Developing translation skills: English to French

Developing translation skills: English to French
Step 1: identify the main themes.
Read the whole text below and write a title for it. Then identify the general
content of each paragraph and write a subheading for each.
Title: .......................................................................................................................................
Paragraph 1 subheading: ...................................................................................................
Every summer, I go on holiday to Aquitaine with my family. It’s a good chance to
rest! My parents and my sister sleep in the cottage, but my brother and I actually
prefer to sleep in a tent in the garden. I love adventure! It’s really fun even if
sometimes it's a bit cold.
Paragraph 2 subheading: ..................................................................................................
Generally, in the morning we go to the market with my parents who love buying
fruit, vegetables – and rabbit (gross!). Then we go back home and we do the
cooking together.
Paragraph 3 subheading: ...................................................................................................
Then we spend the afternoon with our friends Pierre and François. They stay at The
Forest campsite. We go to the beach together. When we were little our parents
were always with us, but now we are independent. We used to play football
before but now we play volleyball. Next year I’ll have the chance to go horseriding with my friends, however it costs a lot of money.
Paragraph 4 subheading: ...................................................................................................
Finally, in the evening we go to the ice cream shop: the ice cream is delicious,
especially the vanilla and chocolate.
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Developing translation skills: English to French
Teaching notes
This resource is designed to highlight some effective strategies which KS3 students
can use to improve their translation skills from English to French. The step-by-step
approach will scaffold their eventual translation of a longer text on the theme of
holidays.
Step 1: Identify the main themes
Project slide 2 and give each pair or group of students the English text on p.1 of this
Word document to read. Ask them to agree on a good title and subheadings for
each paragraph. The best or most popular suggestions can be added to slide 3.
Step 2: Identify the cognates
Slide 4 prompts students to define the term ‘cognate’ and give more examples
(e.g. le foot, le tennis, le problème, la solution, la question etc.). Ask the students
to read the English text again, highlighting or underlining any words which they
think may be cognates.
Answers are given on slide 5. If students have highlighted more than 19 words,
move on to slide 6 to explain this pitfall.
Step 3: Watch out for ‘false friends’
Slide 6 prompts students to explain the terms ‘false friends’ or ‘faux amis’ from the
examples given. Elicit additional examples (e.g. des chips, l’addition, une cave,
sympathique etc.).
Use slide 7 to elicit the obvious translations of four words from the text. Divide the
class into two equal groups. Half the class should work in pairs or groups using
dictionaries to look up the English words and find the correct translations. The
other half should look up the French words to find out what they actually mean.
At the end of the activity, ask students to find a partner from the other group and
share their findings. Answers on slide 8.
Step 4: Consider word order
In pairs, students discuss the options given for each sentence on slide 9 and vote
for the correct version (A = 2, B = 1, C = 2) giving the grammar rule if they can.
Answers will appear on clicking.
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Developing translation skills: English to French
Step 5: Genders, plurals and adjective endings
In pairs, students discuss questions A and B on slide 10. Ask for feedback,
encouraging them to explain how they know. Answers appear on clicking.
Step 6: Verbs and tenses
Slide 11 encourages students to think about the correct verb forms and tenses.
1. allons = aller, 1st person plural (nous), present tense, ‘go/are going’.
2. étaient= être, 3rd person plural (ils/elles), imperfect tense, ‘were/used to be’.
3. dorment = dormir, 3rd person plural (ils/elles), present tense, ‘sleep/are
sleeping’.
Step 7: Avoid Google translate
Slides 12-13 recap the six steps covered so far and emphasise the dangers of using
Google translate. Suggest www.wordreference.com as a useful online dictionary
instead. The YouTube link on slide 13 is for a video based on the lyrics for the Fresh
Prince of Bel-Air, demonstrating what happens to the words of the rap when they
are translated into Mandarin (and other languages) and then back into English
using Google translate. The first 1m 44s make the point!
Plenary discussion and translation time
Slide 14 is a plenary discussion activity to review the translation techniques
covered in the lesson.
Slide 15 suggests that students work in groups to translate the text from p.1.
Alternatively this could be set as a homework task. A possible model translation is
provided on p.4.
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Developing translation skills: English to French
Suggested translation
Chaque été je vais en vacances en Aquitaine avec ma famille. C’est une bonne
occasion pour se reposer! Mes parents et ma sœur dorment dans le gîte, mais
mon frère et moi, en fait, nous préférons dormir dans une tente dans le jardin.
J’aime les aventures! C’est vraiment amusant même si quelquefois il fait un peu
froid.
Généralement, le matin, nous allons au marché avec mes parents qui adorent
acheter des fruits, des légumes – et du lapin (dégoûtant!). Puis on rentre et nous
faisons la cuisine ensemble.
Puis nous passons l’après-midi avec nos amis Pierre et François. Ils logent au
camping La Forêt. Nous allons à la plage ensemble. Quand nous étions petits, nos
parents étaient toujours avec nous, mais maintenant nous sommes indépendants.
Avant, on jouait au foot mais maintenant nous jouons au volley. L’année
prochaine j’aurai l’occasion de faire de l’équitation, cependant ça coûte très
cher.
Finalement, le soir nous allons au magasin de glaces: les glaces sont délicieuses,
surtout la vanille et le chocolat.
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