Spanish 3740: Translation / Interpretation I
Dr. Craig N. Bergeson
Elizabeth Hall #434A
626-7111
cbergeson@weber.edu
Office hours: MWF 9:30-10:20 a.m.; TTh 10:00-11:00 a.m.

Syllabus

Course Description: an introduction to methods of translation and interpretation, with an emphasis on the translation of written texts from Spanish to English.

Required Text: Washbourne, Kelly. Manual of Spanish-English Translation. Boston: Prentice Hall, 2010.

Learning Outcomes: By the end of the course, students should be able to

Recommended Prerequisites: To be successful in this course, students should have a firm grasp of the grammars of both Spanish and English; therefore, it is strongly recommended that before taking this course students complete Spanish 3060 (Grammar and Composition) and English 1010 (Introductory College Writing).

Course Requirements

Calculation of Final Grade

Quizzes  10%
Homework  10%
Translations (4)  20%
Final project  20%
Exams (2)  20%
Final exam  20%

Important information

Academic Dishonesty:  As specified in PPM 6-22 IV D, cheating and plagiarism violate the Student Code.  Plagiarism is “the unacknowledged (uncited) use of any other person’s or group’s ideas or work.”  Students found guilty of cheating or plagiarism are subject to failure of a specific assignment, or, in more serious cases, failure of the entire course.

Core Beliefs:  According to PPM 6-22 IV, students are to “[d]etermine, before the last day to drop courses without penalty, when course requirements conflict with a student's core beliefs. If there is such a conflict, the student should consider dropping the class. A student who finds this solution impracticable may request a resolution from the instructor. This policy does not oblige the instructor to grant the request, except in those cases when a denial would be arbitrary and capricious or illegal. This request must be made to the instructor in writing and the student must deliver a copy of the request to the office of the department head. The student's request must articulate the burden the requirement would place on the student's beliefs.”

Disability Accommodation: PPM 3-34 notes: “When students seek accommodation in a regularly scheduled course, they have the responsibility to make such requests at the Center for Students with Disabilities before the beginning of the quarter [semester] in which the accommodation is being requested. When a student fails to make such arrangements, interim accommodations can be made by the instructor, pending the determination of the request for a permanent accommodation.”

 

Emergency Closure:  If for any reason the university is forced to close for an extended period of time, we will continue to conduct the class via Canvas. 


Department Assessment Policy: The Department of Foreign Languages requires a final portfolio from all graduating majors during the last semester of their senior year. If you are a major or a minor, or are even considering becoming a foreign language major, please save (in electronic form if possible) at least one example of your best work from this class and all other language classes you take towards fulfillment of your major.

 

Tentative Calendar 

DATE TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES
 
Unit 1—Introduction to Translation: Translation as a Profession, Theory, and Practice
8/27 Course introduction
8/29 1) Study (carefully) pp. 1-32
 
Unit 2—Determining Context: Negotiating Meaning
8/31 1) Study pp. 33-41
2) Research 1 & 2, p. 40 (Connotation handout)
3) Activity: Recognizing euphemisms, pp. 40-41
9/3 NO CLASS (Labor Day)
9/5 1) Study pp. 41-52
2) Activities 1-4, pp. 43-44
3) Activities 3. p. 47
4) Discussion and Research #3, p. 48
5) "Disambiguating Puns," p. 52
6) Case Study: Puns, p. 52
7) Lexical differences handout
9/7 1) Study pp. 53-67
2) Cognates handout
3) Activity: Culturally bound Terms, pp. 59-60
4) Discussion, p. 60
5) Activities 1-6, pp. 61-62
6) Discussion, p. 66
7) Preview Translation assignment on pp. 66-67. Be prepared to discuss potential challenges and strategies.
9/10 TRANSLATION #1, pp. 66-67 (bring three copies to class)
 
Unit 3—Macro context: Skills, Tools, and Resources for "Connecting" Texts
9/12 1) Study pp. 68-78
2) Activity on the Multilingual Term Bank, pp. 69-70
3) Activity: Sport Terminology, pp. 70-71
4) Activity: Terminology Gap, pp. 71
5) Complete "Task" on p. 72
6) Turn in revision of Translation #1
9/14 1) Study pp. 79-96
2) Corpora Exercises 1-4, pp. 83-84
3) Activity: Editing with Corpora, p. 84
4) Collocation Activities 1-3, pp. 84-85.
5) Linguistic Note, pp. 87-88
 
