Not-quite translation: transforming L1 notes to L2 text

This post features an idea I've written about previously on the Textivate blog. The text used (and the inspiration) came originally from an idea posted by Steve Smith (of FrenchTeacher.net) on his blog a few years ago in a post entitled "Google Translate beaters". In the post, Steve suggests a translation activity based on providing students with an L1 and L2 text, each with different words or chunks missing. Steve's idea looks a bit like what has now become known as "tangled translation", the difference being that in tangled translation the text is presented as one text that alternates between the L1 and the L2. But it's very similar in that students are required to complete both the L1 and L2 versions of the text by referring to the bits that are in the other language and translating.

A crucial part of Steve's original idea is that students are guided towards the required answer by the inclusion of letter spaces indicating the length of each word to be typed, in both the L1 and the L2. Steve suggests this as a way of providing 2-way translation which, because of the chopped up nature of each text and the dashed gaps, is practically impossible to complete using translation tools such as Google Translate. An excellent activity! :o)

Translation in TextActivities works in a similar way to Steve's example because it specifies the letter gaps to be completed. i.e. it will only accept the pre-defined translation. This makes it difficult to google translate your L1 text to the L2 because GT will only work as long as the GT translation matches the pre-defined L2 text provided by the teacher.

TextActivities translation into the L2 is a useful activity to push students to practise particular language; particular words, chunks and expressions that we think they should be able to say / write. (This blog post on working with model texts explores this in more detail.)

However, it occurred to me that we could make the activity slightly more challenging and even less google-translatable by providing L1 notes rather than the "Full English" as it were...

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Translation into the Target Language (with examples in several languages)

TextActivities is a great tool for practising translation into the L2 / the target language.

You can create your own resources in a matter of minutes and then have access to all sorts of activity options that will give your students TONS of translation practice. 

Getting your students used to doing this sort of thing from the get-go can only help to improve their ability to write accurately in the L2, including translation, and arguably the sorts of noticing and implicit grammar practice involved in these tasks will make them more competent speakers of the L2 as well.

(The activities generated can also include audio, so dictation and listening practice are also available. But this post focuses solely on activities with an L1 prompt that require students to translate that prompt into the target language.)

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