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17th Translation Contest: "The Sounds of Silence" » English to Romanian

Competition in this pair is now closed, and the winning entry has been announced.

Discussion and feedback about the competition in this language pair may now be provided by visiting the "Discussion & feedback" page for this pair. Entries may also be individually discussed by clicking the "Discuss" link next to any listed entry.

Source text in English

A theme of the age, at least in the developed world, is that people crave silence and can find none. The roar of traffic, the ceaseless beep of phones, digital announcements in buses and trains, TV sets blaring even in empty offices, are an endless battery and distraction. The human race is exhausting itself with noise and longs for its opposite—whether in the wilds, on the wide ocean or in some retreat dedicated to stillness and concentration. Alain Corbin, a history professor, writes from his refuge in the Sorbonne, and Erling Kagge, a Norwegian explorer, from his memories of the wastes of Antarctica, where both have tried to escape.

And yet, as Mr Corbin points out in "A History of Silence", there is probably no more noise than there used to be. Before pneumatic tyres, city streets were full of the deafening clang of metal-rimmed wheels and horseshoes on stone. Before voluntary isolation on mobile phones, buses and trains rang with conversation. Newspaper-sellers did not leave their wares in a mute pile, but advertised them at top volume, as did vendors of cherries, violets and fresh mackerel. The theatre and the opera were a chaos of huzzahs and barracking. Even in the countryside, peasants sang as they drudged. They don’t sing now.

What has changed is not so much the level of noise, which previous centuries also complained about, but the level of distraction, which occupies the space that silence might invade. There looms another paradox, because when it does invade—in the depths of a pine forest, in the naked desert, in a suddenly vacated room—it often proves unnerving rather than welcome. Dread creeps in; the ear instinctively fastens on anything, whether fire-hiss or bird call or susurrus of leaves, that will save it from this unknown emptiness. People want silence, but not that much.

The winning entry has been announced in this pair.

There were 8 entries submitted in this pair during the submission phase, 3 of which were selected by peers to advance to the finals round. The winning entry was determined based on finals round voting by peers.

Competition in this pair is now closed.


Entries (8 total; 3 finalists) Expand all entries

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Language variants:
Entry #22664 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Romania
Andreea Sepi, MCIL (X)
Andreea Sepi, MCIL (X)
Germany
Winner
Voting points1st2nd3rd
5710 x46 x25 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry4.084.23 (13 ratings)3.92 (13 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 5 users entered 9 "like" tags
  • 11 users agreed with "likes" (33 total agrees)
  • 2 users disagreed with "likes" (3 total disagrees)
+5
Vuietul traficului
Flows well
Adriana Sandru
+3
nesfârșită derută
Good term selection
Andreea Nicutar
-1
+5
tânjește
Good term selection
Adriana Sandru
-1
+4
1
străzile duduiau de zăngănitul asurzitor al roților
Flows well
Adriana Sandru
+3
2
maldăre
Good term selection
Angela Bostan
-1
+2
maldăre mute
Flows well
Bine găsit​.
Serban Oprescu
+6
1
babilonie de urale și fluierături
Good term selection
Adriana Sandru
+1
1
veacurile apuse
Flows well
Gabriela Nistor
+4
1
mijește
Good term selection
Andreea Nicutar
Entry #23174 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Roxana Brown
Roxana Brown
United States
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
465 x411 x24 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.933.85 (13 ratings)4.00 (11 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 3 users entered 5 "like" tags
  • 7 users agreed with "likes" (10 total agrees)
anvelopele pneumatice
Flows well
Alina Weidell
+6
caldarâm
Good term selection
Renata Ana Ursu
morman
Flows well
Alina Weidell
+4
Aici se țese un alt paradox
Flows well
Ioana Abrahan
cameră golită brusc
Flows well
Alina Weidell
Entry #22936 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
365 x43 x210 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.813.82 (11 ratings)3.80 (10 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 2 "like" tags
  • 2 users agreed with "likes" (2 total agrees)
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (1 total disagree)
-1
+2
O temă a epocii
Flows well
pe inteles​ul si a oa​menilor „d​e rand”...
Daniel Terbea
cameră golită brusc
Flows well
Alina Weidell


Non-finalist entries

The following entries were not selected by peers to advance to finals-round voting.

Entry #23144 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.673.64 (11 ratings)3.70 (10 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 3 users entered 3 "like" tags
  • 4 users agreed with "likes" (5 total agrees)
+1
Un subiect
Flows well
pe inteles​ul tuturor
Daniel Terbea
pietrele de pavaj
Good term selection
Gabriela Nistor
+4
1
ciulim instinctiv urechea la un nimic, un pârait de jăratic, un piuit de pasăre sau un freamăt de frunze
Flows well
Angela Bostan
Entry #24058 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Romania
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.483.55 (11 ratings)3.40 (10 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 3 users entered 9 "like" tags
  • 6 users agreed with "likes" (17 total agrees)
  • 4 users disagreed with "likes" (4 total disagrees)
+1
O temă
Flows well
pe inteles​ul tuturor​...
Daniel Terbea
-1
1
tânjesc după liniște și că nu o găsesc niciunde.
Flows well
Simona Pop
+2
țârâitul neîncetat al telefoanelor
Flows well
Simona Pop
+2
subliniază
Good term selection
Simona Pop
+3
zăngănitul asurzitor al roților cu rame de metal și al potcoavelor pe pavaje.
Flows well
Simona Pop
+3
le făceau publicitate la volum maxim
Good term selection
Simona Pop
+1
Teatrul și opera erau un haos de urale și de ocări
Flows well
Frumoasă ş​i fluidă p​ropoziţie.
Serban Oprescu
-2
+1
2
dintr-o dată
Flows well
Serban Oprescu
-1
+4
1
deconcertantă
Good term selection
Simona Pop
Entry #23563 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.343.38 (8 ratings)3.29 (7 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #24113 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.223.29 (7 ratings)3.14 (7 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 2 "like" tags
au căutat scăparea.
Good term selection
Andreea Nicutar
înstăpânește
Good term selection
Andreea Nicutar
Entry #22955 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Romania
Andreea Boscor
Andreea Boscor
United States
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.022.90 (10 ratings)3.14 (7 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags