But of course I sing myself! When the translation goes all wrong...

Most definitely Classical.... Quartets...the structure keeps me awake... Never violin, though... the soloists compete with your thinking...

Never. I never listen to music while translating. I could watch TV at the same time, but never listen to the music.

It is very interesting what sounds a translator finds disturbing or soothing during translations.

Recently, I tried to listen to nature sounds of the rain forest while I translated a legal contract. 

It didn't work. I had to turn it off. 

Pristine

I checked the first option as the closest to my answer which is "never", although the rest of that sentence does not apply.

Originally written by Pristine Pristine on May 13, 2009 11:16 PM It is very interesting what sounds a translator finds disturbing or soothing during translations.

Generally, it is interesting what sounds not only translators and not only during translations find disturbing. I sometimes see people walking along and empty beach and blocking the sound of sea waves with an iPod, or biking in a forest and silencing birds the same way. Gee, I am a city boy but each time I see something like that my jaw drops.

I voted "sometimes". It all depends on the hour of the day, my mood, the difficulty of the text and if my kids are around or not. When I am overworked and still working, though, I never listen to music.

Ann-Christine

Originally written by Jacek K. on May 14, 2009 2:11 AM I checked the first option as the closest to my answer which is "never", although the rest of that sentence does not apply. Originally written by Pristine Pristine on May 13, 2009 11:16 PM It is very interesting what sounds a translator finds disturbing or soothing during translations. Generally, it is interesting what sounds not only translators and not only during translations find disturbing. I sometimes see people walking along and empty beach and blocking the sound of sea waves with an iPod, or biking in a forest and silencing birds the same way. Gee, I am a city boy but each time I see something like that my jaw drops.

Me too. It is not that it is disturbing: I just do not want to spoil the music experience.

It depends how I'm feeling, what I'm translating and how much time I have to get it done. Sometimes I can listen online to Radio 1, but othertimes I can't stand the voices. If I'm really in need of something calming I switch to classical.

Originally written by Jacek K. on May 14, 2009 2:11 AM Generally, it is interesting what sounds not only translators and not only during translations find disturbing. I sometimes see people walking along and empty beach and blocking the sound of sea waves with an iPod, or biking in a forest and silencing birds the same way. Gee, I am a city boy but each time I see something like that my jaw drops.

Yeah... Each time I hear something like that my fists itch...

Originally written by Dodo Kaipdodo on May 14, 2009 11:47 AM Yeah... Each time I hear something like that my fists itch...

Then you should not be taking trains where young people notoriously wear those small ear pieces with annoying music hammered away at fellow passengers who cannot help wondering why one could not turn the volume down when listening to music.

One interesting aspect worth adding to this poll: When you listen to music while translating, do you also keep the volume up?

Originally written by Jacek K. on May 14, 2009 5:57 AM Then you should not be taking trains

I don`t.

One interesting aspect worth adding to this poll: When you listen to music while translating, do you also keep the volume up?

I second the proposal.

Well since I also play (as in creating, not listening to) music and am studying it on the side, listening while translating is an impossibility. Music is not a pleasant sound that washes by for me - even if I think I'm not, I'm processing what I'm hearing.  I've had conversations with people while they had background music going, thinking that I'm involved in the conversation and then discover that part of me has been following the music.  I'll get intrigued by something that has happened at that point in the music and if I don't watch it, I'm gone from the conversation wishing the guy would shut up so I could hear better!   Which is not what conversations are supposed to be about!  I would be distracted in a similar way while translating.  There is no time when music is on when part of me isn't processing what I'm hearing. 

This is the thing that I have not been able to quite grasp.  I've been in stores where the clerks will say they have to have music on.  But while in the checkout counter there will be some bit of music that repeats the same 5 notes over and over --- like somebody stuttering who can't finish what they are saying --- or somebody shrieks into a wrong note, and when I can't suppress a shudder the clerk says "Oh, I never listen to it."  That's the part I don't get - They don't listen to the music, but they have to have it on.  What is it that they do with this music that they don't listen to, and how are they enjoying it if they are not listening to it?  What is it that people do with background music?

Originally written by Maxi Schwarz-Bastami on May 14, 2009 2:57 PM What is it that people do with background music?

It seems to me that people who have grown up with an iPod on whenever they finish a conversation on their mobile, need background music as they do oxygen. In fact, when talking about train compartments before, I also meant this guy who simply fell asleep with his iPod on. What do you do then? Do you wake him up to say "Excuse me, we've been putting up with your, hm, music, oozing out of your ear pieces all this time, but at least when you are asleep, could you, please, turn this forced entertainment off for us?"

even if I think I'm not, I'm processing what I'm hearing.

