[wheels]

There's a huge gap between trying to do translation as a non-professional and the amount of effort required for a professional. I dated a German / English -> Hebrew translator for a while and despite me being better in both German and English, she could translate much more effortlessly from German to English than I could. It's a skill that's separate from raw language ability. She'd just read a line and then immediately start pounding out the translation.

[Vivtek]

Agreed. I translate one and a quarter million words a year. After a while it truly becomes second nature.