
  -> Thanks, xeubai!
neutral  writeaway: I think that keeping the French and explaining that it's the council for the French Department of Isère may be better. Last time I looked, 'départemental' was not really an English word ;-)
17 hrs
  -> As I say, I am consistent in my use of 'département/al' etc., and make it clear by using italics that I am treating it as the FR word untranslated; and this solution is OK where there is no room/need for lengthier explanations
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