Getting Past Serious Problems in German Translation Services
Practically everyone who has ever worked as a professional translator knows that English and German share many similarities when it comes to vocabulary. German to English Translation students usually find this to be a blessing and a curse.
All learners of the German language should be taught about this issue. However, unfortunately, many early learners of German or English don’t understand that things are not always what they may seem. Also known as “false friends,” false cognates are words that look like or sound like a word in another language, but actually have nothing in common with it. The translation profession regularly deals with the challenge of avoiding falling prey to false cognates. Once again, false cognates are deceiving because they look like a common word, but in actuality they have nothing to do with it. Incorrectly using false cognates can cause embarrassment at best and lawsuits in the worst case scenario.
False cognates are prevalent in German and English because the two languages are both Germanic languages. There are countless words that look and sound alike in German and English. Brother / Bruder, auto / Auto, house / Haus, glass / Glas, etc. are just a few examples of the numerous true cognates that exist between the two languages. Many such true cognates exist between the German and English languages, and these should be differentiated from the many false cognates between the two languages.
Regardless of whether you are translating into English from German or into German from English, your translation process will go much more quickly if the text contains true cognates. However, false cognates can present stumbling blocks regardless of whether you are translating from German to English or from English to German. Regardless of what you call them: “falsche Freunde,” “false friends,” or false cognatesby any name can present problems if translation service providers are not careful.
After (After) all is said and done, the act (Akt) of translation can be quite objective (Objektiv). In this sentence, the German words in parentheses actually mean something quite different from what you might expect. As an illustration, the words in parentheses: “After”, “Akt” and “Objektiv” have very different meanings from their English equivalents. In actuality they mean “rectum,” “nude” and “camera lens” in English. Medical Translation Services have similar false friends, with words like “Visite” actually meaning hospital rounds. In addition, professional medical translators understand that false cognates like “Spring” actually mean to jump, and not the season.
Similar difficulties are found in legal translations, which false cognates popping up frequently. These often include words like “Rathaus,” which means “City Hall,” and not a home for a rodent. Poor German Legal Translation Services are also full of words like “Akt” (see above for meaning) and “absolvieren,” which means to successfully finish a course.
This list of false friends is certainly not exhaustive of the vast number of words that stump amateur translators. A “Drogerei” is like a drugstore, but lacks the drugs. What it does sell are personal hygiene items such as shampoo, hairspray, deodorant, toothpaste and the like. Germans know they must go to the Apotheke to get their prescription medications. In addition, you will need a “Rezept” (prescription) if you go to the pharmacy, but don’t ask the cashier for a “Rezept”, because she will think you are asking for a prescription or a recipe.In the end, this article seeks to simply remind professional translators that there are many pitfalls of translation, and that when translating from German to English or vice versa, one must be highly cognizant of the presence of false cognates. Mistakenly using false cognates always results in gross errors that reflect poorly on the German translator, the German translation and on the organization or person who uses the translation for official purposes.