> As the professor who taught me Greek philosophy used to say, a good
> translator must not only know the language s/he is translating out of,
> but also the language s/he is translating into.
Exactly, which is why professional translators, who need to make a living at it, almost invariably translate into their native languages, and pay a lot of attention to becoming good writers in those languages. In the academic community, faculty members who make their bread by teaching have more "creative freedom" to turn out rather weird renderings.
Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org __________________________________ A sympathetic Scot summed it all up very neatly in the remark, 'You should make a point of trying every experience once, excepting incest and folk-dancing.' -- Sir Arnold Bax