Monday, November 28, 2011

School Tech Connect: Lost in Translation

School Tech Connect: Lost in Translation:

Lost in Translation

I have this famous old fakey-German neologism-thingy posted in my computer help desk area, where we fix broken machines:

ACHTUNG!
ALLES TURISTEN UND NONTEKNISCHEN LOOKENPEEPERS!
DAS KOMPUTERMASCHINE IST NICHT FÜR DER GEFINGERPOKEN UND MITTENGRABEN! ODERWISE IST EASY TO SCHNAPPEN DER SPRINGENWERK, BLOWENFUSEN UND POPPENCORKEN MIT SPITZENSPARKSEN.
IST NICHT FÜR GEWERKEN BEI DUMMKOPFEN. DER RUBBERNECKEN SIGHTSEEREN KEEPEN DAS COTTONPICKEN HÄNDER IN DAS POCKETS MUSS.
ZO RELAXEN UND WATSCHEN DER BLINKENLICHTEN.
To a man, modern kids look at this thing and then go immediately to Google Translate for the meaning, then they frustrate, then they lose interest. I suppose they're using resources, which is good, but on the other hand, c'mon... Would kids in the past have just figured it out on their own? I would have, but I was in love with language