Verstehen und Übersetzen

by Paul Kußmaul

This work is a textbook for students of translation studies. It stands out from the crowd because of the way it's written: it's clear and practical, and doesn't get overly abstract when it addresses theoretical aspects of cognition and semantics. The author taught translators at the University of Mainz in Germersheim, Germany, for many years and often draws on what he experienced in his classes, introducing questions the students had and explaining how they tackled linguistic problems encountered during translation exercises.

The book is divided into eight chapters and spans 230 pages in its third, revised edition (from 2015). The first edition of it appeared in 2007, so it seems to be popular (and justifiably so in my opinion). Each chapter is followed by a short section with exercises to practise what has just been covered in the book, and some suggested answers can be found at the back, which is handy.

I like the variety of topics in this book. Initially, the author discusses lexical "false friends", ambiguity and knowing which word or meaning to pick in a dictionary (is a brush a "Pinsel" or a "Bürste" in German?). He looks at semantic prototypes and "framing" (1.5) in connection with mental images of words and situations to be translated and then covers words that are "hard to translate" (1.7).

Some of the examples he picks are taken from questionnaires in English that were translated for mass surveys in various European countries (ISSP surveys). These often contain references to culture-specific terms, such as "National Insurance Contributions", but even words like "local" or "government" (p. 88) can turn out to be tricky to translate and call for careful reflection (pp. 37, 38). One of the key points Kußmaul makes is that words don't live in isolation, but in a specific cultural setting (2.1), which a translator also needs to bear in mind.

Here are a few more points he covers: how close should a translation be? (chap. 3), the need to differentiate (3.3), how to go about researching a term or subject (4.1), linguistic v encyclopaedic knowledge, expanding your vocabulary by learning new meanings of existing words, going beyond dictionaries when their entries fail to help (4.2), referring to online resources (IATE, Wikipedia, Google, etc.) and analysing texts properly to deduce the right meaning of a word in its context (dictionaries don't always offer the right answer!).

In the second half of the textbook, the author looks at cognitive translation processes (chap. 5), creativity in translation (6), visualising and scenes (7), and problem-solving as a translator, along with various practical strategies and techniques (8) translators can use.

In a nutshell, then, "Verstehen und Übersetzen" is a useful, hands-on textbook that is well worth reading. And astonishingly for a German textbook, it's actually easy to follow.

Link to the e-book on the publisher's website (Narr Verlag). You can also order a printed copy of the book online or from any bookshop.

Best,

Carl

Thursday, 3 February 2022

Book review: 'Alltag in Großbritannien. Leben und arbeiten in England, Schottland und Wales' by Katrin Koll Prakoonwit, Conbook Verlag, 2013



ISBN 978-3-943176-15-5, 384 pages, €18.95 (in Germany)



If you really want to learn a foreign language quickly, one of the best ways of doing so is by going to a country where it is spoken and living among the locals for a while. Practically every professional translator and interpreter will have done this at some point in their life and then have experienced a 'culture shock' when they discovered life was organised in a different way than what they were used to. This is where books like 'Alltag in Großbritannien' [Life in Great Britain] come in useful – for people who move abroad for a certain period (or even for good) and want to understand the way society works and get their bearings as quickly as possible.



'Alltag in Großbritannien' is aimed primarily at German speakers, but I'm sure it would be equally useful for anyone who can understand German and is intending to move to the UK. It explains what everyday life is like there and points out any obvious differences between British and German life where this is likely to provide some helpful insights.



The book was first published in 2013, which means some sections of it are slightly outdated now (in May 2015), but the publisher saw this coming and has kept it pretty much up to date on its website, providing current information and new material – see this page. A great idea!



Besides being able to refer to these, readers of the book are also provided with a large number of web links to further sources of information on the subjects covered in each chapter.



This practical guide focuses on many aspects of daily life in England, Scotland and Wales and is divided into 24 chapters and five annexes, including a helpful glossary of key terms (what's an ISA? It tells you here), and it has a comprehensive index in German and English as well so you can look up individual terms and see what sections to read.



The book starts with a general introduction to the country's geography and history and then goes on to describe its institutions (e.g. the political and judicial system, the police and armed forces, and the monarchy) and Britain's multicultural society. The next sixteen chapters (3 to 18) each focus on a particular aspect of everyday life, e.g.

- how to look for a house or flat (ch. 3)

- moving to Britain (ch. 5)

- driving (ch. 6)

- public transport (ch. 7)

- looking for employment (ch. 8 )

- insurance policies (ch. 12)

- marriage and family life (ch. 13)

- schools (ch. 14) and higher education (ch. 15).

The author even looks at shopping and British food (ch. 16 and 17).



To help German-speaking readers understand the British mentality better, Katrin Prakoonwit also touches on this subject (ch. 19) and provides some language tips to make it easier for them to communicate naturally with the locals (ch. 20 and 21).



In chapter 24, she comes full circle again by explaining what practical steps are necessary if you decide to move back home again after your stay. You can tell she has put a lot of thought and practical research into every single subject she has covered here. (She moved to the UK herself a few years ago and is therefore talking from personal experience.)



In my opinion, this book is essential reading for anyone who is considering moving over to the UK to work, study or simply to stay for a while. The sections I have read so far are all written in a compact way and yet often make interesting and even entertaining reading. It's an excellent introduction to everyday life in Britain with lots of valid internet references for further reading.



