I am French, and have read Disney comics in French most of my life, because that's what I got in the magazines.
So, I am used to rich duck "Picsou", the three nephews "Riri, Fifi et Loulou", Mickey's best friend "Dingo", his archenemy "Pat Hibulaire"...
I can also read English and am bilingual. I have very little Disney comics in English, considering they seldom get exported in the anglosphere.
It was in my mid-20s that I became more and more aware that a lot of the Disney comics I read as a kid were Italian. I found some used "Topolino" magazines, and with a small Italian-French dictionary, got into Italian Disney comics.
Thanks to resources such as Inducks, I found out how many original never-translated Disney comics there were!
It was also quite shocking, especially when you find out that a recurring character's first appearance and introduction was never translated in French, but their subsequent appearances were!
(such as OK Quack the alien who randomly appears in a story translated in France, but his first story never appeared here! And YET, the story's narration says: "Oh look! Our good old alien friend, OK Quack!" Who are you? I never saw you in my whole life! In fact, I couldn't...)
So, I can read the comics in French and English... and kinda in Italian. I am still practicing so I can read the never-translated ones. However, I have to keep a dictionary or a Google Translate/Wiktionary nearby!! But one day, I'll be trilingual...
What about you?
--- Gaucelm de Villaret gaucelm@gmail.com --- gaucelm.blogspot.fr twitter.com/GothHelm --- facebook.com/gaucelm
Here we use mostly transliterations of the characters' English names, though in the 90s some character names varied, as the translators used either English, German or Italian source texts. Thus for a while I knew John Rockerduck as Klaas Klever, and Black Pete was sometimes known that way, other times he was called Karlo Cat. I remember being somewhat curious as a kid about this, but I had to wait some years until I learned English and German and found sites like INDUCKS to figure out this mess.
When the Bulgarian pocketbooks had their second run from 2010 to 2014, I noticed that the translators from both Italian and English (no German sources this time) had a much beter reference for the character names (and after 20 years of regular MM magazines, they should have).
Also, I love Italian stories, which are all pocket-sized, so I was very sad when they cancelled our pocket books (again) two years ago.
Last Edit: Dec 16, 2016 22:26:26 GMT by deyanmegara
Post by Scrooge MacDuck on Dec 16, 2016 22:25:17 GMT
I obviously can read them in English, and, like Orora, I'm French, so I read a lot of them in French too (though after reading some of them in the origial version, I discovered a lot of Barks' and Rosa's dialogue's appeal is lost in translation). I can kind of read them in Italian, sort of, if I've got a computer around, and with Google Translate, I can hack my way through German, Portugueuse or Spanish stories if need be.
In the years when we were without new Disney comics in the USA, I learned how to find (on Inducks) and order (on French and German eBay, mostly) comics from other countries. Easiest for me to read after English is French, then Dutch and German. I have read a handful in Italian when that was the only way I could get a story I wanted, but I have to rely a great deal on GoogleTranslate there.
Though I took a couple years of German in school, I find Dutch easier to read, since it's so much closer to modern English. But I have more German comics, mostly because the OCD Germans (I'm 3/4 ethnically German, so I get to say that about my people!) apparently collect/sell their comics more than the Dutch do, and they all label them on eBay in the same way (issue number, date), so it's much easier to find and buy old German issues. The British seem not to have saved their Disney comics at all. I can hardly ever find old British issues for sale. Not that I look that often; they mostly published stories with a low page count.
I'm Dutch, Canadian and American. I read comics mainly in English and Dutch. but I can also read fluently in Spanish (learned in Los Angeles and visiting my brother in Madrid), and took several years of French in school and heard a lot, living in Canada, and so, I can read French, Italian and Brasilian (Portuguese), and get the gist of the stories, especially having pictures along with. I could probably get the gist of Rumanian stories as well, but, perhaps miss important items when key points are made using Slavic-based words. Because I have lived part year in Denmark for the past 28 years, and studied Danish some, I can read Danish, Norwegian and Swedish stories and get the gist of what's going on, but I probably miss a lot of subtle jokes. The same goes for German(Hochdeutsch), as I've lived part year in Germany for the past 33 years (mostly Munich, but also Bremen for 5 years), and studied German some. I can get the gist of what's going on, but German, like Latin, is a very complicated language. So I don't enjoy reading it. Because of knowledge of Dutch and English, I can read Frisian pretty well. Frisian is the 2nd national language of The Netherlands. Frisian's vocabulary is about half way between English and Dutch. Its syntax is closer to English, but other grammar usages are closer to Dutch. Dutch Disney has printed a few comic books in Frisian, and also some stories and articles in mostly Dutch language publications. The same is true for Plattdeutsch, especially the local dialects in northwest Germany (Hamburg, Bremen, Emsland, Oost Friesland, Wilhelmshaven, etc.) are quite close to Dutch. I have an Uncle Scrooge album written in the Hamburger dialect of Plaatdeutsch.
Being Jewish, I studied Hebrew for 12 years, and, so, I can read enough to get the gist of stories written in that language. I also worked in Arab countries for 17 years, and can read The Arabic Alphabet, and studied some Arabic in Jordan, Morocco, Egypt and The Sudan for my work. So, using that base, and knowing Hebrew better, I can use knowledge of Hebrew to help me be more fluent to get the gist of Arabic stories.
