wish or hope?

In Carrer Banys Nous which is just down from us, they have for the last few Christmases adopted the tradition of the wishing tree: installing a series of little Christmas trees along the street, providing notepaper, ballpoints and tiny coloured pegs, and inviting passers-by to write down their Christmas wishes, and pin them up for anyone to see. I'm not sure how the tradition was adopted - it doesn't seem native to Catalunya or even related specifically to Christmas as far I can tell. But for whatever reason, the trees tend to attract messages inspired by goodwill and love and people's deeper hopes and dreams, rather than just consumerist fare and Santa wish-lists.

I walk along Banys Nous quite a lot and have seen very few people stopping to read the messages. To me that seems a shame, given their emotion and poignancy. Although I probably wouldn't be very comfortable either if things went to the opposite extreme, and each tree was surrounded by noisy crowds dissecting the details. Still, I decided to take a few shots of some of the messages that hit home for me and share them on the internet. I think I can do that with full respect for the humanity and dignity of the writers. I wanted to do it because the messages are not only about Christmastime hopes and dreams, but also about the times we are living in, at the end of 2012 in this part of Europe.

In the process of translating them from the original Catalan and Spanish, I was reminded of a classic English grammar/vocabulary point from my days as a TEFL teacher here in Barcelona: the ways we use the verbs "wish" and "hope". Sometimes the explanations that an English teacher has to give to foreign learners can surprise a native speaker: there is often a philosophy or an embedded meaning in words you use that you never consciously realised was there.

So when is it correct to say "I wish" and when do we say "I hope"? Second-language English students are taught that we commonly use the verb "wish" to talk about things we want but which are currently not true and are either impossible or very unlikely:

I wish I could fly.

I wish I was the best footballer in the world.

By contrast we use "hope" to talk about things we want to happen that are possible in the future:

I hope I can become a doctor.

I hope Brazil wins the World Cup.

My translator's dilemma was that a few of the notes talk of future desires that you would consider not only possible but completely standard occurrences in normal times, but right now you have to ask whether they are even possible: whether the writers' intentions would be best conveyed by "hope" or rather by stating that they have now slipped away into "wish" territory. For example:

Que encontremos trabajo = 

"I hope we find work"  ?
or "I wish we could find work" ?

Although I must say that in the end I translated some of the wishes rather more instinctively - and if I were to further revise them I might free them up even more. "Wish" also has other nuances; perhaps the structure "My wish is for..." - the act of making a wish - offers the possibility of both "wish" and "hope" without discriminating one from the other. Perhaps this exercise is really all about letting your imagination go to a place where everything you desire is still equally possible.

I wish that the power of money would disappear.

Peace, love, good health for everyone.

Encarna

I hope we will always be together

I wish

they wouldn't call me so much from work.

Pilar

I hope
that both those who are,

and those aren't,

will always feel that they are never alone.

*A*

I hope the crisis doesn't change us!

Merry Christmas!

Triplet of trophies for Barça !!!

I hope I come back next year and have

my own cup of chocolate

For a free Catalunya! 

Long Live the Land! 

Merry Christmas

In some countries, eating is a luxury, in others the luxury is dieting.

I feel very bad for the people

who are having a bad time at the moment.

I wish all of you a good new year.

M B

Siusplau que podam viatjar

a Corea de Sud

amb la meva mara i el meu pare

My wish is that we don't argue

about linguistic questions.

M

Dear Son of God,

Thanks for everything you have given me this year.

My wishes are: Work for C and V;

Good health for M and S.

And all (anything) you want to give to me.

Kisses

G

Love Peace Sex and Independence

I wish that the thieving politicians

would disappear from the planet.

I wish health and happiness to all my people.

I wish we would all realise what marvellous people we have right next to us...

I hope that the love of my life never leaves my side.

I wish for justice, and I hope that I can fulfill my dreams

P.

J.:

I hope Carlota will always be with me.

My wish is to live life to the fullest, in peace and harmony, with my partner, and with my family and community. My wish is to develop professionally in my work, for it to be the job of my life, to turn  a dream project into reality in Africa.

Call me. ...

I hope we find work

I, M, and L