TheCharteredInstituteofLinguists(CIoL)TheIoLEducationalTrust(IoLET)PreparingfortheDiplomainTranslation(DipTrans)ExaminationAseminarforcandidatesandcourseproviderswithspecialreferencetotranslatingfromEnglishintoChineseMay2009©IoLEducationalTrust20092PrefaceThisseminarisbasedontheDiplomainTranslation:HandbookandAdvicetoCandidates,andthe2004/6/7/8PreparationSeminars.BothcanbefoundattheCIoLwebsite,inthe‘DiplomainTranslationMaterials&Publications’section,at=LY0MV884377&3pid=LY0AL814419.Areascoveredare:•thedescriptionoftheDiplomainTranslation(DipTrans)•thecriteriausedforassessingtranslationqualityintheDipTransexamination•theuseofresources,bothwhenpreparingforandduringtheexamination•commonpitfallswhendoingatranslationinexaminationconditions•practiceexercisesThelanguagesusedforillustrativepurposesareEnglishandChinese(intraditionalcharacters),butallexamplesarepresentedinsuchawaythattheycanbeunderstoodwithoutadetailedknowledgeoftraditionalChinesecharacters.AnumberoftheexampleswereselectedfromtheChiefExaminers’reportsofthe2008and2009DipTransexaminations,forwhichtheIoLETisaccordinglygrateful.Wehopethattheadviceandideassetoutherewillbeofinterestbothtotrainersandtocandidatespreparingfortheexaminationinanylanguagecombination.IoLEducationalTrustJune2009©IoLEducationalTrust20093Contents1Introduction2DescriptionoftheDiplomaofTranslation3PreparingfortheDiplomaofTranslation4CriteriaforassessingthequalityoftranslatedexaminationtextsGeneralprinciplesDistinctionMeritPassFail5UsingResourcesWhenpreparingfortheexaminationDuringtheexamination6Translator’snotesGeneralprinciplesAssessingcriteria7TrapstoavoidDescriptionExplanatorynotes8Advicetocandidates9Practiceexercises10InConclusion©IoLEducationalTrust200941IntroductionAnalysingyourneedBeforesittingtheexamination,askyourselfsuchquestionsas:whydoyouwanttoknowabouttheDipTrans?WhatdoyouknowabouttheDipTrans?WhatdoyouexpectfromtheDipTransasaprofessionallanguagequalification?Whatcareerdoesyouwanttoembarkon?WhatistheDipTrans?TheDipTransisapostgraduatequalificationintendedforworkingtranslators,candidateswhohavereachedahighleveloflinguisticcompetence,wanttoembarkonacareerinprofessionaltranslation,andhavealreadyreachedaleveloflinguisticcompetenceatleastequivalenttoagoodHonoursdegreeinlanguages.WhatdoestheDipTransexaminationtest?Candidates’abilitytotranslatefromasourcelanguage(hereafterSL)intothemothertonguetoaprofessionalstandard,theirawarenessoftheprofessionaltaskofthetranslator,andtheappropriatelevelofwritingskillsintheirtargetlanguage(hereafterTL).WhatdoestheDipTransexaminationtest?Candidates’abilitytotranslatefromaSLintothemothertonguetoaprofessionalstandard,theirawarenessoftheprofessionaltaskofthetranslator,andtheirwritingcompetenceinTLatanappropriatelevel.Whatdesignationwillyouhave?SuccessfulcandidatesareentitledtothedesignationDipTransIoLETandeligibletoapplyfortheCIoL’sMembershiporAssociateMembership.AreyoueligibleforsittingintheDipTransexamination?Evenifacandidatewereholdingadegreeinlanguages,onewouldstillneedtohaveadditionalexperienceortraining.Candidatesarethereforeadvisedtoattendrelevantcoursestopreparefortheexamination.[Fordetails,pleaserefertotheHandbook,p.3]©IoLEducationalTrust200952DescriptionoftheDipTransTheexaminationconsistsofthreeunits:Unit01Generaltranslation3hoursTheexamtextisofademandingbutnon-specialisednature,approximately600words.Unit02Semi-specialisedtranslation2hoursTheexamtextsareofasemi-specializednature,approximately450wordsinthefollowingthreesubjectareas:2ATechnology2BBusiness2CLiteratureUnit03Semi-specialisedtranslation2hoursTheexamtextsareofasemi-specializednature,approximately450wordsinthefollowingthreesubjectareas:3DScience3ESocialScience3FLaw[Fordetails,pleaserefertotheHandbook,p.8]AssessmentCriteria:GeneralPrinciplesCandidatesmustachieveaPassineachofthethreeaspectsofperformanceassessedinordertogainanoverallPass/Merit/Distinction.Translationswith5%ormoreofthesourcetext(hereafterST)missingwillautomaticallybeawardedaFailmark.GeneralPaper(approx600words):5%=30wordsSemi-specialistpapers(approx450words):5%=23wordsPossiblemarksDistinction:80-100%ofthetotalmarksMerit:70-79%ofthetotalmarksPass:60%ofthetotalmarksFail:below60%ofthetotalmarks©IoLEducationalTrust200963PreparingfortheDipTransAswithanyotherprofessionalexamination,theDipTransrequireshighlyfocusedpreparation.NoonecanexpecttopasstheDipTransiftheyarenotgoodtranslators,butagoodtranslatorwillnotnecessarilypasstheexamination,orperformtothebestoftheirabilitiesundersuchcircumstances.Twokeyaspectsarethereforeinvolved:acquiringtheskillstotranslateattheappropriatelevel:topreparefortheexam,notjustlanguagelearningsittingtheexaminationfullyprepared:knowingthedifferencebetweenpreparationandtherealexam.Acquiringtheskillstotranslateattheappropriatelevelisafundamentalrequirementforsuccess.Thisinvolvesaclearawarenessofthecriteriausedinassessingtranslationquality.Thefollowingsectionsprovideananalysisofthecriteriausedintermsbothofgeneralprinciplesandofthespecificcriteriaused