Mündliches Übersetzen, Final Post

Extra notes for the exam:

From the "Florida librarians" text: Have a look at this text for phrases that might be useful in conveying reported speech for your translation from German to English. These include expressions like "the accused have alleged...", "the two are reported to have...", "staff at the libraries claim the move was...",

From the "Dieter Wellershoff" text: First paragraph -- it's a nice idea here to Combine the second-to-last with the last sentence, which would then read, " His publisher Kiepenheuer & Witsch reported that Dieter Wellershoff died on Friday at the Age of 92."

The entire article features opportunities to reverse the word order, such as in the second paragraph: "He completed his A-Levels after the war, earned a degree in German studies, art history, and psychology and became an editor at ..." or in the next paragraph, "Among the people who advised him there was German writer Heinrich Böll." Because this is a predictable feature of German (to thrust an element forward based on V2 structure, I expect you to come to the exam with strategies for shifting into English)

From the "Uber darf weiter in London fahren" text -- Second paragraph: this construction actually triggers the English subjunctive (I will love seeing this if you do this!): "One of the conditions tied to the provisional permit is that company undergo an independent inspection/audit every six months."

You could of course also phrase this "One of the conditions tied to the provisional permit includes the company undergoing ..."

Two weeks ago you received an article on Theresa May und Gesundheitswesen. This article presents interesting health metaphors that are also good practice (remember, either find an appropriate English metaphor or paraphrase for literal sense).

Feel free to email me with any questions. See you on exam day!

Vortrags- und Präsentationstechniken, Links

Für die Vormittagsgruppe, TED-Talk-Links:
Deutsch "Unsere Zukunft mit künstlicher Intelligenz": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQhG5U88PC4&t=620s
Englisch "The critical role librarians play in the opioid crisis": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w3NXBXdY5c
Spanisch "La importancia de la improvisación": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk4i0NebYL4&t=342s

Eine meiner Lieblingsreden auf Englisch ("This is Water" von David Foster Wallace): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI&t=122s
Text "This is Water" mit deutscher Übersetzung ("Dies hier ist Wasser"): http://www.wfelix.org/wallace.html

Kompetenzerweiterung II, Homework for the Last Week of the Semester

For homework, please:

- complete exercises I, K, L, M on the sheet distributed in class on Tuesday and check your answers below AFTER you've completed them
- continuing on the theme of investigating the relationship between German words and their English and Romance language equivalents (e.g. artificial and künstlich) , translate the following words into German and see if you can find the connection (consider using http://www.etymonline.com for assistance):

to court someone
esteem, estimate
consist, understand
compare
connect
recount

-complete the following exercise on conditionals: https://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/grammar-thirdconditional2.html


Answers to the exercises (bring any questions, including about alternatives, with you to class):
I: 1. given, 2. getting/having got, 3. arrested, 4. complaining, having complained, 5. Having seen, 6. Swimming, 7. Having applied, 8. starting, 9. Not wanting, 10. to wait, 11. Shot, 12. To make/Making
K: 1. though he (had) looked, 2. even if they start, 3. in spite of the fact (that), spite of (our) not being given/spite of (our) not having been given, 5. as he might, 6. loudly she might have shouted, 7. as I begged (him to), 8. though we were
L: C, C, A, D, B, D
M: 1. which, 2. whose, 3. Having, 4. where, 5. this, 6. who/that, 7. in, 8. However, 9. made, 10. Although/Though/Whereas, 11. taken, 12. which /that, 13. Despite, 14. to, 15. if/when

Wirtschaftskommunikation, Homework for Our Last Session (Meeting on July 2nd)

For homework, please:

Watch the video "The grand theory of Amazon" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyohSu-Ft_U and paraphrase the company's mission statement in your own words. If you were doing a SWOT analysis for the company, what would you suggest they add to their portfolio of services to increase their strengths, capitalize on opportunities, and address threats?

Here is a quick recap of what Six Sigma is (combined with the Lean approach, creating Lean Six Sigma, which is what one often finds as a option for project management certification): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHOppLiEG0o

In addition, please have a look at the sample answers to the question "Can business be taught?" distributed in class and assess the essays in these four areas (which are also the categories I will be using for assessment on the exam): 1) word choice (including business vocab), 2) grammar/syntax (not just if the sentences are correct, but if they represent sophistication in their expression, for example by employing transitions, participle clauses, introductory clauses, etc.), 3) argumentation (including Thesis Statement and examples) and 4) structure (organization of the response). Bring your notes with you to our session next week.

Finally, bring any questions you have before the exam! (Feel free to email me these in advance of next session if there are special requests you have for the content we cover next week.)

