Trade Union anti-Nokia banner:

In Weblawg.de beschreibt und verlinkt Stephan Deyerler den zukünftigen Ausbildungsberuf Legal Assistant – dort ist mehr zu lesen.

Stephan Deyerler, in Weblawg.de, reports fairly concrete plans of the Rechtsanwaltskammer Frankfurt am Main (the chamber of lawyers or bar association) for a new qualification and training programme for paralegals. The rather Denglish term Legal Assistant seems to be a reference to the large amount of legal English in their training. The big law firms find that the traditionally trained paralegals have learned a lot about German legal fees and compulsory execution that these firms don’t need, but nothing about commerce, economics and English, which they do need. The new qualification would not replace the current one, but it would be an alternative.

A lot of information in German here – scroll down to Neuer Ausbildungsberuf “Legal Assistant”,

Vorgesehen ist eine dreijährige Berufsausbildung in Kanzlei und Berufsschule. Während der gesamten 3 Jahre steht Englisch auf dem Ausbildungsplan, zudem ist ein halbjähriges Praktikum im Ausland vorgesehen. Von den Ausbildungsinhalten sind neben der Büropraxis und ­organisation (u. a. auch Bibliotheksverwaltung, Recherchearbeit, Dokumentenmanagement), dem HGB sowie dem Immobilien- und Grundbuchrecht (auch Due-Diligence-Abläufe), Steuerrecht (Lesen von Bilanzen), das Marken- und Urheberrecht sowie das Bankrecht (Going Public, Delisting) vorgesehen. Am Ende der Ausbildung soll der ,,Legal Assistant” in der Lage sein, die Kolleginnen und Kollegen u. a. bei der praktischen Durchführung einer M & A/P. E. Transaktion verwaltungsmäßig zu begleiten.

and here is a beta-version syllabus: it doesn’t mention English, but I would be interested to know how they intend to integrate it.

I just discovered (via www.flefo.org) Martin Cross’s weblog Translating Patents.

The context in which it was cited was to do with his latest entry, on producing translations that are as bad as the original text (GIGO). The following remarks were being disputed:

When translating patents for information or litigation support, our job of is like that of a court interpreter — we reproduce what was said without omission or embellishment and strive to make ourselves invisible. Our clients would not be well served if we added matter to fill in the gaps in an incomplete disclosure, or if we took on the role of editor so that the translated claims seemed better supported by the specification than they were in the original. And though it might be tempting to unify disparate terminology, by doing so, we could be denying our client a useful argument against the patent or — if our client is on the other side — producing a false sense of security that risks being shattered by a more accurate translation when used in court.

Martin Cross translates patents from the Japanese. He links to previous appearances and publications.

This reminds me that Steve Vitek of the old Flefo also does Japanese translations. Here’s an article by him in the Translation Journal.

Outside the entrance to the underground, Rathaus. Which party would you like?

In the background, the building occupied by the Jubiläumsshop where the NPD is apparently encamped was the first department store in Bavaria.

The Fürther Nachrichten has polled some locals for their opinions on the use of English words in German. The ages of those interviewed were 53, 61, 48, 15, 41 and 13. I don’t need to say which of them were pro and which contra. The only statement that surprised me was that of the 13-year-old:

Englische oder eingedeutschte Begriffe sollten nur von Jugendlichen verwendet werden. Erwachsene sollten doch lieber die deutschen Begriffe verwenden, sonst klingt die Sprache so gekünstelt. Wenn ich älter bin, werde ich sicher wieder die deutschen und nicht die englischen Begriffe benutzen. Wichtig ist nur, dass man für das englische Wort auch das deutsche Gegenstück kennt. Unter Jugendlichen ist es einfach angesagter, wenn man die englischen Wörter verwendet.

On the subject of polls, after the announcement of the Unwort des Jahres 2007 yesterday (Herdprämie), I saw a TV reporter asking people in the street what their personal Unwort des Jahres was, and one replied immediately, ‘Knut’.

LATER NOTE: Gabi Zöttl at Über-Setzer-Logbuch takes up the topic of anglicisms in German, pointing out that using German terms improves understanding. And Markus Trapp at Text & Blog shows a videoclip of the rather Englishly named Wise Guys singing (in German) that they want their language back.

Can anyone in the USA or Canada lend this dictionary urgently to Teresa?

Here’s her comment under my earlier entry.

If you can, contact her via the comment link.

I am looking for a copy of this Bucksch dictionary ENG–>GER for a job I am currently working on. Would pay for all shipping (US or Canada only) plus a fee. Returned next week (22nd).
ATA-member in good standing; reliable!

Thanks for any pointers (I talked to Kater-Verlag, where I usually get my dicos; they can’t deliver this week.)