One of the joys of working with fictional texts is that they often contain delightful dialogue, and making those turns in a conversation sound good is arguably one of the most critical aspects in (fictional) writing.
When it comes to transferring your creations to another language using a machine translation engine, it pays to check for critical mistakes. My “blunder radar” has recently detected some unusual practices related to how grammatical constructions are rendered in German. The way some English TV and film dialogue is translated impacts what I will call the “continuity” of the conversation – essentially, the verisimilitude of the speakers’ interaction.
You may have come across it if you have been watching foreign-language shows and films in your language, when you’ve probably registered it subconsciously: a conversation where the speakers don’t seem to be conversing as the language would require.
You might hear something like this interaction:
A: Wie geht es Ihrer Tochter?
B: Auf ewig in Ihrer Schuld.
A is asking “How is your daughter?” and B replies “Forever indebted to you”. Perfectly grammatical. And a clever play on the words. But in the English version only. The German version misses not just the (grammatical) point but grammar as such.
If the English version flows naturally, it can be disappointing to see the effect lost in translation:
Das geht Sie doch einen verdammten Dreck an! — Leider doch, Monsieur, wenn die Angelegenheit geklärt werden soll.
Und wo wollen Sie jetzt hinfahren? — Etwas Lippenstift und einen dicken Schutzhelm und dann ab aufs Schlachtfeld.
While examples like these won’t hinder comprehension, there are some that catch one’s eye (or ear, for that matter) a little more forcefully. Therefore, if you have doubts about the quality of your machine translation, send me a message and we’ll discuss how to save your masterpiece. It doesn’t cost the earth!
When it comes to transferring your creations to another language using a machine translation engine, it pays to check for critical mistakes. My “blunder radar” has recently detected some unusual practices related to how grammatical constructions are rendered in German. The way some English TV and film dialogue is translated impacts what I will call the “continuity” of the conversation – essentially, the verisimilitude of the speakers’ interaction.
You may have come across it if you have been watching foreign-language shows and films in your language, when you’ve probably registered it subconsciously: a conversation where the speakers don’t seem to be conversing as the language would require.
You might hear something like this interaction:
A: Wie geht es Ihrer Tochter?
B: Auf ewig in Ihrer Schuld.
A is asking “How is your daughter?” and B replies “Forever indebted to you”. Perfectly grammatical. And a clever play on the words. But in the English version only. The German version misses not just the (grammatical) point but grammar as such.
If the English version flows naturally, it can be disappointing to see the effect lost in translation:
Das geht Sie doch einen verdammten Dreck an! — Leider doch, Monsieur, wenn die Angelegenheit geklärt werden soll.
Und wo wollen Sie jetzt hinfahren? — Etwas Lippenstift und einen dicken Schutzhelm und dann ab aufs Schlachtfeld.
While examples like these won’t hinder comprehension, there are some that catch one’s eye (or ear, for that matter) a little more forcefully. Therefore, if you have doubts about the quality of your machine translation, send me a message and we’ll discuss how to save your masterpiece. It doesn’t cost the earth!
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