luke wrote:The translation I'm coming up with for "Iversen" is, "I am the Rosetta Stone".
Please bury that stone again - unless you refer to the original object before it got screaming yellow
Le Baron wrote:It seems to me now I've never actually deliberately read a novel by using any translation. The reason, when I think about it, is that translation re-writes the structure so that even though I recognise events and characters, I don't really recognise word or sentence translations.
I am also wary of reading texts in translation, but it seems to me that literary works are harder hit than non fiction because the translators try to write something that is as artsy as the originals. The texts I use for my bilingual printouts are always non-fictional, and they are short because I use them for intensive study (or afterwards: for repetition). OK, you miss a lot of linguistic finesse by sticking to non-fiction, like for instance readymade formulations for casual small talk. On the other hand articles about popular science or tourism don't have to be simplistic in any way, they are just not as chatty. Anyway, once you are at a level where you can read a language comfortably it would be silly to read a mere translation instead.