Translation Norwegian to French, Phonetics and French Society (with emphasis on Spoken French)

Language of Instruction

Norwegian and French

Pre-requirements

None

Learning Outcomes

¿ Knowledge

After completing the course the students will (a) have extensive knowledge of constitutional, political, cultural and social conditions in French society today, (b) know the main principles of French pronunciation and (c) have knowledge of important differences between French and Norwegian sentence structure.

• Skills

The students will (a) be capable of conversing in French about French society and the social debate today, (b) have a good French pronunciation and (c) be capable of translating general texts from Norwegian to French

¿ General competence

The students will be capable of following and assessing the French social debate based on the knowledge they have gained.

They will be competent to work with Norwegian-French translation on a higher level, for example by taking FRAN201.

Contact Information

studierettleiar@if.uib.no

Course offered (semester)

Fall

Language of Instruction

Norwegian and French

Course Unit Level

Bachelor

Access to the Course Unit

The course is open to all with admission to the University of Bergen.

Aim and Content

The course has three components:

(a) Oral French (conversation) tied to a curriculum in French social conditions

(b) French pronunciation (reading competence) tied to a curriculum in phonetics

(c) Translation Norwegian-French

The course will (a) train the ability to converse in French about the French society and the social debate today

(b) give the students a good French pronunciation, increase their reading competence and make them capable of explaining the main principles in French pronunciation

(c) teach the students to translate from Norwegian to French simple texts, for example newspapers articles and prose. The students will become accustomed to using monolingual and bi-lingual dictionaries in their translation work.

Learning Outcomes

¿ Knowledge

After completing the course the students will (a) have extensive knowledge of constitutional, political, cultural and social conditions in French society today, (b) know the main principles of French pronunciation and (c) have knowledge of important differences between French and Norwegian sentence structure.

• Skills

The students will (a) be capable of conversing in French about French society and the social debate today, (b) have a good French pronunciation and (c) be capable of translating general texts from Norwegian to French

¿ General competence

The students will be capable of following and assessing the French social debate based on the knowledge they have gained.

They will be competent to work with Norwegian-French translation on a higher level, for example by taking FRAN201.

Pre-requirements

None

Recommended previous knowledge

To complete the course with good results a level of French corresponding to at least level 2 from Upper Secondary School is required.

The students are advised to take the Spring courses FRAN101 and FRAN103 before the Fall courses FRAN102 and FRAN114.

Teaching Methods

Each Fall the Department organizes a 7-week long stay for the students in FRAN114 at the Norwegian Study Center in Caen, reviewing the curriculum in French social conditions and phonetics. The basic course in phonetics teaches the most important principles of articulation, sound system, rhythm and pattern of intonation. For those who cannot follow FRAN114 in Caen there will be about 12 hours of lecture in French society and 12 hours of lecture in phonetics during the 7 weeks when the other students are in Caen. There will also be about 6 hours of practical group assignments. All the students will get about 28 hours of lecture in Norwegian-French translation in the period before and after the 7-week long stay.

The students will also be able to work on their own with translations in the Multimedia lab or on the Internet.

Compulsory Requirements

The students must hand in and have approved two translation assignments during the semester before they can take the oral and written exams.

Assessment methods

The exam is divided into two parts:

1) The oral exam is tied to the curriculum in French social conditions and in phonetics. The exam is a conversation based on an unknown text with a topic relating to the curriculum in French society. The candidates will get the text about 30 minutes before the exam. Knowledge about the topic and linguistic competence are equally important in the evaluation of the oral presentation.

The exam also includes reading aloud from a text where the student must comment on pronunciation, and questions from the theoretical curriculum in phonetics.2) Written exam (3 hours) in Norwegian-French translation. Monolingual (French-French and possibly Norwegian-Norwegian) dictionaries approved by the Department are allowed.

The oral and written exams each count for 50 per cent of the final grade in the course. The part that is passed is valid for up to two semesters after it has been passed.

Grading Scale

The grading scale A-F is used, where F is a fail.

Reading List

In addition to the curriculum in French society/oral French it is a requirement that the student will have general knowledge of French culture and society. This knowledge can be gained for example by following French radio and television, reading French newspapers and using the Internet.

Norwegian-French translation is not tied to a specific curriculum, but an overview of dictionaries, as well as an outline of the curriculum in French society/oral French and pronunciation, can all be found online. Information about the curriculum can be found on My Space/Mi side.

Any changes in the curriculum will be announced at the start of the semester.

Place of Teaching

Bergen and Caen

Course Unit Evaluation

The teaching is evaluated according to the quality assurance system of the University of Bergen.

Contact Information

studierettleiar@if.uib.no