Young Indy Dialogue Translation Project - Foreign Languages

Demitasse

Member
Hello all! For a while I've wanted to combine my love of languages and Young Indy! The dialogue-writers on the show went to great lengths in composing what seems to be grammatically-correct, accurate non-English dialogue for the show, but the authors of the subtitles did not always bring across all the nuances (see the Arabic dialogue from Love's Sweet Song). Hats off to SPF and the other actors for taking the time to memorize dialogue outside their mother tongue!

What I'm hoping to do is re-create as much of the original foreign language dialogue as possible based on the subtitles and multiple listenings of the lines spoken by the actors.

Many of you are linguistically inclined and we have many native speakers of European languages on these boards. (Plus, many of you are the best researchers on the net! ;) ) Anyone is welcome to lend their skills to any episode or section of dialogue in whatever language they wish. I have very basic (read: poor) skills in French and German and I'm hoping that my humble attempts will be critiqued and edited by those of you who are more skilled than I am, and also that you might make contributions of your own! :)

As for the other numerous languages spoken on the show, Russian, Mandarin, Spanish, Italian even Swahili!!! --- I hope you will all take a stab at anything you can make out.

My first question would be whether or not any of the actual scripts from the series contain the foreign language dialogue. Anyone have access to any of the scripts?? This might make things easier!

Anyway, remember that learning new languages is your key to the world! (to paraphrase that great quote from Curse of the Jackal)!

Anyway, thanks to all of you in advance!!!!! Looking forward to working with anyone who's interested over the next few weeks/months.
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Only a few of the episodes have the foreign languages subtitled (as they also were in the original broadcasts). These words appear as white when using the DVD subtitles option. Occasionally, some untranslated foreign words can be read with the subtitles feature. These are in yellow.

I'll begin with my pet example of how the translation doesn't alway match what it being said.

In "Phantom Train of Doom" when the lions are being scared away, Remy shouts in French:
"Foutre le camp, salopards! Foutre le camp! Foutre le camp! Salopards! Salopards!"

The subtitles translate:
"Leave the camp! You dirty beasts!"

In reality, Remy is saying:
"F*ck off, bastards! F*ck off! F*ck off! Bastards! Bastards!":eek:

Some obvious ones from "Phantom Train of Doom":

During the balloon chase, when the German soldier w/ grappling hook falls and hits the ground, he yells:
"Schweinehund!"
"Pig dog!" / "Bastard!"

When Margaret Trappe lands her plane after being shot down, she mutters to herself in German:
"Verdammt."
"Damn it."

Right before Indy & Remy are surrendering in the balloon, the Germans are calling out something. Anyone know?:confused: (On the DVD, it's at 1:16:14.)
Demitasse said:
My first question would be whether or not any of the actual scripts from the series contain the foreign language dialogue. Anyone have access to any of the scripts?? This might make things easier!
Having the scripts would be awesome.(y) Anyway, FANTASTIC idea for a thread, Demitasse/Half-cup!:hat: Let's hope it goes somewhere...
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Stoo said:
In "Phantom Train of Doom" when the lions are being scared away, Remy shouts in French:
"Foutre le camp, salopards! Foutre le camp! Foutre le camp! Salopards! Salopards!"

The subtitles translate:
"Leave the camp! You dirty beasts!"

In reality, Remy is saying:
"F*ck off, bastards! F*ck off! F*ck off! Bastards! Bastards!":eek:

That translation would be in character, as I think I remember Remy using the anglicized version at least once elsewhere.

I made a search and found this page:

http://en.bab.la/dictionary/french-english/va-te-faire-foutre

'Foutre' seems to be an expressive and varied word, much as it's English counterpart.

'foutre le camp' appears as a sentence, but it receives one of the more polite translations.
 

Halagan

New member
Hi, Demitasse and everybody. Long time lurker here.

It's been months I've been visiting this particular forum, practically devouring every Young Indy related thread you guys have been discussing on. It's been a great help to calm the unbearable thirst I've been suffering from since the early nineties, when the show was first announced.

As of why I've never commented before, I don't know. It's surely because I've hardly ever had anything remotely interesting to add to whatever discussion you were having.

