Indice
1.
Introduction
2. Body
3. Conclusions
4. Bibliography
5. Appendix
English influences notably over scientifical and
technical terms, so, together with the discovery of the new
technical solution, the English word to name
it is accepted. On the other hand, Cuban results in the
scientific field should be communicated to the rest of the
countries and, for this purpose, the English language is the most
used all over the world. The future engineer or architect needs
to know how to translate because the language flexibility belongs
to the field of reason and human sensitivity and it can't be
achieved by a "translating machine". This work deepens into
translation exercises to get a right reading comprehension and an
improvement in writing due to the fact that it is included in the
EST Syllabus at Cuban universities.
English influences notably over scientifical and technical terms,
so, together with the discovery or the new technical solution,
the English word to name it is accepted. On the other hand, Cuban
results in the scientific field should be communicated to the
rest of the countries and, for this purpose, the English language
is the most used all over the world. The future engineer or
architect needs to know how to translate based on the fact that
the language flexibility cannot be restricted to a mold because
it belongs to the field of reason and human sensitivity and this
is not possible to be achieved by a "translating machine".
Translation is included in the EST Syllabus at Cuban
universities: from English into Spanish due to the reason that
the students have" to read authentic texts in books or magazines
with the help of dictionaries"and from Spanish into English so as
"to reinforce grammar" as well as be able to develop guided
writing and, in a lesser extent, free writing. Many times, the
teachers do not take into account the advantages of training
their students with the two variants and how much they influence
in the good achievement of other language skills.
The objective of this work is to deepen into translation
exercises to get a right reading comprehension and an improvement
in writing.
A group of tasks were developed in order to design the
translation exercises to attain an acceptable level in this
activity from both sides: from English into Spanish and from
Spanish into English.
Among these TASKS are:
- -careful REVISION OF THE LESSON PLANS devoted to
translation so as to improve the quality of the exercises and
the number of lessons - -analyses of the students' MOST COMMON MISTAKES IN
TRANSLATING to determine the topics to be dealt with based on
their real needs - -RECYCLING OF THE STUDIED CONTENTS whenever possible
in any lesson - -SELECTION OF THE SPECIALIZED VOCABULARY needed by
the students to translate important concepts of their major in
English
After doing this, the exercises were prepared and
inserted in different lessons according to the students' level
and subjects.
Some of the selected TOPICS were:
- –personal
identity - -passive voice
- -the -ing ending
- -use and omission of the article
- -noun modification
- -initials, among others
they were selected according to Antich's criteria(l98l:
) and to these students' special difficulties based on empirical
observation.
Examples of Practiced Exercises are:
- l. From english into spanish:
Objective: familiarization with the concept of pragmatic
equivalence and developing of the skill of rendering information
in the students' mother tongue while practicing analytic
reading.
a. Translation of sentences with special difficulties;
some of them included in technical texts, some others prepared ad
hoc:
- Housing is a social problem (gerund, omission of the
article and noun modification) - Liz has just received her D.ARCH. degree (use of
HAVE, scientific initials and possessive adjective) - …providing the inhabitant with more than a minimum
of sufficient living environment(-ing forms in different
grammatical functions) - Niemeyer, having assimilated the fundamental
principles and the planning technique of Le Corbusier, was able
to enrich this required experience by giving to basic forms a
new and surprising meaning (idem) - Civil Engineering deals with many interesting
subjects (semi-cognate words) - The Bachelor degree is obtained when finishing
college (false cognate words, passive voice and -ing
forms) - We have had many English lessons this semester
(different uses of HAVE) - When a person was born in Cuba, he is
said to be Cuban (infinitive passive voice) - Masonry construction was revolutionized by the Roman
discovery of concrete in the 2nd Century (passive voice, use
and omission of the article)
b. TRANSLATION OF SHORT TEXTS AND PARAGRAPHS WITH
SPECIAL DIFFICULTIES; SOME OF THEM INCLUDED IN TECHNICAL TEXTS,
SOME OTHERS IN GENERAL TEXTS:
- A live language is like a plant in evolution. A word
dies and is forgotten and a new word is born in the language.
If a group of people who speak the same language are forced to
live on a desert island, their children and grandchildren will
change the words, expressions, and forms of the language more
and more (different methods of translating the passive
voice). - Karl Elliot entered the school of architecture in
l983. His major was "Urban Studies and Planning". He attended
lectures on that subject regularly. He found it very
interesting. His reading on urban planning was intensive.
