As you know, the contest is now over, and we are happy to say that things went extremely well. We want to congratulate again all the participants for their organisation in the field and…participation!

We already received the first copies from  schools nearby. Thousands will follow. They will be sent to our translating colleagues who will mark them as soon as possible. Results should be given early February. So, stay tuned.

Loads of nice pictures have been uploaded on our Facebook page, and even a few very nice videos. Go and have a look here. Well done everyone!

Here is a nice comment we received yesterday morning from a French teacher sharing with us the impressions of her pupils after the contest. As you can see below, the comment is in French.

For those of you who don’t speak Molière’s language, the comment is about how, from the student point of view, it is difficult to translate idioms and find the right word, and how translation is not about translating word by word, but finding the right distance to the original text. Not too far, but not to close either…

“Ce mardi 27/11, 5 élèves de terminale ont participé au concours de traduction JUVENES TRANSLATORES organisé par la Direction Générale de la Traduction à Bruxelles, 3 autres ont profité également de l’occasion pour s’entraîner à cet art difficile !

Au terme des 2h d’efforts, Augustin confiait « ce n’est pas facile de traduire des expressions idiomatiques, il faut parvenir à trouver un équivalent en français… » et Charles de poursuivre « il ne s’agit pas de faire du mot à mot ! » Naïla a conclu « il ne faut pas trop s’éloigner du texte de départ mais essayer de trouver un juste milieu .
Nul doute que ces jeunes apprentis traducteurs ont su tirer parti de cette expérience enrichissante. B.D”

That translation is not about translating word by word is the first thing the young translators find out, and it is a challenge that will always stay with them, if they choose to continue on the rocky path of translation.

So, what did your students tell you ? What did they learn about translation ? In which way did that experience change something for them…or for you ?

Tremeur