Lost in Translation

General Info About the CourseCourse DescriptionWhat does it mean to truly communicate?  How do words and the way we compose them say something deeper about who we are, both individually and as a culture?  What gets lost in translation when people from different backgrounds, cultures or time periods try to express what is really going on in their minds?  Through studying French translations, word origins, and common failures in translations, students will gain a deeper understanding of what communication is all about.

ReadingRequired texts:1) The Avion My Uncle Flew, by Cyrus Fisher http://www.alibris.com/search/books/qwork/525682/used/Avion%20My%20Uncle%20Flew

2) Translations, by Brian Frielhttp://www.amazon.com/Translations-Faber-Paperbacks-Brian-Friel/dp/0571117422

Also, each student will choose to read one (or more) of the following works (written in French, translated into English):1) The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barberyhttp://www.amazon.com/Elegance-Hedgehog-Muriel-Barbery/dp/1933372605

2) Fear and Trembling, by Amelie Nothombhttp://www.amazon.com/Fear-Trembling-Novel-Amelie-Nothomb/dp/0312288573

3) Fields of Glory, by Jean Rouaudhttp://www.amazon.com/Fields-Glory-Jean-Rouaud/dp/1559702168

4) The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint Exupéry (preferably translated by Katherine Woods)http://www.amazon.com/Little-Prince-Antoine-Saint-Exupery/dp/0152465030

Weekly AssignmentsEach week, students will complete four assignments: a Branching Activity (chosen from several possibilities), the Guiding Question forum (including responses to other students), the Reading Forum, and the Show What You Know Activity. Be sure to read individual assignment instructions carefully to make sure you are responding thoroughly, and let your instructor know if you run into problems with any of the assignments. Any exceptions to the four-assignments-per-week pattern will be posted.

Face-to-Face (f2f) MeetingsOur class will come together three times during the quarter for four-hour-long meetings. The dates and location for these meetings will be posted. The schedule for each f2f is somewhat flexible, but some of what we will be doing is listed below:

Face-to-face #1 Introductions and GrammarIntroductions and name tentsCode breakingA review of English grammar and common sentence structures/An introduction to French grammarCut-up poetryExcerpt from The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, discussionTechnical time – work through any Moodle issues/class expectations confusionIntroduction to the reading for the class

Face-to-face #2 Language and CultureThe Process of Translation Activities:

Problem sentencesTongue TwistersIdiomsHomophonesHeteronyms

Tolerance and Language ActivitiesThe Game with Three RoundsIndividual check-ins with studentsTranslations/Place names discussionDivision into groups for projects

Face-to-face #3 Presentations and ReviewTelephone gameGroup presentationsTranslation challenge: working with music lyrics

More Specific Info About Weekly AssignmentsWeek One: What is language?Guiding Question – you may post your response to Part A right away, but don’t respond to Part B until after you’ve completed a Branching Activity:

A) Introduce yourself by telling us where you are from, what you like to do, and your favorite book.

B) Tell us about a time when your words betrayed you or about a time you wanted to say something that words could not describe.

Use your best grammar and thoughtfully respond to at least two other students’ posts.

Branching Activities – choose one:Invention: Make up three new words and provide definitions and example sentences for them. After posting your new words and definitions in the forum, respond to others using new words that you or other students created.

Human Experience: Define the word “language” and then think of five unusual examples that would be considered languages and at least two examples that would not be considered languages. Explain why you have placed each example in the category you have. A complete response will be at least two paragraphs long.

Identity: Are language and communication essential to life? Find examples of those who have lost part or all of their ability to communicate. Look up brain injuries, aphasia, and other diseases that make it difficult for people to communicate. What happens to them when they give up communicating? Write at least two paragraphs answering these questions. Be sure to give specific examples from your research and to cite your information.

Identity: Choose not to talk for a day and log what happens. How do people react? What is difficult for you to do? What happens in your mind? Do you end up “talking to yourself” in your head? Do you become more aware of your surroundings?

Systems: How do children learn language? What are examples of some of the stages they go through as they learn? What effects can teaching sign language to babies have? Read the following articles and take notes. You should write down at least 15 items you learned. Then write two paragraphs answering the questions and including another point that you find interesting. Be sure to reference the articles.http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/Table2.htmhttp://www.healthyfoundations.com/whyteachsigntobabies.htmlhttp://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=10114&cn=461

Reading: Begin 1st novel: The Avion My Uncle Flew. Read through the end of chapter 8 (p. 127 in my version) and post to the reading forum.

