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German to English - Rates: 0.10 - 0.12 USD per word / 35 - 45 USD per hour English - Rates: 0.10 - 0.12 USD per word / 35 - 45 USD per hour English to German - Rates: 0.10 - 0.12 USD per word / 35 - 45 USD per hour
German to English: If Two Meet General field: Art/Literary Detailed field: Poetry & Literature
Source text - German Iris Hanika, Treffen sich zwei
Der Sommer hatte spät begonnen. Im Mai, im Juni, im Juli war monatelang alles möglich gewesen, mal Spätherbst, mal Vorfrühling, mal gar nichts; nie hatte das Wetter dem Datum entrsprochen. Erst pünktlich mit dem August war es heiß geworden, worüber sich ausnahmsweise niemand beschwerte. In der Hitze lösten sich die Konturen auf, da hatten die Körper keine Grenzen mehr. Haut und Luft bestanden aus demselben Stoff, sie rieselten ineinander, als wären sie nur zwei verschiedene Arten von Sand. Und weil außen und innen nicht mehr voneindander zu trennen waren und alle Körper ineinanderströmtn, waren sie auch alle miteinander verbunden und wohnten gemeinsam in der Welt, die ihnen doch gehörte.
Translation - English Iris Hanika, If Two Meet
Summer had begun late. For months, in May, June, July, everything had been possible, at times late fall, then early spring, then nothing at all; never did the weather correspond to the date. Not until August, right on schedule, did it become hot, which no one complained about for once. In the heat, contours dissolved, bodies had no limits any more. Skin and air were comprised of the same material, they trickled into each other, as if they were but two different kinds of sand. And because outside and inside were no longer to be separated from each and all bodies flowed into each other, they were all bound up with each other and lived together in the world that still belonged to them.
German to English: Secrets of the West General field: Other Detailed field: Tourism & Travel
Source text - German Steffen Synnatschke, Bisti Badlands Wilderness
Das Wort Bisti (eigentlich Bis-ta-hie) entstammt der Sprache der Navajo Indianer und bedeutet so viel wie Schlechtes Land (engl. Badlands). Und tatsächlich, bei erster Betrachtung könnte man wirklich zu diesem Schluss kommen. Die Landschaft is karg, geprägt von unzähligen farbigen Lehmhügeln und fast vegagetationslos. Abgesehen von einigen wenigen Gräsern und Büscheln wächst hier rein gar nichts. Zu keiner mir bekannten Gegend passt der Ausdruck Mondlandschaft besser, als zu den Bisti Badlands. Überall findet man die merkwürdigsten Gebilde aus Stein und Lehn, nirgends mehr Hoodoos als hier. Unwillkürlich fühlt man sich in die Urzeit der Erde zurückversetzt, als noch die Dinosaurier unseren Planeten bevölkerten. Fossilien aller Art sind hier zu sehen, hauptsächlich jedoch versteinertes Holz. Mit etwas Glück, findet man sogar versteinerte Knochen. Beim Wandern durch die Bisti's, wird einem schnell die Einzigartigket dieser Landschaft bewusst. Durch die absolute Stille und Abgeshiedenheit, wird dieser Eindruck auch noch verstärkt. Selbst wenn ein oder zwei Autos am Trailhead stehen, so wird man hier draußen praktisch niemanden treffen. Das Gebiet is einfach zu groß und durch die vielen Hügelketten relativ unübersichtlich. Die ganze Gegend ist reich an Bodenschätzen, vor allem aber an fossilen Brennstoffen. Die Kohle liegt hier oftmals direkt an der Oberfläche. An vielen Stellen ziehen sich teils meterdicke schwarze Schichten durch die farbigen Badlands. Zum Glück steht wenigstens ein Teil dieser Region (etwa 18.000 ha) als Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness unter Schutz, so dass eine kommerzielle Nutzung jetzt ausdrücklich verboten ist. Und da (derzeit) nur wenige Leute den Weg in diese Region finden, muss der Besucherstrom auch nicht über Permits reguliert werden.
Translation - English Steffen Synnatschke, Bisti Badlands Wilderness
The word Bisti (actually Bis-ta-hie) is derived from the language of the Navajo Indians and means "bad land" (English, "badlands"). And actually at first sight one could really come to this conclusion. The landscape is sparse, marked by countless clay hills, and almost bare of vegetation. Apart from a few grasses and small bushes, almost nothing grows here. As far as I know, no region is more appropriately named "moonscape" than here. Everywhere one finds the strangest formations of rock and clay, "hoodoos," which are nowhere more prevalent than here. Unconsciously, one feels placed back in primordial times, when dinosaurs still inhabited our planet. Fossils of all sorts can be found here, primarily however petrified wood. With a bit of luck, one can even find petrified bones. Wandering through the badlands, you quickly become aware of the uniqueness of the landscape. This impression is enhanced by the absolute stillness and solitude. Even when one or two cars are parked at the trail head, one will meet practically no one else out here. The area is simply too vast and relatively difficult to view as a whole due to the many ridges of hills. The whole region is rich in minerals, especially fossil fuels. Coal often lies directly on the surface here. In many places, black layers in part a meter thick stretch through the colorful badlands. Fortunately, at least a part of this region (approximately 44, 500 acres) is protected as the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, so that commercial exploitation is now expressly forbidden. And since (as of now) only a few people find their way into this region, the stream of visitors doesn't have to be regulated by permits.
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Experience
Years of experience: 46. Registered at ProZ.com: Jul 2012.
After receiving my doctorate in German language and literature from the University of California, Berkeley in 1978, I have taught German courses for over 30 years at all levels from Kindergarten to graduate students and adult learners.
Translation has been an integral part of my 35 years as a language teacher. Preparing materials for the classroom, whether it be vocabulary lists, digital flashcards, or translations of pop music from the source language into English, is what I have come to love to do, especially in recent years as a teacher committed to TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling), with its emphasis on teaching comprehensible input, language acquisition as opposed to rote memorization, and the learning of grammatical structures through lexical items found in engaging stories, songs, and poetry.
I have a passion for working a text and for the challenge of getting the language just right. I learned to appreciate the complexity of such an undertaking when I worked with a meticulous copy editor for the Publications of the Modern Language Association of America (PMLA) some years ago. My first major article, "Uncaging Musil's 'Amsel'" (published in January 1983), included my own translation of portions of the autobiographical story, "The Blackbird," by the Austrian writer Robert Musil. This article has been republished in 2014 in "Twentieth Century Literary Criticism: Robert Musil," edited by James Hardin.
For me, one of the most gratifying aspects of being a high school foreign language teacher has been to lead exchange trips to Germany and Québec. Several years ago, I was asked unexpectedly to act as an interpreter for the mayor of Pulheim, Germany, when he addressed our group of American exchange students. There was great satisfaction in helping students from rural Maine understand the mayor's remarks when they understood little of the language and even less of the context of contemporary German politics.
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