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LEARNING PACK 9 | TRANSLATION TECHNIQUES
Contents
1. Translation 1
2. Method vs Techniques 1
3. Translation Methods 1
3.1. Foreignisation 1-2
3.2. Domestication 2-3
3.3. Neutralisation 3
3.4. Exercise 1 4
4. Translation Techniques 5
4.1. Borrowing 5
4.1.1. Exercise 2 5
4.2. Calque 5-6
4.2.1. Exercise 3 6
4.3. Literal translation 7
4.3.1. Exercise 4 7-8
4.4. Transposition 8
4.4.1. Exercise 5 8
4.5. Modulation 9
4.5.1. Exercise 6 9
4.6. Equivalence or Reformulation 10
4.6.1. Exercise 7 10
5. Glossary 11-12
6. Self-assessment 12-13
7. References 13
1. Translation
What is translation?
Translation is the process in which we replace an original written or spoken text in one
language with its equivalent in another language. This original text is commonly known as
the Source Text (ST), whereas its equivalent in another language is referred to as the Target
Text (TT).
The purpose of translating is making these source texts available to as many people as
possible. However, the disparity that exists amongst the different languages and cultures
makes translation a complex process. For this reason, translators must be not only bilingual
or multilingual but also have bicultural and multicultural awareness. Some of the most
challenging factors while translating are maintaining the same meaning and style, as well as
finding equivalence for proverbs and idioms, for instance. It is always recommended to be
familiarised with different approaches that can make the translation process easier.
2. Method vs Techniques
There are overall approaches that can be applied to the whole text; these can be defined as
methods, approaches or strategies. It is essential not to confuse these methods with
translation techniques. While methods are applied to the whole text, techniques may vary
from sentence to sentence, depending on the difficulties or challenges that we encounter.
3. Translation Methods
3.1 Foreignisation
Foreignisation could be defined as being as close to the source text as possible in terms of
maintaining the culture-specific items of the source text, e.g. personal names, streets,
national cuisine, etc. Below you have an example of a sentence that has been translated
with a foreignisation approach:
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Source text (English): When he was a child, he loved the Christmas decorations and the
surprises hidden in Christmas Crackers.
Target text (Spanish): Cuando era niño le encantaban los adornos de Navidad y las sorpresas
que escondían los Christmas Crackers.
Target text (French): Quand il était enfant, il aimait les décorations de Noël et les surprises
cachées dans les Christmas Crackers.
Target text (German): Als er ein Kind war, liebte er die Weihnachtsdekorationen und die
Überraschungen, die in den „Christmas Crackers“ versteckt waren.
Advantages of foreignisation:
● It emphasises the diversity that exists between different cultures and
languages and exposes the target audience to other cultures.
● It preserves the style and cultural references of the source text.
Disadvantages of foreignisation:
● Some readers might not be familiar with foreign terms and references and
may feel that the text is too obscure.
3.2 Domestication
Domestication, on the other hand, aims at eliminating or replacing any cultural or linguistic
reference that may prevent the target audience from understanding the target text
completely. A domestication approach is normally used when translating content related to
comedy programmes or content for children. Taking the example above:
Source text (English): When he was a child, he loved the Christmas decorations and the
surprises hidden in Christmas Crackers.
Target text (Spanish): Cuando era niño le encantaban los adornos de Navidad y los turrones.
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Target text (French): Quand il était enfant, il aimait les décorations de Noël et la bouche de
Noël.
Target text (German): Als er ein Kind war, liebte er die Weihnachtsdekorationen und die
Weihnachtskekse.
Advantages of domestication:
● It emphasises the similarity that exists between languages.
● It creates a fluid and natural text that is easy to understand.
Disadvantages of domestication:
● It may disregard the culture of origin and the identity of the author.
3.3 Neutralisation
The midway approach is known as neutralisation. With this method, you include a
generalised term or description to explain a cultural reference. The aim is to transfer the
cultural message from the source text to the target text while making sure that the target
text is idiomatic and natural. If foreignisation and domestication are considered opposites of
one another, neutralisation is a midpoint. For instance:
Source text (English): When he was a child, he loved the Christmas decorations and the
surprises hidden in Christmas Crackers.