This has a lot to do with our ability to concentrate. Research shows that we really only concentrate on one thing at a time, despite today's apotheosis of multitasking. As an aside,

There is an interesting article written by Joel Spolsky titled Human Task Switches Considered Harmful. It compares which way of working is better: sequential processing or multitasking. Suppose we have two tasks at hand: A and B. Sequential processing means we work on the task A until it’s finished before moving to task B. On the other side, multitasking means we work on both tasks together. Since we can only work on one task at any given time, it means that we spend the first time slot on task A, then move to task B on the second time slot, move back to task A on the third time slot, and so on.

Joel shows that even without switching time, the average completion time for sequential processing is better than that of multitasking. Since in reality switching time is not zero (in some cases it could be significant), then the average completion time of sequential processing will far outdo that of multitasking. http://www.lifeoptimizer.org/2006/12/23/sequential-processing-vs-multitasking/

No, it has nothing to do with concentration!  It's a different type of listening.  The "background" kind does not listen, and things are not heard and followed.  I got tangled up trying to write about it.  I would not think that somebody who uses background music has greater concentration than I do.  From conversations, it seems the people I talked to do not really follow the music and in a way they don't hear it. 

It also has nothing to do with multitasking.

Originally written by Maxi Schwarz-Bastami on May 14, 2009 3:58 PM it seems the people I talked to do not really follow the music and in a way they don't hear it.

Do really all translators who listen to music when translating not really follow it and in a way they don't hear it? In my side note on concentration I was speculating on what happens should anyone of them try to hear and follow what they are listening to. I am glad to hear that there is no such danger.

Originally written by Maxi Schwarz-Bastami on May 14, 2009 8:57 AM There is no time when music is on when part of me isn't processing what I'm hearing.

Of course. Translating is serious work, and listening to good music is a serious occupation, and the two should never be mixed.

I've been in stores where the clerks will say they have to have music on.

What they have on is usually not music.

They don't listen to the music, but they have to have it on.  What is it that they do with this music that they don't listen to, and how are they enjoying it if they are not listening to it?

They need their dope.

What is it that people do with background music?

Well it depends... There`s background and background. When in a a pleasant company, one puts on something nice and pleasant for a background; never too loud, never too serious - just nice. When it comes to dancing, one puts on also something nice, yet louder and more rhythmic. But if it comes to really listening - then you want no guests, however nice. You just listen and are there, inside. And the music is not necessarily nice, in this case, it`s what`s really yours.

It sure is annoying, sitting in a train or a bus and hearing the noise from those headphones.

I understand what you mean but the background music is supposed to relax you.  

Or when you are alone in your house, it should you help not feeling so lonely.

And translating is a lonely job.  We are sitting many hours alone in front of that computer and are working.

But I have to admit, most of the time with any translation (except real simple translation and I usually don't get these but rather difficult stuff which those that speak the same languages don't want to do) I would like to hear music but it is disturbing and I can't concentrate.

Even the birds, the nature sounds of the rainforest did bother me after 5 Minutes....

I'm currently attempting to translate a document in corporate-speak with Beethoven's Emperor Concerto on the radio 'in the background.' It's hopeless: Beethoven wins (literally, in this case) hands down...

Actually I would like to elaborate on this one - it's perceptually interesting to me- I work in Italian and English and while I do listen to both Italian and UK or US music while working (not always, but sometimes), what I really really cannot do is play a cd in French (which I understand but dont work with), or Spanish (ditto) - it drives me NUTS! Does this happen to you too?

I often listen to music whne I work but it has to be mostly instrumental music or I get distracted. I usually listen to electronica - ambient, drum-n-bass, breakbeat - but sometimes classical music, too. I find that listening to the right music, with an energetic tempo and an upbeat melody, actually helps me stay focused on the task at hand, and would even say that I work faster with it than without.

This might be completely OT, and then it might be not.

The nightingales and mockingbirds still not driven outa the suburbs sing... well, I`m not sure if that`s really "sing"... OK then, they imitate the howling of car alarm systems. For a decade, at least. But crows still croak the way they used to years ago.

You must have a rather unusual breed of nightingale in Lithuania. The ones we have here in Tuscany chirrup most becomingly...!

Originally written by Alison Varley on May 25, 2009 4:28 PM You must have a rather unusual breed of nightingale in Lithuania. The ones we have here in Tuscany chirrup most becomingly...!

Dunno about the breed, but they do... Lucky you, people and birds in Tuscany!

If only anyone could explain to me why I think this has something to do with the poll...

