Chapter 1. Basic translation competence

Abstract

Students often decide to take up translator training despite having little or no proficiency in the foreign language they wish to choose for translation. There are two ways to tackle this problem: either by offering integrated preparatory language courses (INT) as part of a “translation” or “translation studies (TS)” programme, which is basically intended to train students for the profession in four or five years, or by requiring a satisfactory degree of language proficiency (e.g., minimum B2 or C1 according to the Common European Framework, CEFR), which may be acquired anywhere outside the programme (EXT), possibly even in the country where the language is used. The latter choice would entail taking an exam to ensure that the level of competence was sufficient to act as an entrance qualification for translator training. The INT model can be organised in two possible forms: either as a separate preparatory language tuition phase before the start of the actual translation or TS programme (INT-SEP), or a mixture of language tuition and translation teaching (INT-MIX). In this chapter, I will discuss the pros and cons of these forms. I will try to show how language teaching in translator training programmes can be geared towards translation competence without using translation as a tool for language acquisition (translation-oriented language teaching, TOLT).