Entry 5 - Cultural Encounters

(This blogpost won't follow the guide written on anglaisenaction's blog)

Since I'm translating at home, I don't have the chance to work in an English surrounding or with representants of other linguistic communities. Therefore, the observations I made concern more linguistics than culture.

Linguistics

While I was translating, I faced a challenge. I noticed that many sentences in the website were debuting by "It is", "It is bringing professionals that share the same vision together." for example. Since the website is written in a high level of English, I'm assuming that sentences debuting by "it is" are accepted in academic language. However, the best way to translate these phrases to French would be with the word "ça" or "cela". These words are seen as very poor language in French and we usually try to avoid them. I found it interesting that it wasn't the case in the English language.

Cultural observation

As for culture, I noticed that I am exposed to two different levels of English. Indeed, the website that I have to translate in written in an academic level, with complex vocabulary words and structures, but still accessible to a large audience. However, during the meetings with my host, even though the language remains at a professional level, it is a bit less academic. For example, when my host talks, he uses many of the basic verbs and adjectives, like "to be", "to go", "to have", or "big", "really", words our teacher forbids us to use in our blogs. Therefore, the language is a bit more loose, according to how spontaneous our conversation is.

 Vocabulary

Lastly, other vocabulary words have been added to my lexicon:

• Abreast - It means to be up to date, to be informed of something.
• Enable - To enable is to make able, so to supply with means or knowledge to make someone able to do something, for example to protect their lands.
• Bidding - I found this word in the section explaining the different partners and their contributions. It said the partners provided support through bidding process. That means a request or demand has been made.

Entry 4 - The World Is your Classroom

This week, unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to meet my host through Skype. However, I did make some interesting observations about linguistics and the processus of learning outside of a classroom.

Interference of first language

This week, I focused on observing how my first language, French, can interfere in my communication or comprehension in English. I noticed that there are many words in English that are exactly the same as in French. I remembered in class, we called them "cognates". However, even if these words are shared between the languages, they can be used in different contexts for each. Therefore, sometimes, I need to replace the existing word by another in order to express the same meaning in French. For example, in the sentence "the consensus to discuss the exchanges under an indigenous perspective" "consensus" would be "entente" in French, instead of the same word.

Classroom vs Internship

I noticed that I might learn even better in an English environment than inside a classroom. Because I am translating, I actually have the opportunity to analyse the different structures of English and the language itself. Not having a teacher to explain the grammar, I had to developp strategies and methods to be able to understand by myself. When I don't understand words, I look for the context around them, but also if I can recognize some parts of the words, for example "wife" in "midwifery" or associate them with another language if they are cognates. These strategies help me learn better because there's nothing like searching the answers by yourself to remember them.

Vocabulary

Finally, I had the opportunity to enrich my vocabulary with new words. For instance:

• Assessment - It is the act of evaluating or estimating. I often encountered this word in the expression "need assessment", the evaluation or estimation of the needs of the indigenous communities.
• Westernized - I recognized the word "West" in this word, so I figured out it would be related to the "West civilization" and indeed, this word means to be converted into the customs of the West, of the Occident.
• Midwifery - In the website, this word was used in a context of maternal health, therefore I knew it had to be related. This word means the techniques used by the person who assists a women giving birth.

Entry 3 - Diving In

During the week, I had to translate a section of the website that is called "About Us". Since the objective of this section is to present the workers and officers behind the organization, I learned many corporative terms and expressions. It was a challenge for me, since I don't have a lot of knowledge in the coporative world, even in French. I also had the opportunity to make pertinent observation during my first official meeting with my host.

Intonations and rhythm

This week, my meeting with my internship host through Skype has allowed me to notice differences in the rhythm of the speech between French and English. Indeed, English speakers tend to separate the parts of speech in a sentence. For example, they will pause in between the verb and the rest of the sentence. They also emphasize the verbs a lot more than we do in French, rising their tone and making the verb last a bit longer that other words. On the opposite, French speakers won't pause to distinct part of speech, speaking a lot faster and more fluently I believe. This distinction in rhythm will help me become a better English speaker since not pausing at the correct time shows that the language is foreign to the speaker.

