On Friday 25th March, Year 13 students studying French A Level took part in a translation workshop led Jenny Higgins. Jenny is a professional translator, and she is also the programme manager of the Queen’s College Translation Exchange.
The pupils studied techniques to translate French literature into English. They started by looking at the cartoon Astérix and tried to translate quotes from Obélix. They then looked in detail at a passage from the nineteenth century novel “L’éducation sentimentale” by Gustave Flaubert.
They were also able to put their own language skills and creativity into practice and we hope that this will pay dividends in the forthcoming A Level exams.
“Thank you very much to Jenny Higgins for coming in to talk to us about translation. It was a really enjoyable session and gave us a super insight into the life of a translator. Not only did we hear from Jenny about her life and about translation as a process but we also got to translate some sections of literature ourselves. Thank you to Mr Couliou as well for organising such a fun activity.” Amy, Y13
“J’étais ravie de rencontrer la traductrice formidable Jenny Higgins et d’améliorer mes compétences en traduction – merci beaucoup au département de langues modernes d’OHS pour avoir organisé une séance inoubliable!” Leila, Y13
