# Work in translating from German To English?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-in-translating-from-german-to-english/393511>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [February 24, 2007, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-in-translating-from-german-to-english/393511 "2007-02-24T15:18:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-in-translating-from-german-to-english/393511/21 "2007-02-26T01:42:21Z")

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[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord]  
Yes.

I have to add that many Germans learn English as a second language. There are many out there fluent in English and German, so you’ll have to be fairly addept at it. Electronics can do a rough translation, so people hire bilingual for stuff that’s important.  
[/QUOTE]

But then, how many Germans are truly fluent in English, meaning fluent as a native speaker? There’s a difference between true fluency and just knowing the language well.

I could translate from German to English, with the aid of a dicitonary, but I could not go the other way. My German’s just not that good, though I studied it for years and spent a year living over there.

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**Author:** ![Sonia\_Montdore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-in-translating-from-german-to-english/393511/22 "2007-02-26T03:31:48Z")

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For anybody who is a student of German, Mark Twain’s hilarious essay “The Awful German Language” is not to be missed: [http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/awfgrmlg.html#x1](http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/awfgrmlg.html#x1) Enjoy!

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