Aims

In consonance with the overall aims of the degrees offered in the SML. Available to ERASMUS
Exchange students only.

This course is designed to provide regular practice in different types of translation activity from
German into English and from English into German, as well as an increased understanding of
translation issues and the processes of translating. Students will engage in activities such as text
analysis, comparison of different versions, including published translations, discussion of cultural, political and social issues based on content. Materials will include different styles and registers of texts and different media (e.g. documentary and radio interviews).

Outline Of Syllabus

The teaching will combine both lecture presentations of the material, seminar discussion and detailed
analysis of particular texts as well as analysis of the ideas/content in the texts.

Students will undertake regular prepared translations for each class which
will be discussed the following week. One practice translation will be marked per semester.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

This course is designed to provide regular practice in different types of translation activity from German into English and from English into German as well as an increased understanding of translation issues and the processes of translating. Students will engage in activities such as text analysis, comparison of different versions, including published translations, discussion of cultural, political and social issues based on content such as, for example, Brexit and Europe, diversity and integration in Britain and Germany, memory and identity in Germany and Britain, British Landeskunde etc. These issues will be introduced via some texts for translation, but also some texts for reading and analysing in terms of interesting and remarkable expressions and the structure and content of the argument. As the students on this module are German native speakers, they are already proficient writers of German and require more practice in writing in English. Writing more creatively in English, beyond the constraints of translation, allows the students to practise idiomatic and sophisticated use of English, academic register and vocabulary as well as developing a wider understanding of aspects of contemporary British and German culture.

The teaching will combine both lecture presentations of the material, seminar discussion and detailed analysis of particular texts. Students will undertake regular translations and prepare opinions about the content for each class which will be discussed the following week.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Assessments test translation skills in both directions:

a) One translation from English into German (approx. 500 words)
and
b) One translation from German into English (approx. 500 words).