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Apr 25, 2019 19:53
5 yrs ago
German term

hinbekommen

German to English Other General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters interview about migration
Glauben Sie nicht dass wir die Integration der Flüchtlinge hinbekommen?

Would you agree that I can avoid translating hinbekommen by saying;

"Do you not think the refugees can be integrated (into society)?"
Proposed translations (English)
3 +8 manage, succeed etc.
4 +1 manage to integrate
4 pull off
4 successfully carry out
Change log

Apr 26, 2019 10:30: Steffen Walter changed "Level" from "Non-PRO" to "PRO"

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

PRO (3): Bernhard Sulzer, Björn Vrooman, Steffen Walter

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Discussion

Björn Vrooman Apr 26, 2019:
Tariq I agree with Kirsten up to a point. Whether AM's statement is famous or infamous is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose--the last time I saw someone actually do something was when that happened: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2211615.stm

In any case, I don't know whether this is a UK/US difference, but most suggestions sound a bit stiff (or even stuffy) to me.

I think this has something to do with the start of your sentence.

I'd haven chosen one of the following:

Are you saying that we...
So what you're saying is that...
In other words, we...

It's a hunch, mind you, but the interviewer might be doing this for one of the reasons listed here: https://www.mediafirst.co.uk/our-thinking/that-so-what-you-a...

Also, integrated into society is too general--I guess this is where I agree with both Jennifer and Kirsten.

It's not a question of whether integration can ever be successful but rather whether Germany has enough administrative capacity to deal with the situation in the long run.

Best
Kirsten Bodart Apr 25, 2019:
schaffen As Jennifer said, it's pretty much synonymous with 'schaffen'. Though it might be worth noting that, when there were 1 million refugees on the way to Germany, Merkel famously said 'Wir schaffen das.' Which I think would be rendered best as 'We will/(or even) can do this.' I think 'wir' in this context is terribly important, because it's a joint project. A little bit like David Cameron whose slogan was 'We're all in it together.'

Proposed translations

+8
3 mins
Selected

manage, succeed etc.

I think your translation sounds absolutely fine - in my view, "hinbekommen" in this context is largely synonymous with "schaffen" (in the sense of "manage"), which can be elegantly rendered with "can", although this does slightly erase the notion of "wir" in the original.

https://www.openthesaurus.de/synonyme/hinbekommen

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 mins (2019-04-25 19:58:43 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Possibly closer to the German, and still idiomatic, would be "Don't you think that we'll manage to integrate refugees?" This maintains the notion of "wir", while also highlighting that this is referring to a specific instance, rather than whether refugees "can" be integrated more broadly.
Note from asker:
you're absolutely right Jennifer, keeping the 'we' does make much more sense, many thanks!
Peer comment(s):
agree Kirsten Bodart : more 'succeed' IMO. But both are great.
3 mins
Thank you, and thanks for your comment above regarding "Wir schaffen das" - that's exactly what came to mind for me, too!
agree David Hollywood : didn't see yours before posting mine and fine
3 hrs
Thank you! (no problem - it's such a race sometimes!)
agree AllegroTrans
5 hrs
Thank you!
agree Ramey Rieger (X)
12 hrs
agree writeaway
16 hrs
agree Melanie Meyer
17 hrs
agree Steffen Walter : with the sentence you suggested in your added note
17 hrs
agree Michele Fauble
19 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "thank you"
2 hrs

pull off

It's not enough to explain the meaning. You need to get the register right as well.
My suggestion:
"Don't you think we can pull off the integration of the refugees?
Peer comment(s):
disagree AllegroTrans : too casual
2 hrs
I couldn't disagree more. Ausser mir hat bisher keiner die Uebersetzung vernuenftig hinbekommen
agree Björn Vrooman : Don't agree with your sentence, but disagreement is unjustified. Cf. Duden. If it were a higher register, the person would've used "bewältigen."/Agree with writeaway, too, but that's not about register, IMO. Give them time to look at the 1,700 COCA refs.
9 hrs
You know things are hopeless when even Duden cannot convince people that a term is umgangssprachlich
neutral writeaway : wrong register. don't agree with the agree /how can integration be "pulled off". They pulled off getting into Germany, that yes......
14 hrs
There seem to be some weird misconceptions about how the German term is used
neutral Michele Fauble : Yes, need to get the register right. ‘Pull off’ doesn’t do that.
17 hrs
Yeah right. I am bowing out at this point. No time to reinvent the wheel
Something went wrong...
+1
3 hrs

manage to integrate

Glauben Sie nicht dass wir die Integration der Flüchtlinge hinbekommen?

Do you not think we can manage to integrate the refugees?
Peer comment(s):
agree AllegroTrans
1 hr
thanks AT but Jennifer is first ... anyway this is the meaning
Something went wrong...
7 hrs

successfully carry out

Glauben Sie nicht, dass wir die Integration der Flüchtlinge hinbekommen?

You seem doubtful that we'll be able to/we can successfully carry out the integration of (the) refugees.
or: ... that we can successfully carry out the task of integrating the refugees.


This deals with the issue of integration, a complex task that can only be accomplished/successfully carried out when important conditions are met.

"hinbekommen" IMO can go in the direction of getting a task done when putting lots of efforts in it.

Although "hinbekommen" can conjure up "can we pull it off/get it done/carry it off it etc in a more casual tone. Sounds something one politician would say to another. More context would be helpful to be sure if this is indeed supposed to be in a more serious tone.
But given the subject, I believe in a more serious register.


See:
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/05/10-ways-countries-can...

Also see:
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/newcomers-north-labo...
"High-income states known for their generous welfare systems and hospitality toward protection seekers—have turned to the sizable task of integrating the new arrivals into the labor market."

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