JAPN 304 - Introduction to Translation and 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. Taught in Japanese. Fulfills MLO 1.
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. Taught in Japanese. Fulfills MLO 1.
Reflective Narrative
My initial ability to interpret and translate Japanese began with my interest in anime. As I began to pick up certain words and phrases while first studying Japanese in high school, I started to break down the dialogue within anime and make sense of sentence structures by separating what I understood from what I didn't understand. My ability to listen to and comprehend conversation was therefore much higher than my ability to speak the language, but not was not perfect. While studying abroad, my conversational understanding was tested on a very different level as I had to converse with native Japanese students and teachers. Participating in multiple language classes throughout my time at CSUMB greatly helped as well, but this course immensely improved my overall skills. Through incorporation of authentic Japanese materials such as instruction manuals and newspaper articles, and sight translation exercises my ability to think and interpret text into English considerably quickened. The main difficulty I faced was in interpreting kanji characters as kanji is my weakest area, and I struggled to find English words that accurately reflected Japanese words or ideas when creating translations. But i believe my experiences with this class will most definitely yield positively, as I would like to continue my best to interpret and translate manga, anime, and other forms of Japanese culture and media and possibly teach English as a second language, whether here in America or in Japan. Linked below is my final presentation in which my partner and I translated newspaper articles from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, example 1.
(EXAMPLE 1) JAPN 304 Final Presentation |