You can disagree with him that it's the best language or that he didn't prove his case, but I don't see how he's offering a strawman.
I'm also not sure that translating without context is a meaningful. What language operates without context? Without context, what would the pronoun 'that' in your post point to? What does the phrase 'back to' mean without the associated physical metaphor? How would this be different from translating to and from German without context?
I'm also not sure that translating without context is a meaningful. What language operates without context? Without context, what would the pronoun 'that' in your post point to? What does the phrase 'back to' mean without the associated physical metaphor? How would this be different from translating to and from German without context?