Translation tips

[Chloe]

Hello!

As you probably know I'm doing my apprenticeship as office assistant and secretary for foreign languages. I like it, but I'm worring about the translation.

Unfortunately my English teacher isn't really good. She's always speaking German! She gives us tasks, but she doesn't explain anything That's why I think I have to teach myself how I can translate different texts. I must be able to do it fast, precise, but not like real translator.

I would be very thankful to get any tips!

With best wishes,
Chloe

[Duckduck (Contributor)]

Hello!

As you probably know I'm doing my apprenticeship as an office assistant and secretary for foreign languages. I like it, but I'm worried about the translation-part.

Unfortunately, my English teacher isn't really good. She's always speaking German! She gives us tasks, but she doesn't explain anything. That's why I think I have to teach myself to translate different texts. I must be able to do it fast and precisely, but not like a real translator.

I would be very thankful for tips!

With best wishes,
Chloe

Nun, Chloe, englisch-deutsch oder deutsch-englisch?

Kannst Du etwas konkreter werden?

Eigentlich kann man wohl auch Dir erstmal nur raten: Übe, indem Du es tust! Suche Dir Texte und übersetze sie, stelle sie hier ein und stelle Fragen zu unseren Verbesserungen. Lese viel und entwickele ein Gespür für die Sprache. Dein Deutsch ist ja nun perfekt, also bin ich sicher, dass Du ein gutes Ohr für Sprachen hast, dann wird sich Englisch auch bei Dir einnisten!

Grüße
Duckduck

[Chloe]

Hello Duckduck!

Thank you for the compliment. I really like German. It's a beautiful language! Although I can mostly understand everything and express all my thoughts, it's still difficult for me to translate texts from German into my mother tongue.

I must be able to translate different texts from English into German and conversely in my field. Whereas the focus is on the translation from English.

Thank you for your help again!

With best wishes,
Chloe

[ballicount]

I agree with Duckduck. Learning by doing is the best way. You may should start with some mediations. You summerize German texts in English. I am of the opinion that this is the most important thing to translate
1.) Find out the impotant aspects
2.) Express them in English.

If you have to translate in detail you should not try to translate the sentence by itself however the content is enough.
If you really want to translate details you have to learn the vocabulary (of course) and you have to realize the German structure and to know how you express it in English.

I think these are the most important aspects for translating.

Of course I am looking forward to your experiences how you try to teach yourself.

Ball

[Keswick (Contributor)]

I agree with Duckduck. Learning by doing is the best way. You may should start with some mediations . You summerize German texts in English. In my opinion that this is the most important thing to translate.

Are you sure "mediation" is what you meant here? They tend to be quite complicated so wouldn't it be better for her to start with easier tasks? Plus she said she works as an office assistant, so does she really need to know how to write mediations? Chloe, are you working for a lawyer?

1.) Find out the important aspects
2.) Express them in English.

If you have to translate in detail you should not try to translate the sentence by itself since the content is enough.
If you really want to translate details you have to learn the vocabulary (of course) and you have to realize the German structure and to know how you express it in English.

I think these are the most important aspects for translating.

Of course I am looking forward to your experiences how you try to teach yourself.

Ball

Ball is right with most of what he/she said. However it really depends on what kind of translations your clients expect you to do. If you're working in an office I assume you're expected to translate client communication and general documents. Right? In this case it is not enough to only translate the content of a sentence. Even one small word left out of certain letters can cause problems, especially in official letters.

So I'd need to know what kind of translations you have to do so I can give you a little more detail and advice .

[Typing Error]

Afternoon,
Firstly, I think you ought to simply learn vocabulary and grammar since this is the foundation for every translation.
Secondly, reading books or texts (in particular texts on subjects you are likely to be required to translate ) helps very much as you see the use of the words and automatically learn the grammar, notably the syntax.
Thirdly, there are some textbooks (and you can also find a few articles on the Internet) about mistakes speakers of your language tend to make and how to avoid them.
I took such a book from the library and I think it helped me very much.
Fourthly, I recommend you to learn many phrases/idioms ( they make your translations more vivid and natural) and verbs with fixed prepositions(very often people make mistakes with that).
Last but not least, of course: learning by doing.

Kind regards,
typing error

PS
Could somebody please correct my mistakes

[ballicount]

Hello Duckduck,
i think we are talking about something different.
In school we call this a mediation:
Filter out the most important things and express them.

It is the simpliest thing to learn translation in practice I guess.
Of course it is just a advice of mine. I use this "system" to help my mum to understand what my family from spain asking for.

I have a question refering to your correction:
In a test I wrote "My opinion is..." my teacher crossed it out and wrote "My opinion is" instead. What is correct?

Thanks,

Der Ball

[Duckduck (Contributor)]

Hello Duckduck, Hallo ballicount, ich kann nur sagen: ich war's nicht! Die Fragen hat Keswick Dir gestellt und ich halte mich da ganz und gar raus, weil ich unter Mediation nun mal was vollkommen anderes verstehe... . Aber ich korrigiere ein bisschen in Deinem Text rum, OK?
I think we are talking about two different things.
In school we call the following action a mediation:
Filter out the most important things and express them.

It is the simpliest way to learn translation in practice I guess.
Of course it is just an advice of mine. I use this "system" to help my mum to understand what my family from Spain is asking for.

I have a question referring to your correction:
In a test I wrote "My opinion is..." my teacher crossed it out and wrote "My opinion is" instead. What is correct?
Nun, da hast Du Dich wohl vertan, oder? Beide Ausdrücke sind doch genau gleich?! Oder meintest Du "I am of the opinion"? Das gibt es, da hast Du Recht, ich weiß nicht, warum Deine Lehrerin Dir das angestrichen hat. Es ist jedenfalls nicht falsch. Allerdings könnte es sein, dass sie es entweder für zu kompliziert und unnötig "hochgestochen" gehalten hat, dann wäre es ein Ausdruckfehler gewesen, oder Du hattest vielleicht den Anschluss falsch? Läßt sich so ohne Beispiel nicht genau sagen.

So, bin mal wieder weg!

Grüße
Duckduck


Thanks,

Der Ball

[ballicount]

Oh, you are right.
While looking through the forum I saw your posts with corrections so I may read your name there. I am sorry.
Thanks for the correction. It is one thing why I registered at this forum.
Yeah, I wrote "My opinion" and he wrote "I am of the opinion" instead. Sorry I do not know why i wrote the same twice.
If both is correct I will use them . If he crosses it out again I am going to ask why i crossed it out.
What do you understand talking about mediation?

Ball

[Duckduck (Contributor)]

Oh, you are right/Right you are!
While looking through the forum I saw your posts with corrections so I may have read your name there. I am sorry. No worries!
Thanks for the corrections. They are one of the reasons why I registered at this forum.
Yeah, I wrote "My opinion" and he wrote "I am of the opinion" instead. Sorry I do not know why I wrote the same twice.
If both are correct, I will use them. If he crosses it out again, I am going to ask him why he crossed it out.
What do you understand by mediation?

Ball

Hi Ball,

Jederzeit gerne! Beide Varianten, die ich oben genannt habe, sind richtig. Aber Deine jetzt hier genannte Variante ist unvollständig. Du kannst sagen:

"My opinion is that..."
"I am of the opinion..."
"In my opinion..."

Du musst nur zusehen, dass Du nicht einen Teil der jeweiligen Phrase vergisst.

Ich kenne Mediation als Vermittlung im sozial-psychologischen Zusammenhang.

Grüße
Duckduck