Unit 4—Purpose in Translation: Audience, Text Typologies, Register, Regionalisms
9/17 1) Study pp. 98-106
2) Write a gist translation of 200-250 words of the following article and bring it to class: http://elpais.com/diario/2007/09/06/economia/1189029609_850215.html
9/19 1) Study pp. 106-122
2) Activity.1 & 2.a-d (pp. 107-108)
9/21 1) Study pp. 124-138
2) Activity: Translation procedures for "Duelos y quebrantos" in Don Quijote, pp. 135-136
9/24 Review
9/26 EXAM 1
 
Unit 5—Translating Figurative Speech
9/28 1) Study pp. 139-146
2) Activity: Proverbs and Sayings, pp. 145
10/1 1) Study pp. 147-156
10/3 1) Study pp. 156-158
 
Unit 6—Commercial and Financial Translation
10/5 Study p. 178. We will do the translation on the bottom of the page in class.
10/8 1) Contract Activity: The Insurance Policy, pp. 182-183
2) Activity: Accounting, pp. 186-187
10/10 TRANSLATION #2: Translate the email on p. 171 (bring three copies to class)
 
Unit 7—Legal and Political Translation
10/12 NO CLASS (RMMLA Conference)
10/15 1) Study pp. 194-208
2) Turn in revision of Translation #2
10/17 1) Study pp. 208-22
10/19 NO CLASS (Fall Break)
10/22 No home-work. We will practice court interpretation in class.
 
Unit 8—Medical Translation and Interpretation*
10/24 *A professional interpreter will be coming to class to teach us about medical interpretation.
1) Study pp. 225-230
2) Watch and listen to Spanish tutorial on Diabetes foot care at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/diabetesfootcarespanish/htm/lesson.htm
3) Watch and listen to the English tutorial on Diabetes foot care at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/diabetesfootcare/htm/lesson.htm
4) Make a Spanish-English glossary (of at least 20 terms) for Diabetes foot care, and bring a copy of your glossary to class
10/26 1) Task and Follow-up, pp. 231-233
2) Task Quiz: Guided Translation, p. 236
3) Activity: Living Wills, pp. 238-240 (except for en>es translation of the Living Will Statement on p. 240)
10/29 TRANSLATION #3: Translate the text of the Hospital Brochure on p. 237 (bring three copies to class)
 
Unit 9—Scientific and Technical Translation
10/31 1) Study pp. 250-261
2) We will translate the booklet on p. 258 in class (in EH 408)
11/2 1) Study Beafort Scale on pp. 263-264 and do Tasks 1 & 2 on p. 264
2) Do "Editing Task" on p. 265
11/5 Do Activity on p. 266. Bring glossary to class.
11/7 NO CLASS
11/9 NO CLASS / EXAM 2 (Please take the exam in the Social Science Testing Center between 7:30 AM 11/7 and 4:00 PM 11/9. For this exam, you may use up to three print dictionaries--Spanish-English, Spanish-Spanish, and English-English. You will have 90 minutes to complete the exam. Click here for a review list.)
11/12 NO CLASS
11/14 NO CLASS / Send Brief of Final Project
 
Unit 10—Literary Translation
11/16 Study pp. 272-285
11/19 1) Prepare for discussion on pp. 285-286
2) Do task on p. 287
11/21 Do translation (Workshop #9) on pp. 293-294. We will edit it in class.
11/23 NO CLASS (Thanksgiving Holiday)
 
Unit 11—Cultural and Consumer-Oriented Translation
11/26 1) Study pp. 296-301
2) Prepare for Activity on pp. 302-303
11/28 1) Prepare for "Translating Tourism" activity on p. 306
2) Prepare Task on pp. 307-310
11/30 Translate the Brochure on p. 311
 
12/3 Task, pp. 313-315: translate into English the instructions for the stretch with the number of your birthday. If your birthday is the 30th or the 31st, just choose any of them.
12/5 Workshop Final Project (bring three copies of draft)
12/7 1) Final review
2) FINAL PROJECT DUE
12/12
8:30-10:20		 FINAL EXAM