ab initio German Paper GeA2
Introduction
Paper GeA2 consists of one translation into English and one into German. The texts are related to each other by content, and there is also much vocabulary which can be gleaned by careful comparison of the texts. On this page, you see the text for translation into German above, and the text for translation into English underneath. Any vocabulary in the first paragraph of the English text which has an equivalent in the German text is marked in bold. These words are also marked in bold wherever they occur in the German text (they are not only to be found in the first paragraph). You must find the rest of the parallel vocabulary yourself.
Strategies
First, think briefly about the topic &ndash here, two international radio stations, the BBC World Service and Deutsche Welle. What do you know about them? Note down vocabulary on broadcasting, radio and TV, both in English and in German, which comes to mind. Think of English equivalents of the German words you come up with, and vice versa.
Next, read both texts carefully, looking for parallel vocabulary as you go along.
Are there any particular grammatical constructions which are used in both texts? Are the texts written in the same tense? Are they similar in style?
Translation into German: GeA2 Section A
To have translated Section B into English first (see separate web-page) would be a good preparation for the translation of Section A into German.
Look through the text and think again about particular grammatical features: Tense? Mode (Indicative/Subjunctive)? Active voice/passive voice?
With the vocabulary you can glean from the German text, make sure that for your translation, you adjust articles, determiners, adjectival and plural endings, and think about tense and verb forms.
Think about the principles of sentence construction and word order. As with the translation into English, do not translate word for word &ndash always read and translate the whole sentence within its context, bearing in mind the text as a whole.
Aim for grammatical correctness and know and avoid the common pitfalls: verbs with a dative object (see 'Just-in-time Grammar'), adjectival endings (see 'Just-in-time Grammar'), verb-subject agreement, irregular verb forms (see 'Just-in-time Grammar'), plural forms.
Try to paraphrase or find the nearest substitute for German vocabulary you don‘t know, using the old trick of thinking about an English synonym and then &ndash with any luck &ndash of its German counterpart.
Check through both your translations systematically at the end. Leave them on your desk for a day, next day check through again with fresh eyes.
Note:
Click here for BBC World Service
Click here for Deutsche Welle
Chapter 39 of Blaue Blume has some vocabulary on TV and radio
Day 8 in Upgrade your German revises vocabulary on film and TV
Some Instructions
- The passage for translation includes footnotes: click on the footnote number to see more information about it in the right-hand column.
- In the CALL Facility and elsewhere via the PWF, you can use this dictionary or the following one
- Type up your translation with a separate program alongside your web browser. Use a word processor or text editor; on a CALL Facility PC WordPad (Go to Start > Programs > Accessories > WordPad) is reccomended.
- You can save your work on a floppy disk or send yourself (or your tutor) a copy of your translation by copying and pasting it into an email message. To simplify transmission, save your file as plain text rather than a word processor document: under Save As go for plain text. You may even wish to type your translation directly into an email message.