The optional essay prompt for this week is "Can business be taught?"

Vortrags- und Präsentationstechniken, Hausaufgaben für die 12. Vorlesungswoche

Bei der Planung Ihrer Präsentation bitte folgende Kategorien berücksichtigen:
1. inventio: Argumente, These, Beispiele (quantitative u. qualitative Daten)
2. dispositio: Gliederung
3. elocutio: sprachliche Gestaltung (Wortwahl, Register)
4. memoria: Freisprechen oder auswendig lernen von Texten (Karteikärtchen/Notizen mit Stichpunkten sind natürlich erlaubt)
5. actio/pronuntiatio: Körpersprache/Stimme (und Medieneinsatz)

Sie bekommen ausführliches Feedback von mir zu Ihrer Präsentation bezüglich dieser Kategorien.

Mündliches Übersetzen, Homework for Week 12 (Tues: July 3rd, Wed: June 27th, Thurs: June 28th)

For homework, please finish translating "Mexico fans set off earthquake sensors" aloud (entire text: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jun/18/mexican-fans-set-off-earthquake-sensors-celebrating-world-cup-win) and bring in your questions.

Please also finish translating "Geständnis der Umweltministerin" aloud (up to "kommt Deutschland unter den EU-Staaten nur noch auf Platz 8": http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/petersberger-klimadialog-in-meseberg-deutschland-verfehlt-klimaschutzziele-a-1213613.html ). Bear in mind that this text is a specialty text for either politics or environment, but even if this isn't your area, I'm interested in seeing what you do with repeat expressions like "Klimaschutz". "Combating climate change" is far better than "environmental protection" or even "protecting the environment" because the article refers to carbon emissions explicitly. Take that approach with you into the exam: NOT what are the words, but what is the message?

We'll address the other two texts in next week's class.

Good exam preparation includes the following:
-meeting up with your partner for practice and discussing exam strategy at least once outside of class before the exam
-reading 10 articles in English and 10 articles in German in your specialization area for vocabulary
-reviewing texts from the semester
-doing spoken translation on 6 texts of your choosing (3 general and 3 from your specialty area in the direction of translation you have registered for)

Kompetenzerweiterung II, Homework for Week 12 (Sessions on June 25th and 26th)

Check your answers to the tense gap fill from Monday here: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/14/hidden-workforce-saves-billions-more-state-support-hardworking-britain

Complete exercises D, E, and F on the handout distributed on Monday. Check your answers below AFTER having completed it. Bring any questions you have to next Monday's session.

Complete this word formation exercise (bring your answers to class): https://www.flo-joe.co.uk/cae/students/tests/print4b.htm

Complete all four exercises listed on this page (click on the "online exercise" link for each section): https://www.flo-joe.co.uk/cae/students/strategy/p3pt5a.htm

Complete this modal exercise here:
https://elt.oup.com/student/solutions/advanced/grammar/grammar_08_022e?cc=de&selLanguage=de

The optional essay this week is "X doesn't need Y -- X needs Z", based on the Guardian article above. On the exam, I will be assessing your syntax/grammar/sentence construction, so I encourage you to introduce elements that deviate from subject-verb-object structure, such as participle clauses, relative clauses, introductory clauses and transitions. Have a look at this list of transitions: http://www.smart-words.org/linking-words/transition-words.html
and do this transition exercise for practice: http://www.englishvocabularyexercises.com/eve-exercises/EngVocEx_transitions_1.htm

Answers:
D: be, should, had they not, had worked, have, be worrying, had he not, were we not, had gone, should, should you not, were
E: so, long, provided, unless, case, suppose, otherwise, condition
F: it, been, to, but, if, should, were, for, had, should/do

Wirtschaftskommunikation, Homework for Week 12 (Meeting on June 25th)

For homework, please complete the questions on the article "Deliveroo's hiring conditions to face scrutiny by MPs" (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jun/18/deliveroos-hiring-conditions-to-face-scrutiny-by-mps):

1.       Why is Deliveroo being mentioned the context of the gig economy?

2.       What will the parliamentary inquiry entail?

3.       What is the impetus for the inquiry?

4.       On what grounds are Deliveroo riders considered contractors?

5.       What does the verb “enshrine” mean?

6.       In your opinion, how likely is the Leigh Day case to result in a successful verdict for Deliveroo drivers? Ground your opinion in data from the text.

In addition to this, have a look at the following video on Uber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgQPj90OrQE

Do a SWOT analysis of both Deliveroo and Uber and bring these to class.

