Unit 10: In Context 55 UNIT 10 Mediation Task B 2 Hungarian into English In Context OVERVIEW 1. Hungarian and English in Context 2. Step By Step Exam Techniques Real World Link Students who have studied English are often asked by friends for help in translating documents. Sometimes these are formal things but often they are informal invitations, love letters, postcards, letters to foreign friends, etc. 3. Practice Exam Task Broadly speaking, the short words are the best, and the old words best of all. What's the Exam Task? Mediation Task B 2: Translation of an informal letter from Hungarian to English. Sir Winston Churchill This is a more traditional translation exercise. You are given a letter in Hungarian and you must translate it into English. The marking scheme is less traditional as you are marked more on whether you communicate the message clearly than on how accurate your language is. 1. Hungarian and English in Context Work in a small group. Túró Rudi is an example of something that exists in Hungary but has no exact equivalent in Britain. Discuss: which of these translations of "Túró Rudi" do you think would be best for each of the following texts: (1) in a novel (2) in a book on Hungarian food (3) in a poem about a Hungarian childhood. a) Túró Rudi b) a tube-shaped chocolate-covered curd cheese bar c) a popular chocolate bar Exercise 1A should make you think about some problems of translating. Discuss: Is it possible to translate everything exactly? Can you go through a text translating each word one by one? What is more important, getting the right word or getting the meaning right? Does the choice of translation depend on the kind of text? Are some things untranslatable?
56 Unit 10: In Context Different languages have different structures. They often express the same thing in different ways. Some words like anya or szék are used the same way in Hungarian and in English, but other basic words like már or még might cover different areas in the two languages, so they might be translated in many different ways. Use your Hungarian-English dictionary. Find the word érkezik and find some English translations. Write the English words in the web. ÉRKEZIK egyetemi hallgatók házias lekvár saját fürdőszobás lakosztály panaszom ellenére azért írok, hogy Now close your dictionaries, and translate these sentences into English: 1. A kettes vágányon álló vonat Woking, Guildford, Havant és Portsmouth Southsea érintésével érkezik Portsmouth Harbour-ba. 2. Megegyezésre jutottunk. 3. Menjen végig ezen az utcán, amíg a postához nem ér. 4. Mennyi idő alatt lehet odaérni? 5. Két hónapja érkeztem Bostonba. Now check your dictionaries again. Are you still happy with your answers? Words often have many different meanings. You can only decide which meaning is correct in context. Many mistakes are made because the right word is used in the wrong way or incorrectly. Below you can see some funny mistranslations from previous exams. Correct them: university listenings houseproud marmalade an apartment with an own bathroom against my complaint therefore I write, that Are there any difficult words you haven t seen before in the correct versions? Did you really need your dictionaries to find the right option? What did you need instead?
Unit 10: In Context 57 2. Step by Step Exam Techniques Put the following hints in the order. you might use them in an exam when doing a translation task. A Translate sentence by sentence B Read the whole text and get the overall message D Read your work and check F Decide time and tenses C Decide the genre E Remember set phrases and forms in English that have the same meaning G Check your dictionary B Read the whole text and get the overall message 3. Practice Exam Task Translate this letter into English. You may use your dictionary if necessary. You have 20 minutes. Kedves Carla! Két hónappal ezelőtt érkeztem ide, Bostonba. A család, akiknél lakom, nagyon kedves. Az angol először nehéz volt, de most már sokat megértek. Van itt egy magyar barátom, ő segít, ha szükséges. Ő fordította le ezt a levelet. Remélem, a következő levelemet már meg tudom neked írni angolul. Üdvözlettel, Judit
58 Unit 10: In Context Task Two: Translation A letter (Write in English)
Unit 10: In Context 59 Turn to page 158, where you will find three answers. Read them and decide which one fits each of these three headings. Write the numbers in the table below: This is a sample answer written by the exam team. This is a student's PASS answer. This is a student's FAIL answer. Answer No. Which one is most like your answer? Now look at the marking grid and the marks of the two candidates. Compare them with your work and mark your answer on page 125. For the subjective mark see the Marking Criteria on page 7 in Sample Set One. Read the list of possible problem areas. Tick the ones you think you will work on: I have to work on my. legible handwriting layout and organisation time management spelling word order prepositions use of verb tenses set phrases for letters general set phrases use of dictionary Translate the following letter at home. Give it to your teacher for marking in the next lesson, or mark it yourself with the help of the sample answer and the marking grid on pages 126 and 127. Kedves Annabel! Jövő hónapban Andrással Londonba utazunk egy konferenciára. Nagyon jó lenne találkozni, nem? Elég elfoglalt leszek napközben, de lesz néhány szabad estém. Mi lenne, ha egyszer együtt vacsoráznánk? Vauxhallban fogunk lakni egy kis szállodában. András majd segít a társalgásban, bár én is többet tudok már angolul, mint tavaly. Szeretettel: Kati
60 Unit 10: In Context -