Competition in this pair is now closed, and the winning entry has been announced. Discussion and feedback about the competition in this language pair may now be provided by visiting the "Discussion & feedback" page for this pair. Entries may also be individually discussed by clicking the "Discuss" link next to any listed entry. Source text in French  Des livres, rien que des livres. Alignés sur les étagères. Empilés au sol.Entassés sur le moindre coin de table. Toutes les pièces en regorgent. A peine la place de circuler.C'est ici, dans cet appartement bourgeois du 16e arrondissement de Paris, que Pierre-Emmanuel Dauzat a installé son bureau. Ici qu'il travaille face à son ordinateur, douze à quatorze heures par jour, à lire, traduire et préfacer les livres des autres et à écrire les siens. Le soir, il n'a qu'à traverser la rue pour rentrer chez lui. "Ma vie sociale est réduite au minimum", reconnaît-il.
A bientôt 50 ans, Pierre-Emmanuel Dauzat est l'un des traducteurs français les plus demandés.[...]
Polyglotte ? Pierre-Emmanuel Dauzat balaie le qualificatif d'un revers de main. Il ne parle aucune des langues qu'il traduit. "Même en anglais, je suis incapable de dire deux mots, assure-t-il. A part le latin et le grec, je n'ai jamais appris aucune langue étrangère. La plupart de mes contrats, je les ai signés sans connaître le moins du monde la langue que j'allais traduire. Il suffit qu'un éditeur me convainque de l'intérêt d'un livre pour que j'accepte de relever le défi. Vous ne pouvez pas imaginer dans quel état de tension je suis quand je me mets à travailler sur un texte auquel je ne comprends rien..."[...]
Sa méthode est toujours la même : allergique aux grammaires, il préfère s'"immerger" dans des dictionnaires et des livres en édition bilingue. Généralement, il ne lit pas à l'avance l'ouvrage qu'il doit traduire : "C'est indispensable pour garder une forme de spontanéité dans la traduction." Seul principe, il commence par traduire la fin : "J'ai une telle angoisse de la mort que je préfère me débarrasser de la fin dès le début", explique-t-il. [...] Ce "besoin vital de (s')exiler dans la langue des autres", il dit l'éprouver depuis toujours.  | The winning entry has been announced in this pair.There were 24 entries submitted in this pair during the submission phase, 7 of which were selected by peers to advance to the finals round. The winning entry was determined based on finals round voting by peers.
Competition in this pair is now closed. |
Books. Nothing but books. Lining the shelves, stacked on the floor. Piles of books on any free bit of table. Every room is bursting with books. There’s barely enough room to move around. It’s here, in this bourgeois apartment in Paris’ 16th arrondissement that Pierre-Emmanuel Dauzat has his office. This is where he sits, in front of his computer, working twelve to fourteen hours a day, reading, translating and writing forewords for other people’s books, as well as writing his own. In the evening, all he has to do is cross the street to get home. “My social life is pretty much non-existent,” he admits.
