How I found a tricky German term- traveling as option Search by traveling




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find tricky German term

Problems may be solved in many ways. It all depends on the means you have at hand and on time, of course.

Spontaneous trips

The trip to Graz was a spontaneous one. It had to be either an Austrian town or a pretty easily reachable German city for time reasons. The holidays are here, but you must keep in mind, the clients may also call on you in the present week, so you shouldn’t tire yourself out too much and maintain a clear and bright mind to deal with occurring tasks that may come suddenly. Being moderate in everything I do is quite a challenge.

How I found the tricky German term

Before making the decision I participated in a session made for translators working with German at the Goethe Institute in Zagreb. This is a move I have been dwelling on for some time: whether to participate or not. Seeing only advantage for personal growth, I opted to attend. We all met to discuss translation issues upon translating our individually picked literary text from German into Croatian. The group previously invited a well known Croatian translator who has been translating German and Austrian authors for more than 50 years- so, an institution in itself, really. And it’s precisely at this meeting that a German term plagued us- “Wendetreppe” it was. A tricky term. We relentlessly sought for possible solutions, but weren’t quite satisfied with the offered ones. What to do in such cases?
Either settle on the best at that moment or…, well you might venture to a spot that could serve you with the solution.
Little did I know that Graz would be it. Graz was only meant to serve to experience a city I have been to more than once, but like any other Croat I suppose, only to roam the large shopping centres like Seiesberg, near the city.

The tricky German term standing before me

Seeing the the tricky German term before me and the solution coming to my mind , walking on it (it’s a spiral staircase) and learning about its revolutionary significance (in Graz there is a “Doppelwendetreppe”, double spiral staircase) for the Austrian court in Graz lead me even more to a firm belief that one ought to travel as much as one can to see and experience the world of the nation whose language the translator is seeking to understand and transfer into its mother tongue. More about it on this link: http://tralangia.com/visiting-countries/

Mariann Makrai

About Mariann Makrai

Living in Croatia, born in Szekesfehervar, Hungary. As if that wasn't enough, added two more languages. Now juggling with four balls of fire, minding not to be burned too much.

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