Unit 10: In Context
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UNIT 10 Mediation Task B 2 Hungarian into English
In Context Real World Link
OVERVIEW ▼
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.
1. Hungarian and English in Context 2. Step By Step – Exam Techniques 3. Practice Exam Task
“Broadly speaking, the short words are the best, and the old words best of all.” Sir Winston Churchill What's the Exam Task? Mediation Task B 2: Translation of an informal letter from Hungarian to English. 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) b) c)
“Túró Rudi” “a tube-shaped chocolate-covered curd cheese bar” “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”?
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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
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:
☺ egyetemi hallgatók
university listenings
házias lekvár
houseproud marmalade
saját fürdőszobás lakosztály
an apartment with an own bathroom
panaszom ellenére
against my complaint
azért írok, hogy
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
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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
C Decide the genre E Remember set phrases and forms in English that have the same meaning
F Decide time and tenses
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
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Unit 10: In Context
Task Two: Translation – A letter (Write in English)
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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: Answer No. This is a sample answer written by the exam team.
This is a student's PASS answer. This is a student's FAIL answer. 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
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Unit 10: In Context
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