Hi! I write from France and I would ask you the english translation of some french words.
I will have to speak about "the opening to the competition of the french railway" ... I don't know if my translation is all right ?
Is there a special word in english for "the railway slots circulation" ? I have the same question for the "exploitation of the network".
Otherwise, can I use the expression "private competitors" to speak about the firms which work "against" the SNCF ?
Thanks for everything
Nico
'Exploitation of the network' could be literal. Meaning someone (individual or corporate body) is making money or gaining a commercial advantage by some kind of activity which will hurt or damage the network.
However, not knowing the full context in which it was intended, probably means that the 'network' (presume you DO mean SNCF here) is to be commercially developed to provide better performance, revenue or similar commercial advantage from the existing infrastructure.
Moving on the 'private competitors' which work against SNCF', perhaps you have been 'brainwashed' by ingrained attitudes in France that anyone who challenges the status quo of a nationalised industry is working against that organisation, in this case the state?
Bear in mind that in socialist regimes, thinking of major utilities such as provision of light, power and transport other than by the 'state', was regarded as almost unthinkable.
It is only in the last 10 years or so that the British Labour Party managed to make the break with a constitutional requirement to consider state ownership of such facilities as de facto desirable, if not essential.
That does NOT necessarily mean that private operators of such facilities ARE better however.
Two French organisations (Connex and EdF) have had a bad press here for their activities as pseudo private companies in the fields of transport and energy supply.
The issue is not whether state or private control is best, but given that competition is to be allowed, firstly the competition should be fair and transparent, and secondly that regulatory control has to be good enough to ensure that the highest standards of service are met in the first place, and then maintained at a high level thereafter.
Hope that this helps, and congratulations on the quality of your English. We are a lazy nation in languages, many can't even converse and express themselves adequately in their native toungue.
but I hope I've helped you! The biggest challenge with translation is that the smaller words cause the problems, and what's considered the best options in English is not necessarily the same as the French literal translation.