Anyway, I gladly offer my help in this project, that I find extremely interesting. As I'm kind of a language buff, I would love to know more about the exact meaning of the countless non-english lines spoken within the show (excellent info on the french dialogue, Stoo!). I already am familiar with some of them, as my mother tongue is spanish, and I also speak italian. I suppose that, for the purpose of this thread, the ideal thing would be to find native english speakers who would also had mastered any of the targeted languages. Be as it may, let me know if I can help.

Excellent work in maintaining the Young Indy spirit alive, people.
 

Demitasse

Member
@Halagan: Thanks for jumping aboard buddy, and thanks for choosing this thread to mark your first comment! There is a great community vibe on this board that I too am thrilled to be part of. If you're up for it, maybe you could pick at some of the Spanish dialogue in Mexico 1916 or the Italian in Tales of Innocence??

@Stoo: Now that’s what I’m talking about Stoo! I never would have been able to tease “Foutre le camp, Salopards!” Out of Remy’s garbled yelling!
Here’s one that might be up your alley. It’s that great exchange between Ernie Hemingway, Bumpkin Joe and Indy in the ambulance from Tales of Innocence (6:25-7:15). Here’s a mix of what I heard/what I thought it should be. Maybe you can edit it… P.S. I love how SPF laughs during his lines as he reacts to the other actor’s ridiculous over accentuation… Dialogue/Subtitles seem pretty straight forward.

6:22 – 7:15
Joe: Hey what’s a snail-eater like you doing around here anyway?
Indy: Je vais la guerre... alors que Hicks comme toi rester à la maison gratter le cul. (*Fighting the war plowboy… while hicks like you stay at home scratching your fannies.)
Joe: Geez, will you look at him? He looks like he just stepped offa some fashion parade.
Indy: Et vous avez encore de la paille qui sort de vos oreilles. (*And you’ve still got straw sticking out of your ears.)
Joe: Absolutely Alphonsy, I agree. Wow, this guy stinks.
Indy: C’est une eau de Cologne extrêmement cher, et gaspillées pour un crétin comme toi. (*This is a very expensive cologne, and wasted on a cretin like you.)
Joe: Whatd he say ?
Ernie: I dunno. Something about his cologne. ;)
 
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AnnieJones

New member
Are you referring to the language dual? If so,here it is. I originally posted this on the first page of the Favorite Young Indy Moments Thread and is possibly what inspired this thread.
AnnieJones said:
There are a lot of scenes I love in the series and I also love the scene with Indy and Vicky Prentiss in London,May 1916 with the language duel.
Someone named RCon25 posted,8 months ago,about this video that the Arabic Indy is saying actually translates as "Arabic is the language I learned when I went to Cairo!"
Not what the subtitles say,which is "Arabic is the first language I learned."
I agree with RCon25 because you can hear Indy saying Cairo.Although,in Arabic,Cairo must sound like Car-ee-ah(he rolled the r)because that's how Indy said it.


The language duel is at 5:56 in this video.

Young Indiana Jones: London, May 1916 Pt. 3
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zs1onzpnmms" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
AnnieJones said:
The Arabic speaking part starts at 7:02 and the part where he speaks Arabic is at 7:13.He says Cairo at the end of his Arabic sentence.
 

Halagan

New member
Demitasse said:
@Halagan: Thanks for jumping aboard buddy, and thanks for choosing this thread to mark your first comment! There is a great community vibe on this board that I too am thrilled to be part of. If you're up for it, maybe you could pick at some of the Spanish dialogue in Mexico 1916 or the Italian in Tales of Innocence??