Cultural observations

What stroke me the most this week is how time is important for English speakers, or maybe only for my host. Every minute of his day is scheduled and it's essential for him to be on time. For example, our Skype meeting was at 4:30 PM. He called me exactly at 4:30, not even 4:31. I found it amusing. Also, on our first meeting, he arrived five minutes late and left me a message to warn me, even if it was only five minutes. Therefore, English speakers are concerned about time and punctuality.

Vocabulary

Because of the technical aspect of the translation I had to make, I learned a lot of vocabulary this week. Here are some examples:

• A beacon: A beacon is a source of guidance or an inspiration. For example, the organization of my internship used a United Nations report as a guideline - a beacon - to their activity.
• A stakeholder: It is a person or a group that is concerned about an organization's actions and will be affected by its decisions. I must remember that word since it is used often in corporate business.
• Members at Large:  I had to ask my host the meaning of this expression. He told me it was a designation for members that have some privileges but are excluded from the Board of Directors. I could then search for the right expression to use in French, which is "Membres Associés."

Entry 2 - First Impressions

First impressions

Since I am working from home, I didn't get the chance to go in a new environment with English speakers. However, I must admit that I like this environment, me in front of my computer, comparing English's grammar structures and vocabulary to French's. It is interesting to notice the differences between them, but it's also a challenge for me to find a way to express the right ideas in my mother tongue. 

Mistakes and misunderstandings

During my first meeting with my host, I made a mistake that made me realise how easy first language interferes with second languages in spontaneous oral communication. Instead of saying "I have a job", I said "I have a work" because I thought of the French word "travail". I have to be careful not to let my mother tongue get mixed up with English.

I also saw an expression that I didn't understand because I translated it into French word by word and it didn't make sense. "Lands having high biological importance" means that the land is home to an enormous amount of fauna and flora, and not a "grande importance biologique".

Cultural observation
I noticed that English communities don't welcome each other like French communities do. In French, when a men or a women meets another women, they will greet each other with a peck on the cheek, what we call "bises". English speakers, however, greet each other with a hand shake, regardless of genders. I found it surprising when I met my host for the first time. 

Idioms and expressions are hard to translate

During the week, I also learned many new idioms. This is the most difficult part in translating a text in my opinion, because many expressions do not have the same meaning in French. For example, the English language is full of two-words adjectives, like "well-structured" or "last-minute", while French separates these words (we would then say "bien structuré" or "à la dernière minute").

Strategies and vocabulary

Finally, through my work, I encountered new vocabulary words. In order to get their meaning right, I tried to use the "Guessing" strategy. Here are some examples of vocabulary I developped:

• Courtyard - A space open to the sky surrounded by four walls. My host wanted me to meet him in the courtyard behind a coffee shop. I guessed that it was a "terrasse", a space where we could sit outside, and I was right.
• Empower - To make something stronger.
• Sustainable - Something that will last, that will be kept in existence.

Entry 1 - Internship Goals

Since my internship is starting soon, I need to set realistic goals towards my improvement of knowledge of the English language. This will help me enjoy my internship experience at its fullest.

This internship will be a great opportunity for me to improve many English skills. My main goals during this experience are to enrich my vocabulary and to improve my writing skills. I will focus on learning new grammar structures and ways to express myself with more accurate vocabulary words and more complex sentences. 

In order to achieve these goals, I will have to use many strategies that will help me learn easily and successfully. One of these strategies is "Guessing". Since I will be doing a lot of translation, I will encounter many new words in the original text. I will then try to guess the meaning of these words looking at their context before searching them in a dictionary. This will help me learn new words. I will also try to make correlations between my knowledge of French and English (Look for patterns in a language) and finally I will use the "Accept ambiguity" strategy so that I don't get stuck in front of structures or sentences I don't know, but that I learn from them.

In addition, I have met my intership host. We had the chance to discuss the goals and the main objective of e-KSS's organization and what I will bring to it. My internship host explained to me that my volunteer work will be helpful for them because they want to attract people's attention even more than they do now. With a website in French, they will be able to connect to more people. My host seems really interested in this internship and in helping me to do the best job I can, so it motivates me even more. I can't wait to start working.

I think this internship will be a good experience for me. What concerns me the most is that the website I have to translate is written in a complex language, therefore I'm scared I wont understand everything. But I think this will help me learn even more. I'm really looking forward to start learning.