billabong

06:33 Feb 8, 2008 

But that's just my opinion from the other side of the world. Bon courage ;)

06:32 Feb 8, 2008 

Thank you Valosh : I was in the land of nod when you posted your note. I think the French-speaking community of Australia will certainly know what a billabong is (and a Fosters too, I hope ...). So you don't need to translate it or explain it !

00:25 Feb 8, 2008 

Michael, "billabong" is a word that pops up regularly in Australian news articles and, as I am simply preparing myself for my NAATI exam, my question here was quite general. IE What should I do if I was given this text or a similar one to translate for my exam. In this case, I guess the translation version of the text would be for the French speaking communities of Australia, who may or may not know what a billabong is!!
Thank you to all who have helped so far and, yes my dilemma is "to translate or not to translate"!!!!!!

13:04 Feb 7, 2008 

E.g., I don't think that a French-speaking general public will understand billabong, nor feel necessarily inclined to do a google search, but a more specialised audience may not need a translation.

13:00 Feb 7, 2008 

The discussion hinges around whether to translate, or not, and in either case, whether an explanation in parentheses is called for.
IMHO, it all depends on the purpose of the translation.
Can you enlighten us please ?