UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
DEPARTMENT OF GERMAN STUDIES
MODERN GERMAN LANGUAGE I
Translation
Translation is a skill, which can improve with practice. Essentially translation is
about rendering accurately and appropriately the meaning of a text in another
language. That process involves various factors:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Structures
Register and tone
English
Re 1. The obvious and most immediate solution to vocabulary problems is a good
dictionary. The Collins German Dictionary or the large Langenscheidt are the best,
the Oxford-Duden German Dictionary, is also ok. Whichever you have, you must
have a large two-way dictionary. When looking up words you must always look
them up both ways. When you have found the English word required, look that
same word up and see what German word is given. That way the chance of using
inappropriate words will be reduced. Large dictionaries should give all the possible
equivalents. Don’t just go for the first word you come across. The appropriate word
may be the last of several possibilities. How to find the appropriate one? A good
dictionary will give examples of usage. Compare them with your example. A
monolingual Dictionary such as Wahrigs Deutsches Wörterbuch is also a good idea.
For questions of style and register the Duden Stilwörterbuch in the Duden series is
recommendable. The entire Duden series (incl. dictionary of synonyms, Grammar
and Fremdwörterbuch) is also in the Library.
Re 2. Deconstructing sentences is a key stage in the process of translating. You
need to identify which noun is the subject (nominative), which noun is the object
(accusative), and which noun is the indirect object (dative). You also need to identify
cases, genders, and adjectival endings, and to decide whether the verb is singular
or plural, and which noun it is meant to agree with. Obviously a firm grasp of
grammar is particularly important if this is to be done properly. Inflection (changes
in words, especially their endings, according to their grammatical function) is the key
to this process. It may be that you can grasp the meaning of a sentence without going
through this rigmarole, in which case you will only need to deconstruct the most
complex structures. But never assume you know, without reading carefully.
Re. 3. The German language is famous (notorious?) for its structural complexity.
Germans seem to thrive on convoluted sentences. Look at the various Mark Twain
quotations at the beginning of Practising German Grammar. However much we
might wish Germans would speak only in simple single-clause sentences, the fact is
they often don’t. Even orally (listen to interviews on TV news programmes) they
seem to slip easily into elaborate multiple-clause monstrosities, when the main verb
takes an eternity to appear. So we need strategies to deal with this. The most useful is
to strip down a complex sentence to its bare necessities. This involves highlighting
the core of the sentence by isolating all subordinate clauses, encapsulated adjectival
clauses, adjectives, adverbs, etc. You can do this by inserting brackets. It’s a corny
image, but a convoluted sentence can be likened to a coat and hat stand: one central
pole with a number of hooks on the side and the top to hangs things on. Highlighting
(literally) is a good idea. Using different colour highlighters often helps clarify the
structure and bring out the meaning.
Re. 4 Register and tone. A washing machine manual uses a different kind of
language from that used by a writer to describe the rural view from your penthouse
suite in leafy Leamington Spa. When reading a passage of German try to establish a)
what kind of language is being used (is it technical/specialist (Fachsprache),
bureaucratic, journalese, slang, dialect, colloquial, academic?) and b) the overall tone
of the passage. Is it emotive or dispassionate, ironic, indignant, bitter, understated,
full of hyperbole? A really good translation will provide the appropriate English tone
and register.
Re. 5. It’s easy to forget that translation is about improving one’s command of
English as well as German. To find out whether your translation reads like English
or translationese, see if you can persuade a literate non Germanist flat-mate (or your
partner?*) to read your pristine prose and tell you if it reads well and makes sense.
Try to read decent English regularly, if not a novel then at least a quality broadsheet
newspaper. Editorials are usually models of clarity and precision.
* Is this the ultimate test of a relationship?
The seven (!) stages of translation:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Read the passage through for a general sense of the tone and register
check vocabulary
deconstruct the individual sentences
produce a rough draft, concentrating on accuracy
put the original to one side and re-write the rough draft in decent English
inflict the re-write on a friend
thank him/her profusely, grit teeth, and write final version
It goes without saying that word processors were invented for translators. You can
write and re-write ad infinitum (or should that be nauseam?). So get computer-literate
if you’re not already.
Helmut Schmitz, Sept 2005, Room H210
h.schmitz@warwick.ac.uk