CPLT BC3110

Not a difficult class, but quite boring. I love languages and I thought this would be an interesting approach to it, but I just couldn't keep focus. It was really hard to force myself to go to class, because he takes attendance.

Participation and pop quizzes (15%) -- the easiest things ever. I felt the quizzes were more to ensure attendance than to ensure comprehension. We also had to post questions for guest speakers, which factored into the grade. There is an attendance policy (max two unexcused absences) though it is hardly ever taken. Language memoir (20%) -- very simple story about your bilingualism and how it developed. It's a very creative assignment, around 4 pages. Translation (20%) and Peer-Critique (10%) -- also simple. You pick a source text, which is about a page, and you translate it. You then send it to your partner and they critique it, and you critique theirs. You can pretty much pick any prose from the 20th century. Final Project (35%) -- 7-10 pages. You get to select from five prompts, and one of them is a translation project (which I did). You translate four pages of source material, and you can pick almost anything, even a poem. You then translate it and write prefatory notes. Altogether it came out to about nine pages. Other topics included: 1) discussion of community interpreting or subtitling/dubbing; 2) translation critique; 3) essay about a play (Brian Friel's Translations); or 4) an interview with a translator.

Prof Connor's class was very enjoyable. The field of Translation Studies is very new but he still manages to raise interesting issues throughout the semester. That being said I felt the class was kind of wishy-washy. I enjoyed it and thought it was a great class, and I don't regret taking it, but that being said, if you're looking for more practical, hands-on application, you might be a bit disappointed with this course. There is only one required translation assignment, though it is an option for the final. Given that it's a large lecture (100+ students) with only four TAs, it makes sense that there aren't many assignments. The lectures are often just Professor Connor discussing what he thought was important, and him trying (and sometimes failing) to solicit class participation. Sometimes certain readings were never discussed at all, though it is usually helpful to read them. Usually every week we'll have three or four readings (no more than 20 pages, usually they're very short) and Professor Connor will pick one or two and extensively discuss them. You may nor may not appreciate this approach. Even though Professor Connor runs a great class about an interesting topic, I felt his lecture style is pretty standard for a college course. His lectures aren't fabulously engaging though they are very informative. He tries his best to engage with students but he is very much the ster…

There is a partner translation project, a translation memoir and a final project (10 pgs). There is also weekly reading which is usually a couple of articles. It's very manageable. You can put in as much effort as you want.

Professor Connor is one of the most brilliant, knowledgable and insightful people at Columbia. His lectures are simultaneously intellectual and funny. His class completely changed my world view and made me rethink a lot of what I wanted to get out of college. I have never enjoyed a final paper as much as I enjoyed the one for this class. While he is very Francophone oriented, there are many languages represented in the class and he appreciates and highlights that.

One paper? Two short papers? Nothing really, mostly 30-40 pages of reading a week. Oral final exams.

The best thing I can recommend is going to office hours; he does have a tendency to drone sometimes (in 20th Century French Literature, for sure), but the material he presents to you is engaging enough that it merits more conversation. You'll want to talk about these things, you'll want to think about them. He's also a funny guy and good to get to know. His office hours (when he remembers that he has them, I suppose) are very instructive, and I get the idea that he likes talking to his students more than reading them. Here he can explain why he doesn't explicitly advocate for the "faithful" translations or too "foreignizing" translations...(hint: can be the same thing). Professor Connor doesn't like grading papers. He leaves grading them, and assigning them, to the last minute. You want to know how you did in the class? Don't worry about it, you probably didn't get anything near a B. But if you don't want to do any work in the class, it's your loss, you're not learning anything he's teaching, which is actually pretty interesting. But at least if you don't show up and don't do your reading, go out and do something better with your time than laying in bed with your computer. At least in Translation Studies, the only way to really understand the material is if you start translating yourself. Grading: Translations/commentary: 25% Written critique/appreciation of a peer translation…

Reading is 100% optional. The essays are a breeze. Grading is silly easy. I remember that when the TA was returning the second essay, mine was near the bottom and she had to flip through nearly the whole stack. The lowest grade was a B+.

To sum up this review, this class really disappointed me. I love languages, enjoy translation, and had high hopes. It's not challenging and it's the only class that I've ever skipped or nodded off in. STAY AWAY. (If you like languages, take Intro to Linguistics instead -- it's the exact opposite of this class. It's engaging, challenging, and super interesting. Don't make the mistake of taking this class.) The first class you learn the following: - translation is about decisions that have consequences - that you can translate towards or away from a culture - that Prof. Connor's teaching style involves lecturing in a slow, droning voice with little discussion I don't deny that Prof Connor is a nice guy, but the rest of the semester is spent repeating point (a) and (b) in various different ways. I kid you not, there is no need for you to come to class or do any reading whatsoever. Prof. Connor's lectures entirely involve repeating the reading, so you under on circumstance would ever HAVE to do both reading and showing up. The readings are often beautifully written, but dense and take forever to get to the point. Part of the problem of why this course is so soporific is that the field of Translation Studies is tiny and underdeveloped, so it's not exactly a subject you can go out and explore yourself. There's also little conflict in the field -- a lot of the reading just agrees wit…

Excerpt from film Dirty Pretty Things\r\n\r\nThursday 17 November: Guest Lecturer Nancy Piore will speak to us about her experience interpreting for asylum seekers in the NY court system, and her work with women prisoners in Cameroon.\r\n\r\n\r\nWeek XI (22 November)\r\n\r\n*Douglas Robinson, The Translator\'s Turn (ext.)\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n[THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY]\r\n\r\nWeek XII (29 November and 1 December)\r\nBrian Friel, Translations\r\n\r\nItamar Even-Zohar, "The Position of Translated Literature Within the Literary Polysystem"\r\n*Zohar Shavit. Poetics of Children\'s Literature, ch. V ("Translation of Children\'s Literature"\r\n*Rachel Weissbrod, The Tel Aviv School\r\nThursday 1 December\r\n\r\nWeek XIII (6 and 8 December)\r\nSociology of translation\r\nLori Chamberlain, "Gender and the Metaphorics of Translation"\r\n*Anna Bogic, "The Story of the First English Translation of The Second Sex"\r\nFinal project due\r\n\r\nFINAL EXAM (see Registrar\'s site)\r\n\r\n\r\nTravail du cours:\r\n\r\n1. Participation (15%)\r\n2. Exposé oral (15%)\r\n2. Deux devoirs écrits (25% chacun)\r\n3. Examen final (20%)\r\n\r\nPROGRAMME\r\n\r\n\r\nSemaine 1 (6 et 8 septembre)\r\nIntroduction\r\n\r\nSemaine 2 (13 et 15 septembre)\r\nAndré Gide, La Symphonie pastorale\r\n\r\nSemaine 3 (20 et 22 septembre)\r\nAndré Gide, La Symphonie pastorale\r\n\r\nSemaine 4 (27 et 29 septembre)\r\nGeorges Bataille,…