Engliano

Engliano is a non-language invented by people who have no business working as translators. That’s blunt, but it’s the truth.

Such translators are typically (but not always) native Italian speakers who know at least a little English. Perhaps they even know a lot of English, but that doesn’t make them translators.

One of the major problems in the translation field, in fact, is that so few people understand the difference between being able to speak, live, and work in a second language (which literally tens of millions of people do all over the globe) and being a translator.

Bilingual ≠ Translator.

Obviously, a translator must know a foreign language—but millions of people know foreign languages. Does that make them all translators?

Of course not. What makes someone a translator is foreign-language competence plus excellent writing skills in his or her native language. The difference lies in the ability to write English—not reasonably well or “more or less” clearly—but masterfully. Real translators, that is, are extremely rare.

The philosophy of Engliano, on the other hand, is that language does not really matter. The meaning of the original Italian text isn’t important. Writing clear, well structured English isn’t important. In Engliano, the only thing truly bilingual is indifference.

Here are a few examples of Engliano—from some unexpected sources.

*From the official site of Italian World Cup soccer champion, Alessandro Del Piero.*		*From the official site of Italian singing star, Tiziano Ferro.*
*From the site of Giorgio Faletti’s highly successful “giallo” or mystery/thriller, I Kill, published by Baldini Castoldi Dalai.*		*From student information available on the sites of the Università per Stranieri in Siena and in Perugia.*
From the “My Verona” section of the site of the Italian travel agency, Vertours.		*Institutional sites: the Arma dei Carabinieri* *and* the Italian Ministry of Justice.