Language and Translation Studies

At university level, the study of a foreign language goes far beyond grammar and vocabulary. The goal is to develop a full communicative competence: the ability to understand, produce and analyse texts in the target language across a wide range of registers, from literary prose to academic writing, from formal correspondence to journalistic discourse. Students learn not just to use the language correctly, but to reflect on how it works and why.

Translation Studies is one of the most dynamic fields within language degrees. It teaches students to move between languages with precision and sensitivity, carrying across not only the literal meaning of words but also tone, register, cultural references and stylistic nuance. The translator must be deeply at home in two languages and two cultures simultaneously, making countless small decisions that can change the effect of a text entirely.

In a languages degree, students typically practise both direct translation, from the foreign language into their mother tongue, and inverse translation, from their mother tongue into the foreign language. Inverse translation is generally considered the more challenging of the two, as it demands near-native fluency and a very refined stylistic awareness in the target language.

Translation is not only a practical skill but also a rich field of theoretical inquiry. Scholars have debated for centuries whether translation should aim for word-for-word accuracy or sense-for-sense equivalence. More recently, theorists like Eugene Nida introduced the concept of dynamic equivalence, suggesting that a good translation produces the same effect on its readers as the original text produced on its own audience. Venuti has argued for a foreignising approach that preserves the strangeness of the source text rather than domesticating it for the target audience.

Literary translation is widely regarded as one of the most creative and demanding forms of translation. To translate a novel by Cervantes, a poem by Neruda or a play by García Lorca requires not only linguistic expertise but also literary sensitivity, historical knowledge and stylistic imagination. The great literary translators are considered creative writers in their own right, and their work has shaped how entire cultures perceive foreign literatures.