Advice in searching for text types for MA Translation Project Thread poster: Sam Cates
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Hi,
I'm a Translation Studies MA student looking for a text to translate for my Extended Translation Project (French>English) with CAT Tools, which consists of a 10,000 word translation to be completed using memoQ specifically, alongside a 5,000 word commentary. As I'm making use of CAT Tools I'm looking to find a text with at least a degree of technicality - there would be no point in me choosing a literary text for use with memoQ as I'm sure you can imagine.
I'm not e... See more Hi,
I'm a Translation Studies MA student looking for a text to translate for my Extended Translation Project (French>English) with CAT Tools, which consists of a 10,000 word translation to be completed using memoQ specifically, alongside a 5,000 word commentary. As I'm making use of CAT Tools I'm looking to find a text with at least a degree of technicality - there would be no point in me choosing a literary text for use with memoQ as I'm sure you can imagine.
I'm not entirely sure how to go about searching for an untranslated technical text in French, short of going for a really out-there scientific paper which would more than likely be totally out of my league. Does anybody have any advice on where I can begin searching, anything at all would be much appreciated! ▲ Collapse
| | | | DLyons 
Ireland
Local time: 10:36
Spanish to English
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| Sam Cates
Luxembourg
Local time: 11:36
TOPIC STARTER | I'm afraid it does... | Jun 7, 2015 |
... but that's like trying to prove a negative (proving someone didn't do something, etc), so I imagine that as long as it's either inaccessible or at least not visible through Google it should be fine.
I appreciate the suggestion but I have no background at all in medicine or human biology, so something like Essai sur l'aménorrhée would be more than a bit difficult for me I'm afraid.
Would a legal document be easy to get hold of? Or something like a patent?
| | | | Phil Hand
China
Local time: 18:36
Chinese to English
| Does it have to be out of copyright? | Jun 8, 2015 |
As it's not for publication, I don't see why you should have to worry about legal rights at all.
First, don't write off literary texts. They may not have repeated segments, but they often do have repeated vocabulary, and the terminology management tool in your CAT tool can help you with that.
But if you want technical but not too hard, user manuals are the obvious choice. Lots of repetition, but if you can get hold of the device then the meaning is fairly easy. Minitel... See more As it's not for publication, I don't see why you should have to worry about legal rights at all.
First, don't write off literary texts. They may not have repeated segments, but they often do have repeated vocabulary, and the terminology management tool in your CAT tool can help you with that.
But if you want technical but not too hard, user manuals are the obvious choice. Lots of repetition, but if you can get hold of the device then the meaning is fairly easy. Minitel never took off in the UK, so maybe it doesn't have an English manual. You could try that.
Best to choose something you're reasonably interested in, though. Otherwise the process can become quite painful! ▲ Collapse
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EL_isa
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:36
English to Italian
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| MA Project - Eng > Ita Translation | Jun 11, 2015 |
Dear All,
So glad I found this post!
I will shortly be in the same situation as Sam. I actually have no clear ideas yet on the type of text - and I was aiming at choosing something which would make a good translation portfolio for my main language pair (English to Italian).
So, literary prose translation was the obvious, and nice, choice (in this, no CAT tools involved - as I read here in Proz.com). I have read that subtitling, videogames and patents are the most... See more Dear All,
So glad I found this post!
I will shortly be in the same situation as Sam. I actually have no clear ideas yet on the type of text - and I was aiming at choosing something which would make a good translation portfolio for my main language pair (English to Italian).
So, literary prose translation was the obvious, and nice, choice (in this, no CAT tools involved - as I read here in Proz.com). I have read that subtitling, videogames and patents are the most demanded - not sure if in my pair or generally speaking.
Then, me too, I have to find something never translated before - I guess I should ask the author's permission and agree some details? How does it work?
Many Thanks for your useful advice!
All the best ▲ Collapse
| | | | DLyons
Ireland
Local time: 10:36
Spanish to English
+ ...
El_isa wrote:
I was aiming at choosing something which would make a good translation portfolio for my main language pair (English to Italian).
Doesn't a portfolio consist of a range of texts, genres ... ?
| | | | | MA Trans texts | Jun 17, 2015 |
I did my MA dissertation in 2013 (now on to my PhD @ Cardiff), so if I may offer some clarification:
1. Unless your disseration gets published for profit/commercially, generally speaking, there are no copyright issues. Having said that, if it involves a contemporary bestseller or similar, it's a different ballgame, obviously. Still, clearing a translation of a passage of, say, 5,000 words, with a publishing house usually is suprisingly easier than you'd think.
... See more I did my MA dissertation in 2013 (now on to my PhD @ Cardiff), so if I may offer some clarification:
1. Unless your disseration gets published for profit/commercially, generally speaking, there are no copyright issues. Having said that, if it involves a contemporary bestseller or similar, it's a different ballgame, obviously. Still, clearing a translation of a passage of, say, 5,000 words, with a publishing house usually is suprisingly easier than you'd think.
2. Your source text doesn't have to be of the "never translated before" type (in most universities in the UK, although checking with your supervisor might be a good idea). If you found (serious) errors, or have new ideas, objections, a different perspective - go for it! But you would need to indicate in no uncertain terms that the text has been translated before, and include relevant reference(s).
3. Text type: you should probably go for what you are more familiar with
Hope it helps, have fun with your dissertation!
[Edited at 2015-06-17 14:02 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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