STC Translation Techniques 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which technique involves replacing a source-language idiom with a target-language idiom that conveys the same meaning but uses different imagery?
- Calque
- Idiomatic equivalence (Correct answer)
- Literal translation
- Transposition
Correct answer: Idiomatic equivalence
Idiomatic equivalence substitutes a source idiom with a functionally equivalent target-language idiom even when the imagery differs.
Question 2: When a Spanish translator renders 'Se me cayó el alma a los pies' as 'My heart sank,' which technique is being used?
- Borrowing
- Calque
- Idiomatic equivalence (Correct answer)
- Literal translation
Correct answer: Idiomatic equivalence
The translator swaps the Spanish idiom for an English idiom ('my heart sank') that conveys the same emotional meaning.
Question 3: Compensation in translation refers to:
- Paying translators for extra work
- Introducing a stylistic or cultural element elsewhere when it cannot be reproduced at the original point (Correct answer)
- Adding synonyms to clarify meaning
- Removing untranslatable content entirely
Correct answer: Introducing a stylistic or cultural element elsewhere when it cannot be reproduced at the original point
Compensation means offsetting the loss of a source-text feature by recreating a similar effect at a different point in the translation.
Question 4: Which technique would a translator use to handle the Spanish subjunctive mood in a clause like 'Quiero que vengas' when English lacks a direct subjunctive form?
- Transposition (Correct answer)
- Calque
- Borrowing
- Omission
Correct answer: Transposition
Transposition shifts the grammatical category—here, converting the Spanish subjunctive construction into an English infinitive phrase ('I want you to come').
Question 5: A 'thick translation' strategy involves:
- Translating only the literal meaning of each word
- Adding extensive explanatory footnotes or glosses to preserve cultural context (Correct answer)
- Compressing the source text for brevity
- Using machine translation as a first draft
Correct answer: Adding extensive explanatory footnotes or glosses to preserve cultural context
Thick translation supplies cultural and contextual annotations alongside the translated text to aid comprehension.
Question 6: In consecutive interpreting used during a certified Spanish translation exam scenario, the interpreter's primary tool is:
- Simultaneous whispering
- Memory aided by notes taken during the speaker's turn (Correct answer)
- Reading from a pre-translated script
- Sight translation only
Correct answer: Memory aided by notes taken during the speaker's turn
Consecutive interpreting relies on note-taking during the source speech so the interpreter can reproduce the message accurately after the speaker pauses.
Question 7: Which of the following best describes the 'foreignization' strategy in translation?
- Adapting the text fully to target-culture norms
- Preserving source-culture elements to give readers a sense of the foreign (Correct answer)
- Translating word-for-word regardless of target idiom
- Using loanwords exclusively
Correct answer: Preserving source-culture elements to give readers a sense of the foreign
Foreignization deliberately retains source-culture markers, exposing target readers to the linguistic and cultural otherness of the original.
STC Translation Techniques 2
Which technique involves replacing a source-language idiom with a target-language idiom that conveys the same meaning but uses different imagery?