The document provides guidance for students on conducting translations between English and French. It recommends using a range of dictionaries, reference works, and online resources like Wikipedia and WordReference forums. Linguee is suggested for finding example translations. Machine translations are not recommended, as they often contain errors. Students are advised to double check translations in definitive bilingual dictionaries and search expressions in Google Books to ensure accuracy. Different translation styles like literal, faithful, balanced and idiomizing are described, with balanced translations recommended for beginners.

1. Traduction

2. Introduction
• Be prepared to consult a range of
different dictionaries, reference
works, grammar books and
websites for each translation. It’s a
good idea to build up your own library
and collection of links which you can
have at the ready every time you begin
work on one.

3. Online resources
• Don’t be afraid of using online
resources – they will save you time!
(an important consideration if you
intend to become a professional
translator).
• A recommended list of online
dictionaries can be found on Moodle.
Use these when doing your
translations.....

5. Difficult-to-find words/expressions
• For cultural (and other
more obscure)
references use
Wikipedia as a
translation tool. If word
is in English go to
http://en.wikipedia.org
first then switch to
French. If word is in
French, go to
http://fr.wikipedia.org,
then switch to English.

6. Difficult-to-find words/expressions
• Use the Grand Dictionnaire Terminologique
(http://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/ressources/gdt.h
tml) for specialist terms.
• Use also the forums in
www.wordreference.com to find modern or
obscure terms which have not as yet made
it into a dictionary. Be aware, however, that
the suggestions in these forums come from
the website’s users (as opposed to an
official publisher or educational/cultural
body) and that some caution is required
when using their terms in your own
translations.

7. Not sure if your translation is correct?
• Double-check the use of your word in one
or more definitive bilingual dictionaries
with plentiful examples of expressions in
context. This helps avert the risk of using a
word incorrectly in the target language.

9. Not sure if your translation is correct?
• If you are unsure as to whether a certain
formulation or expression sounds sufficiently
‘French’ you might want to google it in
inverted commas (e.g. “ce n’est pas ma
tasse de thé .....”) and see how many hits
you get. If you get 2 hits or fewer then don’t
use the expression in your translation.
• Even French people can make mistakes in
their writing. For this reason, it is
recommended that you search for an
expression in Google books, as this will
indicate whether it was accurate and current
enough to be published.

10. • Go to www.linguee.com which which
uses the internet as a translation tool,
locating text which has already been
translated by someone online. Type
any word or longer expression and you
will be given a list of possible
translations (in context) with a rating
as to how accurate/successful the
translation is.
Not sure if your translation is correct?

11. Online resources not to use!
• Don’t use machine translation for your
assignments! (e.g. Babelfish or Google
translate)....
....otherwise you will end up writing
sentences that sound like:
The genuine antics in your room come from our
family castle. Long life to it.
Please avoid coca watering, cream cleaning, wet
towels wrapping, and ironing drying.

12. Even simple sentences contain
mistranslations!

13. Un peu de théorie
• Abbreviations:
– ST: Source Text
(original version of text, which is to be translated)
– SL: Source Language
(the language of the original text)
– TT: Target Text
(your translation into the foreign language)
– TL: Target Language
(language of the translated text)

14. Translation which
aims at reproducing
the meaning of the
original word-for-word
(wherever possible)
Translation which
strays quite
considerably from the
literal meaning of the
original in order to be
more appealing,
readable, idiomatic,
etc. in the target
language.

15. “Idiomizing” relates to the word “idiom” – the use of expressions
which are particular to a language and cannot usually be
translated word-for-word into another.
In English an example of an idiom might be “to curry favour”, “to
eat humble pie” or “to let the cat out of the bag.”
In French an example of an idiom might be “avoir tort”, “ras-le-
bol” or “coup de foudre”.

16. • In practice, any one of these five forms of
translation (literal, faithful, balanced,
idiomizing, free) may be the preferred
choice depending on:
– context of sentence
– target audience
– author’s intention
– translation brief
... and other factors!
• However, when you first start translating,
you should aim for a balanced translation.