Monday, May 24, 2010

Lost in Translation

I've never been very comfortable with foreign languages. I barely managed to finish two semesters of Spanish when I was at Tulane, and never became as fluent in German as I should have considering that I lived there for three years when I was in the Army.

Some of the Spanish came back when Lisa and I were in Argentina last September, and it's overwhelming the little bit of Italian that I managed to learn before we left Seattle; I keep asking for the bill in the wrong language.

Given my troubles, I'm always encouraged to be reminded that I'm not alone in my frustrations with translating thoughts into words.

Here are two classic examples we've discovered hanging by the doors to some very nice restaurants we've enjoyed - the first is from a place in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome, the second from Orvieto.

Enjoy!



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