Incidentally, the publisher has also produced six other guides of this kind so far on living in the US, Australia, France, Sweden, Switzerland and even Mallorca (a favourite destination for many Germans). See this page on the Conbooks website for more details.



To order a copy of the book, go to the publisher's website or purchase it via Amazon.de, for example. (The Amazon page lets you browse through parts of the book.) You can also order it from your local bookshop if you prefer, of course.



Hope you enjoy the read.



Carl

 

Although "The Entrepreneurial Linguist" by linguists Judy and Dagmar Jenner first appeared on the book market in 2010, I have to admit it took me a while to get round to buying a copy and reading it myself. Fortunately, many of the subjects the book covers are still applicable to freelance translation work today – as the title implies, it's mostly about setting up and running a translation business long-term rather than using specific software tools to get your work done, although these are also discussed briefly.

The book is basically a practical "how to" guide and covers 11 subject areas over almost 200 pages. The choice of topics is a personal one reflecting the two authors' own interests and activities – as translators, bloggers, members of translators' associations and conference speakers. This and the fact that it focuses on ways of doing business soundly and successfully ("the business-school approach" in the title) make it stand out from other works of this kind, which try to be as general as possible. It's also not solely directed at translators in the US market – the two authors actually work in different countries, the United States and Austria. They are also sisters and spend time together in each other's country every year, which gives them a broader perspective on business than usual.

Consequently, the scope of this book is pretty wide. It sets the scene by addressing the way you should see yourself as a freelance translator, namely as an independent entrepreneur who wants to make a living from his or her skills:

"The first thing you need to do is stop thinking of yourself as 'just' a freelance linguist and to start thinking of yourself as a business. You are selling your services; therefore, you are a business."

(p. 19)

This might seem obvious, but it's worth reminding ourselves what we are actually doing from time to time as it's easy to lose sight of sometimes. The Jenners also make a point of putting things into context: "In addition, one-person businesses account for a staggering 78% of all U.S. businesses" (according to figures from 2007; p. 20).

Having discussed the best mindset to adopt, the Jenners turn to organisation and accounting, a section which contains useful tips (including the very wise insight that it might be best to get a trained accountant to help you rather than attempting to tackle the financial side of your business all by yourself, which not everyone's cut out to do). The authors then go into some detail about social media, networking, blogging and marketing (the longest sections, in fact) and subsequently talk about strategies for developing your business (in a nutshell, "no pain, no gain" and "yes, you can"!).

This is followed by sections on pricing, negotiating, professional development, getting actively involved in an association and starting up a local chapter, and getting the right balance between your work and private life. A recap in the final chapter conveniently sums up the most important points made in the book.

As I've said, this is a personal selection of topics; the sections on blogging and "giving back" won't appeal to every reader as we are all under time constraints and things like blogging and playing an active role in a professional association are time-consuming and may involve travel as well as background research. But still, there's something of value for every translator in this book. In fact, much of what's said applies to anyone who wants to set up a business of their own. A worthwhile read.

Regards,

Carl

Links

• Judy and Dagmar Jenner's website on "The Entrepreneurial Linguist"




• the sisters' own blog on translating and interpreting, Translation Times.

You can order a copy of the book from Lulu.com, other internet bookshops or your conventional high-street bookshop. The book is available in print and as an e-book (PDF).

image: © Judy and Dagmar Jenner, The Entrepreneurial Linguist

As the German title says, this practical little book is a basic guide on marketing and is specifically tailored to the needs of translators and interpreters. Although it's written for speakers of German, I expect much of what it has to say is equally applicable to other cultures as well, although marketing styles no doubt vary internationally.



Author Birgit Golms is an expert on the subject of marketing and holds workshops on it as well as writing articles and books on related issues (partly for the German Association of Interpreters and Translators (BDÜ), which I happen to belong to). You can tell she's familiar with the way in which translators and interpreters work and think as she provides lots of practical examples that ring a bell.

The book is a handy size – approx. 150 pages long and A5 size, so it can just about fit into your coat pocket. It's divided into four practical sections: (1) how to position yourself, (2) the basic marketing material you need, (3) how to win customers and (4) developing your own marketing strategies and putting them into practice.



One of the things that make it a bit different from many "Ratgeber" is that it's meant to be used, not just read – it includes various checklists and plenty of practical tips and links to resources on the Web. Since the guide was published in 2011, it's also fairly up to date (so most of the links will still be active) and it puts a lot of emphasis on self-marketing via the internet, e.g. by means of your own website or blog or by using social media. What I particularly liked here was the author's open-minded approach to tapping social media as a marketing resource – it's not everybody's cup of tea, and how much (and how successfully) you use it will depend on your own personality.

In my opinion, "Marketing für Dolmetscher und Übersetzer" is well worth the read for any self-employed person interested in boosting their turnover and winning new customers. At 20 euros, it's reasonably priced as non-fiction goes and the investment is quite likely to help you move your business in the direction you want it to go (and make your income flow more steadily as well thanks to the extra custom you get).

You can order the book from BDÜ Fachverlag in Berlin or from any good bookseller.

(German) ISBN: 978-3-938430-34-7

Carl

image: courtesy of BDÜ Weiterbildungs- und Fachverlagsgesellschaft mbH