Translation resource books for teachers

15 HOW TO USE THIS BOOK HOW TO USE THIS BOOK have already developed techniques of their own will, I hope, find in Translation many useful new approaches to supplement their work. This, after all, is one of the main functions of a resource book. Most of the activities are based on work in pairs or small groups. The purpose of this is to give the students a chance to be heard, to test their ideas against those of others, and to listen and compare. One of the teacher’s main tasks in the group work is to control the language of discussion. Since the students will naturally want to use the mother tongue in discussion, try to ensure that they do not forget the starting-point, which is the text in English. All discussion should refer back to the text. Below are some brief comments on the teacher’s role in using Translation. 1 Finding and presenting material The sets of texts and passages in the book have been carefully laid out in task sheets as examples or, in some cases, so that they can be photocopied for direct use with the students. (Please respect the notes on copyright restrictions.) You should not feel obliged to use all the texts. And, of course, you are most welcome to add material of your own. In the Comments to certain activities, I have indicated where suitable material can be found. For many of the activities, particularly in section 5, the students can be asked to contribute material from other sources. 2 In class An essential feature of all the activities is group discussion. At first, the students may call on you to intervene (or interfere!) at too early a stage. Explain to them that it is more profitable if you reserve your own opinion until later in the discussion. Your role, however, will not be that of a passive spectator. Try circulating from group to group. Some of the weaker students may need help in understanding the English. This is best given indirectly, not by translating for the students but by listening to their translations and pointing out any features of the English that have not come through. With the better students, listen carefully, taking notes. Then, in the second stage of the discussion (when one group meets another), bring together groups which have found different solutions. In the final stage - class discussion - your contribution is vital. After listening to the suggested translations, indicate your preferences (there may be several), give your reasons, and, if you wish, offer your own alternative translations. Here, it is worth recalling Henry Gifford’s words: ‘The first law of translation is clear: nothing can be taken as final.’ 3 Pair/group work As I mentioned earlier, translation is usually regarded as an activity to be done on one’s own. Why then translate with other people? The answer is that translation is naturally suited to discussion. The questions the translator usually solves alone are questions worth discussing with others. For language practice, translation need not be done in isolation. 4 Language correction One of my aims in this book has been to relieve the teacher of the burden of correcting too much written translation. In these activities, much of the correction is done by the students themselves, and on oral translation. There are two advantages to this: a. because the students are pooling their suggestions, and listening to each other, they are more receptive to any corrections given (they are learning from each other’s mistakes) b. the teacher is no longer caught in the trap of having to correct the same errors twenty or thirty times over (as happens with written translation); here, one comment is good for all. I am not suggesting, however, that we dispense altogether with written translation. It must be done, and needs to be corrected. My one word of advice would be this: correction means marking not only the errors but also the trouvailles - the intelligent solutions. Translation takes time and effort. The occasional tick ( / ) relieves the monotony of underlining in red, and gives the student muchneeded encouragement. 5 The use of dictionaries There is no need to ban the dictionary from the class. However, I feel that for the activities in this book it is not needed. The dictionary tends to make the students less resourceful, because they take the entry as the final word, and do not explore other possibilities. 