[Harraps French Unabridged PRO Dictionary
Facunda Ganesh
The Graduate Reading Proficiency Exam in French or Italian is designed to allow graduate students from other Departments & programs to demonstrate reading proficiency in French or Italian in their area of specialization. These exams are offered once each semester and consist of the translation of a 500-word passage from a secondary source, typically a scholarly journal, in the candidate's area of study. Candidates will have two hours to complete the translation and may use a dictionary.
The reading passage is provided by the student's Department (either the facutlty advisor or the Graduate Studies Director), with guidelines for the selection of the passage detailed below. The exam is graded on a pass/non-pass basis by the Exam Coordinator in French or Italian.
Upon receiving the request form from the student, the faculty advisor or Graduate Studies Director will select and submit a 500-word reading passage from a secondary source, bearing in mind the student's research interests and emphasis of study.
Owing to the individualized nature of each exam, the perceived level of difficulty of the reading passages will vary. The following stylistic descriptions of scholarly texts are offered as a reference in assessing the appropriateness of any given passage.
Les documents de la "Dhabtia" encore peu exploits contiennent une massed'informations dfricher pour faire renatre les vestiges de l'histoire sociale engnral et plus particulirement celle des Juifs tunisiens en ce qui nous concerne. Lesmilliers d'affaires nocturnes et diurnes enregistres par le conseil de "Dhabtia"permettent de dvoiler des aspects de la vie quotidienne relatifs la criminalit.
La passion ne cesse d'inventer des limites qu'elle veut enfreindre, elle ne se dploieque dans la tension engendre par les limites troites que sont la famille, l'ide dudestin, la guerre et la politique, elle veut connatre l'excs, l'en-trop de sondbordement. La folie originaire d'Eros n'est que transgression d'une loi, n'est quejouissance dans la profanation du dbordement. D'o la beaut.
Pour oprer ce changement important, le matre de police, accompagn d'un ingnieuret de quelques agens, traoit successivement la largeur des rues, de manire cequ'une voiture pt y passer. L'alignement toit soigneusement observ, et l'onaccordoit aux habitants un dlai assez court pour rebtir en briques leurs maisons, quin'ont, en gnral, que douze ou quinze pieds de hauteur.
The 6571 and 5101 course options typically use programmed textbook giving an overview of French or Italian grammar and vocabulary with self-corrected exercises and sample translation texts. Even if you have studied French or Italian before, you would be advised to review this text, as it presents in a simple form advanced constructions not normally addressed in beginning language courses. These would include exclusively literary verb tenses, complex syntactical structures (including inverted word order), and idiomatic phrases among others, all of which are typical of the primary and secondary sources used in graduate research. Please reach out to Matt Lang.650 for more information about textbooks.
Have a discussion with your faculty advisor and/or Graduate Studies Director about the different research materials in French or Italian which you could expect to find useful in your field. Specifically, it will be helpful to assess the stylistic type (or types) of scholarly texts which you are expected to be able to translate for your work and for the exam.
Following your discussion with your faculty advisor and/or Graduate Studies Director, select several texts and, if appropriate, a variety of textual types (e.g., primary and secondary sources, conventional and unconventional critical style) to read and translate.
Traditionally the exams have been limited to secondary sources, primarily articles taken from scholarly journals. Primary sources, including works of fiction, diaries, journals, field notes, etc., may pose problems of interpretation in the original which are beyond the scope of a translation exam. Included in these challenges may be extra-textual references, use of slang or non-standard vocabulary, sentence fragments, puns, and all varieties of poetic language.
There are a number of good bilingual "college" dictionaries, and best of all would be an unabridged version. Collins, Larousse, and Harrap's are among the most popular. Above all, avoid using a pocket dictionary; they are not designed for translating complex, scholarly texts.
Yes, online dictionaries are allowed in the exam. DO NOT use Google Translate or other such service to aid with this translation. It is also not recommended that you use translators to practice, as they are designed to translate simple oral communication and not written documents typical of graduate-level research.
Your English translation should read fluently while preserving the meaning of the French or Italian original. A too-literal translation can lead to faulty meaning, while a too-free translation can miss essential nuances in the original. For a lengthier discussion of this question, see the American Translator's Association.
PASS: The translation is complete and accurately conveys the sense of the passage, without distortions (although minor lapses are permitted). Basic verb tenses and idioms are translated correctly. The translation is not overly literal and is written in fluent, idiomatic English.
NON-PASS: The translation shows a general misunderstanding of the basic events of the passage or is repeatedly inaccurate. Verb tenses and idioms are repeatedly mistranslated. The translation is overly literal, displaying no sense of the nuances of the original. The translation is incomplete.
Eleve dans un milieu simple et rigide, la princesse ne s'adapta que trs mal la vie brillante et dissolue de la cour de Louis XIV. Elle "boudait souvent la compagnie, dit d'elle Saint-Simon, s'en faisait craindre par son humeur dure et farouche et, quelquefois, par ses propos, . . ."
Raised in a simple and rigid milieu, the princess did not adapt herself that very poorly to the brilliant and dissolute life from the court of Louis XIV. She "sulked often the company, says of her Saint-Simon, made herself to fear of it by her hard and ferocious humor and, sometimes, by her words."
Raised in a simple and rigid milieu, the princess adapted very poorly to the brilliant and dissolute life of Louis XIV's court. She often stayed away from people at the court, Saint-Simon said of her, and made herself feared by them owing to her hard and unsociable mood, and sometimes, to her words."
For a more detailed description of the criteria used to judge a translation, consult the website of the American Translator's Association, specifically the page devoted to the grading of the Certification Exam.
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