Dutch Translations
hij houdt me vast. ik kan niet weg he keeps me. hij bezit me hij verbergt me i cannot leave He ownes me ?? ik werd vorkocht voor geld i was sold for money. Mijn familie verHongerde mY family was starving your home?? Uw huis??? Ik kom uit amsterdam I come amsterdam Caraliza and Yousep find at their first true meeting, she speaks no English, he understands nothing of her Dutch; at first, it seems only a small detail they must overcome, but she is in deadly danger, learning her speech may very well save her poor life. When I realized how affectively this detail could drive the story's urgency, I realized their dilemma with equal fear; I could destroy the story by getting the language exchange wrong. Something more than simple research was needed to make Caraliza’s voice truly come to life. Irma needed to read the abominable Dutch that I shoehorned into the narrative. I sent her the specific lines of text, and she began to adjust my errors. But, imagine doing that to speech that is entirely out of context to the conversation, or the situation in the story! We suddenly became like the characters – using a bit of trial and error to understand one another… The two youngsters use a small notebook, and a dictionary as their tools, and the notebook itself becomes a vital key to the past when the modern family discover it. What Caraliza says, and writes, the narrative explains in English for the reader. Yousep had to struggle word for word, and only understood what he could look up. So did Irma. She finally had to have the entire manuscript, and a lot of explanation from me to understand what Caraliza really meant with every word. It taught me never to trust an online translator to learn anything useful in another language. After several reads, and lots of wonderful emails, Irma has corrected and personalized my little character, and made a youth of seventeen seem real, not just for me, but for my readers everywhere. Irma is a wonderful person, with a tremendous heart, and a fortunate family. I consider her my friend after all this work, and someday, I will travel to the Netherlands to say hello, and give thanks. Irma speaks for herself, in the last page of the book, and will do so in any other version published. She has earned the right to say hello, from the printed pages of Caraliza. Joel
Irma van der Staal was the answer to my problem, and she was only across the globe, and didn’t know I needed her. But we were reaching in the same directions, for the very same things – and connected in a truly lucky way. It has been tremendous fun, sharing this story with her, and following her advice. Even that might seem an easy thing to do; it is not.
