Hi thanks for looking at my query. I recently as a joke changed some writing on the board of a friends EAL (English as an Additional Language) classroom from English to German. She liked the idea, but using Google Translate resulted in an overly formal phrasing that made it seem more a demand than a suggestion or polite request.

So my ask, if you speak (or I guess write) another language I would love to request you take a moment to translate “Please stack chairs at the end of the day” into whichever language you can help me with, it should be a polite request though.

I’m really not sure what the composition of her class is but she is a fan of languages as a whole so even if it’s not a language that is represented in her class I am sure it will be a bit of fun and a talking point to figure it out.

If you have the time and the skills to help I really appreciate it, otherwise I appreciate you taking the time to read this post. Have a fantastic day.

  • simonced@lemmy.mlEnglish
    0·
    6 months ago

    In Japanese I would say:

    一日終わったら、椅子を重ねてください。

    • shads@lemy.lolOPEnglish
      0·
      6 months ago

      I wrote this on the board but my form was not as good as it might have been, the students corrected the mistakes I made and left me the following note: オッケー、まかせろ

      Would this be an appropriate response, or would it come across as incorrect, rude or condescending?

      先生方、ご意見をいただきありがとうございます。

      • simonced@lemmy.mlEnglish
        0·
        5 months ago

        I am so sorry, I didn’t receive a notification of your answers. It’s late, but I’ll answer anyway ^^

        Regarding your message to write them back, starting with 先生方 seems wrong because you’re answering to students and 先生 means teacher.
        生徒方 is not something I have heard of, and it seems waaaay too strict to address to young people.

        Regarding the tone of their message, it’s very friendly and is “slangish” even. まかせろ instead of 任せてください。
        If you want to answer in the same vibe, I would simply say: よろしくね＾＾ or something along those lines.
        For something more formal: ご協力ありがとうございます would be good IMO.

        Note: I am not native Japanese, take my advice with a fistful of salt ^^

  • Dæmon S.@calckey.world
    0·
    6 months ago

    @shads@lemy.lol @asklemmy@lemmy.ml

    Brazilian Portuguese: “Por gentileza, empilhe as cadeiras ao final do dia”.

    If colloquial or more informal translations are desired:
    - “Empilhar as cadeiras não faz cair a mão” (roughly “you won’t lose your hands if you take the time to stack the chairs”)
    - “ô mossss, empilhascadêra fazenofavô?” (A very informal transcription from “Mineiro” (people from the state of Minas Gerais) accent for “Hey girl/boy, [can you] stack the chairs, doing [everyone] a favor [please]?”

    • shads@lemy.lolOPEnglish
      0·
      5 months ago

      So I went with “ô mossss, empilhascadêra fazenofavô?” and my friend told me the Brazilian students in her class “lit up!” They were so happy that they wrote a response: “Pó dexa, cumpadi” and apparently recorded a video together talking about how they came across their dialect in an English class at a little school in Australia. Thank you for making a bunch of people smile this morning!

      • Dæmon S.@calckey.world
        0·
        5 months ago

        @shads@lemy.lol @asklemmy@lemmy.ml

        LOL! It’s a funny thing from us Brazilians: whenever we see/hear mentions of either Brazil and/or unique national/regional Brazilian aspects, we tend to get this ecstatic feeling of “Brazil mentioned”. Glad you people enjoyed it! 😄

  • sznowicki@lemmy.world
    0·
    6 months ago

    Polish: Po zajęciach proszę złożyć razem krzesła.

    Literał: after lectures please stack chairs together.

    I could translate it more literal to original but no one speaks like this so any close translation from English would sound weird for my taste.