Translator of the Month: Juliane Büchner

Published on June 2, 2016

inside cafébabel

cafébabel: Tell us something about yourself.

Juliane: Hello, I'm Juliane :) I'm 21 and I hope to graduate in the near future with a degree in Literary Studies and English Philology, in Berlin. When I'm not studying, I sing in a choir.

cafébabel: How are you involved in cafébabel?

Juliane: I'm completing a translation internship. Many of the current translations on the German site are my work, from English or Italian.

cafébabel: You live in Germany. How do you find it?

Juliane: It's good! Particularly as a student in Berlin.

cafébabel: What is your favourite saying at the moment?

Juliane: In times of extreme homesickness: "I don't really want to be away from here, but I absolutely want to be someplace else."

cafébabel: Can you name three countries you'd rather live in than Germany?

Juliane: 1) Italy. It's wonderfully warm there, the ocean is not far away and of course, how can you forget pizza, pasta and ice cream? I also think that the language is wonderful. I would love to devote a year to studying in Italy, in order to become fluent in Italian.

2) Scotland: I've only been there once before – on a school trip – but the scenery is beautiful, the people are nice and there are so many castles. One of them even looks like Hogwarts!

3) The Scandinavian  countries: I can't stand the cold but I would love to see the Northern Lights – wrapped up warm with a mug of hot Glühwein. If it were somehow possible to store all of the surplus sunlight from the many midnight suns and save it for polar nights, life in the Scandinavian countries would be quite pleasant.

cafébabel: If you could have dual citizenship, which country would you choose?

I have no idea. Perhaps European citizenship?

cafébabel: What cultural object can currently be found on your bedside table?

I don't know if this counts as a cultural object, but I have an eBook-reader. I read most of my university texts on it and have most likely saved half a forest in the process. I recently read Persuasion by Jane Austen on it too, though that was by choice. 

cafébabel: Where can we find you on a Friday night?

Most likely with friends or my cat (who is named "Doctor Who"). As long as I don't have a party to go to, I prefer to go out of Wednesdays... when the karaoke bars aren't overrun with stag parties...

cafébabel: Brits must soon vote in the upcoming EU membership referendum. What do you think: Brexit or Bremain?

Definitely not Brexit. I don't believe that would help anyone. And dear Brits: if you are no longer part of the EU, your Noble Peace Prize will no longer be valid, sorry.

cafébabel: Is it true that German men can't flirt?

I have no idea – my one can ;)

cafébabel: Right, now a tricky question, which Matthieu absolutely had to include in our questionnaire – Would you rather know a lot about a few things or a little about a lot of things?

That's difficult. If I were on Günther Jauch's 'Wer wird Millionär?' (Who wants to be a millionare?) I would rather know a little about a lot, but in my final exams, I would much rather known a lot about a little. In general, it's much better to find a balance between the two. I hope that Matthieu isn't disappointed with that answer...

cafébabel: Imagine you won an Oscar. Who would you thank in your speech?

I would thank my boyfriend Alex, who supported me through this internship with his desk, his word play brainstorming sessions and his cheese omelettes. I would also thank the Traccani Dictionary, it knows everything that leo.org doesn't (and also doesn't distract me with any forums).

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Are you interested in a remote translation internship with cafébabel? Then write to us at [email protected]!

Translated from Übersetzerin des Monats: Juliane Büchner