"Anthem should be in English"

Interpretrator

Interpretrator

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060428/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_national_anthem_3

"When the president was asked at a Rose Garden question-and-answer session whether the anthem should be sung in Spanish, he replied: 'I think the national anthem ought to be sung in English, and I think people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English and they ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English.'"

Guess someone better contact Gallaudet and tell them to quit signing the anthem before their sports events!

Someone ought to remind our president that there IS no national language in this country.
 
Have you seen the translated text of the Spanish one, and what it looks like when you backtranslate it into English? Somebody took WAAAAAY too much poetic license with it.

I mean, I know translating poetry is a bitch, because I've tried it. But somebody missed WAY too much meaning with this one and that's what irks me the most.

Whereas I've seen the Star Spangled Banner signed, and even I (who barely knows anything about ASL) could recognize it when the interpreter was rehearsing without the music. Obviously less was missed there than this unfortunate English-to-Spanish translation...
 
Well, it would have bothered me less if Bush had said "This is not a good translation of the national anthem and a better one would be more acceptable." It's the fact that he ONLY wants it sung in English that is my problem. By that reasoning it makes no difference whatsoever if the ASL interpretation is fantastic -- it's not English.

I know that there is an English language requirement of some kind for citizenship, but what about U.S.-born American citizens whose native language is not English? Like generation 1.5 kids...or native users of ASL?

I'm not arguing with YOU, Rose; this news story just really annoyed me.
 
I think the artist that did it was making a political statement:

"We chose to re-record The Star-Spangled Banner to show our solidarity with the undocumented immigrants and their quest for basic civil rights," UBO President Adam Kidron said in a news release.
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http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2006/04/22/1546121-ap.html

I think that aspect is getting a lot of people riled up.

Whereas MY beef was the quality of the translation. They played some of it on the O'Reilly Factor with the backtranslation on-screen. I could understand the Spanish lyrics for myself, too, and I can tell you that backtranslation was not exaggerated to spin anything. It really was that bad.

I think it would've shown more respect to spend more time with the Anthem, considering its full meaning, its imagery, and so on, and trying to be more faithful to the original work. I've seen better translations of HARRY POTTER into Spanish. :P
 
I think what the President means is, when The Star-Spangled Banner is sung, it should be sung in English.

When The Star-Spangled Banner is signed, it is signed in the form most commonly used in the United States. It is not signed in Mexican Sign Language, French Sign Language, Italian Sign Language, etc.

The national anthem of any country should be sung in the official or most commonly used language of that nation.

National anthems are used to unify people as one people and one country. If each group within the country sings the "national" anthem any way they want, in any language they want, then the unifying factor is lost. Can you imagine a gathering of people at a public event all singing the National Anthem in different languages at the same time? Aack!

The Spanish version of The Star-Spangled Banner doesn't even use the same title, and the "translation" isn't even close to the original text.
 
The Star-Spangled Banner
—Francis Scott Key, 1814

O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?


On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!


And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.


O thus be it ever when free-men shall stand
Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust!”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!


English and Spanish lyrics to "Nuestro Himno"

Web Posted: 04/28/2006 11:09 PM CDT
Associated Press


SPANISH LYRICS
Verso 1
¿Amenece, lo veis?, a la luz de la aurora?
Lo que tanto aclamamos la noche caer?
Sus estrellas sus franjas
flotaban ayer
En el fiero combate
en señal de victoria,
Fulgor de lucha, al paso de la libertada,
Por la noche decían: "¡Se va defendiendo!"

Coro
¡Oh decid! ¿Despliega aún
Voz a su hermosura estrellada,
Sobre tierra de libres,
la bandera sagrada?

Verso 2
Sus estrellas, sus franjas, la libertad, somos iquales
Somos hermanos, en nuestro himno.
En el fiero combate en señal de victoria,
Fulgor de lucha, al paso de la libertada,
Mi gente sigue luchando yah es tiempo de romper las cadenas
Por la noche decían: "¡Se va defendiendo!"

Coro
¡Oh decid! Despliega aún su hermosura estrellada


ENGLISH LYRICS
Verse 1
The day is breaking, do you see it? In the light of the dawn?
What we so acclaimed at nightfall?
Its stars, its stripes,
flew yesterday
In the fierce battle
in a sign of victory,
The glow of battle, in step with liberty
At night they said: "It's being defended!"

Chorus
Oh say!
The voice of your starry beauty
is still unfolding
Over the land of the free
The sacred flag?