Originally written by Dodo Kaipdodo on May 25, 2009 3:25 PM This might be completely OT, and then it might be not. The nightingales and mockingbirds still not driven outa the suburbs sing... well, I`m not sure if that`s really "sing"... OK then, they imitate the howling of car alarm systems. For a decade, at least. But crows still croak the way they used to years ago.

Are you saying that those two species of birds have learned "car alarm"?    That's hilarious!  My parents' now defunct canary learned "microwave beep" which more than once sent a puzzled t.v. watcher out of his arm chair to retrieve a heated cup of coffee that wasn't there.  The roller canary in our household had a lovely song until it began inserting an ugly sqawk from  a nameless bird, "sing sing sing SQUAWK - hee haw! - sing sing sing..."

Maxi

Originally written by Maxi Schwarz-Bastami on May 26, 2009 7:22 AM Are you saying that those two species of birds have learned "car alarm"?

And some other warblers, too, I`m afraid. Of course, they only repeat the "tune", not the ugly pitch, thankfully. Anyway, with the suburb constantly developed there`s less and less space left for birds and other critters, so there will be just the real alarms, one day...

But I still can`t quite put my finger on why precisely I should think this has something in common with listening to music while translating.

Originally written by Dodo Kaipdodo on May 26, 2009 7:58 AM Originally written by Maxi Schwarz-Bastami on May 26, 2009 7:22 AM Are you saying that those two species of birds have learned "car alarm"?  And some other warblers, too, I`m afraid. Of course, they only repeat the "tune", not the ugly pitch, thankfully. Anyway, with the suburb constantly developed there`s less and less space left for birds and other critters, so there will be just the real alarms, one day... But I still can`t quite put my finger on why precisely I should think this has something in common with listening to music while translating.

I have birds singing around all the time when I am translating, but I somehow did not consider them while answering the poll. I probably do not hear them any more, because only after I had read your post, I started paying attention to them again. Yes, they are here, yet I do not know what they sound like or whom they imitate, if anybody, probably just the waves and maybe some people from time to time, who have some arguments, possibly car engines, but this needs more investigation.

Originally written by Liliana Boladz-Nekipelov on May 26, 2009 3:32 PM Yes, they are here, yet I do not know what they sound like or whom they imitate, if anybody, probably just the waves and maybe some people from time to time, who have some arguments, possibly car engines, but this needs more investigation.

Sounds like a dispersed background noise to me, which is less distracting than a focused one. I can also easily imagine why C-language songs from Post #176598 can be more absorbing/engaging/involving than music with lyrics in our A/B languages.

I would not call their singing a dispersed noise, they are pretty much to the point if you thought about it ...

This story (in Polish) is dedicated to you, Liliana (try not to pay attention to the source): http://wyborcza.pl/1,97849,6489374,Rzymska_komedia__Pieklo__Piesn_V.html

Originally written by Jacek K. on May 26, 2009 3:46 PM This story (in Polish) is dedicated to you, Liliana (try not to pay attention to the source): http://wyborcza.pl/1,97849,6489374,Rzymska_komedia__Pieklo__Piesn_V.html

Thank you Jacek. It is beautiful; it is also sad that the birds have to fly like that being chased away from place to place. Maybe they like it, or got used to it, who knows? I doubt it though. I do  not think I have ever seen a szpak. I only remember sparrows, and here, of course, I have seagulls and all other fish-loving birds. The most fascinating bird for me is a crow, the bird  I had  seen at the age of over twenty in Washington D.C. for the first time in my life. What was weird was that the bird had totally black feet and the beak. I thought it fell into a barrel of tar at first. It is a very fascinating bird; I have never imagined it like that, although I knew that crows were black, but not like that. I do not know how they sing though, because I have not seen one since.

Maybe the bird you saw was not a crow but a raven?

I wanted to find a crow for you, and instead I found an incredible story about crow intelligence:

Enjoy!

Maxi

Thank you, Max. I think they are amazing and look totally unreal.

Originally written by Dodo Kaipdodo on May 26, 2009 4:23 PM Maybe the bird you saw was not a crow but a raven?

It could have been, Dodo, but it also looked extremely intelligent and mystical. It was a big bird with absolutely black feet and a big black beak, almost navy blue in shade.

I think they talk sometimes, like in Dickens story; I should have had a conversation with him.

Originally written by Liliana Boladz-Nekipelov on May 27, 2009 5:43 AM It was a big bird with absolutely black feet and a big black beak, almost navy blue in shade.

A raven, certainly.

it also looked extremely intelligent and mystical. I think they talk sometimes, like in Dickens story; I should have had a conversation with him.

Like Poe?

"Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!" I shrieked, upstarting -

"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night`s Plutonian shore!

Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!

Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!

Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"

                                                          Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

The one I met looked very nice, though.