JAPN304: Introduction to translation & interpretation
Course Description:
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. This class will be conducted in Japanese.
This course is designed for students who are at the Intermediate-low or higher level of proficiency, aiming at the Intermediate-High level of proficiency. It counts toward fulfilling MLO 1~ 4 (Major Learning Outcomes1) in the World Languages and Cultures Major with an emphasis in Japanese at CSUMB and in Japanese Language and Cultures Minor at CSUMB.
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. This class will be conducted in Japanese.
This course is designed for students who are at the Intermediate-low or higher level of proficiency, aiming at the Intermediate-High level of proficiency. It counts toward fulfilling MLO 1~ 4 (Major Learning Outcomes1) in the World Languages and Cultures Major with an emphasis in Japanese at CSUMB and in Japanese Language and Cultures Minor at CSUMB.
Reflective narrative
Throughout the course of JAPN304, Introduction to Translation and Interpretation, I was able to increase my pronunciation and proficiency both in Japanese and in English by participating in a variety of exercises such as, but not limited to, textbook reading exercises, shadowing practices, sight translations, group discussions and group projects. The course utilized many tangible examples including Japanese restaurant menus, newspaper articles concerning current as well as historical events, and well-known children’s stories to translate from Japanese to English as well as sometimes English to Japanese. All of these exercises contributed to the four skills of communication as well as fulfilled MLO 1.1 in a fun, yet informative manner. For this course, one of my final projects was to work alongside two other group members to subtitle a Japanese variety show 「マツコの知らない世界」(The World Unknown to Matsuko). We collaborated effectively and time efficiently to transcribe and translate the show in order to create subtitles for our final video clip.
In relation to MLO 1.2, there was a very reasonable amount of time set aside to learn bushu, the Japanese kanji radicals. Being able to recognize the radicals of kanji was one of the most helpful experiences to me within this course, as it increased not only my reading fluency but I likewise developed a greater understanding of stroke order and the cultural origins of kanji. I feel I did really well for this section of the course, as I am very interested in writing kanji. I studied hard for the quiz we had on Japanese radical identification and scored 100%. In addition, learning how to sight read was a great challenge, but deepened my understanding of sentence structures when translating E->J or J->E. Having a background in the English language definitely helped me increase my knowledge on structural differences between Japanese and English, such as when having to determine subjects in a sentence as well as having to determine how to chunk words to form into a sentence that essentially appears backwards.
I often had moments where I felt confused or that I didn’t know enough in this class, but recognizing those hesitations allows me room for improvement. I now know what I would like to focus on to improve my own Japanese, such as utilizing translation methods such as “Quick Response” to increase my vocabulary and “Active Listening” to improve summarizing somewhat large chunks of dialogue.
I recognize that as a future Japanese teacher there will often be times where I have to translate my words to make myself understandable to students. Already I have come across family and friends who ask how to say words or phrases in Japanese or what the Japanese symbols on an item or sign mean. As these practical instances begin to appear more frequently in my life, I hope to improve at least on common translation topics such as restaurant menus and signage (which I can see in areas of the US) and work my way up to being able to translate sections of websites, comics, novels, and newspaper articles as I enter my hopeful future of studying abroad and becoming a Japanese language and culture teacher.
In relation to MLO 1.2, there was a very reasonable amount of time set aside to learn bushu, the Japanese kanji radicals. Being able to recognize the radicals of kanji was one of the most helpful experiences to me within this course, as it increased not only my reading fluency but I likewise developed a greater understanding of stroke order and the cultural origins of kanji. I feel I did really well for this section of the course, as I am very interested in writing kanji. I studied hard for the quiz we had on Japanese radical identification and scored 100%. In addition, learning how to sight read was a great challenge, but deepened my understanding of sentence structures when translating E->J or J->E. Having a background in the English language definitely helped me increase my knowledge on structural differences between Japanese and English, such as when having to determine subjects in a sentence as well as having to determine how to chunk words to form into a sentence that essentially appears backwards.
I often had moments where I felt confused or that I didn’t know enough in this class, but recognizing those hesitations allows me room for improvement. I now know what I would like to focus on to improve my own Japanese, such as utilizing translation methods such as “Quick Response” to increase my vocabulary and “Active Listening” to improve summarizing somewhat large chunks of dialogue.
I recognize that as a future Japanese teacher there will often be times where I have to translate my words to make myself understandable to students. Already I have come across family and friends who ask how to say words or phrases in Japanese or what the Japanese symbols on an item or sign mean. As these practical instances begin to appear more frequently in my life, I hope to improve at least on common translation topics such as restaurant menus and signage (which I can see in areas of the US) and work my way up to being able to translate sections of websites, comics, novels, and newspaper articles as I enter my hopeful future of studying abroad and becoming a Japanese language and culture teacher.