ProZ.com translation contests »
17th Translation Contest: "The Sounds of Silence" » English to Macedonian

Competition in this pair is now closed, and the winning entry has been announced.

Discussion and feedback about the competition in this language pair may now be provided by visiting the "Discussion & feedback" page for this pair. Entries may also be individually discussed by clicking the "Discuss" link next to any listed entry.

Source text in English

A theme of the age, at least in the developed world, is that people crave silence and can find none. The roar of traffic, the ceaseless beep of phones, digital announcements in buses and trains, TV sets blaring even in empty offices, are an endless battery and distraction. The human race is exhausting itself with noise and longs for its opposite—whether in the wilds, on the wide ocean or in some retreat dedicated to stillness and concentration. Alain Corbin, a history professor, writes from his refuge in the Sorbonne, and Erling Kagge, a Norwegian explorer, from his memories of the wastes of Antarctica, where both have tried to escape.

And yet, as Mr Corbin points out in "A History of Silence", there is probably no more noise than there used to be. Before pneumatic tyres, city streets were full of the deafening clang of metal-rimmed wheels and horseshoes on stone. Before voluntary isolation on mobile phones, buses and trains rang with conversation. Newspaper-sellers did not leave their wares in a mute pile, but advertised them at top volume, as did vendors of cherries, violets and fresh mackerel. The theatre and the opera were a chaos of huzzahs and barracking. Even in the countryside, peasants sang as they drudged. They don’t sing now.

What has changed is not so much the level of noise, which previous centuries also complained about, but the level of distraction, which occupies the space that silence might invade. There looms another paradox, because when it does invade—in the depths of a pine forest, in the naked desert, in a suddenly vacated room—it often proves unnerving rather than welcome. Dread creeps in; the ear instinctively fastens on anything, whether fire-hiss or bird call or susurrus of leaves, that will save it from this unknown emptiness. People want silence, but not that much.

The winning entry has been announced in this pair.

There were 16 entries submitted in this pair during the submission phase, 3 of which were selected by peers to advance to the finals round. The winning entry was determined based on finals round voting by peers.

Competition in this pair is now closed.


Entries (16 total; 3 finalists) Expand all entries

Entry #24203 — Discuss 1 — Variant: Not specified
Sofija Krncheska
Sofija Krncheska
North Macedonia
Winner
Voting points1st2nd3rd
296 x42 x21 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.253.00 (4 ratings)3.50 (4 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 5 "like" tags
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (1 total disagree)
Тема на денешницата
Good term selection
po2tersowl
морската шир
Flows well
po2tersowl
прибежиште
Good term selection
po2tersowl
пустелијата
Good term selection
Margarita Kurtevska
-1
извици на одобрување и негодување
Good term selection
po2tersowl
Entry #22594 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
172 x44 x21 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.173.17 (6 ratings)3.17 (6 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 2 "like" tags
  • 3 users agreed with "likes" (4 total agrees)
+2
пустите предели
Good term selection
Sofija Krncheska
+2
Пред луѓето доброволно да се изолираат со своите мобилни телефони
Good term selection
Margarita Kurtevska
Entry #22882 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
majajam
majajam
North Macedonia
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
902 x25 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.403.00 (4 ratings)3.80 (5 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 2 "like" tags
  • 3 users disagreed with "likes" (3 total disagrees)
Тема на столетието
Good term selection
Sofija Krncheska
-3
2
вселува стравот
Good term selection
Sofija Krncheska


Non-finalist entries

The following entries were not selected by peers to advance to finals-round voting.

