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Teen Blog

Foreign Language Translations

12/12/2007 2:29 PM
by David

In the past year there were 4,982 books published in English that were originally written in a foreign language. Sound like a lot? That is only 3% of the total books published in the US (the US publishes nearly 300,000 books per year).

Why do you think US publishers don’t publish foreign language translations here in the United States? Have you ever read a book that has been translated or one in a foreign language?

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3 comments

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I've read several books that have been translated into English. Books in the Juvenile category seem to be the most common. I think all of Cornelia Funke's books are translated from German and Goscinny's "Nicholas" series are translated from French. However, I have also read translations of adult novels from popular Scandanavian authors. In college, I read several novels, poems and stories that were translated from Chinese, Greek, and Russian. Academia seems fairly comfortable with translations, but there is certainly less pressure to make money and the art of good translating is admired. I suspect that mainstream publishers have a pretty good idea of the formula that works for them with American readers and they're reluctant to mess with it.

I would LOVE to see more translations! Being able to read books that are currently popular in other countries would provide a tremendous insight into those cultures.

12/18/2007 10:21 AM
by anonymous
ummm wat is this aoki i mean im gonna tell daddy and mommy on u lolz

12/31/2007 3:27 PM
by anonymous
I think we should have more other books translated into many other language. I was born a U.S Citizen, but I'm a micronesian girl, I don't really know how to speak my language fluently so I try to, but it comes out wrong. I would like to visit my home island, but afraid they might not understand me.

1/14/2008 11:58 AM
by anonymous
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