My Gothic Translating Skill

I had four years of German classes in high school, but I really learned to read and translate it from my beloved Grosz'mama while I was caring for her in her old age. Then I was able to translate her diaries and write a family history in her honour.

Later, a cousin provided me with a huge photocopied volume of my Grosz'mama's grandmother's journals. I've translated those too! It was a two-year project!

The people in my hometown and area largely come from the same Mennonite background as I do. Our ancestors immigrated to Canada from their Colonies in the Ukaraine back in the late 1800s, but the ability to read that old German hand-writing is fast dying out. Being a caregiver for my aged parents for 23.5 years meant I've come to know a lot of seniors in our Saskatchewan Valley, yet I do not know a single one that is willing to provide translation as a service to others on a commercial basis.

How well I recall when Grosz-mama lost her vision and her memory, and I desperately wanted to know what was in some old German letters in her things that had come from another country. She was a great journal-keeper; it was she who always told me to write things down! So, in those final years I sat beside her with a magnifying glass, and asked her to draw for me - very large - how she made her German S, or h, or vowels with an umlaut. Using that information I was able to translate her journals even though she couldn't see to read them to me.

She left me no money, her journals went to other relatives, but I feel as if she gave me a great gift in this language skill, and in the godly example she set for me.

I need to add here that I've become VERY busy with other writing projects and goals. I don't really have time for translation work any more! Sorry!.

[ Gothic German // Examples // My Experience Translating]