Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Paper PG B2

Translation from Portuguese and Oral B

The translation class is held fortnightly in Michaelmas and Lent Terms, and is designed to introduce you to the wide range of styles and registers in Portuguese from the Golden Age to the present day, and from Europe through to Latin America. For each class you will be given a text or texts to translate and hand in prior to the meeting. Your teacher will correct your version and then discuss questions of style, register, vocabulary and syntax with you in class in a way that is aimed at developing your comprehension of written Spanish, the range of your vocabulary and your ability to produce a good, stylistically adequate English translation. You will occasionally be asked to discuss and compare, perhaps in small groups, one or two professional translations of a passage or a poem in Spanish with the aim of raising your critical awareness of the problems, both technical and stylistic, involved in translation.

The two-hour examination will consist of four passages, of which one will be a commentary (a passage or poem with one or two professional translations for you to comment on), but you will only have to translate (or produce a critical commentary of) TWO of the passages. This change to the format of the paper (until Tripos 2011 three passages had to be translated) is expected to take place from Tripos 2012, subject to relevant University approval. The word limit of each text will now be 250-300.

To view examination papers from previous years please visit our CamTools page, but please remember that the format from Tripos 2012 will be new.

From Michaelmas 2011 (for Tripos 2012), the format of this paper is changing. There is a copy of the specimen paper in the MML Library and you can also see it online on this PDF file, please click here. PLEASE bear in mind the new format when you refer to past papers for revisions, etc.

Portuguese Oral B

Teaching aimed to develop your oral and general language expression skills in the language consists of a weekly supervision with a native speaker in small groups of 2-4 students. This is your chance to converse with a native speaker on a series of topics, where the onus will be on you to speak the language and increase your fluency. All Portuguese supervisions are centrally organised by the Department, with the approval of the relevant college.

The oral examination is held in the first week of the third term (Easter Term) and consists of:

• reading aloud a passage taken from a text chosen by the Examiners (you will be given the passage 15 minutes beforehand, to read it through and prepare for the exam
• conversation on the subject matter of the text.

The examination may also include conversation on general topics.

During the four teaching weeks of the Easter term, supervisors will concentrate on revising relevant grammatical points.

Please remember that the Language Laboratory provides you with ample opportunity to listen to authentic Portuguese, even if it is only watching the News or the latest episode of your favourite soap! There are also the Hispanic and Portuguese Societies in the University which will help you meet the many young native-speakers who study in Cambridge. We shall also give you advice, help, and encouragement to go on courses in Portugal during the holidays.  The Language Centre has a system of 'pairing up' Modern Languages students with foreign students currently studying in Cambridge for language exchange sessions.  You may be able to arrange an informal language class in this way.