Thanks for the welcome. And glad to do it. I think I'll start with the most obvious exchange, even though there's maybe not much of interest in it. I'm of course talking about the famous chicken dialogue in Curse of the Jackal:

OLD MAN: No, por favor. Por favor, no, mis gallinas... (*No, please. Please, no. My chickens...)
REVOLUTIONARY: ¡Cállate, viejo! ¡No podemos luchar con el estómago vacío! (*Shut up old man! We can't fight on an empty stomach!)
(Indy helps the man)
INDY: Lo siento. (*I'm sorry.)
OLD MAN: ¿De veras lo sientes, gringo? Siempre es lo mismo. En una revolución la que sufre es la gente. (*Are you really, gringo? It is always the same. In a revolution, it is the people who suffer.)
INDY: Pero luchamos... por usted. El General Villa dice... dice... (*But we're fighting... for you. General Villa says... says...)
OLD MAN: El General Villa... (burlándose) El General Villa... Escucha, hace muchos años cabalgué con Juárez en contra del Emperador Maximiliano. En esa época perdí muchas gallinas, pero yo creí que valía la pena ser libre. Cuando Don Porfirio subió a Presidente, lo apoyé, pero se llevó las gallinas. Vino Huerta, y se llevó las gallinas. Le tocó el turno a Carranza, y también se llevó las gallinas. Ahora viene Pancho Villa a liberarme y, lo primero que hizo, fue robarme las gallinas. (*General Villa... (mocking him) General Villa... Listen, many years ago I rode with Juárez against Emperor Maximilian. At that time, I lost many chickens, but I thought being free was worth it. When Don Porfirio became President, I supported him, but he took the chickens. Huerta came, and he took the chickens. Then it was Carranza's turn, and he also took the chickens. Now Pancho Villa comes to liberate me and, the first thing he did, was steal my chickens.)
INDY: Pero un ejército necesita comida. Quiere ayudarle. (*But an army needs food. He wants to help you.)
OLD MAN: ¿Ayudarme? ¿Ayudarme? También va a ayudarme Carranza, y todos los demás. ¿Qué diferencia hay entre uno y otro? Mis gallinas no lo saben. En el mundo entero, las revoluciones vienen y van. Los presidentes suben y caen. Todos roban tus gallinas. Lo único que cambia es el nombre de quien se llevó la gallina. (*Help me? Help me? Carranza is also going to help me, and all the others. What's the difference between one and the other? My chickens don't know it. All over the world revolutions come and go. Presidents rise and fall. They all steal your chickens. The only thing to change is the name of the one who took the chicken.)

The DVD subtitles make a fair work of translating the dialogue, except for some unnecesary emphatization, like with the addition of the line "they're all I have" to the very first phrase uttered by the Old Man. Or the underlining of the word "all" at the end, as the spoken delivery does not stress at all the spanish word "todos".

I gotta say, SPF did a great job on delivering his lines. Maybe with the exception of the word "ejército" (army), which he doesn't get quite right, his pronunciation is superb, just as his intonation. You can tell he's got an american accent, but that's really okay. At 16, I don't expect Indy's speech to be flawless in each and every one of the twenty-odd languages he speaks!

The "Old Man in pueblo" (spanish word for "village") part was, as credited, played by one Gregorio, and it only seems fair to acknowledge the good acting work done by him. Great performance. IMDb has no records of him before or after filming this scene, so it seems pretty obvious that he was a common villager casted in the spot. As a side note, I've been always inclined to think that his lines were dubbed later on studio. They sound like it, and I really can't see the way the man Gregorio could have delivered those 's' sounds with the few teeth he had left. If it is indeed so, the dubbing work is beyond reproach!

All in all, great scene, and great point made about what's to be a regular man trying to live a life while the world around him is controlled by political (and economical) interests. I can relate to that.

PS.- I really didn't expect this comment to get so long, sorry.
 

Demitasse

Member
Fabulous work Halagan! I think we're really gonna have a good archive here. (y) Speaking of ?los pollos?, here is the tiny bit of German from the first half of Spring Break Adventure:

(14:38)
Schnell die Hühnchen/Hähnchen (*Quick the chickens!) or Bäuerchen (*Burp)
(16:26)
Hähnchenbauer ? (*Chicken farmer).
(20:28)
Dr. Thompson: I did keep hearing the words ?Flut, Ebbe.?
Indy: That?s high tide and low tide.
 

fommes

Member
I think people were speaking Dutch in the episode Prague and/or Austria. I remember the scene with the women's underwear had Dutch in it at least. Was that subtitled? If not I can help you out.
 

fommes

Member
From Espionage Escapades:

"Da's dan drie stuivers, maar ik zou dat damesondergoed dat je verkoopt ook nemen."
"O kijk, hij verkoopt damesondergoed!"
...
"Mijn maat!" "Mijn kleur!"

