Seminar Translation Project

1. RESEARCH PROPOSAL
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REPORT
ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAMME
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
Researcher’s name: Osorio Wendy
General Line of Research: Applied linguistics
Nature of Research: Documentary research
Date: December 12th, 2014

2. 1. Introduction
1.1. Background
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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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).

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.