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| TIP! Need to practice German translation for exam purposes? Chose an article originally written in German (choose a German author, e.g. Joschka Fischer, Green politician and former German Foreign Minister) and print out the German and English versions of the text. Do your own translation of the original German article and then compare with the English version they provide. You’ll find a host of things to consider when you make the comparison, and it forces you to consider why you translated each sentence as you did. This was a great help to me in my exam preparation. |
2. Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org)Project Gutenberg was designed to encourage the creation and free distribution of copyright free ebooks.It’s a non-commercial site, relying on volunteer contributions and donations. The Project Gutenberg online book catalogue offers a library of 30,000 books, free for you to download, 590 of which are in German. This is a marvellous resource for anyone looking for free German translations, with many classic novels available in both German and English versions (Advanced Search, Language - choose German). Download an ebook to your computer - or your Palm organizer or smartphone. I’ve taken passages from Alice in Wonderland and A Christmas Carol downloaded from Project Gutenberg to use to demonstrate the value of using a free online translator for producing instant German translations. |
3. German Websites of Large German Companies / International Companies
Where a company publishes its website in several languages, this can produce a mine of information about how a company likes to translate set terms. Although the German and English texts are less likely to be one-to-one translations, they are likely to serve as a rich source of terminology specific to that company and its field of business activities.Have a look at the German websites of a few well-known German companies active in a range of business areas. Here, in no particular order:
| Siemens (siemens.com) Mercedes Benz (Daimler.com) BMW (bmwgroup.com) Volkswagen (volkswagen.de) Thyssen-Krupp (thyssenkrupp.com) Bosch (bosch.com) Miele (miele.de, mieleusa.com) Deutsche Bank (db.com) Deutsche Telekom (deutschetelekom.de) Linde (linde.com) Lufthansa (Lufthansa.com) Liebherr (liebherr.com) Adidas (adidas.com) Beiersdorf (beiersdorf.com) Quelle (quelle.de) RWE (rwe.com) and TUI Reisen (tui.com) |
4. Official German Websites“Governments on the WWW”: This is your ultimate source of links to the websites of official political institutions at both Federal and State levels in each of the following German-speaking countries.Many of these websites (e.g. official website of the Federal Chancellor, (Bundeskanzler) or the official website of the President (Bundespräsident) publish information in both German and English: Here are the links to Governments on the WWW for: Liechtenstein has its own official home page which you’ll find here. Chambers of Commerce, Embassies and Ministries – most of these are a mine of information when you need to translate official German terms, and especially when you are looking for translations of German entities with no direct equivalent in the English-speaking world. The German education system is a real case in point. It is always good to be able to refer back to an official source for any translated German terms which could prove contentious. |
5. Wikipedia
Many entries are posted in both German and English, and although not one-to-one translations, they do provide a good source of related vocabulary on the topic you are researching. (See my "Wiki-Tips" on how to use Wikipedia for specific queries about German translation.)
See also:
What makes a "Good" translation?
Getting the most out of the free translation resources on the web
Online German newspapers
German magazines
German TV and radio
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