Thanks to Lien for having given me direct access to review of Russe2 to 4. I really appreciate it but i cannot greet her on tne original topic (general Language Quarter) that was closed.
I find some translation errors in Russe2 course and I add some proposal for correction.
Level
1 на здоровье
de rien -> A votre santé
3 кофе латте
latté -> Café crème
3 вы бы хотели бутылку или бокал?
aimeriez-vous une bouteille ou un verre ? -> voulez-vous une bouteille ou un verre ?
5 клиент всегда прав
le client est roi -> Le client a toujours raison
6 Кстати… au fait… -> d’ailleurs, à propos…
11 шапка
chapeau (pour tenir chaud) -> Chapka (that exists in french)
In Russe5, level 10, for the word “гол” it would be nice to replace “goal” by “but”. In french “goal” means “goal keeper”
1 На здоровье is used as a reply when someone thanks you, A votre santé - is Ваше здоровье.
3 Вы бы хотели бутылку или бокал? - the bold part suggests conditional, hence the aimeriez. Voulez-vous une bouteille ou un verre is translated to Russian as вы хотите бутылку или бокал.
5 I’m learning French from English and it’s the same there, but I always thought it was an idiomatic expression, isn’t it being used like that? What would (for instance) a shop manager say about a demanding castomer: le client est roi or le client a toujours raison?
6 When I write by the way (it’s the meaning for Russian Кстати) in google, it translates as au fait, while d’ailleurs is translated as anyway and à propos as about. Are your suggestions also used with by the way meaning? Are they better suited than au fait?
I really appreciate to learn with this version for French speaker and I thank you for having done this.
As student i would prefer the translation which is the closer to the original text. It facilitates the remembering and the reverse translation (from French to Russian).
1 I understand my mistake. In France I heard “На здоровье”
3 Вы бы хотели бутылку или бокал? In French we don’t use conditional tense in that case, but we use the verb “vouloir – Voulez-vous une bouteille ou un verre ?” (easier to remember) or “préférer – **Préférez-vous une bouteille ou un verre **?”, never “aimer-Aimeriez-vous prendre un café ?”.
5 “Le client a toujours raison” (the customer is always wright) is a French slogan that is used by commercial people and is closer to the Russian (easier to remember).
6 Which expression is the closest to “кстати” ?
“Au fait” at the beginning of a sentence means that you remember something to say more or less related to the discussion. (Ma soeur est malade. Au fait, as-tu appelé ton frère?)
“A propos” is very close but more related to the subject.( Ma soeur est malade. A propos, Paul est mort). Should be better to avoid confusion between “au fait” and “en fait” (in fact)
“D’ailleurs” is say to add an related information.( Je ne veux pas payer. D’ailleurs je n’ai plus d’argent)
I apologize for such late response, I had very hectic couple of weeks…
I agree that it’s easier when you have the closest version to original, but it isn’t always the case. Russian and French are quite similar when it comes to adjective agreeing with noun’s gender and number. I even thought I made a mistake when I started to learn French from English courses, but there’s a plus: my native language (Georgian) is very similar to English in regards to agreement and now it’s easier for me to translate things from Georgian to French.
1 It is a very common mistake, I even heard “На здоровье” in a couple of Hollywood movies. You can also use Твое здоровье when it’s only one person and you are quite familiar with him/her. In non-formal situations I’ve heard quite a few Russians use simply Будем (let’s be).
3 It confuses me, too. Not so much the Aimeriez-vous part, as seemingly random use of either aimeriez or voudriez (although, I only use an old and no longer listed memrise-created A1 course and have no idea if it’s more consistent in their new courses)…
6 I still think au fait is the closest one, but judging from your example, you can also use кстати with a propos. As for your example of D’ailleurs, I would use к тому же (besides) or кроме того (moreover): Je ne veux pas payer. D’ailleurs je n’ai plus d’argent – Я не хочу платить. К тому же, у меня больше нет денег (I’m not sure I understood plus correctly in this sentence. Does it say I don’t have more money or I no longer
have money? If it’s simply variation of I have no money, then you can omit больше).
I just saw your question there. Гола не было can be used when someone argues the validity of a goal (it wasn’t a goal) or, maybe, by a fan who really hoped that his/her favorite team would score but there wasn’t any goal. In French, I would use either ce n’était pas un but or il n’y avait pas un but, but unfortunately my French is very far from perfect and I’m not sure that any of them are correct. I do agree with you that it should be but instead of goal, though. Hope someone responds there soon. Good luck!