Couldn't make out the rest of it, even though it was subtitled. The subtitled translation is correct; I've added one or two words left out in the translation:

"That'll be [three stivers/nickels], but I'd take that ladies underwear you're selling [too]!"
"[Oh look,] he sells ladies underwear!"
...
"My size!" "My color!"
 

Stoo

Well-known member
@Halagan: WELCOME ABOARD, Halagan!:hat: Glad you finally decided to speak up...and don't be afraid to contribute to other threads.;)

@Demitasse: Again, a great thread. Below is a more precise interpretation of the ambulance conversation. (Funny scene!:D) Orignally, I put the translations in bold type but I'll follow your suit and put the foreign dialogue in bold (with the translation in brackets). Just to keep things uniform...;)
Demitasse said:
Joe: Hey what?s a snail-eater like you doing around here anyway?
Indy: Je vais la guerre... alors que Hicks comme toi rester à la maison gratter le cul. (*Fighting the war plowboy? while hicks like you stay at home scratching your fannies.)
Joe: Geez, will you look at him? He looks like he just stepped offa some fashion parade.
Indy: Et vous avez encore de la paille qui sort de vos oreilles. (*And you?ve still got straw sticking out of your ears.)
Joe: Absolutely Alphonsy, I agree. Wow, this guy stinks.
Indy: C?est une eau de Cologne extrêmement cher, et gaspillées pour un crétin comme toi. (*This is a very expensive cologne, and wasted on a cretin like you.)
Joe: Whatd he say ?
Ernie: I dunno. Something about his cologne. ;)

Modifications & additions in red. Hope it's not a pain to read.

Joe: Bonjour, Capitaine. Voulez-vous 'a ride'?
(*Good Day/Hello, Captain. Do you want a ride?)
Indy:Oui, merci.
(*Yes, thanks.)
Joe: Allez à la villé. 'Okay', Capitaine?
(Bumpkin Joe mispronounces, ?ville?.)
(*We're going to the city. Okay, Captain?)
Indy: Oui. Oui. Merci beaucoup.
(*Yes. Yes. Thank you very much.)

...
Joe: Hey what?s a snail-eater like you doing around here anyway?
Indy: Je vais la guerre parce-que pl- p...(indecipherable) comme toi rester chez eux pour gratter le cul.
(*I?m going to war because (indecipherable) like you stay home to scratch ass.)
Joe: Geez, will you look at him? He looks like he just stepped offa some fashion parade.
Indy: Et tu as encore de la paille qui sort des oreilles.
(*And you still have straw coming out of ears.)
Joe: Absolutely Alphonsy, I agree. Wow, this guy stinks.
Indy: C?est une eau de Cologne extrêmement cher, et bien que je gaspille pour un crétin comme toi.
(*It?s an extremely expensive cologne, although I waste it on an idiot like you.)
...
Joe: Au revoir, ?you snail eater, and I hope I never have to smell you again?.
Indy: Au revoir, ?fellas?.

*Au revoir = To see again/Goodbye
 

Demitasse

Member
Wow this is great you guys! I can see this thread morphing into a database someday. I think it really reflects the international flavor of the series and is shaping into a great resource for language lovers. Like all things Young Indy though, it is a labour of love!

@Stoo: Thanks for towing the line! I like how the bold of the non-English jumps out at the reader. Also, LOVE that you made corrections in red. It has the feel of corrected French homework, lol!! (y) Thanks man!
 

Halagan

New member
This is the order that Pancho Villa gives Remy regarding what to do with Indy in the beginning of the Mexico, March 1916 episode. On Spring Break Adventure you can find it at 58:09.

Pancho Villa: Amárralo y tráetelo. Y si se mueve, fusílalo. (*Tie him up and bring him. And if he moves, shoot him.)

