How to learn to translate better and faster. How to work with a dictionary and translate texts

Interpreting is not entertainment, but hard work

In the 25 years since the fall of the Iron Curtain, The profession of translator has become one of the most popular. And this, in turn, means sharply increased competition in the market for both written and interpreting. At the same time, the nature of translation work has changed in many ways, its intensity has increased, and the number of areas of knowledge in which a professional translator must navigate has increased. Accordingly, the requirements for the qualification of a translator have increased in general.

To be in demand and to work successfully in the market of both written and oral translations, a translator must find his niche. From a professional point of view, the decisive factors in the evaluation of a translator are his active translation experience and real translation qualifications. Maintaining this qualification at a competitive level requires hard work every day.

Anyone who is a professional translator know very well that in the absence of the practice of interpretation for three to six months, the speed of reaction and the overall quality of translation fall sharply. This is especially noticeable in simultaneous translation. An interpreter is not a profession that is enough to master once and for all in order to then rest on our laurels. Even experienced translators try, if possible, to prepare for each translation, to get acquainted with the texts of reports in advance, to refresh their knowledge in the subject area, and to mentally prepare themselves. For novice translators, this is all the more important.

I firmly believe that a true professional should be able to translate both orally and in writing with high quality, both from a foreign language into their native language and from their native language into a foreign one. It is universal translators who are most in demand on the market and have the best professional chances due to a wider range of services offered.

But the reality is that the proportion of translators who are engaged in both interpretation and translation at a good professional level is small. It is easier to find written translation orders than oral ones. Written translation can be done remotely, living in another city and even in another country. Interpretation requires the presence of an interpreter here and now. In large cities, such as Moscow or St. Petersburg, the size of the interpreting market is quite large, while in smaller cities interpreting is rather rare.

At the same time, translation and interpretation require the translator to have different professional skills and even different character traits. Therefore, everything is very individual: it is easier for one person to go to interpreting for the whole day, while for another, it is more comfortable to sit at home at the computer during the day, translating in writing.

From oral translator requires a higher level of active knowledge of a foreign language. This applies not only to translation as such, but also to the skills of oral speech in a foreign language (correct pronunciation, clear diction). Unlike a writer, an interpreter, as a rule, is deprived of the opportunity to use dictionaries, consult with colleagues, or google the translation on the Internet. He must make all decisions within a strict time limit, be able to adequately get out of the most difficult situations that cannot be foreseen in advance.

On the other hand, an interpreter does not need a deep reconciliation of terms, polishing of style, knowledge of the intricacies of spelling, the ability to correctly punctuate. In fact, he issues impromptu ( ad hoc) some raw material. At the same time, its main task is to provide live communication, if possible, without distortion of meaning and without serious omissions.

1. General language training
It is impossible to seriously study translation out of the blue, “from scratch”. To learn translation - whether written or oral - requires not just an advanced, but professional level of foreign language proficiency:not just the ability to famously say something in a foreign language, but the competent and conscious use of all linguistic means. The future translator must know why in this or that case it is necessary to say it this way and not in another way, be able to offer different translation options, feel the shades of meanings and subtext.

Therefore, teaching a foreign language “in full depth” is a necessary foundation for subsequent translation training. An attempt to teach professional translation is unlikely to be effective if the trainees have an insufficient language base.

Professional translation is impossible without a confident, active knowledge of both foreign and native languages, without the ability to freely switch between these two languages, translate in both directions. For an interpreter, the question “Can I translate into a non-native language?” sounds ridiculous, since two-way translation is one of the most important types of interpreting.

The ideal, but in practice difficult to achieve option for a translator is professional knowledge of one or more foreign languages ​​plus professional, or close to professional, knowledge of one or more subject areas in which he specializes.

2. Mastering the theoretical foundations and initial translation skills

Since translation is a purely applied discipline, knowledge of the history and theory of translation, as a rule, is not crucial for successful translation activities. Much of what is sometimes elevated to the rank of "theory" of translation is just a list of practical recommendations on how a translator should act in certain typical situations. But the tasks that a translator has to solve every day are so diverse that it is impossible to provide a “theory” for all occasions with all the desire.

