FIT Translation Techniques & Language Proficiency 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A translator renders 'Il fait un froid de canard' as 'It is freezing cold' rather than 'It is making duck cold.' Which technique is being applied?
- Calque
- Literal translation
- Idiomatic equivalence (Correct answer)
- Transposition
Correct answer: Idiomatic equivalence
Idiomatic equivalence replaces a source-language idiom with a target-language expression that conveys the same meaning naturally.
Question 2: When translating a legal contract, a translator changes 'the party of the first part' to simply 'the Seller' for clarity. This is an example of:
- Explicitation
- Simplification (Correct answer)
- Modulation
- Compensation
Correct answer: Simplification
Simplification reduces complexity or redundancy in the source text to improve clarity in the target language.
Question 3: Which FIT competency area requires translators to understand register differences between formal legal writing and everyday language?
- Terminological competence
- Sociolinguistic competence (Correct answer)
- Transfer competence
- Research competence
Correct answer: Sociolinguistic competence
Sociolinguistic competence involves understanding how context, register, and social factors affect language use and translation choices.
Question 4: A translator adds a brief footnote explaining a culturally specific concept that has no equivalent in the target culture. This technique is called:
- Adaptation
- Domestication
- Exoticization
- Extratextual equivalence (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Extratextual equivalence
Extratextual equivalence provides explanatory information outside the main text, such as footnotes or glossaries, to bridge cultural gaps.
Question 5: In back-translation verification, a translated text is re-translated into the original language primarily to:
- Create a bilingual edition of the document
- Check for conceptual accuracy and meaning preservation (Correct answer)
- Generate a glossary of specialized terms
- Test the translator's knowledge of both languages
Correct answer: Check for conceptual accuracy and meaning preservation
Back-translation is used as a quality-check method to identify meaning shifts or errors introduced during the initial translation.
Question 6: Which of the following best describes 'dynamic equivalence' as defined by Eugene Nida?
- Translating word-for-word to preserve source structure
- Producing in the target reader the same effect the source produced in the original reader (Correct answer)
- Using modern technology to achieve faster translation output
- Maintaining identical sentence length and syntax across languages
Correct answer: Producing in the target reader the same effect the source produced in the original reader
Dynamic equivalence, Nida's concept, aims for the target-language reader to respond to the translation as the source-language reader responded to the original.
Question 7: A medical translator encounters the term 'myocardial infarction' in a patient information leaflet aimed at the general public. The best translation strategy is to:
- Retain the Latin term as is, since patients should learn medical vocabulary
- Translate it using the technical equivalent in the target language only
- Use a lay equivalent such as 'heart attack' and optionally retain the clinical term in parentheses (Correct answer)
- Omit the term since general readers will not understand it
Correct answer: Use a lay equivalent such as 'heart attack' and optionally retain the clinical term in parentheses
For non-specialist audiences, translators should use accessible language while optionally including technical terms for completeness.
FIT Translation Techniques & Language Proficiency 2
A translator renders 'Il fait un froid de canard' as 'It is freezing cold' rather than 'It is making duck cold.' Which technique is being applied?