6 Some problems Fatigue. Translation is demanding, and often frustrating. Do not be surprised if at times the students go for the easy solution, or quite simply give up. If a group becomes blocked, suggest that they move on to fresh material, or else put them together with a group that has found a solution. Translation is a process of thought and afterthought. The best ideas may occur later. HOW TO USE THIS BOOK HOW TO USE THIS BOOK Disagreement. There will be disagreement, at times quite violent. As the teacher, you will probably be expected to arbitrate. Most disputes can be settled by reason - and particularly by referring back to the original text. However, if agreement cannot be reached, try listing the contentious sentences on a wall-chart, and leave them there for the students to add their own suggestions over the weeks. Preparation Discipline. This means not class discipline, but mental discipline. In the discussion groups, it will inevitably happen that some students will be content to paraphrase, rather than translate. If this occurs, you may need to insist on full written translations, rather than the working notes I have suggested. Working speeds. In any group, there will be both hares and tortoises, sprinters and plodders. Some students will be frustrated if they are kept waiting, others if they are broken off before they have finished. This frustration can be avoided either by allowing the groups to join up for discussion in their own time, when they are ready, or by setting strict time limits and asking the students to do as much as they can in the time. How the book is organized The book is divided into five sections of roughly equal length. Each section concentrates on a particular area of language which closely concerns the translator. The five main areas are: 1 2 3 4 5 Context and register Word order and reference Time: tense, mood, and aspect Concepts and notions Idiom: from one culture to another These divisions enable you to find an activity suited to a specific purpose. If the students need practice in, for instance, the use of the article in English, or of referential words such as it, that, which, suitable material can be found in activities 2.4 or 2.6. The basic structure of the sections is more or less identical. Each consists of between four and nine independent activities, all related to aspects of the general theme. 17 Under Preparation, you will find a brief indication of the kind of material required (and provided), and instructions for any changes to be made to the text (for instance, words to be omitted). In class In class work covers warm-up activities direcdy related to the translation work that follows, and translation and discussion of the texts provided. Comments The Comments are provided to help you and your students to understand the purpose of the activity, and to point out some of the problems that might arise. Variations Some activities have variations that can be used with different materials or longer texts. Material Each activity contains sufficient material in the form of task sheets for 30-45 minutes’ work (and often more). My aim has been to provide you with a firm starting-point, that is, sufficient material to try out the activity. Later, changes and additions can (and should) be made. The material is of two kinds: a. shorter texts (on average, three to four sentences), chosen primarily for in-class translation and discussion work b. longer texts, to be translated out of class but later discussed in class. Context In translating, it is essential to know from what context a particular passage has been drawn (an academic article, a book of memoirs, a news broadcast, a political speech, or a satire). Clearly, it is not possible to give the students the full context of each extract. To avoid unnecessary confusion I have: - provided the source/title for every extract, however short - italicized those expressions in the text on which the students need to concentrate - made no alterations to the original wording; any cuts, for the sake of brevity, are indicated by three dots ( . . . ) - given as much of the surrounding context as seemed necessary for accurate translation. Language level How each activity is organized The activities are presented under three main headings: Preparation, In class, and Comments. In Translation we are dealing with two language levels: a. The complexity or ‘difficulty’ of English as the source language. b. The level of competence required to convert the English into another language. These are complex questions which cannot be resolved simply by HOW TO USE THIS BOOK consulting convenient word lists. The word anosmia, for instance, would be unlikely to appear in a graded textbook for Intermediate students. Yet it is not ‘difficult’ to translate, as in: Thousands of people lose the sense of smell every year. This phenomenon is known medically as ‘anosmia’ . While a beginner’s -level word, such as say could not be translated without some thought in a context such as: ‘Mrs Moore, what is this echo?’ ‘Don’t you know?’ ‘No - what is it? Oh, do sayV In short: the difficulties of the translator are not always the same as those of the language learner. In general, the English corresponds to Cambridge Proficiency level. However, in almost all the sets of material I have included passages which could easily be used with First Certificate or Intermediate students. But what is ‘easy’ and what is ‘difficult’ must be decided through translation. 