Admission requirements
Students should be sufficiently proficient in English and Dutch.
Description
Why do Albanians have 27 different words for moustache? Why is there no word for “understatement” in the Dutch language? Whatever the answer to these questions may be, it can surely not be denied that language is inextricably bound up with culture. There are countless examples of concepts in one language that simply do not exist in the other, such as the British phenomenon of “opting-out schools”, or concepts that have no exact equivalent in other languages, like the Dutch word “notaris”, or the American word “ranger”. The above are just a few examples to illustrate the problems a translator has to tackle every day. In order to be able to produce correct and readable translations, a translator must have a comprehensive knowledge not only of the source and target languages themselves, but also of the cultures of both the source and target language. In this course, you will not only learn many things about the United Kingdom and the United States, but you will also learn how to apply your knowledge about the cultures of the Netherlands, the UK and the US to translation problems that may result from cultural differences between these countries.
Course objectives
Course objective 1: comprehensive knowledge of American and British culture
Course objective 2: insight into the differences between source and target cultures
Course objective 3: ability to apply the above knowledge and insight in translations, and tackle translation problems resulting from differences between source and target cultures
Timetable
The timetable will be available by June 1st on the website.
Mode of instruction
- Seminar
Course Load
The course load of this course is 140 hours.
28 hours: attending seminars;
70 hours: studying compulsory literature;
42 hours: preparation for the exam and/or assignments (including reading / research)
Assessment method
written examination (including essay questions) (60%)
average of two written assignments (40%)
Blackboard
This course is supported by blackboard.
Reading list
Reader Culture Studies for Translators. Blackboard
Oakland, J. American Civilization. New York: Routledge.
Oakland, J. (2011) British Civilization. London: Routledge.
Registration
Students should register through uSis. Exchange students cannot register through uSis, but must see the coordinator of studies and register with her. If you have any questions, please contact the departmental office, tel. 071 5272144 or mail: english@hum.leidenuniv.nl.
Exchange and Study Abroad students, please see the Study in Leiden website for information on how to apply.
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Registration Studeren à la carte via: www.hum.leidenuniv.nl/onderwijs/alacarte
Registration Contractonderwijs via: http://www.hum.leidenuniv.nl/onderwijs/contractonderwijs/
Contact English Language and Culture departmental office, P.N. van Eyckhof 4, room 102C. Tel. 071 5272144; mail:english@hum.leidenuniv.nl. Coordinator of studies: Ms T.D. Obbens, MA, P.N. van Eyckhof 4, room 103C.
Remarks
One of the books on the reading list (Oakland, John. American Civilization (2013). New York: Routledge.) is scheduled to be published in July 2013. If this edition is not available at the start of term, please buy the 5th edition instead.