Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

look forward to – Synonym gesucht (Brief)

English translation:

eagerly await

Added to glossary by Ramey Rieger (X)
Nov 4, 2015 14:46
8 yrs ago
2 viewers *
German term

look forward to – Synonym gesucht (Brief)

Non-PRO German to English Bus/Financial General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters Letter
Ich habe hier einen Brief unseres Institutsleiters, der an den Chef eines befreundeten Forschungsinstituts gehen soll.

Zum Abschluss des Briefes habe ich jetzt folgende Sätze:

Ich freue mich auf den Besuch im Dezember und hoffe, meine Austauschstudenten schlagen sich gut, damit ich mir keine Sorgen machen muss.
Ich sehe dem Besuch bei Ihnen freudig entgegen und wünsche Ihnen viel Erfolg bei der Arbeit und alles Gute.

Wie kann ich in den zwei aufeinanderfolgenden Sätzen die Formulierung „I am looking forward to visiting you“ vermeiden?


Hat da jemand eine Idee?
Ich denke da jetzt schon ewig darüber nach, aber mir fällt nichts Gescheites ein.

(Ich weiß, dass der deutsche Text nicht so besonders formuliert ist.

Darum hatte ich in meinem ersten Entwurf auch einiges umformuliert. Das hat meinem Chef aber nicht gefallen und ich wurde gebeten, den Brief noch mal zu bearbeiten und mich diesmal enger an seine Vorlage zu halten.
Auf den Hinweis, dass inhaltlich mit dem "ich freue mich auf den Besuch" doppelt gemoppelt ist, wurde mir gesagt, dass ich da im englischen einfach ein Synonym verwenden solle, dann klingt es auch nicht mehr blöd ...

So und damit komme ich gerade nicht so richtig weiter. )

Vielen Dank im Voraus!
Change log

Nov 4, 2015 15:50: Steffen Walter changed "Field" from "Other" to "Bus/Financial" , "Field (specific)" from "Business/Commerce (general)" to "General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters"

Nov 4, 2015 16:19: writeaway changed "Language pair" from "German to English" to "English"

Nov 4, 2015 16:20: writeaway changed "Language pair" from "English" to "German to English"

Nov 18, 2015 07:44: Ramey Rieger (X) Created KOG entry

Discussion

Björn Vrooman Nov 5, 2015:
@Lukasz and Ramey Whether flowery or not - the real issue here is, IMO, that the German sounds like he is going to get out of the car and jump at you while screaming your name.

Hence, I agree with Phil that the source was not written by someone with a tendency to win literature prizes. I do understand the need for translating both sentence bits here, but it doesn't mean that you can't call the source "sloppy writing" - by any means, I'd agree with that.

Considering the above, I find myself wondering whether "eagerly awaiting" would be a tad too much exuberant optimism.
Lissie123 (asker) Nov 5, 2015:
Thanks to everybody!

Eure Antworten und die Diskussion waren für mich äußerst hilfreich. Ich werde mit den Vorschlägen noch ein wenig herumspielen und hoffe, eine zufriedenstellende Lösung zu finden.

Noch mal vielen Dank!!
Ramey Rieger (X) Nov 4, 2015:
@Lukasz It's all a matter of knowing how. Not everyone prefers the neo-modernist clipped speech, and MANY people would like to transfer warmth and kindness from one language to the other. Obviously, the author would like to communicate friendliness and perhaps gratitude as well. It doesn't necessarily HAVE to be stiff and formal or Shakespearean. We still have plenty of words to choose from......happy translating!
You can tell your boss that a flowery style in English is possible, it's just not normally done these days. If you translate too literally out of German, French or Polish (etc. etc.), you're going to sound like someone from the 19th century or someone with a quirky personality who just writes like that. Modern native writing is very concise, translation into that style from a foreign language often feels like writing a summary instead. There is next to zero tolerance for redundant phrasing, unlike continental languages where polites tends to require more words, more sentences.
Ramey Rieger (X) Nov 4, 2015:
Hi Lissie If your boss insists on both expressions being included:
I'm looking forward to seeing you in December. I hope my exchange students are doing well and I don't need to worry about them. Eagerly awaiting our time together, I wish you success at work and send the best regards.
Ed Ashley Nov 4, 2015:
Hi, Lissie. There are a few options but I particularly like Katarina's suggestion as it avoids having to use a similar construction twice (I... I...).

Your boss sounds pretty inflexible: translating from German into English often involves a little Umformulierung!
Claudia Hoffmann Nov 4, 2015:
Hallo Lissie,
ich schlage Ihnen folgendes vor:
I am looking forward to your visit in December..........
und für den 2. Satz würde ich den folgenden Satz nehmen:
I am delighted about your visit and .......
Was meinen Sie?

Proposed translations

+7
48 mins
Selected

eagerly await

I eagerly await your visit...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2015-11-04 17:02:20 GMT)
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If your boss insists on both expressions being included:
I'm looking forward to seeing you in December. I hope my exchange students are doing well and I don't need to worry about them. Eagerly awaiting our time together, I wish you success at work and send the best regards.
Peer comment(s):

agree writeaway
56 mins
Thanks Writeaway, just can't wait....
neutral franglish : Actually, the writer will be visiting, not the other way around, so awaiting doesn't work that well.
1 hr
Thanks Franglish, shall we start a club?// Sure it does, I just have the subject wrong - eagerly awaiting our time together...
agree BrigitteHilgner : I like your suggestion among the discussion entries! There should be books: "How to waffle in a foreign language". ;-)
1 hr
Shall we write one?
agree Jack Doughty
1 hr
Thanks Jack, looking forward...
agree Edgar Bettridge
2 hrs
Mercí Edgar.
agree Michele Fauble
3 hrs
Much obliged Michele
agree Anne Schulz : I'll surely buy the book on "How to waffle in a foreign language" :-)
3 hrs
I can only offer German to English, but it's a start!
agree Horst Huber (X) : Possibly put "eagerly await" first, and "look forward" second? That might seem more relaxed and less anxious?
3 days 2 hrs
To me, the writer is simply excited,sure that could work.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
+5
43 mins

In anticipation of...

... my visit, I wish you...
Peer comment(s):

agree Ed Ashley : I think this is a very neat and elegant solution :-)
8 mins
Thank you, Ed! :)
agree Steffen Walter
20 mins
Thanks, Steffen!
neutral philgoddard : This is a tautology, because it means the same as "looking forward to". Just because the asker is looking for a synonym doesn't mean that is the best solution.
49 mins
The asker was looking for a synonym!// I apologize, didn't mean to be rude, it's just that your response didn't make sense to me, in view of the asker's specific question...
agree franglish
1 hr
Thanks, franglish...
agree Melanie Meyer
2 hrs
Thanks, Melanie
agree Carla-F
1 day 21 hrs
Thanks, Carla-F!
neutral Horst Huber (X) : I would wonder whether "in anticipation" looks like "this better work out, or ..."
3 days 2 hrs
Her boss didn't want it to sound " doppelt gemoppelt", hence... I wouldn't say "eagerly await" either...
Something went wrong...
1 hr

leave it out

They're saying the same thing twice.
"Ich freue mich auf den Besuch" and "Ich sehe dem Besuch freudig entgegen" are synonyms. You should not reproduce imperfections in the source text - just leave out the second one and put a note for the customer explaining what you've done.
Something went wrong...
1 hr

excited about my visit

My suggestion (in US English)

"I am looking forward to visiting you in December and hope my students are holding their own so I don’t have to worry about them.

I am excited about my upcoming visit and wish you much success with your work..."
Something went wrong...
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