Professional translation implies, first of all, the availability of practical translation skills in the specific niche in which the translator specializes. If a person has not written a single poem and read a full course in the theory of versification, then he will not automatically become a poet after that. In the same way, it is not enough to take a course in translation theory to become a qualified translator, even if you have managed to master a foreign language quite well. The theory of oral translation generally stands apart from the general theory of translation, which is mainly focused on written translation.

In any case, even necessary theoretical minimum it is best to teach in close connection with and in parallel with the teaching of practical translation. Otherwise, from listening to lectures on translation, the effect will be almost zero. In real translation practice, few professional translators think about the types of translation transformations, equivalence levels, etc. Translation techniques and skills are developed gradually as specific translation tasks are solved. In order to successfully engage in translation activities, it is necessary bring translation skills to automatism. To learn how to translate, one must translate and translate as much as possible.

At the same time (especially for a novice translator at the stage of his professional development) it is extremely important feedback: criticisms from the customer or editor of the translation and more experienced colleagues of translators. As part of the educational process, this corrective function is performed by the teacher. If no one corrects your translation, if you don’t “correct mistakes”, then you will continue to boil in your own juice and translate according to the principle “As you translated, it’s good”.

One of the vulnerabilities in the system of university training of interpreters is that this training, as a rule, is based on the so-called "educational translation ” (translation performed by students in the classroom as part of training sessions), the conditions of which, as a rule, are more comfortable than real translation. The pace of translated phrases is slow, No disturbing noise or other distractions. If the student did not hear the sentence, you can always ask again. Enough time to think. Tips are pouring in from all sides. No special stress. When translating by ear, you need to remember at least a phrase, but when translating from a sheet, even this is not required.

At the initial stage of learning to translate, educational translation and all this “simplification” is an inevitable evil. But as students develop their translation skills, it is desirable to increase the intensity of educational translation and bring the conditions for its implementation as close as possible to “combat” ones. Moreover, modern technical means and information technologies open up such opportunities for this, which 10-20 years ago could not even be dreamed of.

3.Relationship Between Translation and Interpretation Skills

Of course, every translator has the right, based on personal preferences and life situations, to specialize in translation or interpretation. Nevertheless, a true professional in this case must also be proficient in both types of translation.

After all, it is not uncommon for an interpreter to be asked to translate in writing the program of an event he or she is interpreting or the text of a communiqué (of course, this should not be done at the expense of interpretation). Similarly, a translator may find himself in a situation where he is asked to help with interpretation.

Proficiency in writing and speaking in a foreign language are two integral parts of professional language proficiency. And the skills of translation and interpreting are like two communicating vessels. Everything that a translator acquires and develops while performing written translations can be useful to him when interpreting on the same subject. And vice versa.

Written translation can be considered as the second step in mastering the translation profession after professional mastery of a foreign language. Acquiring good translation skills must precede mastering interpretation. Written translation not only disciplines, but also expands the vocabulary, gives knowledge of the basic terminology in the translated areas.

But what is even more important - with an in-depth study of written translations, the same automatism is developed that makes life easier for an interpreter; automatism, which is based on the knowledge of the main clichés and terms in two languages ​​at once and, accordingly, the activation at the subconscious level of the very “natural translation correspondences” that Ya.I. Retsker once identified and substantiated.

4. Simultaneous translation - the pinnacle of an interpreter's career

In contrast to Soviet times, when simultaneous interpreting was required only at the CPSU congresses, which took place every 5 years, and at a few international congresses, the simultaneous interpreter profession has become a truly mass one. There are many legends around her, the main of which is the exorbitant fees of simultaneous interpreters.

Visitors to my websites about the profession of an interpreter (website, Perevod.name) often ask how and where you can learn simultaneous translation “quickly”. Usually novice translators ask this question, and many of them live far from large cities. I doubt very much that foreign experts and delegations go there at all.

