Hi – today marks the start of a new experiment here at Blang. I’m calling it an experiment, at least; what I’ll be doing is writing haikus in foreign languages and having you try to translate it into English (well, if it’s particularly good, you can get away with Spanish, Norwegian, or French, too).
The goal is that you learn a little more of your target language through this exercise and get a nice bite-sized practice session.
I’ll be doing this every other week, starting this week. In between, the usual haikus you know and love will continue.
Let’s start! I’ll start with a language lots of people want to learn: Spanish. It’s also my best. ¡Vámonos!
Si me levanto
más temprano, ¿habrá que
comer gusanos?
(No estoy seguro si me gusta ese haiku, así que intento otra vez con un tema semejante.)
¿Temprano o no?
¿No son los gusanos que
son devorados?
(¡Es verdaderamente un desafío escribir un haiku en español! Me hacen falta más sílabas. Pero allí los tienen. Buena suerte.)
For extra credit, translate the parenthetical text as well 
I might start picking my favorite translation and giving some kind of prize in the future, but for now it’s for fun. So let’s see some responses!
3 Comments
If I can get my self up
earlier, will i have to eat worms?
Im not sure if i like this haiku, as the intention the other time with a similar theme.
Early or not?
It isn’t the worms who
are …?
It’s really a challenge to write a haiku in Spanish. They have less syllables. But sometimes they have it. Good luck.
—–
This was fun! Even though i doubt that i got it right.. Was it really about worms, or do gusano translate into something else?
Hey Heidi,
Thanks – you are the first ever to attempt one of these! You got the general idea. Since it’s over a month old, I’ll give you the answer. Remember that you have to keep the same number of syllables in the haiku when you translate it (you can take some artistic liberty, of course).
If I start getting
up earlier, will eating
worms become a must?
(I’m not sure if I like this idea, so I’m going to try again with a similar theme.)
Early or not? For
isn’t it the worms who wind
up getting eaten?
(It’s a serious challenge to write a haiku in Spanish! I need more syllables. But there you have it. Good luck.)
—
Yeah, that was fun, and kinda tricky. What my last comment was saying was that I feel like I don’t have as many syllables to fit things into in Spanish because the words tend to have more syllables.
Oh, right, forgot that I had to make the English translation into a haiku too. I’ll remember that next time! Fun stuff