RESEARCH PROPOSALPROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REPORTENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAMME

Researcher’s name: Osorio Wendy

General Line of Research: Applied linguistics

Nature of Research: Documentary research

English-Spanish translation of the chapters: Reactions to Hitler’s Policies, The March to War: Early diplomatic triumphs, and Austria and Czechoslovakia from

the book “Hitler, triumphant” by Matthew Moses

Date: December 12th, 2014

1. Introduction

The main reason of choosing a translation project is to show my abilities to translate any kind of

text. I am in the course of Translation Three with the teacher Alessio and I realized that I like this

subject and I would like to do a monograph project in this area. In this particular case, I will

choose a text that can be helpful for specific proposals in the educational field. I have been

focused in a history translation from a teacher of the Vanguardia School who requires these texts to

be translated into Spanish. The reason why the teacher needs these translations is because those

paragraphs are given to students and he does not understand English very well. The book to be

translated is “Hitler, Triumphant”, the book will be translated by chapters. The total of students

who will work on this specific book for this project are three and each one will have certain

amount of chapters to translate. We will constantly sharing our ideas and point of views owing to

the fact that we will working on the same context and similar vocabulary and also to have a neutral

translation.

1.1. Background

1.2. Rationale

Here in the Vanguardia School, just students who have an English background understand the

language even though English is basic in almost all majors in the school. However, most of the

students did not pay a lot of attention of this subject because for them, this language is not a strict

requirement for the major they are studying. But this problem not only happen to students, also some

teachers do not know English very well, and for them, this can be a problem when they want to teach

specific topics. The history class is one of those cases, there are a lot of texts but most of them are

written in English. This professor is looking for English students to translate certain chapters in order

to give the texts to his students. I chose this kind of text because I would like to help the teacher and

his students in order to make them understand the topic much better and to help them in the

academic environment. This type of text is in the history branch and in some cases can be quiet

difficult to translate but I will ask for help not only to my professors but also to the history teacher

for certain technical words in the area.

1.3. Objectives

One of the main objectives of this project is to provide the abilities to translate any kind of text

from English to Spanish as well as Spanish to English in some specific occasions, demonstrating

the different methods and techniques a translator uses to make a good work and to show the skill

variations in a translated text. Another objective is to establish coherence and to transmit the same

message from the original text to the translated text in order to make a non-native speaker

understand the same idea of the text without any kind of problem. One of the principal issues is to

find the specific words into the target language to express the same idea, so the third objective in

this case is to find the right words to transmit what the original text wants to say and what concept

the author wants to provide to the reader. The last objective is to help the teacher in his workplace

translating the stories he needs in his teaching classes and to make a better understanding between

teacher and student as well as making a comfortable communication. In short, this monograph

project will help people in the academic studies.

1.4. Significance/Relevance of the research project

The importance of this topic is to provide a better understanding in the history texts as well as obtain

the attention of plenty students who are not interested in this subject because of the lack of

comprehension. Most of these kinds of texts are written in a complex language that might be

difficult to understand. In this project, the translation aims to be planned in an easy way for a better

perception but without losing the originality of the author in the text.

1.5. Scope of the project

I think this project would have a good scope because history is a topic in which many students are

interested about it, and it is one of the basic subjects in The Vanguardia School and in some other

school majors. It will help teachers and students as well as many persons who show enthusiasm for

these articles. To sum things up, this project will be helpful in any educational area.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Translation history

“Translation comes from the Latin Translatio which means “to bring across” and it is the

replacement of a text in one language by a replacement of an equivalent text in a second language”

(Meetham and Hudson, 1972). “Translation can be understood as the result of a text-processing

activity, by mean of which a source-language text is transposed into a target-language text”

(Koller, 1995). It is an art of taking the knowledge of written words into another language, always

trying to find the equivalent meaning. The main translation art is The Rosetta Stone with its

trilingual fragments (hieroglyphic Egyptian, demotic Egyptian and ancient Greek) and it is so

important because it was the translator key for the decryption of Egyptian hieroglyphs by Thomas

Young, the master Jean Francois Champollion and many others. The first translation according

with some data is The Bible and nowadays it is the most translated book. In ancient times, being a

translator was considered the most important job of that age, and not only that, the translator has

privileges and was considered part of the high class status, always surrounded by important

persons.

