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Glossary entry

Russian term or phrase:

Загляните в наше портфолио

English translation:

Please look over our portfolio

Added to glossary by Amy Lesiewicz
Jun 13, 2014 14:35
9 yrs ago
Russian term

Загляните в наше портфолио

Russian to English Marketing Advertising / Public Relations Company Presentation
The point of our dispute with the client here is PLEASE.

I`m suggesting to add "please" in this phrase in English.
The client is insisting that it is extra.

How does the version without "please" sound to the native ear?
Is it realy impolite to do without it in this situation?

I`d like to sound polite and nice, but not to overdo the things.

What version would sound the most natural under the circumstances?

The whole style of the contents is official, not colloquial.
Proposed translations (English)
3 +2 Please look over our portfolio
4 +4 Take a look at our portfolio
4 You are welcome to browse our portfolio
4 inviting you to look into our portfolio
3 will you look over our portfolio
3 -1 have a butchers at our portfolio
Change log

Jun 17, 2014 01:56: Amy Lesiewicz Created KOG entry

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): Sarah McDowell

When entering new questions, KudoZ askers are given an opportunity* to classify the difficulty of their questions as 'easy' or 'pro'. If you feel a question marked 'easy' should actually be marked 'pro', and if you have earned more than 20 KudoZ points, you can click the "Vote PRO" button to recommend that change.

How to tell the difference between "easy" and "pro" questions:

An easy question is one that any bilingual person would be able to answer correctly. (Or in the case of monolingual questions, an easy question is one that any native speaker of the language would be able to answer correctly.)

A pro question is anything else... in other words, any question that requires knowledge or skills that are specialized (even slightly).

Another way to think of the difficulty levels is this: an easy question is one that deals with everyday conversation. A pro question is anything else.

When deciding between easy and pro, err on the side of pro. Most questions will be pro.

* Note: non-member askers are not given the option of entering 'pro' questions; the only way for their questions to be classified as 'pro' is for a ProZ.com member or members to re-classify it.

Discussion

Natalia Volkova (asker) Jun 13, 2014:
So it turns out that my question was not so easy as it seemed to you first, isn`t it? (I saw that you voted it to be Non-PRO). I personally think localization issues are not easy if one tries to take into consideration the cultural differences.
Sarah McDowell Jun 13, 2014:
Hi Natalia I didn't realize it is like that. Actually, I'm planning on revising my profile page soon.

Sarah
Natalia Volkova (asker) Jun 13, 2014:
And what about your own ProZ-profile, Sarah? The first thing that I noticed there was "Please click here to see this or or that".
Sarah McDowell Jun 13, 2014:
Don't add please It's not necessary and adds a subservient tone to the message you are trying to portray. Unless it says пожалуйста in the Russian version I would not add please to the English sentence.
Natalia Volkova (asker) Jun 13, 2014:
That`s what we are here for! (to brighten your day)
Mikhail Kropotov Jun 13, 2014:
We aim to please (pun intended)!
Amy Lesiewicz Jun 13, 2014:
Ha ha ha, "Get a load of this, bro"! I love it! Thanks for brightening my day :)
Mikhail Kropotov Jun 13, 2014:
Of course it's not the end of the informal scale. You could do a lot worse by saying e.g. 'Check out our portfolio' or even 'Get a load of this, bro' :))) Extremely formal, on the other hand, could be something like 'Please peruse our portfolio at your convenience' :))) Your phrase is right in between and where you want it to be. It works either way, with or without 'please.'
Natalia Volkova (asker) Jun 13, 2014:
Then I`m relying on your opinion. Thanks a lot for helping me out!
Natalia Volkova (asker) Jun 13, 2014:
I see your point. To be more precise, in general it IS official but at the end it bacomes somewhat more relaxed and colloquial. So the phrase Загляните в наше портфолио seems quite OK in terms of style here. More or less. As if first a person introduces himself, and then, little by little, you are becoming friends.
Amy Lesiewicz Jun 13, 2014:
Agreed Yes, you don't want to use "please" with every sentence, and it depends on the overall tone of the text and the client's preferences. On a website, it's fine not to use "please".
Mikhail Kropotov Jun 13, 2014:
In general, it's rarely wrong to add 'please' but there are also situations where it's fine not to. It seems this is one of them.
Mikhail Kropotov Jun 13, 2014:
You say that "the whole style of the contents is official, not colloquial" but the Russian doesn't corroborate this at all. Загляните в наше порфтолио IS rather colloquial.
Amy Lesiewicz Jun 13, 2014:
I use "please" on my own website... I use phrases like "please click on the links above" and "please contact me" on my own website.
Natalia Volkova (asker) Jun 13, 2014:
In fact, this is the page where you can see many logos. So you CAN look AT it (the portfolio, at the logos, I mean).
Natalia Volkova (asker) Jun 13, 2014:
Actually, this is for the web-site, not for the presentation as it is. But this is a Presentation page. (About us)
I wish I have mentioned it earlier. My apologies for misleading you.
Natalia Volkova (asker) Jun 13, 2014:
OK. Here you are. My original sentence was 'Please, have a look at our portfolio'.
Mikhail Kropotov Jun 13, 2014:
It's pointless to speak of adding or omitting 'please' without a concrete English sentence.

