# When I was 5 years old



## nooij

Hello!

I was wondering how the following quote by John Lennon would be said in other languages:

_"When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key of life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down 'happy'. They told me I didn't understand the assignment and I told them they didn't understand life." _

In Dutch it'd be:

_"Toen ik 5 jaar oud was, zei mijn moeder altijd tegen mij dat geluk de sleutel van het leven was. Toen ik naar school ging, vroegen ze mij wat ik wou worden als ik groot was. Ik schreef 'gelukkig.' Ze zeiden dat ik de opdracht niet begreep en ik zei tegen hen dat zij het leven niet begrepen."_

And the girl that inspired me to look for translations, translated it to German:

_"Als ich 5 Jahre alt war, erzählte meine Mutter mir immer, dass Zufriedenheit der Schlüssel des Lebens sei. Als ich zur Schule kam, fragten sie mich, was ich werden will, wenn ich erwachsen bin. Ich schrieb 'glücklich'. Sie sagten mir, ich hätte die Aufgabe nicht verstanden und ich sagte ihnen, dass sie das Leben nicht verstanden hätten."_


I am looking forward to translations! Thanks in advance!


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## Kangy

In Spanish:

"Cuando tenía 5 años, mi madre siempre me decía que la felicidad era la clave de la vida. Cuando iba a la escuela, me preguntaron qué quería ser cuando fuera grande. Yo escribí 'feliz'. Me dijeron que no había entendido la consigna, y yo les dije que ellos no entendían la vida."


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## nooij

Many thanks, Kangy!


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## Favara

*Catalan:
*_Quan tenia cinc anys, ma mare sempre em deia que la felicitat era la clau de la vida. Quan anava a escola, em van preguntar què en volia ser, de major. Hi vaig escriure "feliç"_. _Em van dir que no havia entès l'exercici, i jo els vaig dir que no havien entès la vida._


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## sakvaka

*Finnish*:

_Kun olin viisivuotias, äitini tapasi sanoa, että onnellisuus on elämän salaisuus. Kun menin kouluun, minulta kysyttiin, miksi haluan tulla isona. Kirjoitin: "Onnelliseksi." Minulle sanottiin, etten ollut ymmärtänyt tehtävänantoa, ja minä vastasin takaisin, että he eivät ymmärtäneet elämää._


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## Orlin

Bulgarian: Когато бях на 5 години, майка ми винаги ми казваше, че щастието е ключът към живота. Когато отидох на училище, питаха ме какъв искам да бъда, когато порасна. Аз написах "щастлив". Те ми казаха, че не разбирам задачата, а аз им казах, че те не разбират живота.


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## Montesacro

*Italian*:

Quando avevo cinque anni, mia madre mi diceva sempre che la felicità era la chiave della vita. Quando andavo a scuola mi chiesero che cosa volessi essere da grande. Io scrissi "felice". Loro mi dissero che non avevo capito il compito, io dissi loro che non avevano capito la vita.


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## nooij

Thanks everyone.  I appreciate the efforts!


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## Orlin

Other Slavic translations (in languages in which I'm not native):
Russian: Когда мне было 5 лет, моя мать всегда мне говорила, что счастье - ключ к жизни. Когда я ходил в школу, мне спросили, каким я хочу быть, когда я буду взрослым. Я написал "счастливым". Они мне сказали, что я не понимаю задачу, а я им сказал, что они не понимают жизнь.
Serbian: Kada sam imao 5 godina, moja majka mi je uvek govorila da je sreća ključ k životu. Kada sam išao u školu, pitali su me kakav želim da budem kad porastem. Ja sam napisao "srećan". Oni su mi rekli da ja ne razumem zadaću, a ja sam im rekao da oni ne razumeju život.
(Bosnian and Croatian will be extremely close.)


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## Rallino

*Turkish:*

5 yaşındayken, annem bana mutluluğun hayata açılan kapı olduğunu söyledi. Okulda bana büyüyünce ne olmak istediğimi sorduklarında ben kâğıda, 'mutlu' yazdım. Bana soruyu anlamadığımı söylediklerinde ise onlara verdiğim cevap: 'Siz hayatı anlamamışsınız.' oldu.


