Business Translation Practice (English-Portuguese)
Code
711121057
Academic unit
Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas
Department
Línguas, Culturas e Literaturas Modernas, Secção de Estudos Ingleses e Norte-Americanos
Credits
6
Teacher in charge
Iolanda de Freitas Ramos, Susana Valdez Sengo
Weekly hours
4
Teaching language
Portuguese
Objectives
At the end of the semester students should:
1) know basic terminology pertaining to the fields of contract law, company law, accounting and financial statements, corporate structure, marketing, advertising, localization, human resources management and import /export transactions;
2) be able to organize a glossary of the key terms of Business English in the above-mentioned areas;
3) be aware of the cultural differences between the British, North American and Portuguese norms regarding corporate communication (e.g. business correspondence, minutes, circulars);
4) be able to translate commercial correspondence (formal letters, emails) obeying Portuguese norms and conventions, both formal (layout) and stylistic;
5) be able to translate a job description, a cover letter, a contract of employment and a notice of termination;
6) be aware of the basic principles of localization and apply them to marketing and advertising strategies;
7) be able to translate a company´s website.
Prerequisites
Very good proficiency in English (level B2.2)
Subject matter
1. Basic principles of corporate structure and hierarchy (departments, jobs, functions, titles)
2. Corporate communication: formal correspondence and other documents (e.g. invitations), emails, circulars and minutes.
3. Human Resources Management: CVs, cover letters, job descriptions, replies to job applications and legal documents (terms and conditions, employment contracts, notices of termination).
4. Finance and Accounting (taxation, financial statements, balance sheets, stockmarket activity).
5. Corporate image: website, marketing, publicity, localization and Public Relations (press releases).
Bibliography
1. Sager, Juan C. (1990). A Practical Course in Terminology Processing. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
2. Chartrand, Marcella et al. (2009). English for Contract and Company Law. 3rd edition. London: St. Jerome.
3. Moreira, Isabel (2010). Correspondência Comercial. 2ª edição Lisboa: Edições Técnicas e Profissionais.
4. Cao, Deborah (2007). Translating Law. Cleveland: Multilingual Matters.
5. Costa, J. A. Ferreira da (2008). Direito de Negócios: Dicionário Inglês/Português Direito Financeiro e Bancário, de Mercado de Capitais, de Torts e Corporate Finance). 3ª edição. Coimbra: Almedina.
6. Parkinson, Dilys (ed) (2005). Oxford Business English Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
7. Soares, José Carlos (2011). Dicionário de Gestão. Lisboa: Plátano.
8. Andrade, Maria Paula Gouveia de (2008). Dicionário Jurídico (Português-Inglês; Inglês-Português). Lisboa: Quid Juris.
9. MacKenzie, Ian (2006). English for Business Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Teaching method
This unit, despite its necessary theoretical component, is mainly practical. In the introduction to each item of the syllabus, three main strategies wil be used: first, an exposition (by the teacher) both of the basic information and of the contextual meaning of the key concepts that make up the terminology of each particular area of Business English; in a second stage, a sequence of exercises destined to familiarize students with key terminology and, in a third stage, the search for equivalent terms/ expressions in Portuguese. The practical scope of the unit being predominant, the methodology adopted will focus on the students by assigning them a wide range of texts to translate, either individually or in pairs, either in class or at home. Each translation will afterwards be analysed and corrected.
Evaluation method
Assessment will take into account students´ participation (10%), writing assignments (30%) and 2 written classroom tests (60%).