Feb 19, 2019 | Blog, Translation
The Use of German Terms of Endearment It doesn’t matter if they are partners, friends, children or pets: If you want to show verbal affection, you can use terms of endearment. And German is no exception. So, what are German terms of endearment? Are they very different from English? Most Common German Terms of Endearment The most used German terms of endearment seem to be the most boring ones, like Schatz ‘treasure’ with its variations Schatzi or Schätzchen. That one is so common that people make fun of it. Furthermore, some German people don’t use terms of endearment at all, which probably fits in with the German stereotype. Why invent a name if you already have one? Other common German terms of endearment are Maus/Mäuschen ‘mouse’, Hase/Häschen ‘rabbit’, Süße/-r ‘sweetie’, Liebste/-r ‘the most loved one’, Engelchen ‘little angel, and Bär/Bärchen ‘bear’. So, maybe German people do like their endearing names! Especially animal names, although this might not be only a German trait, since, for instance, Polish also uses animal names for their terms of endearment. As you can tell, you can call your loved one pretty much any animal name. Besides, you can make the name even cuter by adding the suffix –chen. This way you don’t call your loved one ‘bear’ but ‘little bear’, which shows even more affection. The suffix –i /y works in the same way: Hasi, Mausi, Bärli, and with first names Isy, Benni, Matthi. Less Used, But More Creative German Terms of Endearment There are German terms of endearment that are a little bit more creative, such as Schnucki, Schnuffi, Knuddel, Knuffi, Schmusi. They...
Feb 12, 2019 | Blog, Translation
Wrap Your Head around German and English Idioms Do you think idioms are a pain in the neck? Or do you have a soft spot for them? Well, let’s face it, if you learn a new language they will be part of your learning experience, come rain or come shine. Native speakers, however, use them most of the time without even realising it. So no need to beat around the bush, let’s get down to business and take a closer look at German and English idioms! How Idioms Developed Idioms are fixed phrases or expressions with a figurative meaning. Most of the time, the literal meaning does not express the figurative one at all, as in to kick the bucket. And it would sound weird to say, for instance, to kick the pail. Therefore, the words are set in stone. Sometimes, however, it is funny to play with idioms and deliberately change them according to the context you are in. Nevertheless, many idioms used to be literal, but became disconnected from their original meanings. Consequently, they only exist in their figurative meaning nowadays. For some idioms you can trace this development, for example, to let the cat out of the bag. Others, in contrast, are very ambiguous and it is not clear what their origin is, for instance, to pull one’s leg. Read further for the origins of these idioms. Some idioms have a transparent meaning. In other words, even as a non-native speaker you can figure it out, because they are logical, like the early bird catches the worm. Maybe it is a concept that you also have...
Feb 7, 2019 | Blog, Translation
Charming German Compound Words In case you haven’t heard, the German language is full of huge words! The most popular example used by Germans (who also make fun of these long, weird words) is Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän. It translates into ‘Danube steamship company captain’. But they don’t always have to be that long and complicated. You will never hear the above word in a daily conversation, for example. However, there are smoother and easier ways to use German compound words. How To Built German Compound Words Firstly, German compound words are made of two or more words you would like to combine and can be any word type from nouns to prepositions. The combination of words or ‘parts’ can also result in any kind of word type: nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. The last part of the compound word determines which type of word it will be. This is how Germans know that they are referring to grandparents (Großeltern ‘grand- or big parents’) and not to something that is as big as parents. One little tip for German language learners that struggle with articles: the gender of German compound words is also determined by the last part of the word. If you know that Kind ‘child’ is grammatically neutral, you know that words like Kleinkind, Spielkind, Enkelkind are neutral, too, even if you don’t know what they mean. How They Convey Meaning Another good thing to know about German compound words is how the different parts influence each other. On the one hand, the first part describes the second part in more detail and specifies it. That is why Zeitungsindustrie means ‘newspaper...
