Week 1

Jan. 5

Introduction: What Is Translation?, Translator's Tools

Sentence Issues

Reading: CB 1–4

Discussion: definitions of translation; the process of translation; difference from interpretation; tools and resources; sentence boundary; omission of subject and object; topic-comment structure in Thai; tense and aspect; exercises #1–4

Jan. 7

Sentence Issues

Reading: CB 1–6

Discussion: definitions of translation; the process of translation; difference from interpretation; tools and resources; sentence boundary; omission of subject and object; topic-comment structure in Thai; tense and aspect; exercises #1–16

Week 2

Jan. 12

Sentence Issues

Reading

• CB 1–8

• อมรา ประสิทธิ์รัฐสินธุ์, “ความ แตกต่างทางโครงสร้างของภาษาไทยกับภาษาอังกฤษที่มีผลต่อการ แปล”

Discussion: serial verb construction in Thai; voice; dummy it; articles; false friends; exercises #17–26

Jan. 14

News (English-Thai)

Reading: CB 9–18

Discussion: types of texts; news writing structure in Thai and English; translating headlines, giving news source and summary; news exercise #1 (Flash floods in Vietnam)

*Class meets in the BRK Computer Center

Week 3

Jan. 19

No class (Intervarsity Games: January 19–23, 2015)

Jan. 21

No class (Intervarsity Games: January 19–23, 2015)

Week 4

Jan. 26

News (English-Thai)

Reading: CB 9–19

Discussion: news exercises #2 (Karachi, Lahore fires)

Jan. 28

News (English-Thai)

Reading: CB 9–21

Discussion: news exercises #3 (Indonesian train crash) and #4 (Bombs in New Delhi)

Week 5

Feb. 2

News (English-Thai)

Reading: CB 9–23

Discussion: news exercises #5 (Gunmen in Baluchistan) and #6 (Chinese students)

Feb. 4

News (English-Thai)

Reading: CB 9–24

Discussion: news exercises #7 (British girls smuggling in Ghana)

Week 6

Feb. 9

News (Thai-English)

Reading: CB 25–26

Discussion: news exercises #1 (แม่ฮ่องสอนน้ำท่วม) and #2 (ไฟไหม้ โกดังภูเก็ต)

Feb. 11

News (Thai-English)

Reading: CB 27

Discussion: news exercise #3 (เก๋งชนสะพาน)

Test 1 (news English-Thai)

• Discussion of test 1: Kids die in house fire
  

Week 7

Feb. 16

News (Thai-English)

Reading: CB 28–29

Discussion: news exercises #4 (ค้าของปลอม) and #5 (อดีตนักโทษ ปล้น)

Feb. 18

News (Thai-English)

Reading: CB 30

Discussion: news exercise #6 (วัยรุ่นค้ายา)

Presentation: students present their news translation web resource pages

Week 8

Feb. 23

Informative Text (English-Thai)

Reading: CB 31–35

Discussion: text analysis; readership; cultural and language issues; informative passages Eleanor Roosevelt, #1 (marine life) and #2 (supermarket)

Feb. 25

Informative Text (English-Thai)

Reading: CB 36

Discussion: informative passage #3 (Apgar)

Test 2 (news Thai-English)

• Discussion of test 2: ตำรวจสระแก้วจับชุดกีฬาปลอม
  

Week 9

Mar. 2

Informative Text (English-Thai)

Reading: CB 37–38

Discussion: informative passages #4 (climate and life) and #5 (kimchi)

Mar. 4

No class (Magha Puja Day)

Week 10

Mar. 9

Informative Text (English-Thai, Thai-English)

Reading: CB 39–40

Discussion: informative passages #6 (seppuku) and #1 (สาน ตะกร้า)

Language Use Examples: Students e-mail me language use sentences illustrating the range of possibilities on your signed-up language topic. Send me three sentence examples (with links or reference information, of course) each from published articles on each of the following five topics 1. deep ocean life  2. supermarket history  3. Inuit life and culture  4. kimchi history  5. the seppuku ritual.

