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Old 13th May 2005, 00:18
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Ruy Horta Ruy Horta is offline
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Re: Wish all German books were translated to English (was: Jagdgeschwader 5 - Volume 3)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Six Nifty .50s
I sense a stalemate here. I would say that both Ruy and Jukka have a case.

But the supplier does not have an obligation to do that, and may not have the funds or time necessary to translate research into foreign languages.
As Eric explained, many books that appear in our sphere of interest are basically a labor of love and as such we cannot fault an author for choosing a language that we have not personally mastered.

I keep using the same example(s).

Besides others I have a strong interest in French, Russian and Japanese subjects. The first I have to work at (70-90% comprehension), but the latter two are beyond my ability. I am at the mercy of translations (in German for instance, from the former DDR), or simply watching pictures etc.

Do I blame Japanese or Russian writers and publishers, no, I just lament little and hope for better times...

BTW, even with the Japanese books it is a challenge to "crack" captions. If I manage to understand the basics - unit, etc - I am already in the seventh heaven!

Lets face it, if the market were so strong US and UK publishers would be standing in line with foreign authors to sign up a contract, or am I mistaken with the way the market works?
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