Translation

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Translation

• Written Proficiency

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AIMS

• The translation assignments are primarily
  designed to contribute to your language learning.
  To master a foreign language we need to reach a
  certain level of spoken and written command in
  the areas of
• Intelligibility recognisability of words and
  sentence patterns (e.g. spelling and
  pronunciation)
• Accuracy conformity of words and grammar
  conventions and norms (i.e. the right word in
  the correct form in the proper place)
• Appropriateness suitability of language to
  situation and context (i.e. communicative
  competence)
• Fluency smoothness of continuity (e.g.
  reference, linking, consistency)

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Why?

• Practising how to transfer meaning from one
  language to another is one way of achieving a
  greater understanding of a language and how it
  works.

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After practising translation

• you should be more aware of the differences
  between Swedish and English,
• you should have developed your skills in solving
  translation problems by using dictionaries and
  grammar books,
• you should have a larger English vocabulary and a
  better ability to apply grammatical rules,
• you should be able to recognise the relation
  between text types and style.

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Mediation

• Translation is a mediating activity. In mediating
  activities the language user is not concerned
  with expressing his/her own ideas, but is simply
  acting as an intermediary between interlocutors
  (samtalspartners) who are unable to understand
  each other directly.
• Mediation could be both oral and written.

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Definitions of translation

• The term translation is the neutral term used
  for all tasks where the meaning of expressions
  in one language (the source language) is turned
  into the meaning of another (the target
  language), whether the medium is spoken or
  written (David Crystal, The Cambridge
  Encyclopedia of Language, 1987)

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Levels of translation (based on Crystal)

• Word-for-word Each word in the SL is translated
  by a word in the TL
• Its raining cats and dogs
• Det är regnande katter och hundar
• Literal translation The linguistic structure of
  the source text is followed, but is normalised
  according to the rules of the target language
• Its raining cats and dogs
• Det regnar katter och hundar
• Free translation The linguistic structure of the
  SL is ignored and an equivalent is found based on
  the meaning it conveys
• Its raining cats and dogs
• Det öser ner

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The Problem of Translation

• Although the aim of translation is to provide
  semantic equivalence, everyone agrees that full
  equivalence is hard to achieve in any
  translation. The reason for this is lack of
  exact synonymity of meaning. Even words that
  appear to be synonymous in different languages do
  not really carry the same meaning because social
  and cultural contexts evoke different
  associations and connotations. Therefore there is
  no such thing as the ideal translation, only more
  or less sucessful ones, depending on the purpose
  for which it was made, and the needs of the
  people for whom it was made.
• Your task is to produce texts which are as close
  to the original version as possible by looking
  for the best (i.e. intelligible, accurate,
  appropriate and fluent), not the easiest,
  solution.

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Preparation

• Read through the whole text
• Make a quick translation, leaving out words and
  expressions that you are not immediately sure of.
• Translate the text sentence by sentence, not word
  by word, looking up words and consulting the
  grammar book when necessary.
• Take the dog for a walk
• Read through your translation without looking at
  the SL text. Is the text fluent and idiomatic?
• Compare your version with the SL text. Is
  everything there?
• Check spelling, word order, pronouns , adjective
  and adverbs, verb forms and subject-verb
  agreement.
• Good luck!!