I've been talking to my cousins wife who is German. We are arranging to take her 16 month old son, and my Godson to the local zoo.
I translated this into german and so: The zoo opens at 10 clock. The drive takes 40 minutes. Let me know when you want me to arrive so that we get everything ready. became: Der Zoo öffnet um 10 Uhr. Die Autofahrt dauert 40 Minuten. Lassen Sie mich wissen, wann Sie möchten, dass ich ankommen, damit wir alles fertig zu bekommen. This is great, however the response I got back was: "Only comment I'd like to make on your German: When you talk to me, it's perfectly acceptable (since we're sort of family) to use "du"." Also in a later message I referred to my Godson as a 'Little Terror' which was translated as 'kleinen Schrecken'. This is nonsensical to a native German speaker. Are there any tips/methodologies or future ways around these problems? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "General" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/google-translate-general?hl=en.