In short, I can read fluently in English, Dutch, Frisian, Plattdeutsh, Afrikaans, Flemish and Spanish, to get full enjoyment from the comic book. I could read a comic book in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, Faeroese, Portuguese, Catalan, French, Provençal, Ladino, Italian, Rhaeto-Romanic, and Latin, and probably understand enough to get the gist of the story, and understand it enough to get some enjoyment reading it, when I couldn't get to read it in one of my fluent languages. I could read a story in Hebrew, Arabic, Rumanian, and Icelandic and understand some, but, perhaps not fully understand all that's going on.
As far as collecting comic books, I've collected Disney Comics starting in early 1952 up till now, both in Canada/USA and The Netherlands. Canadian copies of Disney Comics were the same as US, back when I collected them (1952 to 1967). So, I have over 3,000 of US/Canadian and roughly the same for Dutch. In addition to those English publications, I have about 20 British Disney comic books, a couple Australian, a couple from New Zealand, and a couple from India in English language. The 3rd country (and only other one whose comic book titles I collect) is Danish Disney Comics. I have about 500 of those. Otherwise, I have about 75 Italian, 60 German, 60 Swedish, 60 Norwegian, 50 Finnish, 40 Brasilian (Portuguese) 15 French and a handful of Spanish/Mexican, Greek, Indonesian, Russian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Chinese, Egyptian(Arabic), Turkish, and Israeli(Hebrew). Most of my Disney comics NOT from The Netherlands, USA/Canada or Denmark, were bought, or received from the publishers because they contain stories or covers drawn or written by myself, my work partners, or close friends.
Post by Monkey_Feyerabend on Jan 18, 2017 12:19:55 GMT
Hi! I am new here (not as a lurker, to be honest, I've been giving a look at this new-born forum from time to time). Forgive me if I exploit this topic to introduce myself to the community. You know, say "Hello!" and stuff like that. The subject is appropriate indeed. I am Italian, and I survive in France. So I can read in Italian, French and English.
In short, I can read fluently in English, Dutch, Frisian, Plattdeutsh, Afrikaans, Flemish and Spanish, to get full enjoyment from the comic book. I could read a comic book in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, Faeroese, Portuguese, Catalan, French, Provençal, Ladino, Italian, Rhaeto-Romanic, and Latin, and probably understand enough to get the gist of the story, and understand it enough to get some enjoyment reading it, when I couldn't get to read it in one of my fluent languages. I could read a story in Hebrew, Arabic, Rumanian, and Icelandic and understand some, but, perhaps not fully understand all that's going on.
Damn! You can read in languages whose very existence was unknown to me before I read this post!
Hi! I am new here (not as a lurker, to be honest, I've been giving a look at this new-born forum from time to time). Forgive me if I exploit this topic to introduce myself to the community. You know, say "Hello!" and stuff like that. The subject is appropriate indeed. I am Italian, and I survive in France. So I can read in Italian, French and English.
Pleased to meet you.
Ah, and hello!, of course!
Buongiorno Monkey_Feyerabend, Welcome to our forum. Just so you will know, we already have a forum section for members to introduce themselves. It is located in "Off Topic". After clicking on "Lounge" - you must click on "Introductions".
I think it is quite interesting that you choose to say that you "survive" in France, rather than "dwell" or "live". Is France really that bad a place, that you only survive? I rather like that country. It's a pleasant enough place. The weather is good and the food is great. And the pace of life is a lot better than USA or Great Britain (to my taste).
Post by Monkey_Feyerabend on Jan 19, 2017 8:52:42 GMT
Salut! I was looking for a section for introducing myself, but I did not find it. Thanks for the hint.
I do enjoy living in France. After more than five years here I consider Paris my real home. In general I am not someone that puts too strong roots in any place, but I am deeply in love with the city, that is sure.
The use of the word "survive" was ironical (and the irony was directed toward the condition of living, not to France). I can be a little exuberant here and there when I write. I hope you will forgive my verbal incontinence.
Salut! I was looking for a section for introducing myself, but I did not find it. Thanks for the hint.
I do enjoy living in France. After more than five years here I consider Paris my real home. In general I am not someone that puts too strong roots in any place, but I am deeply in love with the city, that is sure.
The use of the word "survive" was ironical (and the irony was directed toward the condition of living, not to France). I can be a little exuberant here and there when I write. I hope you will forgive my verbal incontinence.
I read Disney Comics only in German, I've got only two American Disney magazines by Gemstone. In Germany, Disney Comics are not as exspensive as in America. We must pay circa 4$ for a 60-page-magazine or circa 7$ for a paperback with 250 pages Italian Comics. I'm maybe going to buy the TPB of "Donald Quest", cause it's only published in the USA, but in constrast it's very expensive.
I do own 6 Italian Topolinos and the current 6 books of Fantagraphic's Don Rosa Library. The most stuff in my library is german, they're less expensive than in the US, but way more than in Italy, there ya just have to pay 2 and a half bucks for about 150 pages!