Wirtschaftskommunikation, Recap of Thursday's Make-up Session

To start, we had a look at idioms that derive from the domain of sports that are used in business, like "the ball is in their court" and "level the playing field". Other expressions can be found here (you might consider incorporating them into your essays): http://www.businessenglishresources.com/learn-english-for-business/student-section/business-vocabulary/most-common-business-idioms/

We then brainstormed compounds, expressions and collocations from the words "market" (like "market share", "free market", "market leader"), "competition" ("fierce competition", "stiff competition"), and "brand" (like "brand recognition" and "brand identity"). I encourage you to use websites like http://www.freecollocation.com to get other business vocabulary and collocations when you are writing.

We reviewed the homework from the last post (video and Economist article on HEYTEA). Please know what "economies of scale" are (explained in the Economist video). Sample answers to the HEYTEA article include:

1.       What are "scalpers"?

Suppliers who purchase a (often larger quantity) of a limited commodity and sell it at a (dramatically)marked up price. Examples include ticket scalpers who stand outside of sold-out events to sell these seats to last-Minute customers.

2. Why didn't HEYTEA cooperate with apps when they were just starting out?

Not being featured in app services contributed to a selective brand image. Founder Yunchen also wanted to invest in the quality of the product.

3. Why is the Starbucks model not relevant for HEYTEA?

The third space for consumption of the product has, according to HEYTEA's founder, lost relevancy as online spaces become more important to the consumer. HEYTEA founder is focused on making his company “social media-worthy” in order to promote his brand.

4. What is a "defend strategy"?

 

A decision taken by company or business to maintain its (leading) position on the market. In the case of Starbucks in the article, it consisted of opening more branches acrossChina.


We had a look at an infographic from Graphic Detail and analysed the data together. I'll have copies of this for Monday's class.

Finally, we did an in-class reading comprehension exercise: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-14/here-s-a-way-around-facebook-and-google-s-marketing-dominance

The questions included:

1.       What does it mean to “put a dent in something”?

2.       What is Thin Film providing its clients that Facebook and Google aren’t?

3.       How is Thin Film working with economies of scale?

4.       Why is Thin Film optimistic about its market performance in the future?

Vortrags- und Präsentationstechniken, Hausaufgaben für die 11. Vorlesungswoche (Sitzung am 20. Juni)

Für die Vormittagsgruppe: machen Sie bitte zwei Gliederungen für eine Präsentation auf Deutsch und eine auf Englisch oder Französisch bezüglich der Frage "Sollten wir Exemplare des Buches 'Factfulness' an AbsolventInnen der TH-Köln verschenken?"

Für beide Gruppen: vergleichen Sie zwei Länder Ihrer Wahl mithilfe von dieser Webseite (leider nur auf Englisch): https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/

Mündliches Übersetzen, Homework for Week 11 (Tues: June 25th, Wed: June 20th, Thurs: June 21st)

For homework, please finish translating the top three texts below and bring in your questions:

"Kim Jong-un hailed victor"(up to "he told Fox News Channel."): https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/13/kim-jong-un-north-korea-summit-trump-visit-KCNA

"'Farbwelten' statt 'Maler Meier'" (up to "um auf sich aufmerksam zu machen"): http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/firmennamen-farbwelten-und-keramikhelden-1.4005941

"Der selbsternannte Feind" (up to "als Helden des Londoner Medienhauptquartiers"): http://www.sueddeutsche.de/medien/britische-medien-der-selbsternannte-feind-der-liberalen-eliten-tritt-ab-1.4005866

If you have time, translate "Ehre für Skrupellosen" (up to "das Waffenarsenal abzubauen") into English (definitely do this as practice before the exam): http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/abruestungsdeal-ehre-fuer-den-skrupellosen-1.4012625

Make sure that you register your exam dates/times and specializations by next week!

Kompetenzerweiterung II, Homework for Week 11 (Sessions on June 18th and 19th)

For homework, please:

-complete the exercises on this page: http://www.m-prestige.net/eprestige/cc/cpe/cpetext/prt6-10.htm
-complete the following quizzes on modals (be sure to read any grammar explanations featured on the pages):
https://www.grammarbank.com/modals-quiz.html
https://www.businessenglish.com/grammar/modals-cant-have-must-have-might-have.html?lang=eng
https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/modal-verbs-of-obligation.html
https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/modal-verbs-of-obligation-exercise-1.html
(Note that "mustn't" reports lack of permission...you are essentially saying "it's not allowed/it's forbidden" but you aren't doing the forbidding yourself. This is why a parent would never say to a child, "You mustn't stay out past midnight" because the parent is the "end of the line" in terms of authority. The parent would, however, say "You must be home by midnight." We'll continue with these points in next week's sessions.)