My answer is usually this:

In order to learn simultaneous translation, it is desirable not only to be fluent in a foreign language, but also to already have advanced skills in intensive consecutive translation. Simultaneous translation is, in fact, a translation extreme, which not every even a strong interpreter can handle.

You should take up the development of simultaneous translation only if you have the necessary data for this (speed of reaction, stress resistance, physical endurance) and if you are sure that in the foreseeable future you will be able to really work in this specialty. Learning simultaneous translation “for yourself”, in reserve (“maybe someday it will come in handy”) is completely pointless. It's like joining the cosmonaut corps if you are not going to fly into space in the next 10 years.

But, of course, you need to try yourself in simultaneous translation in order to find out how exactly this type of translation suits you. The fundamental differences between consecutive and simultaneous translation is a separate big topic. Not everyone who interprets consecutively takes on simultaneous interpreting. And not all interpreters who can interpret simultaneously are able to provide qualified consecutive interpreting.

Yuri Novikov
certified translator of German and English
Chairman of the Board of the Moscow Regional Branch of the SPR

Article written April 26-27, 2014
for the thematic issue of the journal "World of Translation" (official body of the Union of Translators of Russia)
and published in MP No. 1 (31), January - June 2014.
Special issue dedicated to the SPR Summer School "Modern Interpreting",
which was held in the city of Pushkin from July 14 to 20, 2014.

Learning the basics of translation

Most modern methods do not include translation exercises. Basically, all tasks today are aimed at the development of colloquial speech, and not at how to translate into English. This is a very rational approach to learning a foreign language. However, the good old text translation tasks have their undeniable advantages. It is especially important to engage in translation for those who plan to link their professional activities with English in the future.

In this article, we propose to look at the benefits of translating texts from one language into another, and how to translate correctly.

Options for translation exercises

1. Pick a good textbook
   Find a quality manual for English in Russian. As a rule, such training materials are full of various exercises for translating from Russian into English and vice versa. In such manuals, tasks, for the most part, are provided for practicing various grammatical structures, and by studying regularly, you can bring the use of most of them to automatism. You can find a paper version of the textbook, or look for exercises online.
2. Interpretation and translation
   Practice both interpreting and writing. Both exercises have their benefits. So, by translating the text orally, you will be able to work out your pronunciation and will immediately practice speaking. Whereas when translating, you will practice spelling.
3. Translate from dictation
   We recommend trying simultaneous translation. Ask someone to dictate a text to you in Russian, and immediately write down the English version of this text yourself. Such classes will allow you to learn how to find speech matches as quickly as possible, develop the speed of thinking, and also allow you to practice using the learned vocabulary and grammar. In this way, you will contribute to the transfer of words from the passive vocabulary to the active one, which will make it easier to remember them during communication.
4. Read and translate
   Find an article in English on the Internet that will match your level of knowledge. Try to translate it. Remember that when translating, the most important thing is to convey the meaning of what the author said, so if the text contains about 10% of unfamiliar vocabulary, do not rush to translate it, just try to understand the meaning of unfamiliar words from the context. It will be great if this article is already in a professional translation. Thus, you can compare your creation with her and check how well you feel the English language.
5. From Russian into English
   Find a simple text in Russian and try to translate it into English. Children's stories or articles with simple vocabulary are ideal for performing such an exercise. Write down your version of the translation, and after a while check it for errors. You can ask a friend who speaks English well or a teacher to check your text and compare it with the translation. Also, if among your friends there is a person who, like you, is studying English, you can offer him to translate the same story separately, and then compare your translations. You will be surprised how differently one text can be translated.
6. Compare yourself to a professional translator
   Take a book in English and try to translate a few paragraphs from it into Russian. Of course, you need to choose a book that will suit your level. For example, at below-intermediate levels, translate children's fairy tales and stories with simple vocabulary, at an intermediate level, try to translate something from modern literature, however, pay attention that it does not contain a lot of slang. Those who improve their knowledge can try to dare to translate the classics. After completing the exercise, compare your version of the translation with the professional one. Look at what words you used to convey the meaning of what you wrote, and what words the translator used. This is not only a great way to hone your knowledge, but also an opportunity to once again discover the richness of both Russian and English.

