Quote:
Originally Posted by Billi
Why? I don't find this obvious at all. I can imagine that there are more books around than those by Dan Brown that win through a translation.
And on a more subjective note: I also prefer reading English books in English but I would not necessarily say that the mental translation in my head is better than the written one of a professional translator.
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I disagree. In most books there are many nuances, cultural references, puns that are simply untranslatable. Not to mention words that don't exist in the translated language, and are approximated to a (not always) close meaning.
As for translating in my head, I've reached the point where I don't even do that any more (at least not consciously). The words just flow like I'd be reading my native tongue.
The downside is not finding words in my tongue when I need them - only the English ones come to the tip of my tongue, and I have to stop to think of an appropriate translation. That sucks, it makes me look silly/inarticulate.
Sometimes I forget myself and interject the English words, and that can be embarrassing
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