Notwithstanding, if the translator made any type of mistake it was the worst crime and was punish

by treason, some of them needed to leave the city or village for the lack of trust. As anything, it

had its disadvantages. A translator was a well-studied person, and with time use to gain popularity,

and if meets the first criterion is said to be “faithful” and the one who meets the second

“idiomatic”. The translator gain points through time. Nowadays, we have a branch of sources

where we can investigate not only tangible but also virtually. And even though with that resources

we as translators made mistakes, so now, imagine how difficult could be trying to translate any

kind of scripture and how drastic the punishment could be against you. In those times, translating

just a piece of scripture might took you not days, not weeks, not months, but years and years, until

approach the correct meaning. Currently, we have technology by our side, helping us at any time,

at anywhere, intelligent machine programmes translating pages and pages just in a couple of

minutes, not to mention dictionaries, glossaries and other types of references that help the

translator to create the best work. “The process of translation between two different written

languages involves the changing of an original written text in the original verbal language into a

written text in a different verbal language” (Holmes S. James, 1975).

2.2. Translation techniques

There are two types of different techniques: Direct and oblique.

2.2.1. Direct techniques:

• Borrowing: To take words directly from one language into another without any kind of

translation.

E.g. cliché, déjà vu, bon appétit.

• Calque: It is a phrase borrowed from another language and translated literally word by word.

E.g. Tomorrow is Monday = Mañana es lunes.

• Literal translation: To translate the text exactly as it is written.

E.g. Yesterday I saw a film = Ayer vi una película.

2.2.2. Oblique:

• Transposition: The process where parts of speech change their sequence when they are

translated. E.g. whatever you say = Lo que tu digas.

• Modulation: Consists of using a phrase that is different in the source and target language to

convey the same idea. E.g. It is not expensive = Es barato.

• Reformulation or equivalence: To express something in a completely different way, for

instance when translating idioms or advertising slogans. E.g. Eat, drink and be merry, for

tomorrow we die = Haz lo que tengas que hacer hoy porque mañana puede ser muy tarde.

• Adaptation: Occurs when something specific to one language culture is expressed in a

totally different way that is familiar or appropriate to another language culture. E.g.

Despicable me = Mi villano favorito.

• Compensation: Can be used when something cannot be translated, and the meaning that is

lost is expressed somewhere else in the translated text. E.g. You are right = Usted tiene

razón.

2.3. Translation text types

There are many kinds of translations; the most common are listed below.

• Literary: A text rich in metaphor and symbolism will impart both literal and figurative

meaning and will accommodate deeper and more layered themes.

• Technical: Medicine, Physics, Astronomy, Chemestry, Computers, Engineers, Geography,

Economics, Architecture topics.

• Legal: Contracts, orders, judgments, decrees, constitutions, pleadings topics.

• Commercial: Textbooks, course books, multimedia applications, contracts, commercial

litigation.

• Journalistic: News reports, editorials, special features, advertisings, horoscopes, weather

reports, crosswords puzzles etc. topics.

• Advertising: Brands like: CocaCola®, Pepsi®, McDonalds®, BurgerKing®, Apple®,

TacoBell®, Starbucks®, etc. topics.

2.4. Translation institutes

The next points listed below are different types of translation institutes around the world.

• 2.4.1. ALTA: (American Literary Translators Association) Provides complete professional translation

services in more than 100 languages which includes documents translation, software and websites

localization, multilingual desktop publishing, voice talent, video captioning and subtitling, and

linguistic name evaluation located in the USA.

• 2.4.2. ISIT: (Institut Supérieur d’Interprétation et de Traduction) It is a Grande École located in

France, offering programmes in intercultural management and communication, translation and

conference interpreting in such international organisations as the European Commission, UNESCO,

the UN or the European Court of Justice.

• 2.4.3. AILIA (Association de l’Industrie de la Langue) located in Canada it is specialised in the

Language Interpreter Training Program (LITP) which offers foundational skills development for

bilingual individuals interested in working in the medical, legal, and public service sectors.

• 2.4.4. Translation MA: European Masters in Translation Network offers intensive training in the

various types of translation activity and related translation technologies required by the growing

professional translation market.

2.5. Translation issues

While you are translating a text, it can look easy at the beginning; you can comprehend the meaning

of words and understand the context. Per contra, translation can be a tricky game, a little mistake

and the whole sentence can obtain another kind of meaning. One thing is to know two languages

and another one is to know how to translate. Translation is a special skill that some persons have

been developed during hard working time. These skills are the ability to understand the source

language and the culture of the country where the text originated, then using a good library of

dictionaries and reference materials, to render that material clearly and accurately into the target

language. One of the principal enemies to avoid in translation are false friends or cognates; for

instance: bookcase is librero, but bookstore is librería not library. Another funny example is the

word embarazada in which case does not mean embarrassed, this word means avergonzado, but if

tu estás embarazada the correct phrase should be “you are pregnant”. Idioms are difficult too, for

example: it is raining cats and dogs does not mean están lloviendo perros y gatos, the correct

meaning in Spanish is está lloviendo a cántaros. Translation is not only about words but also about

numbers, a crystal clear example is billion. A Spanish billon is an American trillion

(1,000,000,000,000), but in traditional British English it’s also a billion, are you confused? Yeah,

me too. A billion is a false friend in American English but not in British. The next time you are

thinking to make a translation be aware of what you really want to say.

