JAPN 304: Introduction to Translation and Interpretation
This course is an introduction to translating and interpreting that provides an overview of the knowledge necessary for the field of translation and interpretation. Students will study general issues involved in translating and interpreting and the building blocks for the necessary knowledge and techniques including rapid reading, analyzing, summarizing and paraphrasing, listening comprehension, and shadowing. Taught in Japanese.
Towards MLO 1
Towards MLO 1
Reflective Narrative
This course helped to improve all areas of my communication, but in particular I think my interpretive communication improved a lot. We did a lot of in class activities, especially during the first half of the semester designed to increase our scanning and skimming capabilities. This was done using a textbook that was designed to increase reading speed. Scanning is being able to quickly look over a document or other thing with text and pick out symbols or words you are looking for, and skimming is the ability to get the gist of a text without having to read every word on the page. My reading speed and kanji recognition improved a lot, though I didn't realize it at first. We also went over grammar, as that is apparently the most important thing for translators to know to get the gist of texts, beyond vocabulary, which is relatively easy to look up. Moving from these textbook exercises, we practiced shadowing and narration to improve our accents for interpretation. I learned what "mora" are, basically the equivalent of syllables but not quite the same, and the common pitch accent patterns in standard Japanese. Pitch accent is important for speaking Japanese fluently, as the placement of high and low pitches can change the meaning of words. We also practiced site translation, first from Japanese to English, and for our final presentation, English to Japanese. Learning how to match up the order of words and phrases between English and Japanese to maintain the same emphasis, meaning, and clarity was really interesting. Through an extra credit assignment, reading "In Other Words" and summarizing it, I gained a deeper understanding of and interest in translation. I found the linguistic elements present in translation to be especially interesting.
I would like to continue to improve my reading speed, kanji recognition, and pitch accent. Unfortunately, I find it very hard to hear differences in pitch in language, as my ears have not been trained to do that, so improving my pitch accent will be a challenge. I plan to continue to practice reading and shadowing in order to meet these goals.
I would like to continue to improve my reading speed, kanji recognition, and pitch accent. Unfortunately, I find it very hard to hear differences in pitch in language, as my ears have not been trained to do that, so improving my pitch accent will be a challenge. I plan to continue to practice reading and shadowing in order to meet these goals.