2023-2024 / TRAD0202-1

Specialised German to French translation including machine translation and CAT tools: environment and engineering

The environment and the food industry

Industrial techniques

Duration

The environment and the food industry : 30h Th
Industrial techniques : 30h Th

Number of credits

 Master in modern languages and literatures : German, Dutch and English (120 ECTS)5 crédits 
 Master in modern languages and literatures : general (120 ECTS)5 crédits 
 Master in translation (120 ECTS)5 crédits 

Lecturer

The environment and the food industry : Bénédicte Klinkenberg
Industrial techniques : Bénédicte Klinkenberg

Coordinator

Bénédicte Klinkenberg

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

The environment and the food industry

Exercises on translating and revising scientific documents in two very common and overlapping fields in French-German translation:

- The environment. Examples of topics: energy and energy transition, forestry, regional planning, nature tourism, climate, natural resources, environmental protection, mobility, etc.

- Food production. Examples of topics: agriculture (plant health, livestock farming, GMOs, pesticides, organic farming, etc.), agricultural policy, food processing, additives, food supplements, packaging, transport, labelling, etc.

Industrial techniques

Translation and revision of technical texts from German into French.

There is a strong demand for this language combination in the technical field: patents, technical notices, safety data sheets, expert reports, instructions for use for a wide range of products, from household appliances to machine tools, brochures and websites for manufacturers or distributors of various materials and equipment in the construction, cement, steel and metalworking, automotive, environmental, new energy, paper, chemical, food and plant protection industries, etc.

European regulations applicable to materials and industrial production are also covered: REACH regulations, declarations of conformity, incorporation, type, etc.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

The environment and the food industry

At the end of this activity, the students will have increased their source and target vocabulary on NATURE (land, fauna, flora) from the point of view of man's relationship with it.

They will be able to translate different types of texts on these subjects in an idiomatic way adapted to the target audience: farmers, hikers, technicians, foresters, consumers, politicians, etc.

If the nature of the text requires them to consult legal references, they will know where to find them and how to use them.

In general, they will have improved their foreign language skills (reading comprehension, identifying textual and cognitive difficulties) and their mother tongue skills (summarising, reformulating, restructuring, adapting and condensing text content). They will be able to translate specialised content in the above fields and produce a translation that is appropriate for the purpose. They will be better trained to check, reread and/or revise their own work and that of others in accordance with quality objectives. You will have developed your general knowledge and intellectual curiosity. Develop basic ethical skills: managing the various stages of an assignment, meeting deadlines and following instructions, working as part of a team, communicating with the client.

Industrial techniques

At the end of this activity, students will be able to translate the different types of texts mentioned above in a way that is appropriate and immediately understandable to the target audience.

They will be able to use their visual-spatial skills to produce a clear and precise target text, even from a source text that is not.

They will know where to find the legal texts on which any safety instructions are based, and when and how to incorporate them into their translation.

In general, they will have improved their foreign language skills (reading comprehension, identifying textual and cognitive difficulties) and their mother tongue skills (summarising, reformulating, restructuring, adapting and condensing text content). They will be able to translate specialised content in the technical field, producing a translation tailored to its purpose. They will be better trained to check, reread and/or revise their own work and that of others in accordance with quality objectives. You will have developed your general knowledge and intellectual curiosity. You will be familiar with technical jargon. They will have developed basic ethical skills: managing the different stages of a job, meeting deadlines and following instructions, working in a team, communicating with the client.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

The environment and the food industry

Very good understanding of the source language and excellent knowledge of French

General translation and documentary research skills

Curiosity about environmental issues in the broadest sense

Industrial techniques

Very good understanding of the source language and excellent knowledge of French

General translation and documentary research skills

Basic visual-spatial skills, sufficient to read, for example, a plan or a simple technical drawing

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

The environment and the food industry

The student will mainly carry out translations and revisions, in particular of neural machine translations (DeepL and others). Additional exercises in non-written reformulation will be offered to refine the student's understanding of the source context. Students will work individually or in groups. Students will be required to do some preparatory work at home, consisting of actual translations and documentary research. Their work will be corrected/validated in turn by the teacher and their peers.

Industrial techniques

The student will mainly carry out translations and revisions, in particular of neural machine translations (DeepL and others). Additional exercises in non-written reformulation will be offered to refine the student's understanding of the source context. Students will work individually or in groups. Students will be required to do some preparatory work at home, consisting of actual translations and documentary research. Their work will be corrected/validated in turn by the teacher and their peers.

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

The environment and the food industry

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Industrial techniques

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Recommended or required readings

Assessment methods and criteria

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

written exam ( open-ended questions )


Additional information:

This teaching unit ("Unité d'enseignement," or UE) is subject to the principle of the "note absorbante," which means that the student having obtained a mark below 8/20 for one of the learning activities ("activités d'apprentissage," or AA) will receive a failing grade for the entire unit and will have to retake the failed AA in the second session regardless of the mathematical average of the two AA grades.

The environment and the food industry

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

written exam


Additional information:

The exam consists of a translation of a text similar to those seen in class, of 300 to 400 words, in 2 hours. The topic will be given a week in advance.

The target text should not contain any major misunderstandings that would indicate a serious comprehension problem. Its language level will be adapted to the target audience. It should be idiomatic and substantially free of spelling, punctuation, grammatical and syntactical errors. Particular attention will be paid to dealing with textual or reformulation difficulties encountered in class.

Industrial techniques

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

written exam ( open-ended questions )


Additional information:

The exam consists of translating a text similar to those seen in class, 300 to 400 words in length, in 2 hours.

The target text must not contain any major misunderstandings that would indicate a serious comprehension problem. Its language level will be adapted to the target audience. It should be idiomatic and substantially free of spelling, punctuation, grammatical and syntactical errors. Particular attention will be paid to dealing with textual or reformulation difficulties encountered in class.

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

The environment and the food industry

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Contacts

The environment and the food industry

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Industrial techniques

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Association of one or more MOOCs