Actually he read all the books available on this topic in the
library. Furthermore, he bought all the books related to this
subject in every bookshop. He passed his examinations with
flyinf colors (that is successfully) and in l988 obtained his
B.Arch. degree. However, he did not say good-bye to his
campus…(Page 48, Communicating and Reading in English
I). - Dreams can affect human feelings and lack of them can
increase anxiety, tension, depression and severe mental
diseases. Dream research may well lead to new concepts about
health and to new medical treatments using drugs to manipulate
dreams (noun modification) - In order to reduce the total erection time and cost
of a multi-story building, continuous (multi-story) columns can
be used. This eliminates the work involved in placing one short
column on top of another and joining them by welding their
steel-covered ends. Multi-story concrete columns are
prefabricated in a precasting plant. They are reinforced with
butt-welded unspliced bars and are cast lying flat on their
wide side. They are transported to the job site and erected in
socket-type pedestals (several aspects) - 2. From spanish into english:
Objective: recalling of many grammatical items already
known by the students and translation of short texts or selected
sentences for those areas with high contrastive values where
interference is more likely to occur.
a. TRANSLATION OF SENTENCES WITH SPECIAL DIFFICULTIES
PREPARED ad hoc:
- Tengo veinte anos (use of the verb BE)
- Vivo en Libertad
#59, Moron, Ciego de Avila (expressing his/her
address) - La prefabricacion ha contribuido a resolver el
problema de la vivienda en Cuba (use and omission of the
article, use of the gerund) - Un buen cimiento es la base del exito en una
edificacion (idem) - Durante siglos se suponia que Cristobal Colon habia
sido el primer europeo en cruzar el Atlantico(introductory
passive voice) - La piedra era muy empleada en la antiguedad como
material de construccion(use and omission of the article, noun
modification, passive voice, gerund) - Fidel viajo a la ONU
(initials)
b.Translation of technical descriptions about the
students' projects including specialized vocabulary:
- En la elevacion de esta vivienda se usaron muros de
carga con una cubierta de tejas, ladrillo, cemento y
granito como principales materiales
de construccion (passive voice,
noun modification, gerund, technical terms)
c. Translation of data collected by research in the
students' mother tongue about a given topic:
- El actual museo provincial "Ignacio Agramonte" fue
primero el Cuartel de caballeria y luego un hotel (for speaking
or writing about this)
The students who were trained with these types of
exercises are in a better position to understand texts and to
express their ideas in the foreign language in written form in a
higher percent according to the frequency of mistakes analyzed in
quizzes and tests, i. e., their writing is much more
understandable and accurate, and their reading comprehension is
quite acceptable to a greater extent.
As it was stated by Antich (l98l: ), like composition,
translation is a skill and an art; it is a profession in itself,
and thus requires specialized study and full-time dedication; but
the skill element can be developed through practice by architects
and engineers. It can considerably improve yhe quality of a
person's capacity for translation, provided he consciously tries
to develop his linguistic sensitivity at the same
time.
Recommendations:
l.To include both types of translations in those lessons that
gives the teacher the opportunity to do so, mainly the lessons in
which grammar aspects that present special difficulties are
studied.
2. To have the students translate some definitions,
classifications, etc. of their major including the suggested
markers.
3. To devote complete lessons to translation combining it with
any other skill .
* Antich de Leon, Rosa. English Composition, Editorial
de libros para
la educacion, La
Habana, l98l.
*Alpizar Castillo, Rodolfo. Traduccion y terminologia cinetifica
en Cuba, Editorial cientifico-tecnica, La
Habana, l990
*Castillo, Mario, et al. Communicvating and Reading in English,
Volumes l, 2, 3(for Architecture students),ISPJAE, l990
*English Syllabus for Architecture students, Cuban Higher
Education Ministry, La Habana, l998.
Translation exercises:
Analyze the nouns in the following sentences and determine the
use and omission of articles:
l. The history of masonry goes back as far as that of
civilization.
2.Bricks were apparently first used around 3 500 B.C. by the
people who lived in what is now Iraq.
3.The Egyptians developed a stronger mortar of clay and sand.
4. Masonry construction was revolutionized by the Roman discovery
of concrete in the 2nd Century.
5. The moon is far but spatial ships have reached it.
Translate the following sentences into English. State reasons for
the use and omission of the articles:
l. La construccion es un factor determinante para el desarrollo de
cualquier pais.
2. Las ventanas de madera no son
tan duraderas como las de aluminio.
3. La prefabricacion ha contribuido a solucionar el problema de
la vivienda en Cuba.
4. Estamos rodeados por el Mar Caribe.
5. Un buen cimiento es la base del exito en una edificacion.
Objective: To practice the use and omission of articles in both
languages
Autor:
Clotilde Borras Yero
University Of Camaguey
MAY 2002