| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Translation exams - without a dictionary?! Thread poster: Robert Parry
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| Find other clients | Apr 17, 2016 |
I agree entirely with Lincoln Hui and work in much the same way. Different individuals have different ways of working. Being able to have a stab at things is a useful skill, but not entirely indispensable.
The first exam I ever failed was in chemistry, partly because I had not learnt the periodic table off by heart, but since then I have never heard of chemistry exams where a sheet with the periodic table was not provided if required.
Strangely enough - or maybe not - u... See more I agree entirely with Lincoln Hui and work in much the same way. Different individuals have different ways of working. Being able to have a stab at things is a useful skill, but not entirely indispensable.
The first exam I ever failed was in chemistry, partly because I had not learnt the periodic table off by heart, but since then I have never heard of chemistry exams where a sheet with the periodic table was not provided if required.
Strangely enough - or maybe not - using dictionaries all the time widens your ability to make a good 'guess' at an unfamiliar word from the context.
Instead of learning the dictionary by heart, it is a far better strategy for that sort of thing - with English at any rate - to think of the etymology, learn Latin and the Greek elements that make up words. Not forgetting the Germanic and Nordic roots...
Although I hated my Latin teacher's Friday verb tests, I have to admit I benefited from them in both English and French! She worked systematically through Latin verbs - with collocations and other related words - and handed out a sheet of paper to be worked through every Wednesday or Thursday for two or three years.
Delere - delete, deletion, indelible ... that sort of thing. Then we were tested on Fridays, and she could be very scathing if we did not come close to full marks! I was not incorrigible (or thick skinned) enough to take her sarcastic humour back then. THAT at least has changed!
Corrigero, corrigere, correxi, correctus ...
It is in fact quite a healthy exercise if you can just forgive yourself and try again when you get it wrong.
If it is too late for you to start working that way, concentrate on clients who don't mind if you use a dictionary, or even expect you to. Luckily there are also plenty of those. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kay Denney 
France
Local time: 23:55
French to English
| archaic conditions | Apr 18, 2016 |
for the exams leading to my Masters we had to write on pencil and paper, not a dictionary in sight. Sole exception: those translating into a language that was not their native tongue were allowed to have a monolingula dictionary in either language.
when we complained that these working conditions had been out of date even before the turn of the century, the teachers explained that there was really no difference in the outcome even when students were allowed to use technology: good ... See more for the exams leading to my Masters we had to write on pencil and paper, not a dictionary in sight. Sole exception: those translating into a language that was not their native tongue were allowed to have a monolingula dictionary in either language.
when we complained that these working conditions had been out of date even before the turn of the century, the teachers explained that there was really no difference in the outcome even when students were allowed to use technology: good translators passed and bad translators failed, whatever the conditions. ▲ Collapse
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hs9jlp wrote: I've been invited to sit a translation exam for a job at a small international organisation. No problem since I have quite a lot of experience. BUT it's one of those where we're not allowed to use dictionaries. Now, I've tried the UN exams a million times and have never passed it - I personally think it's because I'm not really very good at guessing the meaning of a word from the context. Does anyone have any bright suggestions as to how to prepare for this exam? Other than doing lots and lots and lots of practice of translating things without a dictionary? I am fairly experienced but I really do have a bit of a stumbling block when it comes to translating without a dictionary, I wouldn't say I go to pieces but I'm not that great at guessing - I guess correctly usually about 50% of the time and the rest of the time I get it wrong and therefore fail the exam 
I had to sit those at grammar school (Latin and perhaps Greek, don't remember), and one was also used by my university as entry exam for translation school for non-translation master's graduates. In both directions.
The output obviously isn't comparable to your normal work, but it makes it easier for the grader to assess your language competence (as opposed to your research skills and emulation ability).
[Edited at 2016-04-18 13:02 GMT]
| | | | Robert Parry
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:55
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Texte Style wrote:
for the exams leading to my Masters we had to write on pencil and paper, not a dictionary in sight. Sole exception: those translating into a language that was not their native tongue were allowed to have a monolingula dictionary in either language.
when we complained that these working conditions had been out of date even before the turn of the century, the teachers explained that there was really no difference in the outcome even when students were allowed to use technology: good translators passed and bad translators failed, whatever the conditions.
Ah ok, so when I fail yet another one of them, I can take comfort in the fact that once again I've been proved to be either incompetent or just thick....
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| Don't take it to heart | Apr 18, 2016 |
hs9jlp wrote: My problem is these this is that I am monumentally SHIT (pardon my French) at exams without a dictionary - I've "had a go" at the UN's exam probably about 4 or 5 times since +/- 2003 and clearly have failed each and every time. Really makes me wonder whether I'm cut out. . . P.S. And yes, the exam is also to be done by hand 
I think you are beating yourself up and getting upset unnecessarily - I can't imagine who would want a translator who didn't check words and consider derivations and synonyms while translating. I certainly wouldn't assume you are not cut out for it just because you're not a mnemonist and you don't like guessing.
The only practical application I can think of for non-dictionary testing would be translating/interpreting in some sort of emergency scenario where you had to get the gist very fast.
[Edited at 2016-04-18 17:44 GMT]
| | | | | there is a point | Apr 19, 2016 |
Having set tests and corrected the results, there is a point to asking candidates to forgo dictionaries.
Nobody will be upset if you choose the wrong technical word, as long as what you put makes sense and is not too far out left field. When you join a company or an organisation, you pick up the in-house vocabulary as you go along, even as a freelancer where you have access to non-public information of this sort.
The test is on several levels: to see how you react to su... See more Having set tests and corrected the results, there is a point to asking candidates to forgo dictionaries.
Nobody will be upset if you choose the wrong technical word, as long as what you put makes sense and is not too far out left field. When you join a company or an organisation, you pick up the in-house vocabulary as you go along, even as a freelancer where you have access to non-public information of this sort.
The test is on several levels: to see how you react to such circumstances, how you get round problems if you don't know a particular word, whether you understand how the sentence hangs together (who is doing what to whom) and whether you can produce a text in well-written language with neither spelling nor grammar mistakes.
I suspect you have let yourself become overstressed about the lack of reference material and that this is pulling you down. They want to see how you function without a crutch. They don't expect perfection but are interested in how you deal with the challenge and rise above the difficulties.
Last but not least, you are not the only one taking the test. You may be a perfectly adequate translator but you may also have the misfortune to be competing with candidates stronger than yourself. It happens all the time. ▲ Collapse
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