Target text (Spanish): Cuando era niño le encantaban los adornos de Navidad y las
costumbres navideñas británicas.
Target text (French): Quand il était enfant, il aimait les décorations de Noël et les coutumes
de Noël britanniques.
Target text (German): Als er ein Kind war, liebte er die Weihnachtsdekorationen und die
englischen Weihnachtsbräuche.
Advantages of neutralisation :
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● It creates an idiomatic text that is easy to understand.
● It does not completely disregard the source culture.
Disadvantages of neutralisation :
It partly eliminates the cultural elements of the source text.
3.4 Exercise 1
E1, Q1: Does your screenplay have any cultural references (e.g. names, places, references to
celebrities, TV programmes, etc.)? If so, which method will you use to translate them and
why? (Tip: if you don’t have any cultural references in your screenplay, you might want to
use this exercise to add some).
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
E1, Q2: Using the space below, note down and translate at least three sentences of your
screenplay that contain cultural references, try to do this using always the method you have
chosen.
Sentence 1:
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Sentence 2:
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Sentence 3:
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
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4. Translation Techniques
As mentioned above, translation techniques are a series of different strategies that you
might apply throughout your translation depending on the difficulties that you encounter.
Below you have six translation techniques that can help you to translate your screenplay.
4.1 Borrowing
Borrowing is taking words directly from one language into another without translating
them. Many English words are "borrowed" into other languages, e.g. selfie or software.
However, English also borrows words from other languages, e.g. café (from French), tortilla
(Mexican Spanish) and kindergarten (German).
4.1.1 Exercise 2
E2,Q1: Can you think of other borrowed words from other languages we use on a daily
basis?
__________________________________________________________________________
E2, Q2: Have you used any borrowed words in your screenplay? If so, use the space below
to refine your translations for these sentences.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
4.2 Calque
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A calque is a phrase borrowed from another language and translated literally word-for-
word. An example of words that have been adopted into English as calques are: blue-blood
(sangre azul, Spanish), killer whale (ballena asesina, Spanish), antibody (antikörper,
German), standpoint (standpunkt, German), point of view (point de vue, French), Adam's
apple (pomme d'Adam, French).
An example of words that have been adopted into foreign languages from English: disque
dur (hard disk), rascacielos (skyscraper) and Fußball (football). While using calques, you
must be aware of “false friends”, which are words in two languages that look similar, or
sound similar, but have different meanings from one another. For example:
English Spanish
Carpet Carpeta (folder)
Embarrassed Embarazada (pregnant)
Large Largo (long)
English French
Money Monnaie
Blessed Blessé
Bras Bras
English German
Rat Der Rat
Smoking Der smoking
To wink Winken
4.2.1 Exercice 3
E3, Q1: Can you think of other calques we use on a daily basis?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
E3, Q2: Can you think of other “false friends” to avoid during your translation?
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___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
4.3 Literal translation
A literal translation is a word-for-word translation. However, this technique can be only
used in certain languages or sentences, where the original meaning will not be altered and
the translation will still sound idiomatic. Literal translations usually work best for simple
sentences, for instance:
● English-French : My mum works/Ma mère travaille.
● English-Spanish: My mum works/Mi mamá trabaja.
● English-German: My mum works/Meine Mutter arbeitet.
However, many simple sentences cannot be translated word for word:
English Literal Translation Correct Translation
French I am 16. Je suis 16. J'ai 16 ans
Spanish I am 16. Soy 16. Tengo 16 años.
German I am going. Ich bin Ich gehe im Moment.
gehen/gehend.
When it comes to complex and longer sentences it is normally best to use other techniques.
4.3.1 Exercise 4
E4, Q1: Select three short and simple sentences from your screenplay and translate them
using a literal translation approach. Does it work well or perhaps you need to make
changes?
Sentence 1:
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
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Sentence 2:
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Sentence 3:
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
4.4 Transposition
Transposition involves changing words from one grammatical category to another without
altering the meaning of the text. In other words, this translation technique introduces a
change in grammatical structure. Transposition is usually applied to sentences that would
not sound idiomatic if they were to be translated literally. For example:
● English-French: I called you early this week/Je t’a appelé au début de cette semaine.