Pierre-Emmanuel Dauzat, nearly 50, is one of the most sought-after French translators around […]
A polyglot? Dauzat casts that label aside. He doesn’t speak any of the languages from which he translates. “I’m not even able to string two words together in English,” he confesses. “Latin and Greek are the only two languages I’ve ever learnt. I sign the majority of my contracts without knowing the faintest thing about the language I’m going to translate. All that an editor needs to do is convince me of a book’s appeal and I’ll accept the challenge. You can’t believe the amount of stress I’m in when I start working on a text that I don’t understand in the slightest…” […]
Dauzat always relies on the same method. Averse to grammar, he prefers immersing himself – literally – in dictionaries and bilingual books. He doesn’t usually read the book that he has to translate beforehand, explaining that “it’s essential to keep a certain amount of spontaneity in the translation.” His only rule is that he starts by translating the ending. “I’m so scared of death that I prefer getting the end over and done with right at the beginning,” he explains. […] He admits to always having had this “need to retreat into – and even find refuge in – the language of others.” | Entry #35606 — Discuss  0 — Variant: Britishbritish
 Winner | Voting points | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
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148 | 32 x4 | 9 x2 | 2 x1 |
| Rating type | Overall | Quality | Accuracy |
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| Entry | 3.88 | 3.82 (17 ratings) | 3.94 (16 ratings) |
- 8 users entered 12 "like" tags
- 11 users agreed with "likes" (16 total agrees)
- 2 users disagreed with "likes" (2 total disagrees)
In the evening, all he has to do is cross the street to get home | Flows well | Younes TAZI No agrees/disagrees | |
+2 1 My social life is pretty much non-existent, | Good term selection | Josephine Cassar | |
+3 Dauzat casts that label aside. | Flows well | catpfam | |
without knowing the faintest thing | Flows well | Corrina Pearce No agrees/disagrees | |
| Good term selection
Better choice compared to "tension" in my opinion | Nat Dee | |
Averse to grammar | Flows well
Good term selection | OUAHDI Mohamed No agrees/disagrees | |
- 8 users entered 13 "dislike" tags
- 19 users agreed with "dislikes" (37 total agrees)
- 2 users disagreed with "dislikes" (2 total disagrees)
+5 1 languages | Omission
Foreign languages. He still speaks French | Thomas T. Frost | |
| Mistranslations
An 'éditeur' of a book is usually called a publisher | Thomas T. Frost | |
+1 the amount of stress I’m in | Syntax
the level of stress I’m under | OUAHDI Mohamed | |
| Syntax
I like stress but "stress I'm under" or "I feel" is more natural | Margaret Morrison | |
| Mistranslations
The source doesn't say anything about 'literally'. Unnecessary | Thomas T. Frost | |
+1 – and even find refuge in – | Other
added in translation, not in original | Rosemary Soroos | |
|
Books, books, and more books. Neatly arranged upon the shelves. Carefully stacked on the floor. Packed tightly into every inch of table space. Every room teeming with their presence. Hardly any space to move around. Pierre-Emmanuel Dauzat has set up his office here, within the confines of this upscale apartment in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. It is where he devotes twelve to fourteen hours a day to his computer, immersed in reading, translating, and penning prefaces for other people's books as well as writing his own. Come evening, he needs only to cross the street to reach his home. “My social life is kept to a bare minimum,” he concedes.
As he nears 50 years of age, Pierre-Emmanuel Dauzat is among the most highly sought-after French translators.
A polyglot? Pierre-Emmanuel Dauzat brushes away the notion with a dismissive gesture. He doesn't speak any of the languages he translates. “Even in English, I am utterly unable to say two words,” he insists. “Except for Latin and Greek, I have never learnt any foreign language. I signed most of my contracts without having the faintest idea of the language I was going to translate. All it takes is for a publisher to convince me of a book's worth, and I’ll readily accept the challenge. You can't fathom the sheer tension I feel when I start working on a text that I don't understand in the slightest...” [...]
His method remains unchanged: averse to learning grammar, he favours “immersing” himself in dictionaries and books with bilingual editions. As a rule, he doesn't read the book he has to translate beforehand: “It's crucial to keep a form of spontaneity in the translation.” His sole principle is to begin by translating the ending: "I have such a fear of death that I'd rather get rid of the ending right from the very start," he explains. [...] He says for as long as he can remember he’s experienced this "vital need to (take refuge in) the language of others." | Entry #36242 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specifiednone
