Course title: Translation of Scientific and Academic Texts
Instructors: Dr. Nataša Pavlović and Dr. Ivana Bašić
ECTS credits: 5
Status: Mandatory
Semester: 1st
Enrollment requirements: The students must be enrolled in the graduate program in English Language and Literature, Specialization in Translation.

Course description:
The course consists of four blocks. In each block, the students do individual and group translations of specialized texts from a different field. The fields covered include social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences. Texts are translated from English into Croatian and from Croatian into English (approx. 60/40).

The coursework is organized around authentic and simulated translation projects done partly in the virtual environment, on http://omega.ffzg.hr/ (Moodle). The students learn how to use printed and electronic resources to research the subject matter and build corpora and glossaries of terminology. For some fields they learn how to use translation memory systems. They also revise their own and each other’s translations, manage translation projects, cooperate with subject-matter experts and clients, and so on.

Objectives: By the end of the course the students should be able to translate, individually and in groups, various types of specialized texts. They should be able to identify translation problems in the text and to adopt strategies appropriate to the situation, the target readers, the client’s requirements, and so on. The students should also be able to use parallel texts to build their own glossaries of specialized terminology. They should be able to use search engines and online resources for terminology mining and subject-matter background reading. For some fields and text types, they should be able to work with translation memory systems. The students should also be able to do on-the-spot translations of short, relatively simple texts from the specialized areas dealt with in the course, without the help of aids other than their own glossaries of terminology.

Course requirements: Regular course attendance, regular submission of assignments, participation in the online forums as requested. Students get their final grade on the basis of their “portfolio” (collection of translations done during the course, both at home and in class, individually and in groups).

Week by week schedule:

Reading:
Textbooks:
Baker, Mona.1992/2011. In Other Words. A Coursebook on Translation. London: Routledge
Nord, Christiane. 1997. Translating as a Purposeful Activity. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing.

Handbook:
Hlavac, Jim and Veselica Majhut, Snježana. 2019. Translating from Croatian into English: A Handbook with Annotated Translations. Zagreb: Hrvatska sveučilišna naklada

Bilingual dictionaries, such as:
Bujas, Željko. Veliki hrvatsko-engleski rječnik. Zagreb: Nakladni zavod Globus
and Bujas, Željko. Veliki englesko-hrvatski rječnik. Zagreb: Nakladni zavod Globus
Grupa autora. Englesko-hrvatski rječnik. Zagreb: Školska knjiga

Monolingual dictionaries, such as:
Hornby, A. S. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Anić, V. Rječnik hrvatskoga jezika. Zagreb: Novi liber

Encyclopaedic dictionaries, such as:
The New Oxford Dictionary of English, or
Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged
Anić, V. et al. Hrvatski enciklopedijski rječnik. Zagreb: Novi liber

Collocation dictionaries, such as:
Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Specialized dictionaries, such as:
Ivir, V. Hrvatsko-engleski poslovno-upravni rječnik. Zagreb: Školska knjiga.
Špiljak, V. Englesko-hrvatski poslovni rječnik. Zagreb: Masmedia.

Electronic resources