● English-Spanish: He likes swimming / Le gusta la natación. Here, swimming is a verb
but natación is a noun.
● English-German: He likes swimming /Er schwimmt gern.
4.4.1 Exercise 5
E5, Q1: Select two sentences from your screenplay and translate them using a transposition
approach.
Sentence 1:
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Sentence 2:
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
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4.5 Modulation
Modulation consists of using a different phrase in the source and target languages to convey
the same idea. Through modulation, the translator generates a change in viewpoint of the
message without altering meaning and without creating a sense of awkwardness for the
reader of the target text:
● English-French: It’s easy to understand/ C’est pas difficile à comprendre.
● English-Spanish: It’s easy to understand/ No es difícil de comprender.
● You could translate this literally: Es fácil de entender (It’s easy to understand), but
depending on the context (perhaps somebody is talking to a child and does not want
to sound harsh) you might prefer to change the message slightly (It is not difficult to
understand).
● English-German: It’s easy to understand/ Es ist leicht zu verstehen.
4.5.1 Exercise 6
E6,Q1: Select three sentences from your screenplay and translate them using a modulation
approach.
Sentence 1:
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Sentence 2:
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Sentence 3:
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___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
4.6 Equivalence or reformulation
Equivalence or reformulation uses a completely different expression to transmit the same
meaning. It is normally used to translate idioms and content related to culture. For instance:
● English-French: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush/ Un chien vivant vaut
mieux qu'un lion mort.
● English-Spanish: Fresh as a cucumber / Fresco como una lechuga.
● English – Spanish: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush/ Más vale pájaro en
mano que ciento volando.
● English-German: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush/ Besser ein Spatz (a
sparrow) in der Hand als eine Taube (a dove) auf dem Dach.
4.6.1 Exercise 7
E7, Q1: Select two sentences from your screenplay and translate them using equivalence or
reformulation. (Tip: if you don’t have any sentences in your screenplay that can be
translated using a reformulation approach, you might want to use this exercise to add
some).
Sentence 1:
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Sentence 2:
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
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5. Glossary
English Español Français Deutsch
Borrowing Enfoque Emprunter die
Direktentlehnung
to borrow = leihen
Calque Préstamo Calque die
Lehnübersetzung
Domestication Calco Naturalisation die Domestizierung
Equivalence Domesticación Equivalence die Äquivalenz
Foreignisation Equivalencia Exotisation die Verfremdung
Literal Translation Extranjerización Traduction littérale die wortgetreue
Übersetzung
Approach Traducción literal Approche der Ansatz
Method Método Méthode die Methode
Modulation Modulación Modulation die Modulation
(die
Perspektivenverschiebung)
Reformulation Reformulación Reformulation die
Umformulierung
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Source Text Texto de origen Texte Source der Ausgangstext
Strategy Estrategia Stratégie die Strategie
Target Text Texto meta Texte cible der Zieltext
Technique Técnica Technique die Technik
Translation Traducción Traduction die Übersetzung
Transposition Transposición Transposition die Transposition
(der Wortartwechsel)
6. Self-assessment
After completing the exercises, tick the column that best represents how you feel about the
following statements:
Not at all Nearly Very
confident there confident
1 I understand what translation is and its purpose.
2 I am aware of the difference between translation techniques
for single sentences and translation methods applied to the
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whole text.
3 I know how to apply the different translation methods to my
texts.
4 I have an idea of the advantages and disadvantages of each
translation method.
5 I can name at least four translation techniques.
6 I know how to apply the different translation techniques to my
texts.
7. References
● Mathieu (2016) 7 Translation Techniques to Facilitate Your Work. Available at:
https://culturesconnection.com/7-translation-techniques/ .
● Ordudari, M. (2007) Translation procedures, strategies and methods. Translation
Journal. 11 Available at: https://translationjournal.net/journal/41culture.htm.
● Umamaheshwari, J. Techniques and methods of translation. Iosr. pp.40-42. Available
at: http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jhss/papers/Conf.TS/Volume-1/15.%2040-
42.pdf.
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