Simon Clarke

Hi,

I have just registered today! We intend to get married in Certaldo Alto next August and plans are in full swing. However due to illness my Italian Cousin is unavailable to travel.

I was wondering if anyone knows of either a local student who needs extra cash! Or knowledge of a local Italian who speaks English that may be able to help with translation at our Wedding in August 2013.

I will look forward to any replies.

Thanks

Simon

Lorna at Vicenza

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Do you need somebody to just translate the wedding programme or papers etc. or are you looking for somebody to go around places with you in person?

K in Modena

Hi there,

Do you speak Italian yourselves? I got married in Italy in 2009 and if I remember rightly, if I hadn't spoken (or rather, understood) Italian myself we'd have had to have paid for an official translator so that the marriage would be legal. As it was, we got a friend to translate for our British guests but my sister, as witness, had to pretend to know Italian (luckily all she had to do was memorise a question in Italian so that she knew when to answer "sì"!) If you do know Italian then of course that's another matter.

linseed oil

talking of paying for translaitions a freind of ours doughter got maried here in abruzzo in a famouse abby and payed a translater italian to translate the ceremony
when it came to the bit were it says Raise your hands to the sky and pray as you have been tought
the translater said now raise your legs in the sky and pray
well the abby irupted with loughter , and me my imagination ran riot all those pretty joung ladey in short skirts

Simon Clarke

Hi looking for someon to translate at the declaration meeting (2 days before wedding) and then at the ceremony
Thanks

Garbatellamike

That translator has my sympathy, as in my view, it is not easy to do contemporaneous verbal translation unless you are really fluent in both languages - on Friday at an after dinner speech I was asked to do just that when the owner of the Scilian Vinyard who had sponsored the prizes for the days race was explaining to the multinational organising team, in great detail, his unique process to make his special prosecco. When he got to how they make it fizzy: on the spot all I could only come up with "and then they take it to another factory for the sparkalization" this amused the other 2 Brits enormously (but I think the Austrian and the 2 Czechs still understood!). I found it quite difficult to think effectively in 2 languages at the same time, so my English was rubbish. Still on the bright side, I have a nice bottle of prosecco to try out at home now!

K in Modena

Yeah, I had to do this at my own wedding where I simultaneously translated the groom's speech! He waffled quite a bit and I had to keep telling him to stop so I could translate what he'd already said before I forgot it! No technical terms there though

Garbatellamike

poor you

This guy was good to me as he kept his points short and allowed me time to translate but my comfort zone with wine is drinking it not talking about the detailed process

K in Modena

I've just had my parents to stay and I find the fact that they and OH don't speak each other's languages exhausting. Every time OH says something to me in Italian my mum looks at me for an explanation, which I don't always feel like giving (I'm nearly 7 months pregnant and tired and anyway I translate stuff all day long for a living!). Also, I find people tend to zone out when someone's speaking a language they don't understand, so both OH and my mum will start saying something to me when the other is already in the middle of talking to me in the other language. (Sorry, off topic!)

Lorna at Vicenza

I love it
I need to sparkalise my life as it's a bit flat at the moment. Share those bubbles Mike!

To the OP - I'd do it for you if I wasn't miles away. I'm used to flitting between languages - although it used to get bloody tiring after a few days at the trade fairs.

Simon Clarke

Thanks for all the replies, some a bit off topic but still enjoyable to read everyone's experiences. You never know a solution my be just around the corner. I must say that we have been looking at going out in March prior to the wedding to sample the food, wine etc. How cheap are those flights from the Uk to Milan £28 return, ideal. The wedding trip though will be by train, oyster bat in London, great restaurant in Paris and then overnight sleeper to Florence.

Has anyone done this trip and has any pointers!

Cheers. Simon

Lorna at Vicenza

Hi Simon,

a lot of us work and live mostly in Italian and then we have so much to say for ourselves in English that we sometimes wobble a bit in the threads. It's only natural, like conversations go back and forth.

Wedding trip sounds like fun. Hope somebody comes along to help with the translations.

Simon Clarke

It's all new to me!

That makes sense.

I appreciate the reply and I will keep everyone up to date with the plans. It's like another world. Ha ha

Simon

pugliese

you should have drunk it before, that would have made you fluent!

Garbatellamike

No less fluent in English but more fluent in Italian methinks