The objective
To translate texts from English to L1 and back again in order to gain further understanding of differences between the two languages and "translation errors" students generally make
The language
It depends...
The set-up
Find two short (less than 500 words) texts that are similar in some way (such as texts each about a different animal, or a different accident, or a different famous person) and are at about the same level as your learners--that is, a text which will be generally understood quite quickly without many problems.
The low-down
Divide the class in half and then put them into pairs. Tell them that they are going to read texts about (X) and you´d like them to answer a question (on board). That question will be quite general and depend on texts. Examples could include, "What do you think?", "Do you agree with the writer?", "What would you do?" etc. Ask students to read and discuss their answers in pairs. When they´re finished, ask them to translate the texts into their native language (obviously this only works in a mono-lingual class). Give them a time limit (20 minutes, for example). Help them as best you can to clear up any errors (even if you don´t know their native language well, you can still be of help). When they finish, ask each pair from one side of the room to exchange with a pair on another side of the room (make sure they don´t exchange originals). Again, ask them to read the text and respond (in English) to the question on the board. When they´ve responded in pairs, ask them to again translate the text back to English.
Now what?
Once they´ve finished translating back to English, ask them to find the English original from the other pair they have exchanged with and compare the two. What´s similar? What´s different? How accurate were they and why?
Time to teach
Invite pairs to share their findings with the rest of the class. You should get responses such as, "We thought such and such phrase translated to X (literal translation) but in English it´s Y". Put some (or all) these on the board and invite students to copy them down in their notebooks. You can also generate a general discussion on the general differences between the two languages. For example, in Spanish, adjectives take the plural form but in English they don´t. You can write these "rules" on the board for students to copy down.
More talk-time
Was this activity helpful for you? Why or why not?
Do you ever have to translate to or from English? When?
When you speak, do you translate or do you "think" in English?
Are there any other differences between English and your native language that weren´t talked about?
1 comment:
Hi Zachary,
I really liked this spin on the traditional translation task. I'm just wondering what would happen if you made the texts almost identical but for a few target language points - for example, if you were trying to contrast different modalities of obligation. Would that make it too boring, or would engaging with the same language in a reverse direction help learners to remember it?
Cheers,
Tony
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