Guess What?

Our little character is stunned — in MANY languages — that it’s December!

Last month I added Spanish, and this month, based on messages from readers, I added several more languages! See below…

It’s fascinating to see the process of translating this simple cartoon. It’s not a matter of just typing words into Google Translate. There are different ways to express surprise in different languages — and it’s all quite nuanced. Thank you to all the wonderful people who helped translate this one!

Credits: Carolin Menendez (Spanish), my friend Romy Peters (French), Eiko Nishida (Japanese), @eefvanbird (Dutch), Marília F. Nunes (Portuguese), @mintral.park (Korean) and my awesome college roommate, Ellie, and her Dad (Farsi).

2 comments

  1. It is 11:54 PM on Christmas Eve, here in New York State, as I write these words. I just got out of two weeks’ confinement-to-my-bedroom with the ‘Rona, and am about to start shopping for presents for my sister and her family who live in Phoenix. Last year I finally got their stuff out to them in time for birthdays in March, along with a carefully-prepared forty-page scroll telling The World’s Longest Joke which ends with a relevant punchline (you can thank me later for not giving in to the temptation to spoil it just then). This year I think I’m gonna break down and just order everybody a damn Amazon gift card…

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