H E German Techincal Translations

read moreEver wondered why you have to brush the dust off a piece of furniture? Not being able to blow it away? And were you puzzled that golf balls are knobbly rather than smooth? Surely a smoother ball should be more streamlined, and fly further? Or when boarding a jumbo jet, asked yourself why do the wings have to be so long, almost to the point of being floppy? Wouldn't square shaped wings, attached along the length of the fuselage, be more sturdy? The man who supplied us with the answer to these questions, the last one, being at one time a state secret, was Ludwig Prandtl, the greatest of all German Aeronautical Scientists.

read moreWe remember reading somewhere that there is a demonstrable pattern in English: two separate words become a hyphenated compound, then eventually the hyphen disappears. In other words, most if not all hyphenated versions are ‘on their way out', the only question being how long it will take. Google Ngram Viewer also shows the hyphenated version in the lead, although the rapid decline of the hyphen is obvious from the chart here. See also the pertinent discussion at English Language & Usage Stack Exchange here.

read moreHere we are collecting, defining and explaining some of the many German words now used in English. Some are surprising. Languages often import words when they need or want an exact word which they lack, or they just like a foreign word better. The English verb abseil is taken from the German compound verb abseilen. Ab means from, away, or downwards in German compound words, the German noun Seil means simply rope, and the suffix -en creates the infinitive form of a verb. In Alpinism this denotes travel downwards along a rope, meaning one can rapidly descend a vertical face with a controlled slide along a rope, usually with a safety rope as backup.

read moreThis forward-looking 2009 article in the Leicester Mercury on home working and teleworking featured HET Translations, already working from home for fifteen years at that point and providing German and other technical translation services worldwide.

read moreMore than 10 years later, there is plenty of evidence that the issue is as topical as ever! Click the image on the right to access the article. The link provided in the PDF file to the Universitas magazine containing the interesting and entertaining Gratisschnitzel article is out of date. The document is now available from here. The Gratisschnitzel article is on page 4.

read moreThe UK's Institute of Translation and Interpreting have published a detailed article on our translation of The Madhouse Effect into German, and the reasons for it, in the November-December 2018 issue of their award-winning publication ITI Bulletin. The joint translation of text and cartoons by Matthias Httmann and Herbert Eppel began as an essentially self-financing and self-published project motivated by concern about the spread of "climate scepticism", the clouding of scientific fact by parties who do not want to see issues of climate change recognised or dealt with.

read moreWe'd like to present here some highlights from our extensive portfolio of translations from German to English, and English to German, including both technical and non-technical publications. We have covered a wide range of topics and services for very satisfied clients over the last two decades, and we are always ready for a fresh challenge, so when you need help by all means get in touch us and give us the word. Comprehensive research report on the current market, usage and technology for battery storage systems in Germany.

read moreThe ITI Bulletin of September-October 2007 published this in-depth interview with HET Director Herbert Eppel, relating his accidental entry into the field of German technical translation. Herbert also discusses his affinity for the Dj Vu translation software, and offers his accumulated advice to others considering this meticulous and rewarding career.