Large Translation Help Needed.

[lifelaunch]

Hey everyone, new to the forum here.

I am going to Thailand with a group of 20 students in April on a missions trip to help build the World Base in Bangkok, we will also be travelling north to Mae-Sot, Chiang-Mai and Fang.

Were hoping to be able to go over there with at least 1 song rehearsed in Thai. We dont know any words but would like to be able to sing something over there.

I can imagine this being an extremely huge task but if someone is up for the challenge, we would appreciate it soooo much!!!

If you guys wanna help I can get the lyrics together !!

Thanks so much

[lifelaunch]

Ok I hope this isnt too much work and Ive heard that the Thai language is based off of pitch and how you pronounce the word and your voice level etc, so I could use as much help as possible regarding pronunciation- maybe even a recording or something haha

" I could sing of your love forever "

Id like to know that part, and I have until April 23 to learn it - so if it takes a while thats cool !!

thanks guys.

[meadish_sweetball]

I am not sure it is a good idea to translate an English phrase and then attempt to get it right in Thai; the likelihood people won't understand is rather large. Too many things about pronunciation and an unfamiliar type of construction that can go wrong.

Also, trying to achieve it over a text based forum is... well, difficult.

It's probably a better idea to learn a fairly simple song in Thai that Thais already recognize, or maybe you could ask your contact persons for psalms, hymns or gospel songs already translated and known?

[lifelaunch]

I am not sure it is a good idea to translate an English phrase and then attempt to get it right in Thai; the likelihood people won't understand is rather large. Too many things about pronunciation and an unfamiliar type of construction that can go wrong.

Also, trying to achieve it over a text based forum is... well, difficult.

It's probably a better idea to learn a fairly simple song in Thai that Thais already recognize, or maybe you could ask your contact persons for psalms, hymns or gospel songs already translated and known?

thats true....itd make sense to learn a song they already know then to try and introduce something new with a huge margin for error....

[Rikker]

There are Thai translations done for hundreds of Christian hymns, often slightly different translations used in different sects. The more "classic" it is, the more likely a translation already exists. Granted, most folks being Buddhist they still likely aren't going to know it, but at least it'd be a native translation job. Were you thinking of some specific song(s)?

[lifelaunch]

Well were going specifically to help the foursquare church build a world base in Bangkok and were going to be ministering to youth and children and speaking at churches on Sunday- not toward Buddhist people...

So if they dont know the song they would at least recognize the meaning behind it....

We werent looking to learn a whole song, maybe just a sentence from a chorus of a song.....

So our worship team would sing "I could sing of your love forever" and then sing those same 7 words in Thai..

So thats the ultimate goal...

I did a word for word translation which I know is very inaccurate but heres what I got anyway for " I could sing of your love forever "

kâap-pá-jâo àat sóng yàang dieow gan kŏng koon rák nít ní-ran

Edited February 13, 2008 by lifelaunch

[lifelaunch]

The word for word translation for " I could sing of your love forever " showed up as this, accurate at all?

kâap-pá-jâo àat sóng yàang dieow gan kŏng koon rák nít ní-ran

[tgeezer]

The word for word translation for " I could sing of your love forever " showed up as this, accurate at all?

kâap-pá-jâo àat sóng yàang dieow gan kŏng koon rák nít ní-ran

This is far too difficult for a non native Thai and since you are talking of a different religious concept completely I would advise you to stick to English or contact some Thai Christians. For example if 'kong koon rak' means your love it should be 'rak korg koon' and 'nit ni-ran' means forever but refers to 'love' not 'sing' it means 'love forever' not 'sing forever'. and 'song means sing together whereas your pronoun is 'I' It may not matter at all if the tune is catchy enough and noone understands what you have sung, most pop songs are that to me. Just showing you what a mess we would get into.

[Rikker]

Thai uses a special register of words for deity, and in my experience hymns tend to be very poetic in style. Difficult to translate directly, and very easy to mess up. That's why I suggested going with a few lines from a well-known hymn that is likely to be skillfully translated. Of course, there's no problem with English, as tgeezer said.

[siamesekitty]

I agree with the comments above. I'm Thai but not Christian, and so am not familiar with the wording often used in Thai churches. My attempts at translating your phrase came out sounding weird or confusing, and the most understandable one was more like a speech rather than a 7-word chorus.

[Rikker]

I think Christian hymns are their own beast, too, because they are often translations set to well-known tunes in Christendom, with some tweakings to fit Thai rhyme patterns. So they're not quite like Thai poetry, but they're not quite like the original hymns. For example, the original might have a typical ABAB rhyme scheme, whereas the Thai would use typical Thai adjacent internal rhyme and alliteration instead.

If I had to, I'd (weakly) attempt to translate your example phrase "I could sing of your love forever" as something like:

ข้าขอแซ่ซ้องสดุดีความรักของพระองค์ชั่วกาลนิจนิรันดร์

kâa kŏr sâe sóng sà-dòo-dee kwaam rák kŏng prá ong chûa gaan nít ní-ran

But that's not very skillful or polished. More like fancy-sounding nonsense.

[tgeezer]

and the most understandable one was more like a speech rather than a 7-word chorus.

very amusing made me smile