Day 8
Thurs. Sept. 15
Share sample passages, talk about “voice” and “function”
Homework:
➤ Due Sunday: Challenge 2 translations!
Your translations are due at midnight on Sunday (China time). Please upload them to the folder called “Translation drafts for Challenge 2.”
Please note:
1) Please format your document bilingually using the Table function of Microsoft Word (see picture for example). By putting just a paragraph or two in every cell, you can ensure that the original and translation are always side by side. I find this format easiest to work with.
2) A recommendation:
▶ If your group is working on an English-Chinese translation challenge, you might try having one Chinese native speaker in your group produce a rough draft of the translation, and the other Chinese native speaker edit it to make it more readable or more appropriate to the style of the target genre. (Just a thought—do what works best for your group.) A person looking a document with “fresh eyes” will often see problems that the person who wrote it didn’t notice.
▶ If you group is working on a Chinese-English translation challenge, consider having a friend who is a native English speaker but doesn’t read Chinese look over your translation draft and mark places they can’t understand or that feel odd to them. See above note about “fresh eyes” — same logic.
Challenge 2 group assignments:
Chinese-English (to discuss on Tuesday of next week)
Challenge E, “Translating Modernity” - Chenzhao, Tianhui, Zack
Challenge M, Yan Bing art text - Zoey, Jiaqi, Jon
English-Chinese (to discuss on Thursday of next week)
Challenge P, Donald Trump speech - Simon, Yuzhe, Isaiah
Challenge B, Blue Apron press release and commercials - Shutong, Hester, Jason
➤ Due Tuesday before class
Once they’ve been uploaded, read the translation drafts for “Translating Modernity” and the Yan Bing art text. Come ready to share one meaningful observation about the language of the original, the translation, or both.