I love how Remy misinterprets him. And his next line makes me laugh every single time:

"Mon ami. I regret deeply." :D

And this is what I could do out of the first italian dialogue spoken in Tales of Innocence:

04:20-05:00
Indy: Non sparate! Don't shoot! Maledizione! Don't shoot me! Non sparate! Arrgh! Sono io, il Capitano Défense! Argh! Maledizione! (*Don't shoot! Don't shoot! Dammit! Don't shoot me! Don't shoot! Arrgh! It's me, Captain Défense! Argh! Dammit!)
Luigi: Oh, salve Capitano. Missione riuscita? (*Oh, hello Captain. Mission accomplished?)
Indy: Maledizione, Luigi! (*Dammit, Luigi!)
Luigi: Ma, cercavo solo di essere naturale, signore. E perciò... (*But I was just trying to look convincing, sir. And so...)
Indy: Davvero? (*Really?)
Luigi: Si (*Yes)
Indy: Davvero? (*Really?)
Luigi: Si! (*Yes!)
Indy: Davvero? Mi hai quasi ammazzato, idiota! (*Really? You almost killed me, you moron!)
Luigi: Oh, mi dispiace, signore. (*Oh, I'm sorry, sir.)
Indy: Ma (indecipherable) sempre questa volta! Non mi hai fatto nemmeno ridere! (*But (indecipherable) always this time! It wasn't funny! (literally "you didn't even make me laugh"))

I'll keep trying making sense out of that last line. I'm afraid my italian isn't near good enough, so if anybody else can crack it, please do!

I really can't imagine what the people who made the DVD captions could have been thinking about. Toes? Really?

Great french and dutch transcriptions! :hat: I'm loving reading the words as I hear the spoken lines!

Stoo said:
@Halagan: WELCOME ABOARD, Halagan!:hat: Glad you finally decided to speak up...and don't be afraid to contribute to other threads.

Thanks, Stoo! Will definitely do.
 

AnnieJones

New member
The Curse of the Jackal - Part 2 Mexico 1916(or Spring Break Adventure Part 2)
Indy:I have to be in high school in a couple of days.
José Gonzáles:Shut up!
When José Gonzáles says "Shut up" it's in Spanish.I'm pretty sure the exact translation is "Shut your mouth" because I can hear him saying "boca" which means mouth.To prove it,I found a translation - How do you say shut your mouth in spanish?.
 

Halagan

New member
AnnieJones said:
The Curse of the Jackal - Part 2 Mexico 1916(or Spring Break Adventure Part 2)
Indy:I have to be in high school in a couple of days.
José Gonzáles:Shut up!
When José Gonzáles says "Shut up" it's in Spanish.I'm pretty sure the exact translation is "Shut your mouth" because I can hear him saying "boca" which means mouth.To prove it,I found a translation - How do you say shut your mouth in spanish?.

Annie, you're completely right. What José actually says is "Cierra la boca". The most accurate translation would be "Shut the mouth", so the expression "Shut your mouth" is indeed its english equivalent and, I think, proper way to translate it.

Maybe they chose for the captions the shorter version "Shut up" because it takes less time to read. Like half a second less, but still.
 
Not all expressions (idioms/slang) can be faithfully translated...why we have the phrase "lost in translation" and why I enjoy this thread!

Excellent!:hat:
 

Demitasse

Member
Guten Abend meine Freunde!
Any German speakers out there that can lend a hand here? I?ve been working on the spiel Indy says to his commanding officers in Demons of Deception (28:06-28:22) to prove that he can speak German well enough to cross enemy lines. I?ve been over it a bunch of times (even with my dictionary!), but there?s a few words I can?t make out which are spelled phonetically in green below. You can find Sean Flanery reciting this same dialogue from memory (twenty years later!) in this clip at 4:01.

Hopefully someone with better ears and better German can help make it out. The gist of it is Indy casually recounting how he signed up for war in London, joined the Belgians, and is now pleased to be taken under the wing of the French to help the French army in their war effort against Germany.

Ich habe mich in London gamile du zar die Action in Norden obwohl Ich als Corporal in der Belgische armie diener. Freue ich mich sehr das Ich unter der Französisch Commanditure einge heich bin. Es ist mein Flucht de Französisch Armee die Deutschen aus strifen zu helfen.
 
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