So, I'm working on a project in which we're translating a web site from French into English. This will really be used for the non-profit organization, so we have to do a perfect job.
I hit a word today, though, that I didn't know how to translate because I don't know enough urban english!
The word is cité, which basically means city, but in this context, it is used to refer to a certain type of urban housing project. It's kind of like a project, I guess - a group of identical buildings, usually subsidized. What do you call this? A project? Not a neighborhood - more definite than that.
Any help would be appreciated.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
subsidized-housing complex?
As far as I know, there isn't a definite name. I'm looking through HUD's site to see if there is one.
[ December 05, 2003, 05:08 PM: Message edited by: katharina ]
Posted by Scythrop (Member # 5731) on :
The closest I can come up with (here in Australia, at least) would be the term "housing estate" - which would imply a walled but not gated area of individual dwellings, often subsidised or first home owners. Don't know if that's the same the world over, though.
Posted by Christy (Member # 4397) on :
I think generally these areas are called projects, but it has a bit of a negative connotation. Subsidized housing is also used probably without the connotation.
When I think of projects, I think of poor areas in Chicago and New York with 20 story buildings of cheap apartments.
Subsidized housing brings to mind a town with a neighborhood for "reasonably priced" houses, apartments and duplexes.
That's just me, though.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
In Detroit, we used the term projects - as in "The Police will no longer answer calls from the projects."
The Purported Reason: During the last call, when the cops were inside, their police car was stolen.
Anyway, no, it isn't a term you'd ever want applied to where you live. Were you going for something that negative?
Posted by JonnyNotSoBravo (Member # 5715) on :
I so have a definite picture in my head of what you're describing, Annie, but I can't for the life of me remember the word for it. I get the feeling that the specific name for it is different depending on what region of the country this type of development is in. I think it's called the Projects by some people, and other things by other people...I'm gonna google it and see what names pop up that I recognize...
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
"housing estate" for me does not need a wall, it is just a group of houses built at the same time from the same builder. Perhaps that's what you want?
or "council housing", but I think that's the same as your 'projects'. Small, identical semi-detatched houses built by the local council.
[ December 05, 2003, 05:24 PM: Message edited by: Teshi ]
Posted by Argèn†~ (Member # 4528) on :
It may be better to put it in a sentence where it's being used.
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
Aside from the "subsidized" part, and the negative connotation of "projects," what about "housing tract"?
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
I agree with Argent -- context might be helpful.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
The hard thing is, it's the actual name of a place. They describe an educational putreach program they do in Cité de Galy,... something. Maybe just including that as an untranslated part of the name? *shrug*
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
I vote for untranslated. Though the word "compound" has come up in the world through it's association with celebrities. If it's educational in nature, "campus" would do.
[ December 06, 2003, 12:35 AM: Message edited by: pooka ]
Posted by Desu (Member # 5941) on :
Cite veut carrement dire Projects, cherche pas plus loin... (j'ai pas d'accents sur le clavier)
Cite in french is slang for projects, that is the exact translation.
Posted by Maccabeus (Member # 3051) on :
Around here, cheap subdivisions are often built that way, but I don't think it's universal or part of the term's meaning.
Posted by amira tharani (Member # 182) on :
"Projects" would be less intelligble to a British English speaker than "housing estates" or "council estates" would be to an American, I can imagine... so on balance I'd take one of the latter, or perhaps leave it untranslated.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
Didn't "Fresh Prince of Bel Aire" familiarize more people with projects? Does France really have anything equivalent to a project? I know they have gypsy shanty towns. I'm not saying people aren't really poor there. But I thought projects were a result of the mass relocation of labor populations from the south.
Posted by Occasional (Member # 5860) on :
Is it a descriptive term, or part of the name of the city; even a nickname? That is what would decide the need or lack of need to translation.
I would also like a translation of the sentence it is used in, with the translation of the pre- and post- sentences that bracket the sentence in question. What this will show is if leaving it untranslated or doing the translation ruins the flow.
Both flow and purpose are important in deciding good translations of words.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
And here is the phrase in context: Une fois par semaine, un groupe d'animateurs part à la rencontre des enfants et des parents du lotissement des Marels et de la cité Gély à Figuerolles pour y partager le goût des livres et l'envie d'apprendre. (bold original)
Here's a rough translation: Once a week, a group of directors go to meet with children and parents of the Marels housing development and the (Gély à Figuerolles projects) to share a taste for books and a desire for learning.
And yes, Pooka, France has a huge immigrant population, especially in Paris, the industrial cities of the Northwest, and the port cities of the south. Most of the ethnic residents are second and third-generation North African laborers whose parents were conscripted as factory employees in the 1950's when Algeria was still a colony. Many other residents of the banlieue, the economically disadvantaged suburbs, are Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian immigrants, blacks of African descent, and eastern european refugees. There is actually a lot of ethnic diversity in France - there are over 6 million muslims in the country, more than protestants and jews combined!
And Desu - une autre Hatraquien francophone? Chouette! J'aimerais bien de te parler quelquefois en français.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
Oh, well that's unfortunate. At least, I always heard of the projects as being not the best idea anyone ever had.