Articles and Stories

September 18, 2015

By Amanda Scott

Some high school students in Singapore, China are among the first to take the new translation course offered. Along with Dunham High School, three junior colleges, Nanyang Junior College, Hwa Chong Institution, and Jurong Junior College, are now offering translation as a course option. There are currently 62 students total enrolled in the subject across the four schools.

Students wanting to enroll in the course must be fluent in both Chinese and English. In order to be successful in the class, having a strong knowledge of grammar rules in both languages is essential. Some students opted to take the course because they desire to be professional translators, while others were interested in translation as a bridge to other careers such as Foreign Affairs.

The class sizes remain small to maximize student-teacher interactions. Since the course is new, no textbooks are available. The teachers of the class underwent training for a year at The Ministry of Education. Teachers must prepare their own lesson plans and are challenging students with real-world applications. Students work on mini projects translating for actual organizations and are provided feedback from the companies.

Translation students must translate passages, as well as critique and participate in discussions of other translated works, as part of the curriculum. They are also responsible for translating text from eight different genres, which include everything from cooking recipes to instruction manuals. An exam set mainly in Chinese, consisting of three papers, is given at the conclusion of the translation course.

More schools may start offering the translation class if the demand from students increases. One way of gaining interest from students is to show them how valuable translation skills can be in the increasingly global business world. Students who are able to complete the course will have a competitive advantage over others.