Latin / Levels 7 and 8 / Engaging with texts / Translating
Content description
Translate Latin texts into Standard English, by applying knowledge of vocabulary, accidence and syntax, and linguistic and cultural cues
Elaborations
reading texts to gain a sense of holistic meaning, and identifying cues, such as text type, familiar vocabulary, grammar and cultural references
considering multiple meanings of vocabulary, for example, by using dictionaries and electronic translation tools, and making appropriate selections according to context, for example, petit; ago; de
using known vocabulary, in Latin or English, and context to deduce the meaning of unknown words, for example, clamor, exclamare; puer in cubiculodormit (dormitory)
identifying meanings of words by recognising change of form, such as third declension nouns and irregular verbs, for example, nomen, nominis; est, sunt
identifying parts of speech and their function in context to determine meaning, for example, identifying which noun is the subject of the verb
identifying the specific function of inflected forms to determine meaning, for example, puellacanemvidet (subject + object + verb) or puellaestlaeta (subject + verb + complement)
applying knowledge of grammar to recognise in context the specific function of words which may have multiple applications, such as whether nomen or cives is subject or object
developing problem-solving skills to resolve perceived issues and anomalies encountered in the translation process, for example, confusion of genitive and nominative forms such as domini
exploring the effect of using the variety of English translations for tenses and making selections according to context, for example, clamat – ‘she is shouting’, ‘she shouts’, ‘she does shout’
selecting appropriate English meanings, identifying words and expressions that do not translate easily, for example, res; virgo; vir; consul spectaculumdat
discussing how words that refer to aspects of Roman culture should be translated, for example, servus (‘slave’ rather than ‘servant’)
determining appropriate word order in English to retain meaning and emphasis, for example, agricolam in agrotaurus petit
translating Latin into idiomatic English, for example, by translating ego et tu as ‘you and I’
discussing and correcting or improving own translations to increase accuracy and reflect register, tone and relationships between characters
collaborating with peers to interpret meaning in texts and develop and edit joint translations, using a range of ICT
applying appropriate strategies to translate, independently, unseen Latin texts
