Translation skills (English to German)

Translation skills (English to German)
Spot the differences
The German and English texts are not quite the same! Underline the differences in
the German text.
Ich wohne in einem Dorf etwa 10
I live in a town called
Kilometer westlich von
Wolfenbüttel about thirteen
Braunschweig, das Vechelde
kilometres south of Braunschweig.
heißt. Wir haben ein Doppelhaus
We have a detached house on
in der Dorfmitte. In Vechelde gibt the edge of town. There is a
es eine Bäckerei, eine Metzgerei
castle, a church and a small
und einen kleinen Bahnhof, aber
supermarket in Wolfenbüttel but
keine Buchhandlung. Ich wohne
no cinema. I like living in
nicht gern in Vechelde, weil es zu
Wolfenbüttel because it’s very
ruhig ist.
quiet.
----------------  -------------------------------------------------------------------------Spot the differences
The German and English texts are not quite the same! Underline the differences in
the German text.
Ich wohne in einem Dorf etwa 10
I live in a town called
Kilometer westlich von
Wolfenbüttel about thirteen
Braunschweig, das Vechelde
kilometres south of Braunschweig.
heißt. Wir haben ein Doppelhaus
We have a detached house on
in der Dorfmitte. In Vechelde gibt the edge of town. There is a
es eine Bäckerei, eine Metzgerei
castle, a church and a small
und einen kleinen Bahnhof, aber
supermarket in Wolfenbüttel but
keine Buchhandlung. Ich wohne
no cinema. I like living in
nicht gern in Vechelde, weil es zu
Wolfenbüttel because it’s very
ruhig ist.
quiet.
© www.teachitlanguage.co.uk 2014
23231
Page 1 of 3
Translation skills (English to German)
Teaching notes
A series of strategies to develop students’ translation skills from English to German. The
examples used can be easily adapted to different contexts according to the topic you
are studying. You will need one copy of the activity on p.1 for each pair of students.
Starter (slide 2): translating the present tense
Students translate the verbs into German – this could be done on mini whiteboards. This
activity highlights the fact that the simple present tense and the continuous present tense
are translated in the same way in German. The answers are animated in, one by one.
Activity 1 (slide 3): dictionary skills
Divide students into groups of three and give each group a dictionary. Assign one of the
10 words from slide 3 to each group to look up. If you have fewer students, those who
work fastest can look up more words. Ask them to make notes on how to translate their
word and to explain the potential problems.
The point of this exercise is to make students aware that they need to consider whether
the word they want is a noun, verb or adjective etc. as well as choosing the best word for
the context of a specific sentence.
Selected students can then come to the front to explain the various translation options for
their given word and to highlight the potential problems.
Activity 2 (slide 4): corrections
Ask students to look at the three incorrect sentences and identify what the errors are and
why they occurred. More able students may suggest correct versions of these (the
answers will animate in on clicking). Emphasise the dangers of word for word translation
and the need to ‘think in German’.
© www.teachitlanguage.co.uk 2014
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Page 2 of 3
Translation skills (English to German)
Activity 3 (slide 5): Wordle translation
Ask students to translate the English sentence into German using all the words in the
Wordle in the correct order (Ich esse Brot und Marmelade zum Frühstück). If your students
need more practice, use http://www.wordle.net to create more sentences of your
choice.
Activity 4 (slide 6): translation prompts
Students translate the sentences from English into German but are given the first letter of
each word as support. Students needing more support could be given Wordles of the
vocabulary. The answers and an extension are animated in.
Activity 5 (slide 7–8): spot the differences
Hand out one copy of the texts from p.1 of this document for each pair of students. Ask
students to read and compare the German and English texts with a partner and spot the
differences. Students can come to the whiteboard to circle the differences they have
found. Answers (see below) will appear on clicking:
I live in a town called Wolfenbüttel about thirteen kilometres south of
Braunschweig. We have a detached house on the edge of town. There is a
castle, a church and a small supermarket in Wolfenbüttel but no cinema. I like
living in Wolfenbüttel because it’s very quiet.
They should then write a correct German translation of the English text on the right by
adapting the German phrases in the text on the left. This could then be self or peer
assessed using the model answer on slide 8.
© www.teachitlanguage.co.uk 2014
23231
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