Learning The Language

Just recently, I was involved in translating some articles into Arabic (from English). Although the medical language is not as smooth as the common one, but I finished what I had to do (and I don't think I will do it again, soon at least). On the other hand I am taking on myself the task of translating an English story (no one asked me to, but just wanted to). I am not sure whether I will finish it or be successful, but I noticed few things with regard to translation:
First of all, all of us (or at least most) read in different languages. It is not uncommon that those of us who are strong in the language will come across some unfamiliar words, but on the other hand if the meaning is understood from the context none will bother to look it up (especially if it doesn't interfere with the flow of reading and comprehension). But, if you attempt to translate, then every word counts. And you will be surprised with the number of vocabulary that you may know in a foreign language but not in your mother tongue, and vice versa. You may also be surprised with number of words in the foreign language that you never bothered to look up. So translation is a very good way to learn both languages, even your mother tongue, because then you have to be grammatically correct and much more: something we don't give much attention in everyday life (at least in Arabic) except when listening to the news or hearing some announcements.
Secondly, translation is very hard. It is a challenge, a duty to respect the original authors and their writing spirit. I have read few books since coming to Syria in Arabic. Some were translated from English. Reading the story was not the only fun but also picking the mistakes of translators. Occasionally I had to back-translate a sentence to English to understand the meaning. Many fall in the mistake of translating almost word to word, forgetting the differences between the languages in sentence structures and grammar. And this, if it happens, I think, is undermining the original authors and not maintenance of their writing spirit.

Another good way of learning English, at least (definitely not Arabic), is solving crosswords. English crosswords are smart and full of weird vocabulary in addition to local culture topics. It was a habit of mine with the help of a certain someone to do some frequently. And I advise all to try the same.

والآن إلى سؤال اليوم: ما هو الفرق بين بضع وبعض؟؟
يمكن الجواب في صفحة التعليقات وفي حال عدم وجود أية إجابة أو أية إجابة صحيحة سأنشر الحل في اليوم التالي، ولا يوجد أي جوائز رمضانية عندي