Here are two maps that you might find useful as you read the book:http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/europe/lgcolor/frcolor.htmhttp://www.maplandia.com/france/limousin/correze/tulle/saint-chamant/

Thoughtfully answer one of the following questions and respond to two other students’ posts. Include brief quotes/examples from the text (with page number citations) to strengthen your posts.

#1: Fisher writes in British English, which sometimes seems like a foreign language to us. List eight words or phrases that strike you as being unusual, and list how you would express those ideas in American English. As you read the book, how do you figure out what the words and phrases mean? How is the process similar or different to the one you use to decipher the French words that appear?

#2: On p. 70, when Johnny is noticing how verbs change sometimes, he is talking about conjugation. Conjugations are how verbs change both due to the subject of the sentence (first/second/third person, as well as singular/plural) and the tense (present, past, future, etc.). In the charts below, notice how the example verbs are conjugated in French in the present tense. Fill in the missing English conjugations, then continue with the assignment.

Verb: Être (to be) Parler (to speak) Avoir (to have)Je (I) suis parle aiTu (you, singular) es parles asIl/elle (he/she) est parle aNous (we) sommes parlons avonsVous (you, plural) êtes parlez avezIls/elles (they, m/f) sont parlent ont

Verb: To be To speak To haveI am speak haveYou (singular)He/sheWeYou (plural)They

Which language’s verbs have more complex conjugations? Explain your answer. What are some possible advantages and disadvantages of conjugations that change often or seldom? In Japanese, verbs do not depend on a subject (I, you, he, etc.) and are only conjugated to be in the past tense or “non-past” tense (which can be used for an action that is taking place in the present or for one that will take place in the future). Do you think that communication would be easier or more difficult if we adopted this aspect of Japanese into English?

#3: Look at the front of the book and find the copyright information. When was the book written? Do you see evidence of the time period in the writing? Give some examples (at least two), and explain why they seem like they wouldn’t be written in the same way today. As societies and languages change throughout the years, should works of literature be updated to match the times? Why or why not? Find a famous quote and use it to justify your position (would it be more or less effective in modern English?).

#4: Though much of le village, including the powerful maire, thinks Johnny is lying about the Nazi hiding in the mountains, son (his) oncle Paul steadfastly believes his story. The same was true earlier in the book when Johnny was being threatened in Paris: ses (his) parents did not believe him, but son oncle Paul did. Why do you think Paul has such confidence in what Johnny says? Have you ever had someone trust you unreservedly? What does it feel like when people translate their faith in you into action, and where do you see an example of that kind of translation in the book?

#5: Throughout the book, Johnny writes and receives many letters. Do you ever write letters on paper to penpals, friends or family members? Does writing on paper make you choose your words more carefully than when you write emails or text messages? Why or why not? How does the mode of communication affect the way you communicate? Point out some differences

between the way Johnny writes to son père, sa mère, and son ami (friend) Bob Collins. How does the way you speak to tes parents and tes amis differ?

Just for fun: Cognates (like Johnny learns about on pp. 67/68) are words that are the same or very similar in English and French. Some are available here: http://french.about.com/library/vocab/bl-vraisamis.htm. Click on a letter to find some French words that you already know.

Show What You Know: Translate Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” poem by substituting “real” English words for at least 15 of the “made up” words. As you change the words, fill in the chart below, and then answer the questions that follow.

Jabberwocky word Your “real” word Why did you choose your substitute word?

Summarize what you have learned by answering these questions:1. Do you think the original piece communicated even though the words were made up?2. Why do you think Lewis Carroll created words rather than using existing ones?

Week Two: What is in a Word?Guiding Question – respond after you’ve completed a Branching Activity:

What is in a word? How do words evolve over time? What cultural connotations are embedded in words? How are words connected to thoughts and feelings? These are all questions that scholars studied when “politically correct” speech movements hit the scene. Look at this website http://www.sideroad.com/Business_Communication/politically-correct-language.html and think about what “politically correct” speech is trying to do. Then state your position on the topic: Is politically correct speech good for our culture? Use your best grammar and thoughtfully respond to at least two other students’ posts.

Branching Activities – choose one:

Human Experience: English seems to follow some unconventional rules. What is the history of the English language? Where did it come from? Write a 2-3 paragraph essay detailing the birth, rise, and evolution of English using properly cited outside sources to support your position. http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words04/history/index.html

Systems: Click the following links to read how Merriam-Webster and the Oxford Dictionary decide which words should be added to their dictionaries. http://www.askoxford.com/worldofwords/newwords/newwordsdict/?view=ukhttp://www.merriam-webster.com/help/faq/words_in.htmSummarize the process each dictionary takes by making a step-by-step list. Then write a detailed paragraph answering these questions:Do you think their processes are thorough enough? Flexible enough? If you were the head editor of a dictionary, how would you decide which words to add? Which would be more important, usage or longevity?