1 Context and register Introduction Why, you may wonder, does this book begin with context and register, and not with something more straightforward and clearcut, like the present simple or prefixes and suffixes? And, anyway, what is context? What is register? And what bearing do they have on translation? Instead of offering plausible-sounding definitions (which would probably make the matter no clearer), I shall try to answer these questions by means of examples, and from the examples draw some brief conclusions. But let me first make one, possibly obvious, general point: all language must occur somewhere, and all language is intended to be read or heard by someone. Even an internal monologue is addressed to someone - the speaker. Since all words are shaped by their context, we can say - very broadly - that context comes before language. This is why context has been chosen as our starting point. Does context really matter? Or, to put the question differently, is not ‘knowing the rules’ what matters most? Let us think for a moment of an exercise still often used in teaching the mother tongue - the so-called ‘composition’ . Pupils are set a topic with a title such as ‘Rain’ , ‘A summer’s day’ , ‘My most exciting experience’ . The result is usually something like this: I like the rain in summer, especially when thunderstorms suddenly break over the nearby hills. And in autumn, when it falls softly on the orchard and brings out the scent of the fallen leaves. But most of all, I like the first spring rain that chases away the winter . . . And so on. A dull, dutiful piece of writing, which will get ‘good marks’ because it has few mistakes. But it is a language of no place. It has no context and therefore no character. This is not the child’s fault, because the task is an almost impossible one: to write without a reason (other than producing a piece of writing) and without a real reader in mind (the teacher is not a ‘real’ reader). The flaw lies in the task itself: the titles given do not suggest a context. As Hedge (1988) says in her introduction to Writing (OUP Resource Books for Teachers), ‘Most of the writing we do in real life is written with a 21 c o n t e x t a n d r e g is t e r c o n t e x t a n d r e g is t e r reader in mind . . . Knowing who the reader is provides the writer with a context without which it is difficult to know exactly what or howto write’ . The most likely answer is neither. This, of course, is a made-up sentence, yet it is not an impossible one. But there is no rule which prevents a scientist from speaking of sunkissed beaches, or which says that tourist brochures cannot mention the concentrations of sodium chloride. We can only say that the language is unusual in either context. Context matters, then, because if we have no context in mind we cannot give proper shape to our thoughts. Very simply, we do not know which words to choose because we do not know who they are intended for. The context helps to determine our choice. Which is why if I were, for instance, paying a subscription I might send a note with the words: ‘Enclosed please find a cheque for £50’ , but I would not send my son or daughter a note saying: ‘Enclosed please find £5 for your pocket money.’ To summarize: what I mean by context is the what, where, and to whom of our communication - what we are writing or speaking about (subject matter), where the language occurs (place or publication), and to whom it is addressed. All three are relevant in translation. If it is important in the mother tongue to be aware of these unwritten rules, it is doubly important when dealing with translation. For in translation we are following not one but two sets of unwritten rules, and they do not always overlap. To take just one example: a circular letter addressed to residents of a housing complex might contain (in English) expressions such as: ‘Kindly use the plastic bags provided for rubbish disposal’ or ‘It would be appreciated if residents would not park in the entrance road.’ In another language, it might be natural to use ‘blunter’ language in a similar context, for example: ‘ You must use . . and ''Parking is forbidden . . .’ . The context is the same, but not the register. Unwritten rules One of the particular concerns of this section is with what I would call the ‘unwritten rules’ of language. That is, not the rules of grammar but the patterns - and constraints - of usage. In almost all languages there are words and expressions which are regularly, even automatically, associated with specific contexts. For instance: Press down to release (instructions), In the author’s opinion . . . (academic article), scattered thundershowers (weather report), Ciinclus, veuillez trouver . . . (business letter), an outstanding example o f . . . (brochure/guide-book), light refreshments will be served (notice/circular letter). There are no rules which prevent us from using expressions such as these in other contexts. Yet why is it that two villagers talking about the weather would be unlikely to speak of ‘scattered thundershowers’ ? And why would a hostess, at an informal party, be unlikely to tell her friends that ‘light refreshments will now be served’ ? The simplest answer is, surely, that we are following the rules of usage. And these are largely unwritten. There is no rule that says we cannot speak of ‘scattered thundershowers’ in a love-letter or in an academic thesis, though it might sound odd if we did. What happens if we try to break these unwritten rules? And do they really exist? Let us take a test case. Would you expect to find the following sentence in a tourist brochure, a scientific article, or neither? Samples of sand taken from the sun-kissed, palm-fringed beaches of Goa revealed abnormally high concentrations of sodium chloride. Register If context is the what, where, and to whom, then register is the how. How do we express ourselves in a given context? If the scientist quoted in activity 1.4 uses an expression such as: ‘The sun simply has no business to be rotating as slowly as it does’, he is signalling clearly through his language that the reader he has in mind is a non­ scientist. And so, to reassure the reader, he drops into a colloquial style, although a more formal tone would be expected. Once again, we are dealing with the unwritten rules. If we are struck by an expression such as the sun simply has no business, it is because it does not match the language we expect in the context of astrophysics. It is not ‘formal enough’ , the register is ‘too low’ . Register gives colour to language. To ignore it in translation is to translate the words rather than the meaning. The activities Since specific comments are given after each activity, I shall outline here only a few of the general questions raised in this section. 1 What is the relationship between context and language? Why do we associate certain expressions (narrow winding streets, from the foregoing . . ., the intentness of her gaze, press upward with thumbs) with certain contexts? 2 What clues or signals do we pick up from language, even without knowing the context? Can we identify the clues? Would they be the 22 CONTEXT AND REGISTER CONTEXT AND REGISTER same in our own language? (See activity 1.1.) 3 Is the language of the passage consistent? If not, what is ‘out of place’, and why? Would the tone (register) be the same in the first language (LI)? (See activities 1.4 and 1.5.) 4 How clear is the meaning? Is anything meant but not said? (See activity 1.3.) 5 How literally should the words be taken? Should the translation be literal or idiomatic? TASK SHEET 1 From a variety of sources, make a selection of very short passages in which some feature of the language gives a clue to the context (ienclosed please find (formal letter), with the gradual expansion of trade there emerged (history book), etc.). 2 Extract from each passage a fragment of text, as in the examples above. Write up the fragments on the blackboard or on an overhead transparency (OHT). 3 A variation that can be used as a warm-up to this task is to give the students similar fragments from the mother tongue to work with. IN CLASS_________ 1 Ask the students to work in groups of three. They should suggest a possible source for each fragment (tourist brochure, news report, medical article), and note down any words that give a clue to the context. 2 Each group should then discuss its suggestions with another. 3 As a round-up, run through the fragments with the whole class, noting their suggestions next to each. Before revealing the sources, allow some time for discussion of any strong points of disagreement. 4 Then give the students the source and full text of each fragment. COMMENTS 1 The point of this activity is to discuss what words can suggest to us - even out of context. Why do we associate certain expressions with one context rather than another? What ‘clues’ are we picking up? It is important, then, to place the emphasis on searching for clues rather than discovering the right answer. 2 When we translate we already know, of course, what the context is - what kind of work we are dealing with and who it is intended for, and we translate accordingly. But it is still useful to look more closely at what we are taking for granted, that is, at the language we normally associate with a particular context. For, if we are not aware of the language we expect, we are less able to react to the unexpected. Below are some fragments of language taken from different contexts. Suggest a possible source for each (a TV weather report, notes on a record sleeve, a book review). Compare your suggestions with those of others in the group, and then with the actual sources. 1 . . . a cool, dry place. Keep well out of . . . 2 . . . acknowledge the assistance of my colleagues, and lastly . . . 3 . . . magnificent vistas of coastline, beautiful beaches, . . . 4 . . . my whole body is caressed by a protective, creamy moisturizer . . . 5 . . . an octagon with a central pillar and spacious windows . . . 6 . .. smooth, slick, and atmospheric, . . . 7 . .. the Canadians were hammered . . . 8 . .. gazed out over her dark garden. The soft Normandy breeze, . . . 9 . .. bringing scattered thundershowers . . . 10 . .. opens with a sad little melody . . . 11 A sizzling saga set in . . . 12 . . . faces stern new tests in coming months. 13 Simmer gently . . 14 . . . by depressing one of the buttons . . . 