On the exam, you will have sections dedicated to:
-modal verbs
-conditional sentences
-tense
-verb patterns
-word formation
-CLOZE
-key word transformation
-writing (i.e. the essay)

Your optional writing task for this week is to submit 250-300 words answering a question that fits the "Is X becoming too Y?" template. As discussed in Tuesday's class, you can fill "X" and "Y" in with anything you'd like.

Vortrags- und Präsentationstechniken, Hausaufgaben für den 13.6. (10. Vorlesungswoche)

Machen Sie sich mit folgenden Webseiten für Statistiken und quantitative Daten vertraut:
https://de.statista.com/infografik/ (Zugang nur übers Netzwerk der TH; wenn Sie auf "Infografiken" klicken, probieren Sie die Seiten in mehreren Sprachen aus, die Ergebnisse für Deutsch, Englisch, Spanisch und Französisch sind unterschiedlich)
https://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail
https://www.destatis.de/DE/Startseite.html
http://www.pewresearch.org/

Überlegen Sie sich, wie Sie quantitative Daten (evtl. von den obengenannten Seiten) in Ihre Präsentation für die Prüfung einbauen können. (Natürlich sind Statistiken irrelevant für manche Themen.)

Hier finden Sie eine Auflistung von (zum Teil kostenlosen) Programmen, womit Sie Infografiken herstellen können: https://www.creativebloq.com/infographic/tools-2131971
(Visme ist ein Beispiel von einer kostenlosen Seite: https://www.visme.co/make-infographics/)

Mündliches Übersetzen, Homework for Week 10 (Tues group: June 19th, Wed group: June 13th, Thurs group: June 14th)

For homework, please finishing translating all four of the texts distributed in class today: Augenblicke (up to "von der Kunst, die sie ins Lebens der Fremden bringt."): http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/kino/augenblicke-gesichter-einer-reise-von-agnes-varda-und-jr-in-der-filmkritik-a-1210264.html
Max Mara (up to "as its aspirational icon"): https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/jun/05/why-the-man-behind-max-mara-is-the-most-influential-fashion-designer-youve-never-heard-of
Space Invaders (up to "established competitive gaming"): https://www.theguardian.com/games/2018/jun/04/space-invaders-at-40-tomohiro-nishikado-interview
Kanye West: (up to "sondern eher in eigennützige"): http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/musik/kanye-west-in-wyoming-promo-inszenierung-fuer-sein-neues-album-a-1210854.html

Bring your top two questions for each text with you to next week's session.

Kompetenzerweiterung II, Homework for Week 10

** Please note that there will be no class on Monday, June 11th. Class will resume as usual on Tuesday, June 12th.**

**For those who did not pass the exam last semester, there are special review sessions on the following dates:

12 June and 26 June, 15.45 - 17.15 in Room 320. **

For homework, please complete exercises 1-6 on the handouts distributed in class. Once finished, check your answers on the last page of this document (for those who don't have the copies, the exercises can be found here as well): https://www.learninginstitute.ch/pdfs/cae_sample-uebungen_use-of-english_www.LearningInstitute.ch.pdf

I encourage everyone who hasn't submitted an essay electronically yet this semester or whom I've explicitly told they should submit more essays to send me their 250-word response to the question: "Are boycotts ever effective?" Feel free to use ideas/outlines/thesis statements discussed in class this week.

 

Wirtschaftskommunikation, Homework for Week 10 (Meeting on June 14th)

** Please remember that we don't have class on June 11th. This class meeting has been postponed to Thursday, June 14th at 5 pm (sharp!) in Room 209.**

For next class, please:
- have a look at this video and consider whether this Approach towards encouraging entrepreneurship amongst refugees would be replicable in Germany: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p8nRI6pyKg

- read this article and answer the questions below in preparation of our class on marketing next week: https://www.economist.com/business/2018/06/02/heytea-wants-to-make-tea-drinking-cool-again-in-china

 1. What are "scalpers"?

2. Why didn't HEYTEA cooperate with apps when they were just starting out?

3. Why is the Starbucks model not relevant for HEYTEA?

4. What is a "defend strategy"?


I encourage especially those of you who have not submitted an essay to me via email to do so before our next session on Thursday. Our new questions from class today included:

1. A 25-year-old professional says to you, "With the bank interest rates so low, I'm thinking of investing in stocks for the first time. What would you advise?"
2. Are boycotts ever high risk for companies?

Your essay can also be in response to any of the other prompts from previous posts this semester.