The benefits of translation exercises

The communicative method by which students are taught in most modern schools is rightfully considered the most effective. However, teachers do not advise abandoning the practice of translating texts from Russian into English and vice versa. Let's find out why.

1. Practicing learned words in practice
   By translating the text, you will work out the learned words and grammatical constructions in practice. At the same time, you will practice using new vocabulary in context. Plus, it's a great way to build up your vocabulary. So, not knowing how to translate this or that word, you will have to look into the dictionary, and then use it correctly when doing the exercise. By doing written translation, you will also memorize how a particular word is spelled correctly.
2. You will learn how to choose the right words
   It would seem that why you need to be able to translate, if there are a huge number of online translators: you enter the desired phrase - and in a second the translation is ready. However, an automatic program is just a program that does not understand the subtleties of the language, and often translates texts very clumsily. Almost every word in English has several meanings, and synonymous words are not always interchangeable, and how many stable phrases exist that cannot be translated literally ... By translating, you can develop an understanding of speech, and learn how to choose words correctly and use them in your own speech.
3. Grammar work
   You will be able to better understand how various grammatical constructions are used in practice. Compare the grammar of Russian and English. For example, there are more tenses in English than in Russian. However, often in Russian, in order to give what is said one shade or another, which is transmitted in English, thanks to the use of tenses, we will use different prefixes and suffixes. Translation exercises will help you better understand the difference between English tenses, and you will definitely stop getting confused in them.
4. You stop translating everything verbatim
   It is far from always possible to translate English phrases verbatim to make a coherent speech, and not a pun. By translating, you will be able to better understand the English language, and learn to establish language correspondences, rather than translating each word separately. You will understand that the main thing in translation is not every single word, but the meaning of what was said. By the way, this is a great exercise for the development of thinking, which will teach you to think more broadly and broaden your horizons.
5. You learn to build sentences correctly
   Taking into account the fact that in Russian there are no certain rules for the order of words in a sentence, sometimes the construction of sentences in English is difficult. During the translation exercises, you will learn how to build English sentences correctly, thanks to which you will be able to express yourself competently during communication. And at advanced levels, you can practice using stylistic inversion as well.
6. You will learn to think in English
   It may seem that translation exercises, on the contrary, call for thinking in Russian. However, by practicing translation, you will learn to mentally compose sentences in English, that is, to think in English phrases, not Russian ones.
   As you can see, translation exercises can contribute to effective English learning. They allow you to better understand the language, understand its intricacies and work out the acquired knowledge in practice. Such classes will be especially useful for those who have just set foot on the path of learning English.

Translation exercises are actually a very creative activity that requires the ability to think broadly and creatively. Knowing how to translate into English is very important, because it develops a sense of speech and helps to hone your knowledge of the language.

In order to learn how to translate correctly, consider the algorithm of written translation of text from English into Russian. The whole process of translation can be conditionally divided into two stages: comprehension and reproduction of the text. No matter how strange it may seem, but first you need to work with the text without dictionaries or online translators (or with minimal use of them).

The slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts / George Orwell /

And only after that proceed directly to the translation.

The sloppiness of our language contributes to the appearance of stupid thoughts in us (J. Orwell)

So, about everything in more detail.

Minimum stages of translation - plan:

1. Comprehension of the text.

The first reading is familiar words - theme - style - type.

Second reading - the image of the text

2. Text reproduction.

Translation - word - sentence - paragraph.

And a third reading.

Making sense of the text

First reading.Experts in the field of translation advise: "Do not think about what you are reading in another language, try to abstract and just understand the meaning of the text."

Wherein rely on familiar words. Do not rush to say that you do not know English very well. Even those who have never encountered English speech know several hundred English words. Yes it's true. These are words that came into Russian from English, for example, business, manager, merchandiser and international words that came to both English and Russian from Latin, Greek or French, for example, algebra, geography, museum, radio.