Entry #22994 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Ilija Dimitrovski
Ilija Dimitrovski
North Macedonia
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.892.60 (5 ratings)3.17 (6 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 3 "like" tags
  • 3 users agreed with "likes" (3 total agrees)
+1
Тема на денешното време,
Good term selection
po2tersowl
+2
бескрајно тормозење
Good term selection
Sofija Krncheska
тишината ќе навлезе
Good term selection
Sofija Krncheska
Entry #23356 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.842.78 (9 ratings)2.89 (9 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 5 "like" tags
  • 2 users disagreed with "likes" (2 total disagrees)
Една од главните теми на денешницата
Good term selection
po2tersowl
На постојан удар сме на
Good term selection
po2tersowl
-1
1
татнежот на сообраќајот
Good term selection
Sofija Krncheska
-1
1
Од местата кадешто се обидоа да избегаат пишуваат за ова
Flows well
po2tersowl
колку што ги држи глас
Good term selection
po2tersowl
Entry #23399 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.702.60 (5 ratings)2.80 (5 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 2 "like" tags
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (1 total disagree)
мирно катче
Good term selection
Sofija Krncheska
-1
1
заглушувачкo тропање
Good term selection
Sofija Krncheska
Entry #22954 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.602.80 (5 ratings)2.40 (5 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 7 "like" tags
  • 3 users agreed with "likes" (4 total agrees)
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (1 total disagree)
пискање
Good term selection
Tamara Tozija
ечат
Good term selection
Tamara Tozija
дури и во празни канцеларии
Flows well
Tamara Tozija
-1
+1
1
заглушувачки ѕвекот
Good term selection
Sofija Krncheska
Продавачите на весници не ги оставаа немо своите купови,
Flows well
Tamara Tozija
демне
Good term selection
Tamara Tozija
+3
Стравот се прикрадува
Good term selection
Sofija Krncheska
Entry #22888 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
petar arsov
petar arsov
North Macedonia
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.502.50 (6 ratings)2.50 (6 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
инстинктивно се концентира на сѐ
Good term selection
Sofija Krncheska
Entry #23344 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Kirjazi Elena
Kirjazi Elena
North Macedonia
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.252.00 (5 ratings)2.50 (4 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
  • 1 user agreed with "likes" (1 total agree)
+1
прибежиште
Good term selection
po2tersowl
Entry #23408 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Persephone87
Persephone87
North Macedonia
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.252.17 (6 ratings)2.33 (6 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 3 users entered 5 "like" tags
  • 2 users agreed with "likes" (4 total agrees)
+1
прибежиште
Good term selection
po2tersowl
немо
Good term selection
Tamara Tozija
+1
Во денешно време тоа не се случува
Flows well
po2tersowl
+1
Полека се прикрадува стравот
Flows well
po2tersowl
+1
1
увото го бара и најмалиот звук со што би се спасило од непознатата празнина
Flows well
Sofija Krncheska
Entry #23108 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.202.00 (6 ratings)2.40 (5 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 2 "like" tags
  • 1 user agreed with "likes" (1 total agree)
  • 2 users disagreed with "likes" (2 total disagrees)
+1
царува спокојот
Good term selection
Sofija Krncheska
-2
1
муабети
Flows well
Margarita Kurtevska
Entry #23782 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
ljdukoska
ljdukoska
North Macedonia
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.001.75 (4 ratings)2.25 (4 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 2 "like" tags
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (1 total disagree)
-1
незапоседнатите површини
Good term selection
Sofija Krncheska
запоседне тишината
Good term selection
Sofija Krncheska
Entry #23165 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry1.842.00 (3 ratings)1.67 (3 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
  • 1 user agreed with "likes" (1 total agree)
+1
прибежиште
Good term selection
Sofija Krncheska
Entry #23648 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry1.841.67 (6 ratings)2.00 (6 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
  • 1 user agreed with "likes" (1 total agree)
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (1 total disagree)
-1
+1
1
увото инстинктивно се фаќа за се
Good term selection
po2tersowl
Entry #23767 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Tatjana Minovska
Tatjana Minovska
North Macedonia
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry1.681.60 (5 ratings)1.75 (4 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
чезнеат за тишина
Good term selection
Sofija Krncheska
Entry #22945 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry1.671.33 (3 ratings)2.00 (3 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags