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I think even a bad translation is better than no translation at all, but for some reason the majority of books don't seem to get translated. Why is that?

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[-] lil_tank@hexbear.net 11 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I can't begin to explain how difficult translating a text actually is. When I was at uni, language majors had two dedicated classes, one for translating from your first language and the other for translating to you first language. Both were the hardest classes to pass. I had bilingual friends there who had shit grades solely because their methodology was lacking. In the philosophy department, teachers were constantly discussing who translated what text and how it might impact our understanding. Teachers would compare different translations and ask us to always tell who the translator was in our research exercises.

Language is a fucking mess, translation is horrible, that's why we only do it when it's a potential best-seller

this post was submitted on 05 Dec 2025
29 points (96.8% liked)

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