Proposed translations

+2
2 mins
Selected

Please look over our portfolio

I agree with you; it sounds more appropriate with "please". This is the way business letters are written in English.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 10 mins (2014-06-13 14:46:39 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I think there is no significant difference between "have a look at" and "look over". They are pretty much equivalent.
Note from asker:
Thank you. My original version it was, in fact. And does the version "Please, have a look at our portfolio" mean anything other than this one suggested by you?
Thank you for the explanation. I agree with you.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Mikhail Kropotov : But this is for a presentation I think. OK, now we know it's for a website :)
7 mins
Whether it's a presentation or a letter, it is still polite to use "please" when asking a potential client to look over one's portfolio. In spoken language, one's tone of voice can express politeness; in writing, it's best to use "please".
agree Jack Doughty
1 hr
Thanks, Jack.
agree The Misha : Please all along.
1 hr
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you, everybody!"
9 mins

will you look over our portfolio

.
Something went wrong...
+4
5 mins

Take a look at our portfolio

Here's a sentence that does perfectly well without 'please.'

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 57 mins (2014-06-13 15:33:45 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Да, например.
"Ознакомьтесь с нашим портфолио".
Или даже так:
"Предлагаем вам ознакомиться с нашим порфтолио."
Note from asker:
Why do you think it does perfectly well without 'please'?
And the Russian official version would be somewhat: "Ознакомьтесь с нашим портфолио", I suppose. I will draw my client`s attention to some drawbacks about the Russian version of the website. Some day, perhaps. But that would be another story, of course.
I`m pretty sure he will cut "Предлагаем вам" off. That`s not his style of putting this. He is not that kind, He is used to think over every detail. Moreover, I have got a gut feeling he did use the colloquial version on purpose here!
Peer comment(s):
agree LilianNekipelov : Yes--please, take a look.
1 hr
No, please no 'please'
agree Sarah McDowell
6 hrs
agree Anna Shaughnessy (X) : Please or no please, I don't think it matters. Either way is fine.
10 hrs
agree MariyaN (X)
1 day 7 hrs
Something went wrong...
-1
1 hr

have a butchers at our portfolio

out of the box
Peer comment(s):
neutral The Misha : I love out of the box, but do you think this cockney slang actually belongs on a company website? Besides, as an American, I have to admit I had no clue what this thing means and had to look it up. Turned out to be sth totally unbloodthirsty :)
17 mins
disagree Sarah McDowell : I have no idea what "a butchers" means and how it relates to the portfolio.
5 hrs
neutral Mikhail Kropotov : Cracked me up!
5 hrs
Something went wrong...
7 hrs

You are welcome to browse our portfolio

or more casually "Feel free to browse our portfolio"
"you are welcome" adds a friendly, inviting tone to the message.
Something went wrong...
7 days

inviting you to look into our portfolio

not needed in this case, i suppose
Something went wrong...
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