Finalist | Voting points | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
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45 | 7 x4 | 6 x2 | 5 x1 |
| Rating type | Overall | Quality | Accuracy |
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| Entry | 3.47 | 3.50 (18 ratings) | 3.44 (16 ratings) |
- 4 users entered 8 "like" tags
- 9 users agreed with "likes" (18 total agrees)
+2 Books, books, and more books | Good term selection | Nat Dee | |
into | Good term selection
I particularly like the way you have used 'upon', 'on' and 'into' here. | Sarah Bessioud No agrees/disagrees | |
| Good term selection
Eliminates the repetition of "writing" | Nat Dee | |
+2 most highly sought-after | Good term selection | Nat Dee | |
+4 brushes away the notion with a dismissive gesture | Flows well | Corrina Pearce | |
+3 All it takes is for a publisher to convince me of a book's worth, and I’ll readily accept the challenge | Flows well | Nat Dee | |
- 5 users entered 17 "dislike" tags
- 12 users agreed with "dislikes" (42 total agrees)
- 3 users disagreed with "dislikes" (3 total disagrees)
upon | Spelling
on rather than upon | Procol No agrees/disagrees | |
+6 teeming with their presence | Other
"Teeming" doesn't really collocate with "presence" so it sounds quite clunky | Leighton Jacobs | |
+2 1 space | Other
It would have been better to avoid the repetition of 'space' here. | Sarah Bessioud | |
+1 1 upscale | Other
I'm not sure this fully reflects 'bourgeois' | Leighton Jacobs | |
+3 devotes twelve to fourteen hours a day to his computer | Mistranslations
'Devote to his computer' is not the same as the source 'working at his computer' | Leighton Jacobs | |
reach his home. | Spelling
reach his home sounds starchy | Procol No agrees/disagrees | |
| Mistranslations
This implies that he is purposefully not socialising, which is not what is implied in the source. | Leighton Jacobs | |
| Mistranslations
Literal translation, "stress" or similar would be more idiomatic. | Leighton Jacobs | |
| Mistranslations
Not necessarily accurate to the source, he may just not like 'looking up' grammar. | Leighton Jacobs | |
I have such a fear of death | Spelling
Too literal | Procol No agrees/disagrees | |
| Mistranslations
'Get rid of' implies he's throwing it away rather than completing a translation. | Leighton Jacobs | |
-1 +5 2 says for as long as he can remember | Syntax
He's been feeling this need for as long as he can remember, not saying it for as long as he can remember. | Sarah Bessioud | |
| Punctuation
This shouldn't be in brackets. Remove the words in brackets and the sentence no longer makes sense. | Sarah Bessioud | |
|
Books, nothing but books: lined up on the shelves, piled up on the floor, stacked up on smallest available surface. Every room is overflowing with them. There’s barely space to move. It is here, in this bourgeois-style apartment in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, that Pierre-Emmanuel Dauzat has his office. Here that he sits in front of his computer, for twelve to fourteen hours a day, reading, translating and writing forewords for other people’s books and composing his own. In the evening, he has only to cross the road to get home. ‘My social life is reduced to a minimum’, he admits.
At nearly fifty years old, Pierre-Emmanuel Dauzat is one of the most sought-after French translators…[…]
A polyglot? Pierre-Emmanuel dismisses the epithet with a sweep of his hand. He speaks none of the languages he translates. ‘Even in English, I’m incapable of stringing two words together’, he insists. ‘With the exception of Latin and Greek, I’ve never learnt a foreign language. I’ve signed most of my contracts without having the remotest knowledge of the language I was going to translate. A publisher only has to convince me of the importance of a book for me to agree to take up the challenge. You can’t image the level of stress I’m under when I start working on a text of which I understand nothing…’ […]
His method never varies: allergic to grammar books, he prefers to ‘immerse’ himself in dictionaries and bilingual editions. He doesn’t usually read the book before starting to translate it: ‘It’s vital to keep a sense of spontaneity in the translation.’ His only principle is that he starts by translating the ending: ‘I have such an anxiety about death that I prefer to get the ending out of the way at the beginning’, he explains. [...] He claims that he has always felt this ‘vital need to exile [himself] in the language of others’. | Entry #35869 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Britishbritish
