蒙特雷国际研究院会译口译专业暑期作业

蒙特雷的老师每年都会重新编写summer work。用心程度从细节之中可以看见。以下为原文。蒙特雷版权，仅为学习交流，请勿用于商业行为。

READING

1.   Economics, popular science, politics, society

Pick a topic and read about it in C and E parallel texts.  They need NOT be translations, better not, as this gives you more practice with expression and discourse styles around the same topic.  

For science, start with biology: the human body, major body systems (digestive, reproductive, respiration, nervous, blood, excretion, cardiovascular, endocrine, etc.); use your old biology textbooks for diagrams and vocabulary, check in an English encyclopedia for corresponding English diagrams and terminology. Become familiar with general health issues: AIDS, swine flu, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, nutrition.  Read something about the environment, IT, space, anything that appeals to you, in both languages.

For economics, read about major international organizations (WTO, IMF, EU, World Bank, ASEAN, MERCOSUR, OPEC etc.); keep up with major news stories on the stock market, business scandals, currency fluctuations, trade trends, money laundering, etc.

For politics, start with two atlases, one in C and one in E, and frequently look up countries in the news in both.  Become familiar with maps of the various continents so you have an idea where places are, geographic names, city names, etc.  Read about major international organizations: UN, EU, ASEAN, APEC, etc.; become familiar with major political ideas and trends: globalization, hegemony, nuclear issues, regionalism, world hot spots (Middle East, Central Asia, South America, Africa, etc.), religious revival, etc.

For social issues: pay attention to major social problems (delinquency, violence, domestic abuse, lifestyles, drugs, education, family changes, consumption, etc.)

2.   Try to read at least one good book for pleasure in both languages.

3. Read the newspapers and journals, listen to the news as frequently as possible. Practice “skim” reading for quick updates.  Do “fine” reading on selected pieces or portions of articles.

Read for information as well as terminology, and hopefully for pleasure too.  The more you read and know, the easier understanding and remembering gets.  

LANGUAGE PRACTICE

Use texts from your reading above as practice in both C and E for:

-  speed reading out loud (to get your mouth moving faster), and fluency with vocabulary

-  reading out loud at normal speed for accent and diction practice (use tape recorder to check)

-  summarizing and paraphrasing  (use tape recorder) to get used to sustaining a logical discourse for 3-5 minutes at reasonable speed, sound logic, suitable vocabulary and good grammar (especially in E).  Review your speech, correct errors and do it again.  Make a transcript of yourself if necessary, and correct errors on paper.  Repetition leads to fluency and consistency.

- to improve oral comprehension, listen to and make recordings of live discourse from the radio (news bulletins, interviews, etc.) or TV, or the Web.  Make transcripts of parts of them for comprehension and vocabulary practice.  Read them out loud to yourself, fast and then slow.   

INTERPRETATION PRACTICE

1. Review all the tapes used over the semester.

2.  For B language texts:  read carefully, check all unfamiliar vocabulary, THEN look for “patterns” of expressions, focus on discourse analysis, i.e. larger units of meaning above the sentence level: (several sentences together, at the paragraph level, etc.), focus on the logic of the argument (what is the speaker trying to say?  What is the message?  What is the “story”?).

When all that is clear, put aside the text and work purely by ear, interpreting into A without the text, focusing on lag, sentence restructuring, emphasis of key words, inflexions and flow.  Record yourself, then listen to yourself.  Does it make sense?  If you had only the A to go by, would you be able to understand? Does it sound like decent A to you (collocations, syntax, is it too wordy?)    If it doesn’t sound idiomatic and lucid, do it again and adjust your language or delivery.  Make a transcript of yourself and correct your errors on paper, if necessary.  Repeat the interpretation and listen again. Practice monitoring yourself as you interpret so that you can make adjustments as you go along.

3.   For A language texts: read carefully, check for unfamiliar vocabulary.  Review A language structures and patterns, note the “high context” links (that are not written but implied) that hold the argument together. Note the order in which information is presented in A, think how this is usually done in B, and review sentence restructuring.  Focus on the logic (what is the speaker trying to say?  What is the message?  What is the “story”?).

Put aside the text, interpret purely by ear.  Record yourself, then review.Make a transcript of your B language interpretation with all your mistakes, and then correct as much as possible on paper.Check your grammar and syntax: agreements, tenses, prepositions, articles, dangling sentences, etc.  Repeat the interpretation, record yourself and listen again, check for previous mistakes (are they still there?), listen for pronunciation, inflexions, flow.  Anything you are unsure of, either get help (look it up or ask) or use another expression, or paraphrase, or figure out another way of dealing with the issue,don’t just keep repeating something you are unsure of.

Use other texts/speeches you have found and make your own tapes to practice from.  Remember, one text can be used in MANY different ways to practice MANY different skills.  You just need to focus slightly differently in order to get the maximum out of it.You do not need a new text for each different kind of practice.Remember how we reviewed tapes in class, going from the detailed vocabulary to understanding the discourse at the sentence, paragraph and finally at the whole textual level.  Some parts need more work – “fine” practice, others are fairly straight forward – “regular” practice.

For example: choose a text, 

1) read it through quickly to get a sense for what it is about,

2) if it is appropriate for practice, do a sight translation of it to see where some of the difficulties are, underline the new words and expressions, parts you have difficulty understanding, but keep going to the end, 

3) look up new vocabulary, iron out all comprehension problems, 

 4) do repeated “fine” practice in sight on the difficult parts, 

5) make a recording and put the text aside, 

6) practice consec or simul, record yourself, listen, correct, make a transcript of yourself if necessary, 

7) repeat until you are satisfied with the result.  

The same text can be used for pure language practice as outlined above.

When practicing with a text, it does NOT have to be long.  If it happens to be long, choose the difficult parts to work on in “fine” and leave the rest for “regular.” Or choose different parts for different practice, i.e. some for sight, others for consec, and yet others for simul.  

Set reasonable goals for yourself, if you are too ambitious you will only get frustrated and start blaming yourself, which is a waste of energy and time.  Try to practice a bit every day, not necessarily for too long at a time, but be regular and consistent. Focus on yourweaknesses. Consult your E/C grammar books, collocation dictionaries, etc.  for help in resolving specific issues (grammar, pronunciation, usage, etc.)

BE CREATIVE AND TRY THINGS OUT TO ADDRESS YOUR PARTICULAR WEAKNESSES.  There are many ways to practice, whatever works for YOU is a good way.