54 Comments
761
I never know how literal to make my translations. I know exactly what this expression means colloquially, but I translated it as "Thanks a thousand." I'm surprised it was rejected.
If the literal translation isn't accepted in this example I have absolutely no idea what it's doing in the section for learning numbers.
- 47
Well, this one was only to teach us the way Italian people say 'Thanks a lot', 'thanks a bunch' or even 'thanks a million'. So, 'thanks a million' would be the closest translation, I guess, because it uses a number.
In my case, as frustrating as it can be, I never expect to get through a lesson the first or even the first three times. I think the point is to keep climbing the hill a little bit further while gaining more ground each time through. Meanwhile each time through acts as a drill which helps the learning process. Although this seems to be the genius behind the whole approach, sometimes the lessons can be so arcane that it becomes more of a memorizing process rather than a real learning process. I found this particularly true of the clitics section.
I put "a thousand thanks" and it was correct, and I think it's very literal...
- 47
Yeah, it's sometimes very hard to know how literal we should be with our translations. And your translation was a very good one. By the way, maybe it was just your careless mistake, but the past simple of the verb 'put' is also 'put'. =)
- 47
Not at all, Danny! or: Non c'è di che! Anytime and good luck with both languages! Greetings from Belgrade! =))
I put thanks a thousand and got it wrong. The word 'mille' was in orange so I hovered over it to reveal the translation. It translated to 'thousand' and 'a thousand.' Nowhere did it read 'ton.' Grrrr.
which makes it stranger that my "thanks a thousand" was rejected and "thanks a ton" suggested in its place!
No, 'thanks a lot/so much'. 'Thanks a million' would be 'un milione di volte grazie'.
I found the DL preferred translation somewhat odd as in my experience "thanks a lot" most definitely is sarcastic in the majority of cases
:-D
Grazie -> Thanks Mille -> Thousand Grazie mile -> Thanks a million
Sometimes I just don't know, man.
the audio for this is really bad! i mean really really bad!! i'm not so dumb that i wouldn't recognize this...
I don't see any of this as clutter - it's valid discussion/trying to think things through with other helpful souls. It seems to me that one of the good things about DL is the "talking at the back of the class", as long as it's on topic - in this case Italian-English translation.
How is "the audio for this is really bad" an attempt to "think things through"? There is a dedicated button for problems, and it's labeled "Report a problem". On the menu that pops up, there's a tick box that says "The audio does not sound correct". Please use it. This immediately notifies the developers/mods/admins (whichever term they prefer) that something is not right. It spares them the time-hungry hassle of separating boo-hoo from problem reports in the discussion threads, and will help DL in correcting the problem as quickly as possible.
Actually, the quality of DL relies on our doing this. It's sad, I know, as this kind of quality-check should definitely be done before the lessons get published. After all, we are the ones who are supposed to be taught languages, not DL. But that's how it is, currently. You can either help make it as good as possible within this frame by providing the DL crew with precise and prepared problem reports, or you can produce arbitrary internet-pasta in the discussion threads, like we're doing now. Guess which one is more effective in improving the lessons.
Hi
I didn't notice that your comment was directed at the audio on this PARTICULAR question formaggiamente (with scary avatar), the "stacking of comments on DL isn't as clear as it should be - and also wish It was easier to figure out when a comment was made. In this particular instance I personally find the audio OK. On reporting/clutter, I do often report things - and sometimes when reporting I refer DL (which I generally consider pretty damn wonderful) to the discussion thread. I think you also have to bear in mind formaggiamente that not everyone may have the certainty (maybe you do) that they are right on a particular question of grammar. Folks may be asking or seeking reassurance that they are not a bit mad/haven't grasped something important. If the crowd gives them the reassurance they need, they then may of course report it.If the crowd informs them, hopefully tactfully, that they are mistaken they may of course decide not to bother the good busy DL folks. Of course there is the alternative approach - if you find something puzzling in class, instead of asking the teacher, write a note to the headmaster.
As silkwarrior says, this is all helpful. Since the only means of support for the app is crowd-sourced commentary, I'm not sure there is a real case to be made for the notion of 'clutter'. And, as has been noted so many times throughout all of the discussions in Italian forums, the audio is typically horrendous and, in many cases, can be unusable, unhelpful, and misleading. If/when the authors can remedy this, the app will have improved tremendously in value.
Then, by all means, please help them accomplish this sooner by using the "Report a problem" button during your lesson or practice.
I do so each time I run into an audio issue, believe me. :-) Other than the audio issues, and the way they've implemented it, I love DL and its approach to learning. An extremely effective tool overall.
'Thanks a million' implies you're greally grateful whereas 'Thanks a lot' can be sarcastic and mean the opposite
- 655
The literal meaning - 'a thousand thanks' also makes sense in Polish, but instead of a thousand we would use a hundred - 'stokrotne dzięki' or 'dziękuję po stokroć' - 'i thank you a hundred times'.
Though one doesn't think about this phrase in the strict numeral context [but rather express stronger appreciation for sth] it obviosuly includes proper numerals, so I think the Numbers section is the right place for this kind of statement.
It is a unit about numbers, not sure how thank you thousand gets marked incorrect
No, it's not. That would be "grazie" (thanks), or perhaps "ti ringrazio" (I thank you).
"Grazie mille" means "thanks a lot", "thank you very much" or - literally - "thanks [a] thousand".
I agree with kevinmac200 comments especially about the "Clitic Pronouns".
I put Thanks a lot , but with no exclamation mark and got it marked wrong. A little unfair, no?
- 448
"Thanks a thousand times!" was rejected. "Thanks a lot" is often said, although with a certain tone it means the opposite. My version does sound nicer and is more clear.
the interesting thing about this duo exercise is that the idiomatic translations were all accepted (even a few that were pretty tortured). the literal translation was not. I think it may be that the literal translation is NEVER heard in English (US).
Why on earth did they give the answer, 'Thanks a TON'? Who says THAT? Definitely reporting that, if the 'Report' options will allow me to. Ridiculous.
- 761
I've definitely heard it. Maybe it's regional.
The default translation is "Thanks a lot!" Whenever you don't enter one of the expected answers, the "correct answer" provided by Duo seems to be the closest accepted answer, even if it's not the best answer.
I said this in Italy once and got "prego mille" in response. I assumed it was a bit sarcastic. Was it?
Its funny you know? When they wanted us to translate "Hai mille amici" they didnt accept "you have a lot of friends" but Grazie mille is accepted as thanks a lot...this is the lack of consistency that i was talking about sometime ago
