What I learned from my first-time translation experiences

One thing important I learned from my first experience in translating an academic paper, after all the years, let along the writing style, I still have problems with simple grammatical issues such as:

1. the book described or describes, has/had described
2. the definite article "the": national history(-ies) or the national history(-ies)
3. plural/singular and un/countable nouns: mutual understanding or understandings), 
4. prepositions such as "on," "in," "of, and "for" at times.

For instance, "The book described/describes people's mutual understanding(s) of the national history(-ies).

What does it mean in the context of all the writings done in the reign of Ratology?

Mindless writing, especially in the form, surely has not much bearing in the improvement of writing skills and the understanding of the language usage. 8-X (Ouch.. this b from hell surely is harsh... 8-O lol)


Ratology Reloaded: First time experience- translation: In my much younger years, I used to proud myself for being bilingual- only to realize after I came back to Taiwan that- me ain't so good in...