Verse 2
Its stars, its stripes,
Freedom, we are equal
We are brothers, in our anthem.
In the fierce combat in a sign of victory
The glow of battle, in step with liberty
My people keep fighting
It's time to break the chains
At night they said: "It's being defended!"
Oh say! Your starry beauty is still unfolding.
 
I agree that this is not a mere translation but a complete change of the wording and meaning of our National Anthem. There is no more "rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air...." but now has been changed to proclaim our "equality". If they want an anthem of their own, let them start from scratch and not desecrate the Star Spangled Banner.
 
Yet another example of the liberal establishment trying to destroy American values and American way of life. That song was shed with American blood therefore it stays that way. Reba, I said the exact same thing One language unifies a whole nation into a stronger country.
 
It's like two different works entirely.

I feel like the translator did not think about the meaning as he did this--the idea of uniting against all enemies this country might share. I don't feel like he did any research into the War of 1812 to understand what was going on and why it's so important to preserve the integrity of the imagery. I know this is not an easy piece to translate, but I feel like it's slipshod work.
 
Heath said:
Yet another example of the liberal establishment trying to destroy American values and American way of life. That song was shed with American blood therefore it stays that way. Reba, I said the exact same thing One language unifies a whole nation into a stronger country.
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What does this have to do with the liberal establishment? Too, many of the Spanish-speakers who are singing this song *are* Americans. This particular translation may be crappy, but that's no reason to think that *all* Spanish translations would be.
 
ismi said:
Too, many of the Spanish-speakers who are singing this song *are* Americans.
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My point exactly. Once again, it has NOTHING to do with the quality of the translation or interpretation. It's the notion that "all Americans speak English," and anyone who still thinks this is the case isn't living in the United States in 2006. There is no "one language" in this country, there never was, and there never will be.
 
I do think people who move to this country SHOULD learn English in addition to their native language if at all possible.

For instance, if I moved to Germany and planned to live there, I would learn German. I would not expect everybody to accomodate me any more than what was necessary to help me learn.
 
Interpretrator said:
... It's the notion that "all Americans speak English," and anyone who still thinks this is the case isn't living in the United States in 2006. There is no "one language" in this country, there never was, and there never will be.
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I think we all realize that not every person living in the United States speaks English. The question is, should every person permanently living in the USA and seeking citizenship speak English?
 
Rose Immortal said:
I do think people who move to this country SHOULD learn English in addition to their native language if at all possible.
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Right. They have to learn a certain amount to gain citizenship, as I already said. But as I also already said:

Interpretrator said:
what about U.S.-born American citizens whose native language is not English?
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I didn't say "they don't speak English," I said it wasn't their native language. All this lip-flapping about how people should be able to celebrate their heritage and yet still be proud to be American is obviously just that: lip-flapping and nothing more.

People sign the anthem in ASL because they can't or don't want to sign or sing it in English. People sign the anthem in Spanish because they can't or don't want to sing it in English. (Let's assume that at some point there is a perfect translation of the anthem into Spanish.) What's the difference? If you see deafness as a culture and not as a disability...there is none.
 
Rose Immortal said:
I do think people who move to this country SHOULD learn English in addition to their native language if at all possible.

For instance, if I moved to Germany and planned to live there, I would learn German. I would not expect everybody to accomodate me any more than what was necessary to help me learn.
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:gpost:
 
Interpretrator said:
... People sign the anthem in Spanish because they can't or don't want to sing it in English. (Let's assume that at some point there is a perfect translation of the anthem into Spanish.) What's the difference? If you see deafness as a culture and not as a disability...there is none.
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Do you mean "sign" or "sing" in Spanish?
 
Reba said:
Do you mean "sign" or "sing" in Spanish?
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Ha ha...I was careful to note my typing of "sign" and "sing" in that post but I guess one slipped past me.

I did of course mean SING in Spanish. I'm in way over my head when it comes to discussions of what different sign languages the anthem should or shouldn't be interpreted into!
 
Interesting topic. My complaint about the Spanish version is that it doesn't retain enough of the original meaning of the song. That's the only complaint I have about it.
 
Interpretrator said:
Right. They have to learn a certain amount to gain citizenship, as I already said. But as I also already said:



I didn't say "they don't speak English," I said it wasn't their native language. All this lip-flapping about how people should be able to celebrate their heritage and yet still be proud to be American is obviously just that: lip-flapping and nothing more.

People sign the anthem in ASL because they can't or don't want to sign or sing it in English. People sign the anthem in Spanish because they can't or don't want to sing it in English. (Let's assume that at some point there is a perfect translation of the anthem into Spanish.) What's the difference? If you see deafness as a culture and not as a disability...there is none.
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What do you mean? :confused:
 
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