A very short workshop

There were twenty-one participants in the workshop - all native speakers of Khmer. According to Wikipedia: "Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ), or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. One of the more prominent Austroasiatic languages, the language has been considerably influenced by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious registers, through the vehicles of Hinduism and Buddhism. As a result of geographic proximity, the Khmer language has affected, and also been affected by, Thai, Lao, Vietnamese and Cham which all form a sprachbund in peninsular Southeast Asia.^[2]

Khmer differs from neighboring languages such as Thai, Lao and Vietnamese in that it is not a tonal language. " Since this was my second time to hold a seminar on translation, I was less intimidated by the language barrier. All the participants spoke and understood English. I had a problem actualizing the translation principles I wanted to present, but I had no choice other than to use examples from my English-to-Tagalog translation practice. Some said that the time spent for discussion and exercises was too short. We had interaction and translation practice only at the last two days. The first two days were spent talking about Semantic field and context, dynamic and formal equivalence, and some translation problems and solutions. They enjoyed interacting with their fellow participants, and I got the sense that they realized how similar our problems in translations are, and that they should not be afraid to consult another person in case they will have difficulties. The workshop notebook was a flak. Since I prepared my notes in summary format, they were not much use to the participants. One complained that I didn't explain my points before proceeding to the examples. In fact in editing all those huge information, I effectively cut all explanations and discussed the principles from the examples. So some students were not able to follow the discussions using that notebook and they had to depend on the interpreter so they could catch the notes that I highlighted on the Board, usually, in English. But in spite of this, I also got feedback which warmed my heart.

To all of you my students, thanks very much. I enjoyed our lunch breaks and I'm happy that you somehow understood my presentation even if I used my own language as examples.

Translate from English to Khmer - that's Timothy's task during the workshop held last October 2-5 in Phnom Phen, Cambodia. Here, he was in consultation with Steve Westergren, my host and overall in-charge for Fount of Wisdom.













Jeff, one of the missionaries who have lived in Cambodia for more than twenty years helped me answer the student questions. The Khmer language seems to favor a "formal" language for writing, and an "informal" language for speaking. There is the issue of how to translate for the common person on the street, what type of language should be used, and whether the Khmer culture will allow a less formal correspondence for writing.














Where I went after the workshop
Well, my hosts Steve and Mary Westergren hired a tuktuk for me. The tuktuk took me first to the Royal palace, where I met a Chinese Cambodian businesswoman. We went around the site together and she took some pictures of me. Last year, I went to Siem Rep to see Ankor Wat, and only the Buddhas there can witness to my visit since I had no photograph to show I had been there. During the time, I was embarrassed to ask any tourist to take my pictures. That's the downside of traveling alone. But this time, I approached this businesswoman, when I noticed that she was alone and befriended her for the selfish motive of asking her later to take my pictures. Well, in a short time, we became friends, she got into my tuktuk, and asked if I wanted to visit a WAT. So we went up the nearest buddhist temple. She bought flowers and incense, we went inside, she bowed to the Buddha and offered her gifts. She asked a layman there to read her fortune which was written on a small, old, accordion-like booklet covered with bamboo and bound by thin rope. We went to the riverbank together. I was shocked when she paid for my lunch at FCC! She wouldn't accept my lunch money, so I said thanks and was then shy to ask her to take more pictures.

My tuktuk then proceeded to the Tuol Sleng Prison, the genocide museum. The brochure says that "Tuol Sleng literally means a poisonous hill or a place on a mound to keep those who bear or supply guilt [towards Ankar]". I walked through all the rooms at all floors of the former high school building and realized that I need to pray more for my country, so that by God's grace and blessings, nothing like what happened to Cambodia will ever happen here.

The final stop for the day was the Russian market but I didn't know what to buy because I had very little spare money. I remembered that my nephew asked me for a souvenir tuktuk , and so I bought him one, tiny, elegant, shining tuktuk key chain. Then I bought those cheap colorful elephants lined up in a plastic wrap. And finally, more elephants, this time sequined and embossed in seat covers. I didn't know why I had to buy something. I didn't have to buy anything. Yet I succumbed to this happy Filipino practice of souvenir shopping. It sure was fun haggling in English.

"Hello Ma'am, wat you buy ma'am?" "How much?" "Five dolla's ma'am" "No, three dollars only" "No ma'am I bought it four twen'y five" "Very expensive." "No ma'am if you want, three and a half dolla's" "Three dollars final." "Ok" (barat ba?)

On the way back to the home of the Westergrens, it rained so hard that I had to tell the tuktuk driver to stop and to proceed only when the rain had stopped. It took a while before the rain stopped. Inside the rain-coated tuktuk, I talked about the typhoons and floods back home, and tornadoes and tsunamis in the neighboring countries. The driver spoke little English but I finished some of his sentences when he couldn't find the words. He said that he first worked with a logging company cutting down trees, "Good pay but very difficult." He brooded and continued, "Money difficult in Cambodia ma'am. Cambodia, no storm, no tornadoes, no tsunamis, but corruption, many." Well, what country doesn't have this dilemma?

At the airport next morning, I met three Filipinas, all working in Cambodia. One was a manager of a law firm, the other two were working in factories owned by Americans. The manager greeted me, "Hi, Pilipino ka? Buti naman. Magkatabi ba tayo nang upuan? Ay, hindi? Anyway, hintayin mo ko paglabas ng airplane ha? Sabay tayo magcheck in sa PAL." So I had merry and talkative companions as I flew back home.