Identity: Many scientists believe that our identity is formed through our use of language. Watch this video and explain how this concept might be true by explaining how the two hemispheres of our brain work and how our brain uses language.http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

Investigation: Get a dictionary and find three words that have more than ten meanings listed (for example, the word “set”). Look at the different uses. What are the common themes or groupings of the meanings for each word? Write two paragraphs describing how you think each word came to mean so many different things.

Reading: Finish The Avion My Uncle Flew and post to the reading forum, noting special instructions.

This week, everyone must do #1 and also choose to do either #2 or #3. You do not need to respond to other students’ posts this week.

#1 (required): Translate the letter Johnny wrote to sa mère into English. First, read through it at least twice. Then translate everything that you know for sure (which should be the vast majority of the letter). Rather than using Google Translate to look up the few words in the letter that were not introduced earlier in the book, I would prefer for you to make educated guesses about the word meanings. It’s okay if you guess wrong, just use the context to help you figure out a good possible definition.

Congratulations! Look at all the French you know!

#2 (choice): In chapter 11, how does Fisher use language to build the suspense? Do you see the scene as you are reading? Pick a few sentences from one of the paragraphs that you think would be especially important for a translator to get right. As Johnny is explaining his plan to Charles, what miscommunication occurs? Have you ever had a conversation where both speakers thought they were understanding and being understood by the other but were actually talking about different things? Explain the situation and how communication broke down. What could have been done to improve the situation?

#3 (choice): How have Johnny’s opinions about French and St. Chamant changed by the end of the book? Pick at least five events from the book and explain their effect on Johnny’s emotions and opinions about the language and the village. Do you think the negative experiences he had contributed to his overall positivity at the end of the book? Have you ever made it through something difficult and looked back on it later as a positive experience?

Show What You Know: Step One: Look over this website that reviews Latin and Greek roots of English words:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_and_Latin_roots_in_English

Step Two: Look over this list of 5000 words seen on the SAT: http://www.freevocabulary.com/

Step Three: Keeping the SAT word list in mind, choose the top 25 most useful Latin and/or Greek roots to memorize, and list them in this assignment with their definitions. Feel free to copy and paste from an online source.

Step Four: Write a short story (at least two pages double-spaced) about something - an artifact, a word, a name, or anything else - that is passed around to several different people or groups. As the object travels, show how it changes according to how it is used. Throughout this story, include a total of at least 75 words that come from your 25 Latin and/or Greek roots. (You do not need to use each of the roots you listed – you may reuse individual roots as often as you like.) Highlight them with a different color or by using bold, italics, or underlining.

Just for fun: Online Quiz http://www.etymologic.com/

Week Three: Similar Contexts Guiding Question – respond after you’ve completed a Branching Activity:

Go to the website Creative Proverbs (http://creativeproverbs.com/searchcp.htm) and type in several of these words: love, death, hate, life, knowledge. How are the sayings similar? What makes them different? As a translator, how would you decide whether to translate these ideas into another language or to use a common saying already existing in the target language? Use precise examples to support your position. Use your best grammar and thoughtfully respond to at least two other students’ posts.

Branching Activities – choose one: Invention: Name a book you have read that you think should be translated into another language. Who would your target audience be (both culture and age group)? Why? What is the main component of the original work that you would want the translation to capture? Create a marketing slogan and plan for this book, making sure you are properly “selling” the idea of the book to the culture and age group you are targeting.

Human Experience: Pick a mythological god or goddess to research, reading the stories about your figure that appear in both Greek and Roman myths. Write a paragraph about the deity you

chose including: 1) The Greek and Roman names for the god or goddess, 2) Summaries of the myths about the god/goddess that you read, 3) Any differences that you noticed between the Greek and Roman story versions, 4) Speculation about why those differences may have been important to each culture, and 5) At least one modern-day reference to your god/goddess. Does the deity mean something different to us today than it did to people in ancient times?http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/roman/index.htmhttp://library.thinkquest.org/J002356F/godlibrary.htm

Human Experience: Where do common sayings come from? Peruse some of the examples on this website (just click on a letter of the alphabet at the top of the page, and a list of idioms will appear) and select at least three common ways that sayings are given birth. Explain why you have selected these ways and give examples to support your position. Finally, write a short paragraph explaining whether or not you think the way that language grows/“phrases are given birth” tends to change over time. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/index.html

Investigation: Choose four idioms from the list at http://www.idiomsite.com/ and research their origins. How did each phrase become part of our common understanding? Does it mean something different to us today than it originally did?

