Back-translating proverbs.

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

What is the Russian original for:

"Better to see once than hear a hundred/thousand times."

"You are as many times a person as many languages you know."

Thank you for your help!

Edit: Okay, it seems the second one is not Russian. Could it be Ukrainian? Is there a chance it's neither but it's borrowed from something else?

Comments

[vakhitov.livejournal.com]

Better to see once than hear a hundred/thousand times - Лучше один раз увидеть, чем сто раз услышать (surprise! :-))

About the second one, I don't know any specifically Russian equivalent. I've heard it though - looks like it's international.

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...that simple! Thanks!

[nicodimus-canis.livejournal.com]

For the first: "Лучше один раз увидеть, чем сто раз услышать."
But I have no idea for the second one.

[asklepij.livejournal.com]

1) Лучше один раз увидеть, чем сто раз услышать.

2) I've never heard this one.

[ars-longa.livejournal.com]

Лучше один раз увидеть чем сто раз услышать.

The second one doesn't have a Russian equivalent.

[kali-kali.livejournal.com]

The second one I believe is Czech. At least that's how I know it.

"Kolikrát jazyky znáš, tolikrát jsi člověkem." (However many languages you know, you are that many people).

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

Thank you to both you and Gomez!

Do you know how it would be in Russian? Something like, "Сколько языков знаешь, столько ты человек" maybe?

[kali-kali.livejournal.com]

I'm not a native Russian speaker, so I'm not sure. The "Сколько языков знаешь" part looks good to me, but I think the latter part would also have to have the genitive in there after "сколько" like the first part, but I'm not sure how it would be done.

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

I can't remember when to use chelovek and when to use lyudyei...it's been way too long since I've had a grammar class.

[kali-kali.livejournal.com]

I can't remember either... and who is Gomez?

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

He replied (so I got the message in my inbox) and then deleted it almost immediately.

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

http://g0mez.livejournal.com/

[fiachasorcha.livejournal.com]

lyudei (on a work computer so no cyrrilic) is used when you're referring to a mass of people, whereas chelovek is many individual people (this is what I've been told in my grammar classes at least) - so I think in this case it would be chelovek?

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

Actually, one of them you use with numbers, and one you use with the quantity words (skolko, stolko, mnogo, etc.)...I just can't remember which goes with which.

[giantantattack.livejournal.com]

Человек is used with numbers; люди with quantitative words.

1 человек
2 человека
5 человек

много людей

[fiachasorcha.livejournal.com]

ehh that's kind of the same thing. At least that's how it works in my head. I guess my mind doesn't deal with grammar the same way that other people do.

[skogens-kjole.livejournal.com]

I guess it would be "Сколько языков ты знаешь, столько раз ты человек"

[miram.livejournal.com]

+1

According to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, this proverb may have an author:

http://www.bartleby.com/81/13972.html
Quot linguas calles, tot homines vales. As many languages as you know, so many separate individuals you are worth. Attributed to Charles V.

[sonja.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure where it originated, but I learnt it in my Linguistics class as:

SLOVAK proverb – Koľlko rečcí vieš, toľlkokrát si čclovekom.
Literally translated "as many languages you know so many times you are a human".

(I'm not sure if that is even correct)

[tisoi.livejournal.com]

I learned it from the Chakavian dialect of Croatian:

Kuliko jezikou chlovig zna,
Taliko chlovig valja.

A Croatian girl I asked on LJ three years ago gave me something in "modern" Croatian: Koliko jezikâ, toliko fakultetâ

[gera.livejournal.com]

In the USSR the second one was ascribed to Karl Marx (but then, again, so were many other "wise quotes").

Examples:
Любопытно, что многие люди из числа тех, кто свято верит в идеалы марксизма-ленинизма, не принимают во внимание мудрое высказывание своего бывшего вождя — сколько языков ты знаешь, столько раз ты человек. (http://www.zerkalo-nedeli.com/nn/show/600/53536/)

А ведь, как сказал мой папа, Карл Маркс говорил: сколько языков человек знает - столько раз он Человек. (http://world.lib.ru/w/wera_w_m/commentary.shtml)

[lovimoment.livejournal.com]

I think people attribute quotes to whomever they wish had said them. :) A student of German told me that Goethe is the one who said it.

[towarysc.livejournal.com]

2) Сколько языков ты знвешь, столько раз ты человек. This was said by some ancient Greek, can't remember which.

[genuine-al-cash.livejournal.com]

Сколько языков ты знаешь, столько раз ты ЛИЧНОСТЬ! (а не ощипаная тушка о двух ногах)).

[paparazzzzi.livejournal.com]

Сколько языков ты знаешь, столько раз ты человек.

I am a native speaker, but I've never heard this phrase.
But in Ru-Net there are many refers this variant of translation, ascribed to M. Gorky, 'some ancient', some Chinese ancient and other :-)

Also - Человек проживает столько жизней, сколько знает языков.