The wise translator: reflecting on judgement in translator education

Abstract

The question of how one goes about teaching students to be translators is a central area of concern for translation teachers. As a reflective practitioner, I have a hunch about how to solve my problem. This paper is therefore in itself part of a reflective practicum, part of my reflection-in-action. I am in the process of restructuring the translator education at the University of the Free State, on the one hand to be in line with the new requirements for higher education and, on the other hand, to try to address some of the problems currently under discussion in translator education. In a typical reflective manner, I take my point of departure from a particular problem which needs solving. It is a real-life problem which needs to be solved because it has to do with the quality of students' lives, the quality of the profession and my own student numbers. For those with a disciplinary nose, I am operating at the interface of translation studies, curriculum studies in higher education, theories of teaching and learning, and reflective practice. For those with a methodological inclination, I am using my own experience as a case study to reflect on issues of translator education.