I have a sister. Я имею сестру

If we consider translation from the point of view of the relationship between the mother tongue and the foreign lan­guage, we distinguish the following types of translation: .(a) translation from the foreign language into the mother

tongue; (b) translation from the mother tongue into the for­eign language and (c) retranslation (i. е., first pupils trans­late from the foreign language into the mother tongue and then, after a while, back into the foreign language).

If we consider translation from the point of view of its relation to the original, we distinguish:

l. Word - for- word translation (or liter­ally translation), when all the lexical units of the foreign language are replaced by those of the mother tongue, the grammar structure being that of the foreign language. For example,

I have a sister. — Я имею сестру.

My mother is not at home. — Моя мама (есть) не дома.

Не was called on by the teacher yesterday. — Он был

Though word for word translation violates the syntax of the mother tongue, it transmits the meaning of a sentence. Besides, word for word translation is valuable in an educa­tional respect as it gives a pupil an opportunity to compare all the elements of the language he studies with the corres­ponding elements of the mother tongue and in this way to see the difference between these languages.

2. Adequate translation which in contrast with word for word translation transmits the thought ex­pressed in the foreign language by means of the correspond­ing equivalents of the mother tongue.

For example: I have a sister. — У меня есть сестра. My mother is not at home. — Мамы нет дома. He was called on by the teacher yesterday. — Его вчера спрашивал учитель.

3. Free translation or free interpretation of the text in the mother tongue that was read or heard in the foreign language. For example, pupils read a newspaper article and each says a few words on its contents.

4. Literary-artist’s translation is a translation which requires special skills and knowledge and it cannot be included in school syllabus requirements.

Translation may be of two kinds: written and oral. They both may be used with the aim of checking pupils' comprehen­sion, and their knowledge of vocabulary and grammar.