One of the “perks” of being the only native English speaker at work is that I am often approached by colleagues to double-check their written English for research abstracts or articles.* Although it sounds like a pain, I actually kind of like it. Since independent research can be, well, independent, I welcome the opportunity to meet and collaborate with colleagues and I enjoy the short break from the intensity of my own work. It doesn’t take up too much time since everyone’s written English is more or less stellar (although I haven’t heard a word of it out come out of their mouths) and just needs some fine tuning. I also get to read about topics that I never would normally – methods for sophisticated DNA testing or the forensic investigation of a dismembered infant corpse found in the laundry, for example.

Translation, though, is something entirely more labor intensive. I have only been asked to do that once (for the director of the Institute) and it took significantly more time, even though it was only a short abstract needing translation from German to English (the other way around would be much harder for me). I felt the synapses in my brain building new connections and I developed a great amount of respect for professional translators. Though I don’t have the time or inclination to translate very often, it was definitely an interesting exercise that probably made me a little smarter.

Language. So interesting, isn’t it? Makes me want to be a linguist in my next life.  Any of you other English-speaking expats out there have similar experiences?

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* There are lots of German-language academic journals, but the real powerhouses in academia are the English-language journals. If you want your work to make an impact and reach as many readers as possible, then it needs to be published in English. This demands a high-level of (written) English from German researchers, causing some to mourn the demise of academic German, as described in this post over at The Europeans.