Finalist | Voting points | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
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44 | 4 x4 | 8 x2 | 12 x1 |
| Rating type | Overall | Quality | Accuracy |
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| Entry | 3.39 | 3.40 (15 ratings) | 3.38 (13 ratings) |
- 5 users entered 9 "like" tags
- 6 users agreed with "likes" (9 total agrees)
+2 1 forewords | Good term selection | Nat Dee | |
+2 Pierre-Emmanuel dismisses the epithet with a sweep of his hand | Good term selection | Nat Dee | |
+3 1 I’m incapable of stringing two words together | Good term selection | Nat Dee | |
b | Flows well
Very readable, especially out loud. | Charles Ferguson No agrees/disagrees | |
+1 get the ending out of the way | Flows well | Procol | |
- 7 users entered 14 "dislike" tags
- 14 users agreed with "dislikes" (34 total agrees)
- 2 users disagreed with "dislikes" (2 total disagrees)
| Other
Repeated use of 'up' in these three sentences could have been avoided. | Thomas T. Frost | |
+4 n smallest available surface | Other
Something like "in every available space, however small" or "wherever they can be crammed in" would have sounded more natural. | Siobhan Hayes | |
smallest | Other
every would be better here | Jackie Eales No agrees/disagrees | |
| Omission
No mention of a table... | Nat Dee | |
+4 My social life is reduced to a minimum | Other
Too literal - "I have barely any social life" would sound better, for example. | Siobhan Hayes | |
[ | Punctuation
Space missing before the bracket | Thomas T. Frost No agrees/disagrees | |
| Other
This word choice doesn't match the register of the source text | Leighton Jacobs | |
| Syntax
Feels like a subjunctive is needed here. "His only principle is to start by..." perhaps | Elizabeth Slaney | |
+5 1 an | Grammar errors
Grammar error: the determiner "an" is incorrect here. | Leighton Jacobs | |
| Mistranslations
"Claims" is not the same as the source "says". | Leighton Jacobs | |
| Other
Could perhaps have avoided the repetition of "vital" | Nat Dee | |
|
Books, books and more books. Arranged on shelves. Piled up on the floor. Taking over every last corner of the table. Each room overflowing with books. Almost impossible to get around. Here, in this bourgeois apartment in Paris’s 16th arrondissement, Pierre-Emmanuel Dauzat has set up his office. Here, he works at his computer, spending twelve to fourteen hours a day reading, translating, composing his own works as well as prefaces for other writers’ books. In the evening, he only has to cross the road, and he’s home. “My social life is virtually non-existent,” he acknowledges.
At nearly fifty years of age, Pierre-Emmanuel Dauzat is one of the most in-demand French translators.
Polyglot? Pierre-Emmanuel Dauzat dismisses the term. He doesn’t speak any of the languages he translates from. “I can’t even string a sentence together in English,” he assures me. “Apart from Latin and Greek, I’ve never learned a single foreign language. I’ve signed most of my contracts without knowing anything at all about the language I had to translate. All it takes is for a publisher to convince me that a book is worth translating, and I’ll take up the gauntlet. You cannot imagine how nervous I am when I start working on a text, and I don’t understand a word of it.”
He always goes about it the same way: he is allergic to grammars, preferring to ‘immerse himself’ in bilingual books and dictionaries. He generally doesn’t read works before translating them: “I can’t read ahead if the translation is to have any spontaneity.” His one golden rule is to start by translating the end: “I’m so afraid of death that I prefer to get the end over and done with from the beginning,” he explains. He says that he has always felt this ‘urgent need to hide himself away in the words of others’. | Entry #35185 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Britishbritish
Finalist | Voting points | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
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35 | 2 x4 | 8 x2 | 11 x1 |
| Rating type | Overall | Quality | Accuracy |
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| Entry | 3.34 | 3.41 (17 ratings) | 3.27 (15 ratings) |
- 7 users entered 7 "like" tags
- 7 users agreed with "likes" (9 total agrees)
- 1 user disagreed with "likes" (1 total disagree)
+5 Books, books and more books | Good term selection | Nat Dee | |
+1 “My social life is virtually non-existent | Good term selection
Flows well too | Josephine Cassar | |
most in-demand | Flows well
Perhaps the best way to translate "les plus demandés" | Procol No agrees/disagrees | |
+1 I can’t even string a sentence together in English | Good term selection | Corrina Pearce | |
