Translation (Versus Original)

[TanyaShh]

I dedicate this topic to one of my passions - translation and would very much like to know if some of you are book translators so we can share some techniques. In what languages do you translate? Also, what is your opinion of translated books and whether you have detected some unsuitable phrases? In which books?

[moderntimes]

I was never very proficient in another language but English. I did however study German and at the time, read Goethe and others in the original. I've dabbled in French and Italian, mostly for my operatic singing, but never gained enough skills to read literature in those languages. Same for Latin and Greek, a smattering of Japanese.

And so I rely on good translations into English.

[TanyaShh]

I have read translated books from English to Bulgarian language and I admit that the original version grabs me more. Personally, I prefer to trust on the original versions as I have come across translated books in which some phrases have been omitted. Also, some points have been transmitted with another meaning or they fail to have that strong meaning. Moreover, I memorize more easily the initial perception of some original phrases rather than the translated ones.