15 Arrived Leopoldville. Met at terminus by M, . . . 16 Trap for catching birds or animals, esp. one made . . . 17 Carriage hereunder is subject to . . . 1.1 Context clues PREPARATION 23 SOURCES________ 1 Store in . . . Keep well out of reach of children. 2 3 4 5 6 (standard instruction on medicine boxes) I should also like to . . . of my wife, whose tact and common sense have been invaluable throughout. (Bertrand Russell: The Problems o f Philosophy) Situated at the crossroads of western, central, and eastern Europe, Yugoslavia offers . . . the clear waters of the Adriatic, as well as unspoilt pine forests and tranquil lakes. (PanAdriatic Travel tourist brochure) When I bathe in Fenjal, . . . leaving my skin silky soft and sensuously smooth. (advertisement for Fenjal bath oil) Salisbury chapter-house of about 1275 is centrally planned, . . . filling the walls entirely except for the arcade strip. (Nikolaus Pevsner: An Outline of European Architecture) The three-part adaptation of Mr Gavin Lyall’s story was . . . though as usual it rather overdid the Oxford scenes. (television review, The Listener) CONTEXT AND REGISTER CONTEXT AND REGISTER 7 Meanwhile, . . . 15-6,15-3, 15-9 by Cuba in the final. (sports report on volleyball, The Guardian) 8 She padded on bare feet to the open window and . . . laden with fragrance, fondled her long black hair. ( /« Love and Friendship, quoted in SHE magazine) 9 During the afternoon, the wind will strengthen from the west, . . . to coastal parts of Devon and Cornwall. (BBC weather report) 10 The first movement . . . which asserts the key of C minor and is followed by a dialogue between the upper and lower woodwind, (notes on a record sleeve) 11 . . . in the wanton world of the outrageously rich. (back-cover blurb for a thriller) 12 The Congress Party, which took an electoral hammering in 1987, . . . (article on Indian politics, The Guardian) 13 . . . until the peel is nearly soft. (Marguerite Patten: 500 Recipes -Jams, Pickles, Chutneys) 14 Select the waveband . . . and tune in the required station, (operating instructions for Grundig radio-cassette) 15 . . . who took me to hotel. (Graham Greene: Congo Journal - diary of an African journey) 16 snare w., & v.t. 1. n. . . . with noose of wire or cord. (The Concise Oxford Dictionary) 17 . . . the rules and limitations relating to liability established by the Warsaw Convention. (IAT A - conditions of travel on airline ticket) 1.2 Matching pairs “Tomorrow will be in the low seventies with scattered showers" 25 PREPARATION 1 Collect material similar to that described in activity 1.1, consisting of sentences or very short passages suitable for division into two parts. Each half should contain some feature which would give a clue to the source: Like all varieties in our range, it’s packed with mouthwatering ingredients, (advertisement) 2 Prepare and present the material in the form of two task sheets. Task sheet A should contain the first half, task sheet B the second half of each passage. (The two halves are not given in matching order.) Make enough copies of the task sheets for half of the class. 3 As a warm-up to this task you may like to give the students similar matching pairs in their own language. IN CLASS_________ 1 Divide the class into two large groups, A and B. In each group, the students form into pairs. 2 Give the pairs in group A task sheet A material, those in group B, task sheet B. 3 Ask the students to discuss in pairs the probable source of each of their fragments. The sources should be noted as precisely as possible: not just ‘a speech’ , but ‘an after-dinner speech’, not just ‘a book’ but ‘a novel, possibly translated from the Russian’ , etc. 4 When the students are ready, ask each pair to join with a pair from the other group (A goes to B, or B to A). They must not show each other their passages. 5 First, they compare their lists of possible sources, noting any differences or doubts. Then, taking their passages in turn, each pair describes to the other what kind of ‘missing half’ it is looking for. (Those with set A are looking for the completion of a sentence, those with set B for the opening.) Only after this rough description has been given should the matching half be shown. COMMENTS_______ 1 Here, as in the previous activity, one of the aims is to make students more conscious of the link between language and context. Why is it that expressions such as scattered thundershowers, simmer gently, mouthwatering ingredients, depress the button, laden with fragrance, subject to the rules are all so strongly associated with a particular kind of writing or speech and with a particular context? Language conforms to two sets of rules, those of grammar, and those of customary usage. Students are generally well trained in the former, but left to fend for themselves with the latter. This activity should help to bring out more clearly the ‘unwritten rules’ of language. 2 If you have not already done the warm-up, one possible followup to this is to give the students similar matching halves in their own language.