You can also check your vocabulary on special sites.

Tie familiar words into a common theme. This will facilitate translation by limiting the vocabulary to a narrow range of words, for example: home, sister, daddy, sweet… - the theme of the text is obviously “family”. Restricting all meanings of words and phrases to a specific topic will help you in the next steps when choosing the right meaning from dozens of possible ones.

Then define the text type:

narration (a story about any events, actions in time),

description (listing the signs or characteristics of something - an object, phenomenon, place),

reasoning (the main feature of which will be the proof of something, the indication of reasons, the persuasion of the reader or listener).

After that, find out the text style:

scientific (which is distinguished by the presence of terms, emphasized logical presentation and lack of emotions),

official-business (in which information is also important, there are no emotions and evaluation, but fewer terms),

journalistic style (its goal is to convince the reader, influence him now by all means - logic and emotionality),

artistic (where figurativeness, metaphor comes to the fore, and logic and consistency are relegated to the background), and colloquial style of the text (characterized by simplicity, ease and emotions).

Second reading is aimed at forming a mental image of the text - how everything read in a foreign language can be said in one's own. That is, familiar words associated with the topic, style and type of text form its image.

Text playback

Translation is a word. Find equivalents of unfamiliar words or combinations in dictionaries, based on the prevailing image of the text. The most convenient and popular dictionaries are:

lingvo-online.ru - convenient high-quality search for words, stable combinations with them and specific examples in which this word occurs.

dic.academic.ru, the convenience of which is to search for meanings in dozens of specialized dictionaries, for example, scientific, economic, political, and others.

multitran.ru is valued for the fact that translation options for rare words and expressions are left here by professional translators who have already encountered these words in practice. There is a live forum where you can find solutions to difficult translation situations.

For even more advanced translations, you can use explanatory dictionaries that decipher, explain the meaning of an English word or expression with simpler English words: more often than others, I use urbandictionary.com - many, including the most recent, slang expressions are explained here.

You can also pay attention to dictionary.cambridge.org, thefreedictionary.com.

The choice of the meaning of words and combinations is influenced by:

1) Context.

2) Metaphors, Idioms.

3) Polysemy.

1) Context - the environment of the translated word or phrase.

For example:

the theory of Einstein - Einstein's theory

the theory of Christ - the teachings of Christ.

One word is translated differently in different environments.

2) Metaphors, Idioms. Words and phrases in a figurative sense are translated equivalent - in dictionaries you need to look for the whole phrase or try to understand the figurative meaning that the author put into it.

For example: I'll move heaven and earth to achieve my goal - I will move mountains for my goal. Look: there are no words to fold in the original at all, but we see that the sentence is - "I will move heaven and earth to reach my goal"- it doesn’t sound quite Russian and we are looking for something that seems to fall out of the rest of the environment - "I will move heaven and earth". We find that this is an idiom, a phraseological unit, and it has a specific dictionary equivalent of "I will turn the mountain."

3) Polysemy. This is where the topic restriction that we made earlier in the second stage, when we made up the mental image of the text, comes in handy. Based on this image, we choose the most suitable from dozens of values.

For example:

Some sort of religious thing? - For religious reasons?

And then he did that odd thing. And then he did a very strange thing.

Janey looked around the room for the nearest thing with which to hit her. - Janey began to look around the room in search of a heavy object.

By the way, the most ambiguous word in English is set which has 127 meanings.

Ignoring these three indicators - context, figurative meaning and ambiguity - can be easily seen. Copy the text to the online translator and get technical translation- a set of words, not always connected and often meaningless. Why? Details.

Translation - proposal. We move on to the next step and link familiar words and equivalents of unfamiliar ones (found in dictionaries just now) into sentences.

At the same time, remember that English has a fixed word order, in Russian free.

Therefore, when choosing the meaning of a word, you need to look at its place in the sentence.

