Description
Students are invited to put their translation skills to the test by participating in the annual University of Michigan German Department Open-Book Translation Contest! The contest will take place each year in the Winter Term, and will be judged by a panel of faculty members. The entries are identified only by the student's university ID number, making the judging anonymous. Monetary prizes of $150 for first place, $125 for second place, and $100 for third place!
Eligibility
All undergraduate UM students currently enrolled in a German course or who are registered as a German major or minor are welcome to participate.
Registration
All contest participants are required to register for the contest by the annual published deadline. Contact Andrew Mills (ajmills@umich.edu) with questions.
Contest Rules
The contest will be held under the same conditions used by the American Translators Association (ATA) for its certification exam. Students will have approximately 70 minutes to translate a text by hand that will be provided for them (1). The translation will be from German to English. The contest will be held in “open book” format. Students will not have access to the internet, but may bring and use as many hardback or paperback dictionaries as they wish. All students receive the same text, which is approximately 225-275 words in length. The contest must be written in (dark) pencil capable of being photo-copied for our judges. Students must bring their own pencils. Paper is provided.
The text to be translated will be “general” in nature. The text expresses a view, sets forth an argument, or presents an idea or situation. Examples include: a newspaper article, an essay, or a passage from a non-fiction book. The contest passage is chosen in such a way as to avoid highly specialized terminology requiring research. There are, however, terminology challenges in the text, and knowledge of German culture, society, and history often is necessary for contestants to excel.
(1) Accommodations may be made for participants who demonstrate that they cannot write the text by hand. Please contact Andrew Mills at ajmills@umich.edu for details.
