I sent a fax today to the hotel where I'll stay during my short trip to Moscow next month. My fax was a transmittal for a form I had received from the event organizers. The form was a request for an airport transfer to the hotel. I decided to use www.freetranslation.com to translate my cover note, just in case the recipients were not fluent in English. I sent the following message:
In Russian: Пожалуйста подтвердите ко мне (предпочтительно на английском языке, пожалуйста), что Вы получили мой приложенный запрос и что представитель вашей гостиницы встретит меня в аэропорту, когда я прибываю в Москву.
In English: Please confirm to me (preferably in English, please) that you have received my attached request and that a representative of your hotel will meet me at the airport when I arrive in Moscow.
Shortly thereafter, I received a reply via fax, in perfect English, advising me that I can expect to be picked up at the airport, by a driver who will be holding a sign with my name. I should have known that the hotel would employ people who are fluent in English (and very likely in several other languages). I'm so provincial in my outlook...very American.
2 comments:
If they're really on their toes, the reply had a Texas twang.
You're going to Moscow? Cool.
Blog fodder, I hope!
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