Comments on: There is a reason why you have to study to become a translator! http://www.tajder.com/archives/200 Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:22:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Tanja http://www.tajder.com/archives/200/comment-page-1#comment-227 Tanja Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:52:26 +0000 http://www.tajder.com/archives/200#comment-227 Thank you very much for your thoughts on translating and also thank you to Oliver for your comments on it. I too tried my hand at translating and failed. And as for German writing - even though I work in an organisation where German is the working language, I still sit for at least an hour at a half page long letter (to get it just right) and then get someone to proof it! Thank you very much for your thoughts on translating and also thank you to Oliver for your comments on it. I too tried my hand at translating and failed. And as for German writing – even though I work in an organisation where German is the working language, I still sit for at least an hour at a half page long letter (to get it just right) and then get someone to proof it!

]]> By: Oliver http://www.tajder.com/archives/200/comment-page-1#comment-221 Oliver Mon, 17 Nov 2008 04:03:49 +0000 http://www.tajder.com/archives/200#comment-221 I can assure you I had discussions with people from Vienna who had german as their first language about what words are coming from Austrian dialect and which ones are actual words you find in a dictionary. So do not worry. As regards to your writing class, the German language is a hell for its own. You rather go and do something productive with your time. Knowing what to say and being 100% correct in grammar are not 1-1 connected since people have brains to understand what you mean if you say "der buch" instead of "das buch". And about being nothing, I can only quote: "A specialist is someone who knows more and more about less and less until he knows everything about nothing. And a generalist on the other hand is someone who knows less and less about more and more until he knows nothing about everything." To have enough to say to fill a book that people would read is rare enough. To try do so in 3 languages is somewhere between illusions of greatness and trying to change your job from writer to translator. I can assure you I had discussions with people from Vienna who had german as their first language about what words are coming from Austrian dialect and which ones are actual words you find in a dictionary. So do not worry.

As regards to your writing class, the German language is a hell for its own. You rather go and do something productive with your time. Knowing what to say and being 100% correct in grammar are not 1-1 connected since people have brains to understand what you mean if you say “der buch” instead of “das buch”.

And about being nothing, I can only quote:
“A specialist is someone who knows more and more about less and less until he knows everything about nothing. And a generalist on the other hand is someone who knows less and less about more and more until he knows nothing about everything.”

To have enough to say to fill a book that people would read is rare enough. To try do so in 3 languages is somewhere between illusions of greatness and trying to change your job from writer to translator.

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