Here is a list of some ideas for the next year project:
- Unfortunately we did not hae access to a platform which could have made easier the communication
- I would have appreciate to be able to communicate a little bit more with the American students
- The French students should decide with the American students the topic
Working with foreign student was very interesting. Indeed, we had to be professional so it was a good training for our future job. Then, we had to work on a document written by foreign people who had another point of view due to their culture and who had had a different schooling. I think that working with foreign people allows us to be professional and to acquire some communication techniques that are adapted to a different culture. Moreover, a translator must be a person that communicates and therefore must be able to qualify his speech to get his message out. Finally, working in a team was very rewarding because you have to define clear roles to obain a satisfactory result.
At the beginning we were not sure to keep the page layout but we finally decided not to change it. At the end of the project, we standardized the typography.
We chose to communicate using emails. However, it was quite difficult to respect our deadlines because we had to wait for some time before having an answer. Concerning communication between Solène and I, it was quite simple because we had class together and were able to communicate using emails and Facebook.
After finishing translating the document, we read the two parts and we had to agree on the terminology. We both made some changes to have a coherent result. We had a discussion on what verbal form we should choose: using the “vous” or adopting the infinitive form. We chose to use the infinitive form, so that the document is more impersonal, so we had to change the ending of many verbs.
I had no idea of what a piston looked like and when and where we used it. First of all, I did some basic research on the web to collect some pieces of information. At this point I knew that pistons were used in engines and that we could install a piston in an engine. Then, I read some French documents to learn the terminology (names of the parts of an engine, names of the part of a piston…). At this moment, I was ready to start translating the document.
Solène and I chose to divide the document into two parts so that each of us had to translate one of these parts. So, as soon as the two American students answered us, we decided to start translating and we determined some deadlines. On April 9th, we met to pool our two translations.
On the 28th of March, we received the final version of the document and we discovered that it dealt with mechanics, more precisely how to install a piston. I have to say that I was a little bit surprise when I read the document, first of all because I basically knew nothing about mechanics and then because I thought that we would have to translate something about computer science like several other groups.
On the 5th of March, Solène and I sent an email to the two American students working with us. We introduced ourselves, explained what we were currently studying and invite them to let us know what they chose to write about. The two of them started working on this project a week before we did, so that they had already chosen their theme. They answered us a week later and told us that they were working on the project and that they would let us know as soon as they would have finished.
At the beginning of the semester, Pr Minacori told us that she has been managing a project for several years. In this project, French student would translate into French a technical document that English speaking students would have written. Last semester, the project involved French students with Irish and American ones. This semester, we had to work with American students from the North Dakota State University. Pr Minacori formed the different teams and it was decided that I would work with Solène.