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## Tjahzi

More or less literal *Swedish* translation:
_
När jag var fem år gammal sa min mamma alltid till mig att lycka vad livets nyckel. När jag började i skolan frågade de mig vad jag ville bli när jag blev stor. Jag skrev "lycklig". De sa att jag inte hade förstått uppgiften och jag sa att det inte hade förstått livet._

My own free *Swedish *translation.
_
När jag var fem år brukade min mamma säga att lycka var det viktigaste i livet. När jag började skolan gav de mig ett papper och sa åt mig att skriva ned vad jag ville bli när jag blev stor. Jag skrev "lycklig". Då sa de att jag hade missuppfattat uppgiften, och jag sa att de hade missuppfattat livet._


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## Orlin

Bosnian & Croatian: Kada sam imao 5 godina, moja majka mi je uvijek govorila da je sreća ključ k životu. Kada sam išao u školu, pitali su me kakav želim biti kad porastem. Ja sam napisao "sretan". Oni su mi rekli da ja ne razumijem zadaću, a ja sam im rekao da oni ne razumiju život.


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## nooij

Thank you all, for the great translations. I appreciate all the efforts. Thanks for your own (independent) translations, Tjahzi and Rallino. Also, it's awesome that you speak so many Slavic languages fluently, Orlin. They're all very different, yet you manage to provide translations to each of them.


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## Orlin

Orlin said:


> Other Slavic translations (in languages in which I'm not native):
> Russian: Когда мне было 5 лет, моя мать всегда мне говорила, что счастье - ключ к жизни. Когда я ходил в школу, меня спросили, каким я хочу быть, когда я буду взрослым. Я написал "счастливым". Они мне сказали, что я не понимаю задачу, а я им сказал, что они не понимают жизнь.
> Serbian: Kada sam imao 5 godina, moja majka mi je uvek govorila da je sreća ključ k životu. Kada sam išao u školu, pitali su me kakav želim da budem kad porastem. Ja sam napisao "srećan". Oni su mi rekli da ja ne razumem zadaću, a ja sam im rekao da oni ne razumeju život.
> (Bosnian and Croatian will be extremely close.)


Wrong case corrected.


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## nooij

Orlin said:


> Wrong case corrected.


 
Thanks for the efforts at fixing it.


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## Pedro y La Torre

Not to rain on the parade but are you quite sure _John Lennon_ came out with this? The use of "mom" makes it look suspect, for a start.


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## nooij

Pedro y La Torre said:


> Not to rain on the parade but are you quite sure _John Lennon_ came out with this? The use of "mom" makes it look suspect, for a start.


 
I have no idea actually, but when searching for the author of the quote, he was the only possible candidate I could find.  Also, as far as I know he lived with his mom during his childhood, so I don't see what's so suspect about it.


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## Pedro y La Torre

Well, English people would never say ''mom'' and the quote as a whole sounds like a bit of an adult concoction. Anyway, I feel I am derailing your thread so I'll end my contribution here.


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## nooij

Pedro y La Torre said:


> Well, English people would never say ''mom'' and the quote as a whole sounds like a bit of an adult concoction. Anyway, I feel I am derailing your thread so I'll end my contribution here.


 
Aha, I hadn't thought of that. Well, you're probably right - I guess it's not Lennon's quote then. I haven't got a clue whose quote it is then. Either way, thank you for the contribution and for your time. 

Translations are still welcome!


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## Na-tu-ra

This will sound and written in Georgian like this:

ხუთი წლის რომ ვიყავი დედა მეუბნებოდა ხოლმე, რომ ბედნიერება სიცოცხლის გასაღებია. როცა სკოლაში წავედი მკითხეს რა მინდოდა გამოვსულიყავი როცა გავიზრდებოდი. მე დავწერე რომ მინდოდა "ბედნიერი" გამოვსულიყავი. მათ მითხრეს, რომ მე დავალება ვერ გავიგე სწორად. მე კი ვუპასუხე, რომ მათ სიცოცხლის აზრი არ ესმოდათ სწორად.


P.S. can someone tell me who is the author of this great quote?


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## jazyk

A possibility in Portuguese:

"Quando eu tinha 5 anos, a minha mãe sempre me dizia que a felicidade era o segredo da vida. Quando fui à escuela, perguntaram-me o que eu queria ser quando crescesse. Escrevi 'feliz'. Disseram-me que eu não tinha entendido a tarefa e eu disse-lhes que eles não entendiam da vida."


