Of the sixteen foreign-language editions of The Go-Giver now in process, six so far are complete and available, i.e., the Dutch, French, Korean, Japanese, Spanish and Thai editions.
We wondered how these various editions would translate the term “go-giver.” After all, not only does the word itself not exist, strictly speaking (at least not in any dictionary we’ve checked), but it is also derived as a play on another word (“go-getter”) which is awfully idiomatic, and probably doesn’t really have a direct translation in most other languages.
So here, just for fun (and according to our best research), is how the title translates in the language we have so far:
English
The Go-Giver
A little story about a powerful business idea
Dutch
The Go-Giver (De Go-Giver)
An inspiring story about the value of giving
French
Give Without Measure (Donner sans Compter)
An inspiring story that brings new relevance to the proverb “Give and you shall receive”
Korean
Rachel’s Coffee (레이첼의 커피)
(not sure about the subtitle yet)
Japanese
You Give (あなたがあたえる)
Pinder fulfill the dream of millionaires in five secrets
Spanish
Give to Receive (Dar para recibir)
The secret to success in business
Thai
We have no idea. . .*
Anyone out there read Thai?
[*Edit: a reader responded, and now we know: the Thai title is Give More – Get More.]
The title of The Go-Giver, Thai translation, is, “Give more – get more.”
Dear Suthiphong — Thanks! I’ll edit the post to reflect that! — JDM
Good to hear that The Go-Giver becomes an international success! Thank you for writing this fantastic book!
When will the German edition be out? I read The Go-Giver in English a while ago, and I absolutely love the book. But a lot of my friends don’t read English, and I would like them to be able to read it in their own German language…
Hi Hugo,
Thank you for your very kind words.
We haven’t heard from our publisher yet regarding a German Language translation but will look forward to announcing it when we do.
Meanwhile, please tell your friends that the Go-Giver team wishes them “Guten tag” and Happy Holidays,
Bob
Dear Hugo —
While we have no German edition on the horizon as yet, there is of course the Dutch edition, and there is a French edition on its way as well. There is also a Danish edition in the works.
In fact, here is the complete list of translations in the works at this point:
Portuguese, Japanese (now avail.), Korean (now avail.), French, Chinese (modern), Chinese (traditional), Turkish, Spanish (now avail.), Polish, Vietnamese, Thai (now avail.), Hebrew, Indonesian, Afrikaans, Dutch (now avail.), Danish.
— John
Hi John,
where can I find the Portuguese version?
I have looked for it but didn’t find.
Thank you
I’m sorry. I just realized I misread your previous message. It seems that the portuguese version it is in the works still.
Do you have any idea of when it would be available?
Thanks and sorry by the confusion.
Hi Camila,
Here’s the link to the Portuguese version: https://www.amazon.com.br/O-Conselheiro-Bob-Burg/dp/8575425595/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1446849558&sr=1-4
Thank you!
The Afrikaans translation of The Go-Giver would be “Gee met ‘n oop hand” (Give with an open hand). This principle is very strong in South African society and we have a national spirit of giving which is called “Ubunthu” which strives to promote giving and cooperation between the variety of groups that make up our diverse nation (also labelled the Rainbow Nation by one of our Nobel laureats, Archbishop Desmond Tutu).
Willem — This is great to hear. The moment we hear that edition is out, we’ll post news of it here!
Dear John and Bob,
I read your book in English, and I can really say that I found a great new way to see my work and the efforts that my relatives are doing to me. I print to myself the “Go-Giver award” but I will love to give that to certain people around me… but they can read English. Is there a way to have it in Spanish?
Thank for write the book. Thanks for share your light with us.
Great question, Juan Carlos, and a great idea! This is not on the docks at the moment, but I expect that as the Award catches on and spreads, we’ll eventually bring it out in other languages as well — Spanish very likely being the first.