Translating in the Initial Phase of Learning a Foreign Language: Does It Make Sense?

Abstract

This writing deals with the great opportunities and challenges of implementing translating (and under certain circumstances even interpreting) of authentic texts chosen by the students in the initial phase of learning a foreign language. The possible ways of implementing these aspects in teaching are being presented in the case study of teaching Dutch as a foreign language at the Palacký University Olomouc, the Czech Republic. Thanks to a complex innovation programme financed within the IFIT-project (www.ifit.upol.cz; 2012–2015) from the EU-funds it was possible to completely change the concept of teaching the translation and interpreting courses within the Faculty of Arts. Such an approach can potentially serve as a model for future innovations of this type and scale at various universities in Central-Europe. Moreover, it advocates the usage of moodle-courses and other modern technology for language teaching. Last but not least, it discusses the great advantages of bringing teachers of translation and interpreting courses in various languages together and combining their knowledge and skills on the principles of co-creation.