Reading: Slowly and carefully read the play “Translations.”

It might take you a while to get into the flow of the play – the language can be difficult, and we as readers are dropped into a crowd of people we don’t know. Take your time as you read, being sure to note who is speaking. It may be helpful to keep a list of the characters and to jot down their personality traits and/or interesting things they say as you get to know them better.

Even though the play is not long, your assignment for the reading will be due next week. Take advantage of the extra time to read (and reread) the text carefully. For your information, the assignment that will be due next week is as follows: Take one of the characters in the play and trace how the presence and mission of the British in Ireland impacts his or her life. In doing so, cite specific moments in the play that are integral to your character’s development. Is your character better or worse off at the end of the play than at the beginning? How do your character’s decisions affect other characters? What does language mean to your character? Again, your responses and the portrait of your character’s life should be rooted in the presence and activity of the British in Ireland. At the end of your work, write a paragraph about how you would feel if place names you know were transliterated or translated into another language. Are names important?

Show What You Know: Cut-up poetry time. Print off a list of several sayings and proverbs from the sites below. Then print off a page of poetry or text from the web, or copy a page of your favorite book. You will need five or six pages of text altogether, a pair of scissors and glue/tape.

Spend some time cutting out three-to-four word sections (or phrases) from your sheets. The sections can be intentional phrases or just parts of a sentence that sounds good to you. You should have at least 50 phrases in order to create an interesting poem.

Lay out all of your phrases so that you can read them and think of a theme or overall message that they seem to revolve around. Then arrange your phrases into a poem. In this process your phrases may take on a new meaning, but the poem should have a general theme or point. Your poem should be at least five lines long. You may add up to five words or endings that you have not cut out if needed.

When you are done arranging, glue or tape down your poem. Then give your poem a name and type it into this assignment or upload a picture of it.

Finally, review what you have learned by answering these questions:1. Does your poem make sense? Why or why not?2. Like reading tea leaves, pieces of language often tend to fit together to make a new picture

when they are cut up and rearranged. Why do you think that themes can be seen throughout your phrases even though the phrases came from different sources?

http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/gswithenbank/sayindex.htmhttp://www.idiomsite.com/

Week Four: The Role of Language in Culture Guiding Question – respond after you’ve completed a Branching Activity:

Why is language so integral to culture?  What is lost, other than words, when a language dies? Do your grandparents or other relatives use uncommon words and phrases? Do you think that those words and phrases might gradually disappear? Are immersion schools a good idea? Use your best grammar and thoughtfully respond to at least two other students’ posts.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAMy2-0rxqY

Branching Activities – choose one:Identity: Do you, your parents, grandparents, other relatives or friends speak languages other than English? For those who speak more than one language, why did they learn a second (or third, or fourth...)? What do those languages mean to them? Do they use different languages depending on the situation? Write at least two detailed paragraphs answering these questions about the role of language in identity. (Note, if you do not have enough information to provide a thorough response to this prompt, choose a different Branching Activity.)

Human Experience: Watch this video and take notes. List at least 15 ideas you learned from the video. Choose at least two examples of cultural practices mentioned by the speaker that strike you as interesting, and use them to explain how the speaker supports his argument that cultural traditions shape people’s realities. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/wade_davis_on_endangered_cultures.html

Systems: Read this description of the argument for a universal grammar structure. Though this issue has not been agreed upon, it brings up some interesting issues about how our brains understand language. Read the article and take notes. When taking notes, your ideas do not need to be in complete sentences. You should write down at least 25 new ideas or interesting points that you learn from the site. Feel free to click off the site to related links. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_grammar

Systems: What functions does language have? How does it work? Does language have a direct impact on what and how we think? Watch this video and then write a two-paragraph answer to the questions which uses at least two references from the video to support your ideas. (An option for your references would be to pick a couple of examples the speaker uses and explain why he uses them.)http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/steven_pinker_on_language_and_thought.html

Reading: Reread the play “Translations,” and then post to the reading forum.

As was noted last week, it might take you a while to get into the flow of the play – the language can be difficult, and we as readers are dropped into a crowd of people we don’t know. Take your time as you read, being sure to note who is speaking. It may be helpful to keep a list of the characters and to jot down their personality traits and/or interesting things they say as you get to know them better.