3. Method

3.1. Nature of the text

The text Hitler, Triumphant is published by Matthew Moses at Smashwords; the book itself is

about Adolf Hitler life, as the author mentioned, there are hundreds of books about Hitler’s life but

none of them focus on what this man was capable to do.

The book is divided by chapters, so in this occasion my translation will start from the chapter

Reactions to Hitler’s Policies to the March to War: Early diplomatic triumphs; Austria and

Czechoslovakia.

The first topic narrates how the Third Reich affected many Jews and the way how so many

countries tried to find a solution about this problem; how many associations tried to talk with Hitler

to think about his actions and the way Hitler wanted to show his authority looking down others.

The second topic Early diplomatic triumphs shows you how Hitler preferred to break an old

alliance with China to get a more modern and powerful alliance with Japan.

The third topic Austria and Czechoslovakia is about the way Hitler pressured Austria into

unification with Germany and tried to make a triumphant entry into Vienna and then a war of

aggression to destroy Czechoslovakia and the entire disadvantage he had in making such as risky

decisions only to show his power and authority.

3.2. Instruments

The tools that will be used for this translation project are listed below:

Dictionaries:

• Cambridge Dictionary: This is an English monolingual dictionary, this one not only give you the

explanation of the word you are looking for but also shows you essential grammar information

for learners, gives you examples on how many ways you can use the word and also shows you

the pronunciation (In British and American accent with the International Phonetic Alphabet).

• Oxford Dictionary: This is an English-Spanish or bilingual dictionary. It gives you the word in

your target language and shows you the different ways to use the word with some examples as

well as explaining some interesting grammatical notes.

• Thesaurus: This is a good tool when it comes to translate. A thesaurus is nothing more than a

dictionary of words in which shows you synonyms and antonyms and helps you to avoid

repeated words in your translation work.

Other sources:

• Linguee: It is a great translation tool. In there you can find hundreds and hundreds of translation

examples for different words. If after consulting dictionaries and thesaurus you still doubting on

your translation, this page can provide you examples on how others had translated the word or

phrase in which you are stuck.

• A qualified person: The best way to know if your translation is correct is to find a professional

translator or someone who has been involved in the translation area to guide you through your

project. This person can suggests you another ideas that can improve the quality of your work.

• Another tool to do a good translation project is to have specific techniques to re-transmit the same

idea from one language to another. There are eight specific techniques for translations in which are

subdividing between direct (the first three listed below) and oblique (The next five listed below).

5. Modulation

6. Reformulation or equivalence

7. Adaptation

8. Compensation

1. Borrowing

2. Calque

3. Literal translation

4. Transposition

3.3. Steps for translation

In order to do a good translation, the first thing to be done is to read the complete text so you can

have a background of the book context. Once you have read, re-read it one more time and underline

the unknown words or phrases you do not know or seems confusing.

After that, write in a piece of paper or notebook all the words you had found out. It is here where

you need to use specific tools to start the translation. The most common tools are dictionaries; it is a

good idea to use two types of dictionaries: a monolingual and a bilingual dictionary.

However, you should be careful by choosing dictionaries because they are divided in American or

British English and even though looks the same, some words are used in different context, also

there are spelling variation, and furthermore there are some exclusive words that are used only in

British or only in American.

It is recommendable not to mix American and British English, just choose one and focus on that

spelling and grammar structures, so your translation will look more accurate and professional.

Finally, once you have the text or the paragraph completely translated, it is necessary to read it

to see if the text looks natural or if some changes are needed. If you are not convinced of your

final translation, give the text to someone else, preferably to someone who is involve into the

topic of your text or someone who is not involve into the English language.

4. Conclusion

In short, the text is focus on the history area, it is about Adolf Hitler and all the things he did and

wanted to do to other countries. It is a story that just few people know, because he did not only

was against Jew people but also wanted to rule some countries under his power.

In order to do this translation, I will follow the strategies and techniques mentioned in the

previous slides of the presentation as well as consulting people related in the translation field.

This project is planned to be done within the next six months to help the history teacher who

needs the required translation plus Spanish speakers to have a better understanding of the

subject.