Media, Conversation and Translation: Part 2

Course details

Day 1- Introductory Session:

• Introduction about media.
• Each student is expected to give an oral presentation about his/her interests or studies or work in Arabic (each student will be given 10 minutes & the presentation must be prepared at home).
• Group discussion about the organizations and institutions mentioned will follow.

Day 2- Publicity Translation:

• The students are expected to analyze the technical aspects and the properties of the language used in advertisements. The advertisements will be those related to political campaigns and national identity.
• Consequently, Lebanese parties (Logos, colors, flags, pictures of leaders, orientation) will be discussed interactively.

Day 3 -News Article:

• The students are expected to read a short news article from an English newspaper and try to explain it in Arabic orally. At a second stage, they will try to come up with a group translation of the text, which shall be progressively written by the teacher on the board. The final outcome will be compared with the Arabic version of the teacher, as a means to enrich the translation skills of the students.

Day 4 - Political Speech/Abstract from the news:

• The students will listen to a short extract from a political speech and a short abstract from the news. They are expected to undertake various exercises afterwards such as multiple choices, filling the blanks, true-false questions and matching in order to assess their understanding of speeches. The students will take turns summarizing the message given, each completing the sentence of the other.

Day 5 - Comparative Translation&Interpretation:

• The students are expected to undertake an objective translation criticism, by comparing two texts dealing with the same subject in the two languages. Then the students are to take turns rendering the same text orally at sight in the target language. They are expected eventually to criticize their own translation and that of their colleagues in terms of adequacy and equivalence in reference to the Arabic text. The aim of this activity is to introduce students to proof-reading and editing.

Day 6 - Political Article:

• The students are expected to gather information concerning one special and recent political event by taking notes while the teacher reads the article slowly. They shall re-create the information of the article in writing and in the same language by using the notes they have taken and engage in class debates/discussions afterwards.

Day 7 - Technical Translation:

• The students will learn to understand complex text messages (sms), to read a technical brochure (On VAT) and to fill official forms which shall be useful to them in their daily life. One written Lebanese joke will be explained and discussed too at the end of the class.

Day 8 - National Anthem:

• The students are expected to listen to the Lebanese national anthem and discuss its meanings with the teacher. The teacher is to convey patriotic values to the students by means of this activity.

Day 9 - Literary Translation:

• The students are expected to study one literary text (contemporary poem or short story or novel) within a theoretical and cultural framework. They will discuss as how to make use of figures of speech, key words, structures and analyze the text syntactically, semantically and stylistically.

Day 10 - Historical Documentary:

• The students are required to comprehend the message, linguistic structure, cultural features and the meaning of the documentary presented. The students will learn to express the material they listened to, completely and faultlessly.  A group discussion will follow revealing the subjective and analytical views of the students on the subject.