Your assignment for the reading is as follows:Take one of the characters in the play and trace how the presence and mission of the British in Ireland impacts his or her life. In doing so, cite specific moments in the play that are integral to your character’s development. Is your character better or worse off at the end of the play than at the beginning? How do your character’s decisions affect other characters? What does language mean to your character? Again, your responses and the portrait of your character’s life should be rooted in the presence and activity of the British in Ireland. At the end of your work, write a paragraph about how you would feel if place names you know were transliterated or translated into another language. Are names important?

Show What You Know: Should we have a universal language? Research the issue, choose a side and write a five paragraph persuasive paper to clearly defend your position. You should include an introduction paragraph, three clear supporting paragraphs and a conclusion. In total you need to use at least three quotes from different sources to support your position.

Research resources:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4172085.stmhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/yoursay/200506/609.shtmlhttp://www.omniglot.com/language/articles/engunilang.phphttp://www.chillibreeze.com/articles/English-universal-language.asp

Week Five: Step One—A Word for a Word Guiding Question – respond after you’ve completed a Branching Activity:

What does it mean to truly communicate? Try translating several questions into multiple different languages and then back into English using Google Translate. Do your questions still make sense? Do the same with several statements. Do they make sense? Post some of your most “messed up” questions and statements in the forum and read the posts of others. Which statements can you understand and which ones are not communicating anymore? Where is the

line between bad communication and no communication? What does it truly mean to communicate? Use your best grammar and thoughtfully respond to at least two other students’ posts.

Branching Activities – choose one, for the last time! (The last few weeks of class won’t have any Branching Activities so that you’ll have more time to work on your projects.):

Human Experience: Language A to Language A: Choose an excerpt from one of Shakespeare’s plays that is at least 30 lines long. (If you have difficulty choosing, you may use the provided excerpt.) Read the Shakespeare several times and look up words you don’t know until you understand the passage well. Rewrite the excerpt in modern English. Then think about the way you talk with your parents vs. the way you talk with your friends.  Write one paragraph answering these questions: Is it possible to express the same thought in very different ways? If so, is there a “best” way to communicate? (Your completed assignment will be comprised of your rewritten Shakespeare, including a reference to the play, act, scene and lines you rewrote, and your paragraph response to the questions above.)http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/

Human Experience: Language A to Language B: Look at the funny signs examples given and read the Chinglish article - with both, you can usually tell what they were trying to say - is that enough?  China revised much of the Chinglish in preparation for the vast international audience of the Olympics. Write a two-paragraph answer to this question, using at least one quote from the article: Is it enough to just get your message across, even if you aren’t using the “right” words? http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/11/world/main2671104.shtmlhttp://docs.google.com/View?id=ddfr6wkp_13ck4jdncp

Systems: Animal to Human: This is usually done by teaching animals a language. Watch the videos and read the Wikipedia article, and then answer the question: Is there value in communicating with animals? Be sure to reference the videos and the article in your two-paragraph response. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human-animal_communicationhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7ht0a2-OnAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6KvPN_Wt8I

Reading: Start Novel 2 (Choice) and respond to the reading forum.

Show What You Know: Translating your haiku. Step One: Write a haiku.

How to Write a Haikuhttp://childrensbooks.suite101.com/article.cfm/write_a_haikuhttp://www.ehow.com/how_3336_write-haiku.html

Example:People bustle by me (five syllables) Asian hands dig out pressure (seven syllables)

I feel exposed (five syllables)

Step Two: Use this English to French dictionary to reconstruct your poem in French.http://www.wordreference.com/enfr/mind

Some hints:1. Consider all of the word choices to do your best to select an appropriate translation.2. Keep the grammatical usage of your word in mind, and translate accordingly (noun, verb,

adjective).3. Remember that transitive verbs have a direct object (he threw the ball (d.o.)).4. Remember that French nouns have a gender. When the translation options have an f, your noun

is feminine, and you should use “la.” When the translation options have an m, your noun is masculine, and you should use “le.” For plural nouns of either gender, use “les.”

5. Accents are important. The easiest way for you to get your accents is to copy and paste from the dictionary page. Otherwise, if you are typing in Microsoft Word, you can find accents under Insert→Symbol, and if you are typing in Moodle, use the shortcut key that is fourth from the right on the bottom.

Example:Peuple s’affairer à côté de moi Asiatique main fouiller cortir accroissementRespirer les sortir de esprit

Step Three: Use Google Translate to translate your haiku to English.

