The role of TAPS and other research methods in Translator

Training

S.Hubscher-Davidson

Different students’ performances

Source Text:

Il était surpris de voir... La Seine couler d’est en ouest, ce qui la met à deux pas de l’Océan, et fait de Paris l’un des plus grands de nos ports de mer.

Different students’ performances

• Student 1 translation: "He was surprised to see... the Seine flowing from east to west. This brings Paris closer to the Ocean, and makes it one of France’s largest sea ports".

• Teacher assessment: ‘Quite confused in places... Some bright ideas and a couple of nice expressions, but hesitant’.

Different students’ performances

• Student 2 translation: "He was shocked to see... how the Seine flowed from east to west, bringing it to the door of the Ocean, and making Paris one of our biggest sea ports".

• Teacher assessment: ‘Generally accurate with good idiomatic touches ... occasionally awkward, but thoughtful and quite sensitive’.

Different students’ performances

• Student 3 translation: "He was certainly surprised to discover... that the Seine flowed from east to west, putting it a hop, skip and a jump from the Ocean, and making Paris one of the country’s biggest sea ports".

• Teacher assessment: ‘Lively and inventive ... very assured’.

Example of a ‘good’ performance 1

• Source Text: "Il n’y a qu’à voir la Tour Eiffel promener ses gros yeux sur la ville pour sentir qu’il se passent des choses"

• Student 19’s translation: "The very sight of the Eiffel Tower gazing wide-eyed over the city tells you there are forces at work"

Example of a ‘good’ performance 2

• Source Text: "Autant de fantômes, autant de mystères" 

• Student 19’s translation: "Ghosts and mysteries hang thick in the air"

Teacher Assessments

• First teacher assessment: ‘a very nice translation, accurate and faithful in style and imagery’. 77.5%

• Second teacher assessment: ‘good rendering of the original text overall’. 66%

• Third teacher assessment: ‘some slight distortions but shows creativity’. 65%

• Fourth teacher assessment: ‘creative and original’. 72%

Extract from my observations during TAPS

Translator 19 was full of mirth during the TAPS and seemed to consider translating as more of a game, a challenge, a way to express herself, rather than a job. She often showed a preference for her ‘creations’ and disregard for rules (‘OK you can’t say that but never mind’) as well as a willingness to break the mould: ‘if you could crunch it together it would sound ok’. She was confident, astute and showed an excellent understanding of the ST nuances. A combination of this knowledge and her imagination/creativity resulted, in my opinion, in a unique and exciting translation.

Ideas to develop for Training

• Oral activities

• Interviews, diaries, questionnaires

• Group work

• Exercises focusing on different phases

• Technology

• Combination of various methods

References• Carlsson, I. (2002) "Anxiety and Flexibility of Defense Related to High or Low Creativity" . Creativity

Research Journal 14 (3 &4). Mahwah: Lawrence ErlbaumAssociates Inc, 341-49(9)

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• Hervey, S., Higgins, I. (2002) Thinking French Translation – A Course in Translation Method: French to English, London: Routledge

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Translation Conference Specialized Translation: Commonalities and Differences. University of Technology and Management in Leiria, 17.11.04

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