Literalness of English interpretations

Question

Hello Lawless Spanish,I JUST found your excellent web site. 
I've been using various means to learn Spanish over the last 1.5 years, 
but your site seems to be the best resource so far. I'm still at A1 however.Here's a 
thought that I'd be interested to know your opinion on. Often while 
reading an English interpretation of a Spanish phrase or sentence, I 
think I would like to have the more literal translation rather than the 
Spanish being re-worded in order to be a grammatical English sentence. 
Because I don't care about English grammar or want my English reinforced
 when I'm trying to understand how a Spanish speaker constructs their 
thoughts linguistically. Do you know what I mean? Take the example from the first exercise I happened to land on,  Corro para estar en forma. It
 would be helpful to see a more literal translation, then I get a better
 idea of the words and structure a Spanish speaker uses. In the example,
 "estar en forma" is re-interpreted as "to keep fit." That is quite a 
departure from the literal. I think an English speaker is quite capable 
of recognizing a more literal translation "to be in form" because it is 
identical to the common English phrase "to be in shape." So while I know
 authors are trying to be helpful with English re-interpretations, I 
often feel cheated out of knowing a more literal construction and 
wording, and in the process authors may even be making less-accurate 
interpretations (such as "to keep fit" instead of the better "to be in shape."). 
What do you think?

Answer

I've been studying Spanish for about 7 years, and I have found that, in many cases, it is not possible to translate Spanish literally, word for word. Instead, I have found several language partners who help me understand what they mean, rather than trying to get a translation of each word. I, personally, would be confused by "to be in form" (and I am a native English speaker.)
Also, part of the problem is that many people in Spain have learned British English, and I think in Britain they say, "to keep fit," while in America, I hear, "to stay in shape" more often.
For me, learning the Spanish culture and the way Spanish speakers think has helped me learn the language far better than a translator possibly could.