Translator for Chinese or Hebrew text

smash

Does anyone know of someone who will accurately translate names into these languages?

My other half wants to get 2 names done up but is scared of ending up with something that's not correct.

chin_grin

Find someone who speaks/writes it?

Not meaning to be smart, but I wouldn't trust the internet for accurate translations. Especially if it's going to be permanently marked.

smash

I agree about the internet. Ideally I'd like to find someone that someone knows who wont act the b0llox. They're very personal tattoos that she wants so she wants them right.

Hellrazer

Hebrew Fonts here:

http://www.jewishsoftware.com/products/Hebrew_Fonts_for_Microsoft_Word_747.asp


Just copy and paste into your Windows/fonts folder and select in Word.

Use the largest text size you can and then copy and paste into paint or some other graphics programme and then you can blow it up etc.

Chinese names here :

http://www.1001-tattoos.com/chinese.html

smash

Surprise surprise they're different than what other websites have come back with

Hellrazer

steve06 wrote: »

Surprise surprise they're different than what other websites have come back with

The Chinese ones are correct.I work with a lad here who speaks 4 different chinese dialects and any Ive gotten him to check he can tell me what they mean.

The Hebrew ones are actual fonts so what you are getting are the same letters in a Hebrew Font.

Jimmy Bottlehead

Why bother getting text in a language you don't understand? You may as well get 'purple monkey dishwasher' written in chinese or hebrew if you are not able to read it.

JonnyBlackrock

I don't know Chinese, but I do know both Hebrew and Japanese if that's any use.

smash

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Why bother getting text in a language you don't understand? You may as well get 'purple monkey dishwasher' written in chinese or hebrew if you are not able to read it.

Because it looks a lot nicer and it's shorter than getting it written in English.

Diceicle

I'm kind of with J. Bottlehead on this, if it were me I would opt for something that symbolizes that person to me tattooed ,rather that just their name. I think it requires more thought and is a deeper more relevant tattoo than just some letters in a dialect you dont speak.

Jimmy Bottlehead

Diceicle wrote: »

I'm kind of with J. Bottlehead on this, if it were me I would opt for something that symbolizes that person to me tattooed ,rather that just their name. I think it requires more thought and is a deeper more relevant tattoo than just some letters in a dialect you dont speak.

It also avoids the horrible situation where the situation with the people may change (I accept kids names, as that situation doesn't change).

steve06 wrote: »

Because it looks a lot nicer and it's shorter than getting it written in English.

Plus an image will look nicer than text ever will, if looking nice is the primary concern.

Reku

Another thing to consider regarding the risk of it going wrong with getting tattoos in languages you are not native to is that a translator may not be accurate enough, often there can be nuances that drastically change the meaning of words, which, short of being fluent, a person will probably be unaware of:
e.g. "Drugáil Saor" = "drug free", in a literal sense only, in reality it translates as "free drugs". (though to be honest any twit with even a pass in Irish at Junior Cert. could've told her that one!:rolleyes:)
Britney's "mysterious" tattoo that actually means "strange".

Most languages are not perfect, what my old teacher used to call, lego-languages, in that A + B does not always end up as the exact sum of the two, but rather that together they take a slightly different meaning.

Then there's the issue of proverbs, which most of the time don't make an ounce of sense when you try to do a literal translation.

JonnyBlackrock

That's very true, Reku.
There's a shirt you can buy on the internet which says "FREE PALESTINE" on it in about 8 different languages. The problem is that they obviously used Google Translate, so in most of the languages it says "Palestine doesn't cost anything".

smash

I get what you're saying Reku. I suppose the reason she doesn't want to go with an image is because it's for 2 names, so would require 2 images. Sure we'll see what she decides.