Mar. 11

Informative Text (Thai-English)

Reading: CB 41

Discussion: informative passage #2 (มวย ไทย)

Week 11

Mar. 16

Informative Text (Thai-English)

Reading: CB 41–43

Discussion: informative passages #3 (ช้าง) and #4 (มะพร้าว)

Mar. 18

Informative Text (Thai-English)

Reading: CB 43

Discussion: informative passage #4 (มะพร้าว)

Test 3 (informative text English-Thai)

• Practice tests
• Pretzels discussion
• Beavers discussion
• Discussion of test 3: instant ramen
  

Week 12

Mar. 23

Informative Text (Thai-English)

Reading: CB 44

Discussion: informative passage #5 (ส้ม)

Mar. 25

Informative Text (Thai-English)

Reading: CB 31–44

Discussion: informative text translation

Student Presentations: Each student will have three minutes to teach the language topic you signed up for through two sentence translations:

1. คิดถึงครู: Each student translates a sentence from Chakrabhand Posayakrit's collection of articles into English and use the Thai and English versions as examples to explain and compare linguistic differences of an aspect of your language topic.

2. Choose your own text: Each student translates a sentence from an interesting Thai informative text of your choice into English. Choose a source that is authoritative and has good Thai. Use the Thai and English versions as examples to teach your classmates about an aspect of your language topic.

Week 13

Mar. 30

Expressive Text (English-Thai)

Reading: CB 45–51

Discussion: expressive passages #1 (Klass, "City Sidewalks") and #2 (Kamber, "Toil and Temptation")

Apr. 1

Expressive Text (English-Thai)

Reading: CB 52

Discussion: expressive passage #3 (Larson, Hattie Big Sky)

Test 4 (informative text Thai-English)

• Practice tests
  
• Rice discussion
• Great Wall discussion
• Discussion of test 4: durian
  

Week 14

Apr. 6

No class (Chakri Day)

Apr. 8

Expressive Text (English-Thai)

Reading: CB 53

Discussion: expressive passage #3 (Larson, Hattie Big Sky) and #4 (Collier, "The Chaser")

Week 15

Apr. 13

No class (Songkran Holidays: April 13–15, 2015)

Apr.15

No class (Songkran Holidays: April 13–15, 2015)

Week 16

Apr. 20

Expressive Text (English-Thai)

Reading: CB 54–55

Discussion: expressive passages #5 (Thompson, "Final Break") and #6 (Dahl, "William and Mary")

Practice Test: Before Monday, students e-mail me a practice test for news, Thai-English or English-Thai. Choose or edit the news passage (including headline) so that it has 125–135 words. Provide a suggested translation on the back along with any other helpful notes on translation and vocabulary. We will draw one to use for in-class exam practice and discussion.

• Example/template: part 1: car bomb and part 2: fire (download Word file).
• Passage #6 was drawn for in-class news exam practice: Bangkok named “World’s Best City” (download Word file)

Apr. 22

Expressive Text (English-Thai)

Reading: CB 45–55

Discussion: informative text; case studies; practice test

Practice Test: Before Wednesday, students e-mail me a practice test for informative text, Thai-English or English-Thai. Choose or edit the informative passage so that it has 125–135 words. Give proper citation for your sources, and provide a suggested translation on the back along with any other helpful notes on translation and vocabulary. We will draw one to use for in-class exam practice and discussion.

• Example/template: part 3: corn and part 4: coffee (download Word file).
• Passage #11 was drawn for in-class informative text exam practice: coral reefs (download Word file)
  

Week 17

Apr. 27

Review

Reading: CB 1–44

Discussion: news, informative texts, expressive texts

Practice Test: Before Monday, students e-mail me a practice test for expressive text (English-Thai). Choose or edit the expressive passage from a short story or novel so that it has 125–135 words. Provide a suggested translation on the back along with any other helpful notes on translation and vocabulary. We will draw one to use for in-class exam practice and discussion.

• Example/template: part 5: Alice in Wonderland (download Word file).
• Passage #20 was drawn for in-class expressive text exam practice: The Phantom of the Opera (download Word file)
  

Apr. 29

Review

Reading: CB 45–74

Discussion: expressive texts

Test 5 (expressive text English-Thai)

• Discussion of test 5: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
  

Week 18

May 6

Final Exam (8:30–11:30 a.m.) There will be five parts, corresponding to each of the five translation types in our five tests. Dictionaries (electronic or paper) are not allowed in the exam room.