English translation uses a noun rather than the verb

Question

Ella es profesora de alemán. -Pues, ________ profesora de alemán, pero pronuncia fatal. -She is a German teacher. -Well, she may be a German teacher but her pronunciation is awful.   Hola, does pronuncia fatal mean (she) pronounces awfully? I like literal translations because they help me learn how things are expressed in Spanish.  Muchas gracias, Shirley.

Answer

Hola Shirley S.
Yes, “pronuncia fatal” literally means “she pronounces awfully” or “she has terrible pronunciation”.
In Spanish, "fatal" is an adverb in this context, meaning “very badly” or “terribly”. It emphasizes that her pronunciation is particularly poor.
Although the English translation uses the noun “her pronunciation” to sound more natural, in Spanish, it’s common to use the verb “pronunciar” directly with an adverb like “fatal”.
For example:

Pronuncia fatal en inglés. (She pronounces English terribly.)
Escribe fatal. (He writes terribly.)

I hope this explanation has been useful to you.
Saludos
Silvia