+1 I can’t read ahead if the translation is to have any spontaneity | Flows well | Kaplana1 | |
- 10 users entered 14 "dislike" tags
- 10 users agreed with "dislikes" (16 total agrees)
- 3 users disagreed with "dislikes" (4 total disagrees)
| Syntax
Every would read more naturally here | catpfam | |
-2 +1 3 Almost impossible to get around. | Spelling
Could have been closer to the metaphor of Spitting out/spilling out books | Susan McEwan | |
-1 +1 reading, translating, composing his own works as well as prefaces for other writers’ books | Mistranslations
He reads, translates and writes prefaces for other people's books. He does not read and translate his own. | Sarah Bessioud | |
+3 2 take up the gauntlet | Other
This term seems a little out of place here | Sheila Faber | |
” | Punctuation
Missing brackets with ellipsis | Thomas T. Frost No agrees/disagrees | |
“ | Punctuation
A text should normally stick to one type of quotes, single or double. Not both | Thomas T. Frost No agrees/disagrees | |
. | Punctuation
Missing brackets with ellipsis | Thomas T. Frost No agrees/disagrees | |
| Punctuation
Switches between double and single quotations | Angelica Burton | |
hide himself away | Spelling
maybe no need for the "himself". | Procol No agrees/disagrees | |
| Mistranslations
The source refers to 'language of others', not simply 'words of others' | Thomas T. Frost | |
|
Books, nothing but books. Lined up on the shelves. Stacked on the floor. Piled up on every corner of the table. Every room crammed with them, barely space to move. Here, in this bourgeois apartment in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, is where Pierre-Emmanuel Dauzat has set up his office. Here is where he spends twelve to fourteen hours a day working in front of his computer, reading, translating and prefacing other people’s books, as well as writing his own. In the evening, he only has to cross the street to get home. “My social life is almost non-existent,” he admits.
At almost 50 years old, Pierre-Emmanuel Dauzat is one of the most sought-after French translators. [...]
Is he a polyglot? Pierre-Emmauel Dauzat dismisses the term out of hand. He does not speak any of the languages he translates. “Even in English, I cannot string two words together,” he insists. “Apart from Latin and Greek, I have never learned any foreign language. Most of my contracts I have signed without knowing anything of the language I am going to translate. I only need a publisher to convince me that a book is worthwhile, and I will agree to take on the challenge. You cannot imagine the tension when I start working on a text I do not understand at all...” [...]
His method is always the same: allergic to grammar books, he prefers to immerse himself in dictionaries and bilingual books. Generally, he does not read the work he needs to translate in advance, as “it is essential to keep a sense of spontaneity in the translation.” His only rule is that he begins by translating the end. “I have such anxiety about death that I prefer to get the ending out of the way at the start,” he explains. [...] This “fundamental urge to retreat into the language of others” is something he says he has felt his entire life. | Entry #34936 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specifiednone
Finalist | Voting points | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
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28 | 2 x4 | 8 x2 | 4 x1 |
| Rating type | Overall | Quality | Accuracy |
|---|
| Entry | 3.38 | 3.38 (16 ratings) | 3.38 (13 ratings) |
- 3 users entered 3 "like" tags
- 3 users agreed with "likes" (3 total agrees)
almost non-existent | Flows well | Kaplana1 No agrees/disagrees | |
+3 I cannot string two words together, | Good term selection | Nat Dee | |
- 9 users entered 12 "dislike" tags
- 9 users agreed with "dislikes" (21 total agrees)
- 1 user disagreed with "dislikes" (1 total disagree)
on | Spelling
in the corner instead of on the corner | Ayayi Ajavon No agrees/disagrees | |
| Mistranslations
Sounds overly literal, as 'le moindre coin' does not refer to where the edges meet but figuratively means 'all over the place' | Thomas T. Frost | |
| Other
I would have preserved the original's deliberate staccato rhythm instead of spelling it out as a complete sentence. | Thomas T. Frost | |
-1 +1 2 Pierre-Emmauel Dauzat | Other
I find the repetition of the man's full name cumbersome here, so shortly after the line above. | Sarah Bessioud | |
+4 1 Most of my contracts I have signed | Syntax
Clunky order and incorrect tense, should be "I signed" | Leighton Jacobs | |
+3 1 tension | Mistranslations
Literal translation, "stress" or similar would be more idiomatic. | Leighton Jacobs | |
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