Reading Between Lines Beyond Grammar Books
Have you ever been confronted with the task of translating #non -native #English ?
In my long career as a translator, I have come across many English texts in which the German structure in the author’s mind shines through.
English tainted with German language habits is often pejoratively called #Denglisch .
As both German and English belong to the same Germanic family, English written by a German is deceptively perfect. But there are tricky differences in their nuance and connotations.
And you, as a translator, need to read between lines.
Once when reading such heavily “teutonic” English, I stumbled over the following phrase:
“The business will #eventually pick up.”
I wondered whether the author really mean “surely” or “possibly (= #eventuell in German).
In such cases, you won’t find the answer in your grammar books.
The only solution is to ask the client.
On the other hand, most English texts written by German skilled professionals are indeed perfect. Yet, you still need knowledge of German for better understanding at times.
It happens when German laws and institutions are explained in English.
For example, if you give an EN-JP translator in Japan the job of translating
the minutes of the General Shareholders' Meeting of a GmbH (German LLC),
you can be sure that “#shareholders” will be translated as 株主.
But being a #German -#Japanese translator, I know that “shareholder” here refers to a #Gesellschafter , i.e. a company partner/member (出資社員 or simply 出資者).” By translating it as 株主 (Aktionär), you quickly turn a GmbH to a listed company. …IPO made easy.
💡 Lessons learnt here:
✅ Working directly with translators helps.
Your translators can easily clarify the true meaning of your Denglish.
✅ Local context matters.
English is a lingua franca. When it comes to very local matters communicated in this global language, translators’ contextual knowledge plays a big role when it comes to accuracy.
📢 With me, you can count on native quality with full awareness of local context.