Hi I need a transtalor, I can send a few sentences to be translated.

Apparently Vietnamese slang changes with some rapidity.  I once intercepted a note that was thrown across a High School room on a balled up piece of paper.  I couldn't get a single adult to translate it including my college aged assistant.  He said there was a lot of slang that was new since he got out of HS only a few years before.   It's probably best to find a contemporary in age with the originator of the sentences.

Yes this is the problem I am encountering. Demographics here lend itself to fast changes in slang. I have found assistance by a bilingual person who tells me the notes are both old lingo and indecipherable/wouldn't make sense to an English speaker or even to a Vietnamese. This was confirmed by another Vietnamese friend. Thanks and Viva expat.

TubbsFugee wrote:

the notes are both old lingo and indecipherable/wouldn't make sense to an English speaker or even to a Vietnamese. This was confirmed by another Vietnamese friend. .

They do make sense (as in understandable, not as sensical) to Vietnamese who are used to wordplay (I was raised in that environment), but they're the kind of sallies and banter that lose their wittiness when repeated or translated.

I'm a bit curious on what you needed to be translated 

What can one do with 100k?

Most slang stay the same. You need to have someone with knowledge of both the languages in order for the translation to make sense. Remember that ALL languages evolve over time, not just Vietnamese.

mhnguyen wrote:

What can one do with 100k?

One can buy 6 cups of cà phê sữa (nóng or đá), then leave the change behind for tip;

or 10 medium cups / 6 large cups of the absolute best and most famous nước mía in Saigon which has been in existence at the same location for almost 6 decades;

or 5 bánh mì Hà Nội;

or 3 bánh mì Huỳnh Hoa in Q1 (feed 3 adults easily);

or a complete 60-minute facial treatment (eyebrow clean up, exfoliate, full face massage, mask, revitalize) with tip in either Saigon or Vung Tau; 

or a complete hair treatment (cut, wash, leave-in conditioner under heat, re-cut, dry, and style) with tip by a 30+ year experienced hair stylist in Saigon (trained in Taiwan and Singapore originally and Australia most recently); 

or an-hour at the spa with tip in either Saigon or Vung Tau; 

or the tailor fee for a custom-made skirt or pants (fabric not included); 

or a RT domestic flight on Jetstar when booked on Mondays;

etc.

It's not a large amount but a very useful amount in deed.

I am aware most languages evolve over time, but slang is usually invented by the young, of which there are more here than most countries. Slang like " Take the L" , etc in the USA is understood by youngsters, but not age 30+ people. As for 100k for 5-10 mins work? Ciambella said it best.

Wow, I truly didn't know 100k could buy that much. I don't mean to boast, but I've been in VN for 7 months now, and I still am not used to with the economy here.

Now I know why my students' parents are struggling to pay a 200k class fee.

TubbsFugee wrote:

Can pay by timo transfer,  say 100k?, should be less than 10min work. Please be a local Vietnamese /english speaker, with familiarity with current slang. Thanks.

A friend of mine sent me a short Vietnamese message of about 25 words that she'd found on Facebook and asked me to translate it  into English. Truth be told: it took me 30 minutes to send her the English version--25 minutes trying to understand the full meaning of the Vietnamese version, 5 minutes to translate, polish, and Americanize it.

I would charge at least 200k just for doing that.

mhnguyen wrote:

Now I know why my students' parents are struggling to pay a 200k class fee.

For many Vietnamese, 200k is what they make in one day.

mhnguyen wrote:

A friend of mine sent me a short Vietnamese message of about 25 words that she'd found on Facebook and asked me to translate it  into English. Truth be told: it took me 30 minutes to send her the English version--25 minutes trying to understand the full meaning of the Vietnamese version, 5 minutes to translate, polish, and Americanize it.

I would charge at least 200k just for doing that.

TubbsFugee sent me 2 little poems and 4 pairs sentences to translate.  He thought they were slangs but I explained to him that they're actually traditional Vietnamese wordplay.  One can play with words in every language (or at least, the ones that I know), but wordplay in Vietnamese is a whole lot more complicated due to the many, many, many homonyms and homographs that can trip the untrained.

Had I talked to Tubbs in person, I could've given him the literal translation, explained the source and meaning of each play of words, then given him the real translation or equivalence in English, all in 15 minutes.  Unfortunately we didn't, so PMs went back and forth while I was travelling and had limited access to the Internet.  Thus, it took us a couple days from beginning to the end. 

I didn't charge Tubbs anything, of course, because I don't charge people for translation even if the work were 50 times more difficult.  What Tubbs didn't know was that he actually gave me a treat by accepting my offer to help.

@TubbsFugee:  My father was both an educator and a poet.  I was raised with the understanding that words were the greatest toys that would never go out of fashion and the best friends who would never leave me for greener pasture.  He showed me that language can enrich me at the best of time and comfort me at the worst of time, and the more I loved words, the more I was loved.  Wordplay was my daily nutrition when I was growing up under my father's roof.  I left home 44 years ago, he died two years after I left, and I've been missing him and his lessons since.  You inadvertently brought back the beautiful memories, so the cold one that you said you would buy me?  It'll be on me instead.

Thank you ciambella, I was worried that giving you credit for the free.50 services would flood your inbox. I have a few more, I'll send over.

Ciambella wrote:

mhnguyen wrote:

Now I know why my students' parents are struggling to pay a 200k class fee.

For many Vietnamese, 200k is what they make in one day.

Sadly, I found that out recently.
If you don't mind my asking, are you a Vietnamese or an expat living in Vietnam?

Ciambella wrote:

mhnguyen wrote:

A friend of mine sent me a short Vietnamese message of about 25 words that she'd found on Facebook and asked me to translate it  into English. Truth be told: it took me 30 minutes to send her the English version--25 minutes trying to understand the full meaning of the Vietnamese version, 5 minutes to translate, polish, and Americanize it.

I would charge at least 200k just for doing that.

TubbsFugee sent me 2 little poems and 4 pairs sentences to translate.  He thought they were slangs but I explained to him that they're actually traditional Vietnamese wordplay.  One can play with words in every language (or at least, the ones that I know), but wordplay in Vietnamese is a whole lot more complicated due to the many, many, many homonyms and homographs that can trip the untrained.

Had I talked to Tubbs in person, I could've given him the literal translation, explained the source and meaning of each play of words, then given him the real translation or equivalence in English, all in 15 minutes.  Unfortunately we didn't, so PMs went back and forth while I was travelling and had limited access to the Internet.  Thus, it took us a couple days from beginning to the end. 

I didn't charge Tubbs anything, of course, because I don't charge people for translation even if the work were 50 times more difficult.  What Tubbs didn't know was that he actually gave me a treat by accepting my offer to help.

@TubbsFugee:  My father was both an educator and a poet.  I was raised with the understanding that words were the greatest toys that would never go out of fashion and the best friends who would never leave me for greener pasture.  He showed me that language can enrich me at the best of time and comfort me at the worst of time, and the more I loved words, the more I was loved.  Wordplay was my daily nutrition when I was growing up under my father's roof.  I left home 44 years ago, he died two years after I left, and I've been missing him and his lessons since.  You inadvertently brought back the beautiful memories, so the cold one that you said you would buy me?  It'll be on me instead.

Kudos to you for translating it. Never mind about my question regarding whether you're a Vietnamese or an expat (I looked at your profile [sorry!]).

mhnguyen wrote:

Never mind about my question regarding whether you're a Vietnamese or an expat (I looked at your profile [sorry!]).

Verbose should’ve been my middle name.