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## Saluton

Orlin said:


> Russian: Когда мне было 5 лет, моя мать всегда мне говорила, что счастье - ключ к жизни. Когда я пошёл в школу, меня спросили, кем я хочу быть, когда вырасту. Я написал "счастливым". Они сказали, что я не понял задание, а я им сказал, что они не понимают жизнь.


Uh-oh.


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## Orlin

Saluton said:


> Uh-oh.


Спасибо за исправления.


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## nooij

Thank you Na-tu-ra, Jazyk and Saluton. I appreciate the wonderful translations and the fix of Orlin's already great translation to Russian.

@ Na-tu-ra, unfortunately I'm unsure who the author of this quote is. If I ever find out, I'll be sure to let you know.


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## nooij

Oh, in case people are interested, I found the French translation of the quote on the internet:

_"Quand j'avais 5 ans, ma mère avait pour habitude de me répéter que le bonheur était la clé de la vie. Quand je suis allé à l'école, ils m'ont demandé ce que je voulais être quand je serais grand. J'ai écrit 'heureux'. Ils m'ont donc dit que je n'avais pas compris la consigne, je leur ai répondu qu'ils n'avaient rien compris à la vie."_

The translation was the same on various French sources and it looks fine to me, so I'm pretty sure it's correct. But I might be proven wrong by a Francophone person.


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## qwerta

jazyk said:


> A possibility in Portuguese:
> 
> "Quando eu tinha 5 anos, a minha mãe sempre me dizia que a felicidade era o segredo da vida. Quando fui à *escola*, perguntaram-me o que eu queria ser quando crescesse. Escrevi 'feliz'. Disseram-me que eu não tinha entendido a tarefa e eu disse-lhes que eles não entendiam da vida."



Another possibility:

"Quando tinha 5 anos, a minha mãe dizia-me sempre que a felicidade era o segredo da vida. Quando fui para a escola, perguntaram-me o que é que eu queria ser quando crescesse. Escrevi 'feliz'. Disseram-me que eu não tinha percebido a tarefa e eu disse-lhes que eles não tinham percebido a vida."


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## nooij

qwerta said:


> Another possibility:
> 
> "Quando tinha 5 anos, a minha mãe dizia-me sempre que a felicidade era o segredo da vida. Quando fui para a escola, perguntaram-me o que é que eu queria ser quando crescesse. Escrevi 'feliz'. Disseram-me que eu não tinha percebido a tarefa e eu disse-lhes que eles não tinham percebido a vida."


 
Muito obrigado.


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## clark5722

In traditional Chinese,
"當我五歲時，我母親總是告訴我，快樂是人生最重要的事情。當我進入學校時，他們問我長到之後想要做什麼。我寫下了"快樂"兩字。他們說我不了解作業，而我說他們不了解人生。"


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## CrnaMačka

Romanian
Când aveam cinci ani, mama mereu îmi spunea că fericirea este cheia vieţii. Când am mers la şcoală, m-au întrebat ce vreau să mă fac când voi fi mare. Am scris "fericit". Mi-au spus că nu am înţeles tema, dar eu le-am spus că ei nu înţeleg viaţa.


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## mataripis

The translation in Tagalog/ang salin sa Tagalog=  Nang ako ay nasa limang taong gulang pa lamang,malimit sabihin sakin ng aking Ina na ang susi ng buhay ay kaligayahan.Nang ako ay nag aaral na,tinanong nila ako kung ano ang hangarin ko sa paglaki ko.Sinulat ko naman"Ligaya".Nasabi nilang hindi ko nauunawaan ang aming takdang aralin,tinugon ko naman sa kanila,hindi nyo rin naman alam kung ano ang talagang Buhay!


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## elirlandes

My best attempt at Irish would be...

Nuair a bhí mé cúig bliana d'aois, d'inis mo mham dom i gcónaí gurb é an sonas eochair an tsaol. 
Nuair a bhí mé ar scoil, d'iarr siad orm céard ba mhaith liom a dhéanamh agus mise i mo dhaoine fásta. 
Scríobh mé síos gurbh mhaith liom go mbéadh áthas orm. Dúirt siad liom nar thuig mé iad, agus dúirt mé leo nár thuig siad an tsaol.

[Any corrections welcome...]