Example:Busy people next to meAsian main search corti increaseBreathe out of mind

Step Four: Think about what you have learned by answering these questions. What mistakes did you make when you translated your poem? What were the hardest words to translate? Why? What did writing a haiku teach you about the importance of words?

Step Five: Use Google Translate to translate two of these poems (scroll down until you reach headings that start with “Haikus”). What mistakes were made in the translations and why do you think they happened? (Review the Process of Translation document to remember common translation mistakes.) http://clicnet.swarthmore.edu/litterature/moderne/poesie/duhaime.html#anchor.haiku

Week Six: The Process of TranslationGuiding Question:

Plato, a famous Greek philosopher, believed that two examples of the same kind of thing (such as two different tables) can vary from one to the other even though they both come from the same ideal “Form” of a table. Thus, though there is only one theoretical Form of a table, there are many different kinds of tables that exist. We can see the same sort of idea in translated stories, where the subtle changes that different cultures make to the stories are like cultural

fingerprints. The core mold or theme of the story stays the same, but the fingerprints add depth, uniqueness, and clues for us to follow. 

Pick one of the fairy tales at http://www.surlalunefairytales.com and provide a brief summary of its translation history, using proper citation.  Be sure to highlight both what changed through each culture and what stayed the same. (Remember, the German culture is different from the French culture, but the German culture of a certain time period is also different from the German culture of an earlier or later time period.) Finally, explain why you think each culture changed the story slightly - why each culture felt the need to leave fingerprints. Use your best grammar and thoughtfully respond to at least two other students’ posts.

Reading: Continue 2nd novel (Choice) and post to the reading forum.

Show What You Know: Working in assigned groups, use Google to translate one of the five French stories into English. Next, begin your discussion by understanding the intent of the piece. In your group, answer these questions:1. What is the main point or theme of the story?2. Who are the main characters and what are they like?3. What is the setting?4. Are there any statements that the piece is trying to make about culture or life?5. Is there anything ironic or humorous about the story?

As a team, divide up your story and each find at least five phrases in your own section that you think need work. Explain why you think the word-for-word translation did not work, then suggest a new translation and explain why you chose to make the changes you did.

Translated Phrase that needs work

Why you think the translation needs work

Your new suggestion

Why you chose the wording you did

Week Seven: What is Lost in TranslationGuiding Question:

Is it better for movie producers to use subtitles, keeping the movie in its original language, or is it better for them to translate the script and dub the movie? What might be lost in either situation? What could be gained? Use your best grammar and thoughtfully respond to at least two other students’ posts.

Reading: Finish 2nd novel (Choice) and post to the reading forum.

Show What You Know: Work as a team to finish translating and polishing last week’s short story. When you are done, you should have the complete story translated/adapted into English. This should be a version that makes as much sense as possible, not simply what you got out of Google Translate. Use the Process of Translation document to help you work through problem areas. You will likely need to use your best judgment to rewrite certain phrases or sentences to make sense within their contexts.

Discuss in your group why certain translations work better than others. Then begin to think about how you would like to present your story at the last f2f. Each presentation should:1. Read at least one paragraph in French out loud and then give your English translation

(There are text readers available in most Window systems. We will post more information on this)

2. Act out or depict through art your short story3. Discuss the issues found when translating the piece

One inventive way to do all three would be to have one team member read the story in French while the others act it out. Then the groups might ask the audience what they thought their story was about. Next a different member could read parts of the play again in English with the other teams acting it out. When “difficult to translate” sections come up, the actors could act out several different options and have the audience guess what the correct answer is and what caused the difficulty in translating the piece.

Week Eight: Translating Personality: What does how we communicate say about who we are?Guiding Question:

Some people stereotypically say that girls tend to prattle on and that boys tend to be more direct in what they say. Though this is a generalization, it does bring up some interesting ideas about why and how we communicate. In order to explore this topic further, answer these questions: Is it generally better to use specifically chosen words or to try to talk a lot about a given topic? What are the benefits and costs of both styles? Which do you tend to use? Which do you prefer to listen to?

Reading: Catch up on any late reading work.

Show What You Know: Continue to work in your groups, finalizing your presentation plans.

Week Nine: The Translated MessageGuiding Question:

What ideas in this class have you translated into your view of the world? Write a paragraph about what you learned in this class and use Google Translate to translate it into another language. Post your translated version, noting which language you used. Then re-translate other students’ paragraphs and respond to what they have written.

Prepare your group presentation.