If oral communication is essential in learning at an early age, it is also possible to give your university education an extra boost with the help of techniques like parallel text. Let’s see what this is all about.
What parallel text is used for
This metacognitive strategy consists of creating a text that is parallel to the one being studied, but always with a specific goal that will help you better understand its meaning. A parallel text:
· Helps you reflect on what you have just read or translated. If you use it on a regular basis, it will help you track what you’re learning.
· Broadens your language skills, because you’ll need to both rewrite the original text and process the information it contains.
· Creates a totally original new text. In other words, it will include the most important information in the text to be translated so that you can review it in the shortest possible time.
· Helps to give meaning to what you’re translating and assimilate the information.
· Gives you the tools you need to figure out how you can translate better. · Adapts perfectly to any type of translation need.
· Allows the context of each translation to also take center stage in the resulting text.
· Tests your creativity and, most importantly, your critical thinking skills. It is up to you to distinguish between what’s most important and what’s secondary, although, as you will learn, you must never ignore even the smallest detail so that your translation is always accurate and totally faithful to the original text.
How a parallel text is created
These are the steps you can follow. Remember to have the patience you’ll need to make your effort worthwhile:
· Start by defining its purpose.
· Define the content. You can add drawings, diagrams, images, personal comments, and ideas to apply what you have learned. Including a glossary at the end is always recommended.
· Create an index that allows you to reach any specific point in the shortest time possible.
· You must keep it clean and take care of the design of your parallel text.
In the field of translation
As you may have noticed, the above is a great technique to help you learn any subject. It’s also perfect for you as a translator. Essentially, a translation is a parallel text that is created from an original one; however, in this case, the original must be followed completely.
We still recommend that you do this exercise to better understand the text to be translated and to divide it into the necessary parts. As a tool, it is very effective, because it will allow you to tackle your work from a different, more effective and more recommended point of view.
Enhance your learning by using parallel text and apply it to your work as a translator. Following each part of a text in parallel is always advisable, as it ensures you will convey to the reader the original writer’s message.