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## mataripis

De salen de sorot pa dumaghet.(the translation in dumagat language=  ( De lema a ta-un a golang ko, nasabye a ognay de ako ni Ena, a te  kagaelakan on eye a matud a behagi ni edup.De pag adel ko, on katantoan a ognay nide ey ano kapen on hanged ko de pagdetuong a pana-ohn,on sabye ko man ey magkaduman ni kagealakan de edup.nasabye nide a eyen ko nakatengges kon ano on takde a adelen me,ta natobeg man de ide , e kamu on eyen nakaunaweh de matud a mahalage de edup.)


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## nooij

Thank you Clark5722, CrnaMacka, Mataripis and Elirlandes, for the Chinese, Romanian, Tagalog/Dumagat and Irish translations, respectively.


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## inter1908

*Polish:* Kiedy miałem 5 lat, moja matka zawsze powtarzała że szczęście jest kluczem do życia. Kiedy poszedłem do szkoły, spytano mnie kim chciałbym być kiedy dorosnę. Napisałem, że chce być szczęśliwym. Nauczyciel powiedział mi że nie zrozumiałem zadania, a ja powiedziałem mu że nie rozumie życia.

I had to change "They told me I..." and "I told them they..." to "The teacher told me I" and "I told him that", because otherwise it'd sound a bit odd. If you want the femine version of it, you have to change it to "Nauczycielka powiedziała mi że nie zrozumiałem zadania, a ja powiedziałem jej że nie rozumie życia"


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## nooij

Dziekuje, inter1908, for the great translation and the interesting and useful explanation.


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## nimak

Macedonian:

Кога имав 5 години, мајка ми секогаш ми велеше дека среќата е клучот на животот. Кога отидов на училиште ме прашаа што сакам да бидам кога ќе пораснам. Напишав _"среќен"_. Ми рекоа дека не сум ја разбрал задачата, а јас им реков дека тие не го разбираат животот.

(Koga imav 5 godini, majka mi sekogaš mi veleše deka sreḱata e klučot na životot. Koga otidov na učilište me prašaa što sakam da bidam koga ḱe porasnam. Napišav _"sreḱen"_. Mi rekoa deka ne sum ja razbral zadačata, a jas im rekov deka tie ne go razbiraat životot.)


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## tFighterPilot

Hebrew:
כשהייתי בן 5, אמי תמיד אמרה לי שאושר הוא המפתח לחיים. כשהלכתי לבית הספר, שאלו אותי מה ארצה להיות כשאגדל. כתבתי "שמח". הם אמרו לי שלא הבנתי את המטלה ואמרתי להם שהם לא מבינים את החיים.
Kshehayíti ben ḥamésh, imí tamíd amrá li she'ósher hu hamaptéaḥ laḥayím. Kshehalákhti levéyt haséfer, sha'álu otí ma ertsé lihyót kshe'egdál. Katavti "Saméaḥ". Hem amrú li sheló hevánti et hamatalá ve'amárti lahém shehém lo meviním et haḥayím.


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## elroy

Modern Standard Arabic:

عندما كنت في الخامسة من العمر كانت أمي تقول لي دائمًا إن السعادة هي مفتاح الحياة. عندما ذهبت إلى المدرسة سألوني ماذا أريد أن أصبح عندما أكبر. فكتبت "سعيدًا". قالوا لي إنني لم أفهم السؤال، فقلت لهم إنهم لا يفهمون الحياة.
_ʿindama kuntu fil-xāmisa min al-ʿumr kānat ʾummi taqūlu lī dāʾiman inna 's-saʿāda hiya muftāḥu 'l-ḥayā. ʿindama ðahabtu ila 'l-madrasa saʾalūni māða ʾurīdu ʾan ʾuṣbiḥa ʿindama ʾakburu. fa-katabtu "saʿīdan". qālu lī ʾinnani lam afhami 's-suʾāl, faqultu lahum ʾinnahum lā yafhamūna 'l-ḥayā._

Palestinian Arabic:

لما كان عمري خمس سنين كانت إمي دايمًا تقوللي إنو السعادة هي مفتاح الحياة. لما رحت ع المدرسة سألوني شو بدي أصير لما أكبر. كتبت "مبسوط". قالولي إني ما فهمتش السؤال، قلتلهم إنتو مش فاهمين الحياة.
_lamma kān ʿumri xams-i-snīn kānat ʾimmi dāyman tʾulli ʾinno 's-saʿāde hiyye muftāḥ il-ḥayā. lamma ruḥet ʿal-madrase saʾalūni šū biddi ʾaṣir lamma ʾakbar. katabet "mabsūt". ʾalūli ʾinni ma-fhimteš is-suʾāl, ʾultillhom ʾintu miš fāhmīn il-ḥayā._


