TRANSLATION

Translation – La Traduction

TRANSLATION – LA TRADUCTION

Firstly, as a French teacher, I am constantly looking for ways to reinforce learning. I have found that translation exercises are a fantastic way of getting students to concentrate on grammatical points, and either introducing or compounding a variety of key vocabulary. In the following translation exercise, students are given 20 sentences. (full version) The main focus of the exercise is to use the verb “Aller” in the past tense, in conjunction with expressions of time in the past.

FOCUS ON VERB ALLER IN THE PASSÉ COMPOSÉ AND PAST TENSE EXPRESSIONS OF TIME.

TRANSLATE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES…TRANSLATION

  • I went to the bank yesterday.
  • You went to the beach last week.
  • He went to the police station last Thursday.
  • She went to the market last Monday.
  • We went to town last weekend.
  • You (plural) went to the restaurant last Saturday.

 

However this translation exercise is also important as the sentences used are often required for the written sections in both the Junior cert exam and the leaving cert ordinary level. By translating sentences, students also begin to understand the flow of the French language.  Once the students are shown how grammar and vocabulary are inter-connected, they then use their own resources to come up with their own sentences.

As well as a written exercise, translation can be used in a classroom, where teams are made up, and each team has to write a sentence for the other teams to correctly translate.

And now for TRANSLATION answers!…

From above…Translate the following sentences…

  • Je suis allé(e) à la banque hier
  • Tu es allé(e) à la plage la semaine dernière.
  • Il est allé au commissariat jeudi dernier
  • Elle est allée au marché lundi dernier
  • Nous sommes allé(e)s en ville le weekend dernier.
  • Vous étes allé(e)s au restaurant samedi dernier.

 

TECHNICAL STUFF (FOR TEACHERS OF THE NEW JC CURRICULUM)

In this simple translation exercise, you are doing the following…

STRAND 1 – COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE…
  • 1.17 Write words and create short sentences using various media (e-mails, letters, blogs, postcards) on ever-day topics with accuracy.
  • 1.19 Create texts about aspects of their lives and topics that interest them such as family and friends, school, holidays, leisure activities, fashion, sport, celebrities.
  • 1.20 Write short descriptions of present, past and future events, activities and personal experiences, as well as imaginative texts.
STRAND 2 – LANGUAGE AWARENESS…
  • 2.1 recognise, describe and use language patterns such as word order, verbal system, nouns, adjectives, spelling and punctuation conventions.
  • 2.3 recognise how gender and social conventions influence target language usage.
  • 2.4 identify similarities and differences between the pronunciation, intonation and rhythm of the target language and that of other languages they know.
  • 2.5 compare grammar and vocabulary of the target language with that of other languages they know, making connections and distinctions as appropriate.
  • 2.7 monitor and assess their own learning, using feedback they receive to reflect on what they need to improve and to set goals for improvement.
STRAND 3 – SOCIO-CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE AND INTERCULTURAL AWARENESS…
  • 3.10 compare and contrast the use of numbers in the target language country/countries and in their own, with regard to familiar topics such as prices, age, dates, seasons.

 

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