One thing I recently thought of doing here: I thought of looking for an English text which I would have paid a professional French or German translator to translate into French or German while also writing my own French/German translation of it; I would then post both foreign language versions on a comment on here for all to see and compare – whatever they might have had to say about the version written by the native speaker, they would also have been able to get an idea of my own translation talents and see what I mean when I say that I am a “good translator” (even though I don’t translate from English into a foreign language – much).
But then I remembered the comment I posted which featured the Greenpeace ad with the angry kid (on 2nd July 2013) I wrote my own French translation of it while knowing full well that there already existed a French version of this video – compare the two – and that, interestingly enough, it’s the same child who says the French version.
He’s only about 12 but he speaks both languages very fluently – I certainly didn’t speak French at that level when I was 12. Of course, there is one striking fact: according to Wikipedia, Greenpeace was founded in Vancouver, Canada. So correct me if I’m wrong, but this kid must be Canadian, huh? I mean, that would explain a lot, for both English and French are recognised as official languages in Canada.
To me personally, I can’t help thinking: which version of this video was written first i.e. the English one or the French one, and when it was translated from one to the other, which was the “from” language and which one was the “to” one?
Meanwhile, it is true that I have translated some of my own business marketing into French and German, but I seldom find a good reason to hire a native French or German speaker to translate into French or German anything I have to say (something in English that I personally wrote) and see how THEY would render it in their native tongue. There’s a nagging thought here: just because I can make myself understood in (proper) French and German doesn’t mean I never use expressions in those languages which are, say, peculiar or outdated, while being none the wiser…