In Russian: mother washed the frame - mother washed the frame - mother washed the frame.

In English: mother washed frame, frame washed mother(from changing the order of words, the meaning changes).

Particular attention is on verbs. Verbs in English have a number of unique features: there are phrasal verbs (get after - to pursue, take after - to be like, etc.) that are not in Russian.

There are 16 tenses in English (simple, continuous, perfect) - in Russian there are three.

Then we move on to making sentences in paragraphsto express a larger thought in the text. What could not be said in one sentence, for example, a joke or an author's metaphor, can be moved to another place in the paragraph, retaining the original idea.

And finally third reading- now his own translation. Read the resulting text, correct all errors (spelling, grammar, punctuation). In addition to the text verification function built into the Word, there are online services. For example text.ru.

In the resulting translation pay attention to matching: the meaning of the text, the general theme, type, style, whether the context is taken into account in the translation, whether the author's metaphors and idioms are correctly conveyed and the meanings of polysemantic words are chosen.

Very important. Before reading the resulting translation, you need to take a break from the text for a while. Ideally, drink a cup of coffee or take a walk. The third reading should be "from outside".

© Obzhorin Alexey, 2015

If it doesn't work, try again.
I did not understand the text of the paragraph - re-read.
I could not translate the text into English - read and translate again.

I remember these simple school rules. The school does not say that you can change the method or approach. And they continue to feed the students with illusions that if “you suffer for a long time, something will work out”

Albert Einstein said, “Doing the same thing and hoping for a different result is the first sign of insanity.”

Surprisingly, until now, it is on this principle that they are taught in almost all schools in Russia.

I will give a simple example. How are they taught to translate text at school?

In elementary school, children are taught to translate text like this: you read - you find unfamiliar words - you translate them - you translate the text.

In practice, this process looks like this:

The child begins to read the text when he sees an unfamiliar word, asks his mother or father how it is translated? (because it’s easier than looking it up yourself) If mom or dad doesn’t speak, then he looks up the word in the dictionary
Continue reading the text.
A new unfamiliar word is a new dead end.
Continues reading.

It often happens that by the middle of the text the child asks the parents for a word, the translation of which has already been asked.

And at the end of such a reading, he does not understand at all what he read about. In addition, all the same words will be asked again.

And, on the cola bast, start over. What is said to the child in this case?

Read the text again and translate again if you do not understand the meaning.

When my son went to the second grade, we moved to another part of the city and changed schools.

At the new school, children studied English from the first grade. Therefore, they already translated texts and taught poems.

I remember very well the assignments for translating the text to Andrey. Because it was then that, taking into account my knowledge, I applied a completely different algorithm for translating texts with the child.

Which my son really liked, and therefore saved my nerve cells.

Here is what we did to translate texts efficiently:

1. At first, Andrei skimmed through the text and underlined unfamiliar words
2. In the new text there were sometimes 3, sometimes 10
3. Next, we wrote out new words on separate small cards the size of a business card. On the one hand - the English word, on the other - the translation.
4. Learned words through associations or context
5. Knowing all the words of the text, the child began to read
6. And therefore, had no obstacles in the form of new words, easily translated the text

Watch the video and 4 steps that teach the correct text translation algorithm:

During the program you:

• Learn 1000 new English words
• Learn how to instill an interest in language in a child?
• Secrets of pronunciation of English sounds from a speech therapist with the correct setting
• Make and learn a top-map of travel words
• Master the effective method of memorizing words (association method and context method)
• In the course you will find not the theory of the language, but the development of technology in practice

Also you:

• Learn 8 mistakes that parents and children make when learning a language
• Secrets of preparation of translation and retelling of school texts
• What are articles? How to stop confusing articles once and for all?
• Complex grammar in simple language (English tenses with the help of Renata Kirilina's "Skyscraper" author's technique)
• Modal verbs
• Formation of interrogative, affirmative and negative statements in all tenses
• Memorize important set expressions of the language
• Practice the 4 language skills: reading, writing, understanding, speaking

As a result of the course, you