Jan 28, 2019 | Blog, Translation, Translation News
What Exactly is DeepL? The DeepL Translator has taken off like a rocket and is going strong. It is the new miracle in AI (artificial intelligence) translation because it translates as fast as other translation machines like Google Translate and Microsoft Bing Translator. However, its translations sound more natural. So, what is DeepL? DeepL is a German company founded by the developers of Linguee. DeepL’s focus is to develop more AI products for the language industry. The company released its DeepL Translator in late August 2017 featuring English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, and Dutch language translation. Russian and Portuguese were added in December 2018 due to user demand. They continue to add more languages and next they will release Chinese and Japanese. How Does the DeepL Translator Work? Since DeepL uses linguee.com as a resource, it already has a huge collection of curated translation data at its disposal. It uses neural machine translation. This is one of the many approaches for machine translation, predicting the sequence of words in a sentence. DeepL, however, does not want to talk about the specific model they use. Other companies have made theirs open source. Nevertheless, Jaroslaw Kutylowski, DeepL Chief Technology Officer, says that they keep on top of the current science of machine translation and combine their findings with their own ideas and experiences having developed DeepL. The “Men vs. Machine” Debate The release of this unexpectedly accurate machine translator by DeepL has enflamed the debate about human and machine translation once again. While some translators fear for their jobs, others stay calm. They are rather interested in what is technologically...
Jan 25, 2019 | Translation
It Means What?? Weird translations of restaurant menus Have you ever skimmed through a multilingual restaurant menu that was translated into you native tongue? Quite a few thinks can happen: it makes you laugh, it makes you shake your head in disbelieve or it leaves you utterly puzzled. Everyone needs to eat. Also or maybe above all in countries in which you do not understand the native languages. That is why translations of restaurant menus are so important. Google is not your best friend in many cases either. It once wanted to make me believe, that one Turkish dish means “infertile”. Why It Is so Important So, depending on the country and language, food around the globe will have different names and translations. The translation of restaurant menus can be one of the most important marketing strategies for a restaurant. If the exotic names of dishes are not translated, customers will not dare to try them, and thus, they will stick with the same old traditional food. There is no room for innovation at a restaurant where customers always order the same dishes. On the other hand, some restaurants translate their menus using automatic translation tools. As a result, you will find hilariously inaccurate translations. These translation engines often provide literal translations that make customers laugh and, above all, make restaurants look foolish. For example, take bonito a la plancha, a Spanish grilled tuna dish, translated as “beauty to the iron”. Not quite capturing the meaning there! Funny Examples of Translations of Restaurant Menus We thought it might be funny (and educational) to find some more examples to illustrate...
May 9, 2018 | Blog, Translation
New Technology in Translation Technology and with it the future as it was imagined in the 1980s is upon us more than ever in 2018. Two of the best examples are the Nike Air Mag and the Hoverboard, seen in the movie “Back to the Future”. Also seen in sci-fi movies, instant translation is more and more a reality. Here are some new technological innovations that can change our way of understanding a foreign language. Logbar – ili The “ili” is a little device from the Japanese-based company Logbar. Their technology only as big as your thumb, it is an instant translator that allows you to have a conversation with somebody that speaks another language. You talk through the device and it translates instantly to the person you are speaking to. The product contains its own OS (operating system) that allows the instant translation. In addition, it works without any internet connection and has its own dictionary. The device is mostly for travellers and only supports English, Chinese, and Japanese for now. Unsurprisingly, the device has already received an award from the CES (The International Consumer Electronics Show) in 2016 and was on pre-sale at a price of $199. It officially opened to the market in January 2018 at a price of $249. Logbar website To pre-order or order the product Watch: The story behind ili Waverly Labs – Pilot Translating Earpiece The Pilot Translating Earpieces are small earplugs that give you instant translation directly in your ears. The device promises you clear instant translation by using the latest in speech recognition technology to understand other languages. The first...