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## elroy

I'll try German (hopefully any mistakes can be corrected):

_Als ich fünf Jahre alt war, sagte mir meine Mutter immer, Glück sei der Schlüssel zum Leben. Als ich auf die Schule ging, fragten sie mich, was ich werden wolle, wenn ich groß werde. Ich schrieb "glücklich". Sie sagten mir, ich hätte die Aufgabe nicht verstanden. Ich sagte ihnen, sie verstünden das Leben nicht. _


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## Cagsak

nooij said:


> Hello!
> 
> I was wondering how the following quote by John Lennon would be said in other languages:
> 
> _"When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key of life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down 'happy'. They told me I didn't understand the assignment and I told them they didn't understand life." _
> 
> In Dutch it'd be:
> 
> _"Toen ik 5 jaar oud was, zei mijn moeder altijd tegen mij dat geluk de sleutel van het leven was. Toen ik naar school ging, vroegen ze mij wat ik wou worden als ik groot was. Ik schreef 'gelukkig.' Ze zeiden dat ik de opdracht niet begreep en ik zei tegen hen dat zij het leven niet begrepen."_
> 
> And the girl that inspired me to look for translations, translated it to German:
> 
> _"Als ich 5 Jahre alt war, erzählte meine Mutter mir immer, dass Zufriedenheit der Schlüssel des Lebens sei. Als ich zur Schule kam, fragten sie mich, was ich werden will, wenn ich erwachsen bin. Ich schrieb 'glücklich'. Sie sagten mir, ich hätte die Aufgabe nicht verstanden und ich sagte ihnen, dass sie das Leben nicht verstanden hätten."_
> 
> 
> I am looking forward to translations! Thanks in advance!


Ben 5 yaşındayken, annem bana mutluluğun hayattaki en önemli şey olduğunu söyledi. Okulda bana büyüyünce ne olmak istediğimi sorduklarında, kağıda "Mutlu" diye yazdım. Bana soruyu anlamadığımı söylediklerinde, onlara; "Siz hayatı anlamamışsınız." dedim.


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## Terio

In French, I would translate :

Quand j'avais cinq ans, ma mère me disait toujours que le bonheur était la clef de la vie. À l'école, ils m'ont demandé ce que je voulais faire quand je serais grand. J'ai écrit : « être heureux ». Ils m'ont dit que je n'avais pas compris la question et je leur ai répondu que c'était eux qui ne comprenaient pas la vie.

The proposition of Nooij (# 25) is also good.


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## Perseas

In Greek I'd translate it like this:

Όταν ήμουν πέντε χρονών, η μητέρα μου (πάντοτε) μου έλεγε ότι η ευτυχία είναι το κλειδί στη ζωή. Όταν πήγα στο σχολείο, με ρώτησαν  τι ήθελα να γίνω όταν μεγαλώσω. Έγραψα "ευτυχισμένος". Μου είπαν ότι δεν κατάλαβα την ερώτηση και εγώ τους είπα ότι αυτοί δεν κατάλαβαν τη ζωή.


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## Rallino

Perseas said:


> I'm not sure because English is not my mother tongue, but can "when I was 5" and "always" be together?


I don't see why not. It would make sense in all the languages I'm familiar with. I see that you have used parentheses in your translation. Doesn't it work in Greek?


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## Perseas

Rallino said:


> I don't see why not. It would make sense in all the languages I'm familiar with. I see that you have used parentheses in your translation. Doesn't it work in Greek?


Thanks, Rallino. I deleted my question because I saw that it was a J. Lennon's quote.
In Greek it sounds a bit strange, not wrong. "When I was a child, my mother always told me..." would sound better (in Greek).


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## elroy

It means that when I was five, my mother would say this to me over and over again, all the time, repeatedly.  “When I was five” doesn’t refer to a single point in time, but to a whole time period.


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## Dymn

Favara said:


> em van preguntar què en volia ser, de major.


In Catalonia we would say "_de *gran*_" instead. Also I don't understand what the pronoun _en_ is supposed to replace in this context.


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## ThomasK

Would native speakers not use "would" in that main clause: "When I was ..., my mother would say..." But that might be too formal.


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