AJL19000 Introduction to Translation

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Ing. Mgr. Jiří Rambousek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Ing. Mgr. Jiří Rambousek, Ph.D.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites (in Czech)
( AJ01002 Practical English II || AJL01002 Practical English II )
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 60 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/60, only registered: 0/60
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 11 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The students will be acquainted with the structure of the field of translation, the basic terms of translation studies, and a brief outline of the development of approaches to translation. At the beginning of the course, the importance of competence in the target language will be stressed and a short test in Czech will inform the students of the level of their Czech. Students without Czech or Slovak as their first language must pass the course AJ12070 Introduction to Sociolinguistics (instead of the course Introduction to Translation) and finish it with an exam. (In this case, the AJ12070 course will not count towards the programme's three compulsory linguistic courses.) For students who begin their studies in 2021, this replacement option is no longer available, the AJ19000 course becomes compulsory for all atudents of the programme. Students who enroll in it have to have a near-to-native knowledge of Czech or Slovak, and be able to express in it the meaning of an original text, using proper orthography and grammar as well as adequate stylistic means.
The core of the course consists of the translation of various types of texts and the discussion of different translation procedures and techniques. The theoretical basis will be supplied.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
- understand the source text and translate it into the target language with respect to its function/purpose;
- compare and evaluate translations of various kinds of texts;
- explain the main concepts of translation theory;
- identify and describe the main issues in translating from English to Czech or Slovak.
Syllabus
  • Practical translating: The core of the course lies in practical translation. Students translate and hand in passages of texts for each lesson, their translations are then discussed in class.
  • Theory: Students study the assigned literature individually, theoretical aspects of translation are then discussed/applied in class in relation to the translated texts.
  • In addition, brief (10-20 minutes) summaries introducing certain aspects of translation will be presented in each lesson:
  • - Functional vs. language-teaching approach to translation; is the field threatened by the rise of AI and NMT?
  • - The importance of target-language proficiency; resources and manuals for Czech, common mistakes;
  • - Introduction to history and theory; Translation Studies; the importance of translation in national cultures, its specifics in the Czech cultural space;
  • - Types of texts, subfields of translation; translation vs. interpreting;
  • - Handbooks, dictionaries, corpora - examples of use, other sources, standards;
  • - Translation and technology: CAT, MT, NMT;
  • - Selected topics in translation theory in a nutshell, main names and trends;
  • - Some issues in cognitive linguistics (contact of two languages - systemic vs. psycholinguistic view).
Literature
  • BAKER, Mona. In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation. London: Routledge, 2011. 332 s. ISBN 9780415467537.
  • Wiki FF MU, http://www.phil.muni.cz/wiki/index.php/Hlavn%C3%AD_strana
  • LEVÝ, Jiří. Umění překladu. Vyd. 3., upr. a rozš. Praha: Ivo Železný, 1998, 386 s. ISBN 802373539X. info
  • BASSNETT, Susan. Translation studies. Rev. ed. London: Routledge, 1991, xxi, 168. ISBN 0415065283. info
  • NEWMARK, Peter. A textbook of translation. New York: Prentice Hall, 1988, 292 s. ISBN 0-13-912593-0. info
Teaching methods
  • At home translations of text passages assigned for each week
  • Comparison and discussion of submitted translations in class
  • Individual reading of assigned literature in translation theory
  • Teacher's brief summaries of selected topics (see Syllabus)
  • Teacher's comments on the assigned theoretical reading.
    • Assessment methods
    Week-to-week translations; final in-class translation and written test in theory.
    Correct usage of the target language (Czech or Slovak) is expected. Translations containing mistakes in orthography and grammar will be failed.
    Language of instruction
    English
    Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
    The course is taught each semester.
    The course is taught: every week.
    Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
    Teacher's information
    http://elf.phil.muni.cz/elf/course/view.php?id=2477
    Students are obliged to submit the assigned translations on time (two late submissions are allowed, with a delay up to two weeks after the original deadline), otherwise they will not be admitted to the final exam. Translations are also submitted by students who are repeating the course.
    The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2020, Spring 2021, Autumn 2021, Spring 2022, Autumn 2022, Spring 2023, Autumn 2023, Spring 2024, Autumn 2024.
    • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
    • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/AJL19000