"The tradition is rather young in Germany."

Translation: In Deutschland ist die Tradition noch eher jung.

[Soglio]

Where did the "noch" come from, and why is it essential?

[backtoschool]

The correct answer would be:

"Die Tradition ist ziemlich jung in Deutschland."

(Actually it should be: "Diese...)

Now I see the English sentence is actually not good either.
It should be "This tradition"
Because if someone speaks about a tradition/custom he means a particular one!

Well, it has been marked wrong, but I don't care. I know that I am right, so what.

To your question:

This is a different construction of the sentence which is also correct.

They shift the emphasis to the adverbial part of the sentence "rather young"
that's fine.

"noch eher" is actually the same as "ziemlich" = rather
whereas the "noch" gives the "eher" an extra touch of uncertainty and they
belong together in this case.

Hope that helps a bit.

[Soglio]

Thank you. I hadn't thought to look for "noch eher" as a phrase, but, thus prompted, found it at http://www.linguee.de/deutsch-englisch/uebersetzung/noch+eher.html
Interesting.

As for "the" vs. "this" - In English, I believe "the tradition" is just fine, because you're referring to a particular tradition - you're not even considering any others. It's just like referring to "the dog" - yes, there are other dogs in the world, but only one in the situation you're considering.

[backtoschool]

It's all about context, but you are right "the tradition" is fine in most cases.

Thanks, the link is awesome. Very good explanation!

[BlairScots]

Thanks for clearing this up. "Eher" is a new one on me. :)

[rjjacob]

In English, traditions are new more than they are young.

[backtoschool]

Thanks for that, now I know why I had such an awkward feeling with this English sentence.