Thanks to the internet you have friends all over the world. One of your friends is currently working intensively on the German language and is enthusiastic about the typically long words that can be found again and again. She finds an exciting article from which she hopes to gain more detailed insights, but the text is in German and she only speaks English. Luckily she has you – you can read the text for her and tell her the most important things!
For your girlfriend you would then become a so-called mediation execute. The mediation is a task that you – if not with international friends – encounter mainly in the subject of English. This task asks you about your understanding of the text and language: first you understand the content of the text, then reduce it to its main statements, which you then translate into another language.
But first of all, what is mediation anyway?
A mediation will also language mediation called. This is one analogous translation a German text into English. It is also possible that you have to translate an English text into German.
English mediation – assignment
Mediation is less about literally translating the exact wording. Instead, more emphasis is placed on a quality summary the essential content placed. Your translated text should only be a quarter of the length of the original text.
The task of a mediation can look like this, for example:
A friend from England wants to learn about the German language. Using the article about the typically long words in German, write an e-mail to your friend that highlights the most important facts.
How to approach the task:
1. Read the text carefully and highlight the main points of interest.
2. Start off with an «umbrella sentence» containing the source and topic.
3. Omit minor details and write a summarizing mediation with a maximum of 200-250 words.
Here you should, for example, reproduce the essential information of a German-language text passage in English. You should use the given text in the first step Read carefully and mark what are the most important passages and content.
You start the writing process in second step with the umbrella sentence (literally: «umbrella set»). This should contain all important information as well as the topic and the source. in the last step it is then your task to write the mediation – and to a certain extent summary – of the text. This analogous translation should not focus on details and should therefore be shorter in content than the original text.
Here is a summary of the preparation and the writing process:
- clear the task – Which text type is mandatory, is there a word limit?
- Read the excerpt carefully and mark task-related positions.
- Read the text again and make keywords Notes.
- Work up the main points and put them in your own words.
- Check the spelling, grammar and length of your text.
As you read, you can ask yourself the following questions:
- For whom do I have to translate the text into another language?
- Who is the author?
- What information can be important?
- Which words are difficult to translate but relevant?
English mediation language
It can often happen that you cannot translate individual words one-to-one into English because you lack the vocabulary to do so. Fortunately, this is rarely necessary in mediation, since you are supposed to write in your own words anyway.
A language mediation is usually written in the present tense («Simple Present»). However, as soon as the given text is written in a past tense, you must also write your mediation in the past tense.
If you want to repeat the «Simple Present», take a look at the explanation of the same name.
Linguistically, it is just as important that you describe your mediation like this thorough formulate as possible. As long as it is not required in the task, your own opinion is inappropriate. But one should opinion are required, you should only do this in the final part write.
If you z. For example, if you write an e-mail to a friend, you don’t need to remain objective. It’s about the fact that you use the language mediation contents per se sensible convey and this remains unchanged – i.e. the facts should remain the same in terms of content.
You should also pay attention to the grammar of your mediation. If you read a text in German, remember not to keep the German grammar when you write your text. Make sure you really state the content in your own words, avoiding using complicated words or convoluted sentences.
Mediation vs Translation
Finally, once again: A mediation is one analogous transmission of a text into a other language. It’s about understanding the core information and translating it into your own words.
A translation» – translation – however, is one Word-for-word takeover into another language.
A mediation always consists of an introduction, a main part and a conclusion, which you design according to the task. This means you change the frame in which the text appears. Sometimes the mediation will take the form of a letter or an email, other times you may be allowed to write an article.
Writing English Mediation – Introduction
In the introduction The aim is to introduce the readership to the topic. You do this by giving the most important basic information on the topic. In any case, it is necessary to refer to the key information such as Author, title, type and subject of the text.
The introduction looks different depending on the task – if you z. For example, when you write a letter or an email, you start with a greeting. With an article you start with a headline and an introduction to the content. In all these cases, the key information still appears in the introduction.
Example and formulation aids for an introduction
Remember your friend who wanted to find out more about the German language. The task tells you that you should reproduce the most important information of a source text in an e-mail. It can look like this, for example:
to: jean.opal@yahoo.com
subject: Checking in to say some long words
Dear Jean,
I really enjoyed reading the article you sent me – Wirtschaftswoche’s «Longest word in the German language abolished» is about the extremely long words in the German language, like you said. I actually learned something new too, and I’m more than happy to report back to you what they were talking about.
In this introduction, the shape of an e-mail (Regarding, addressee, greeting) and the basic information mentioned in the source text. Because of the mediation’s format, it may be more colloquial.
Here the mediation is packaged in an e-mail. Check out the «Writing an email» explanation if you want to refresh your knowledge of the structure of an email.
Formulations for initiating mediation
Below are some vocabulary and phrases you can use to start your mediation:
English
German
The author talks about …
The author talks about…
The article is about …The main topic of the text is …The main topic of the text is …
Writing English mediation – main part
in the Bulk you give the content of the text in your own words and the default language again. So it’s important to know what essentials and what is less important. Use the task as a guide in terms of text length and format.
Here is an example sentence that could appear in the source text for a mediation:
The law on beef labeling was an example of a special feature of the German language: theoretically, infinitely long terms can be invented in German without the word finding an end.1
The mediation of the example sentence, which only reflects the content in your own words, could then look like this:
What the law on beef labeling showed is the ability of the German language to bring forth extremely long words.
In this solution, the content has been retained, but the wording has been changed. You may have noticed that the law on beef labelling as translation can be scored – that’s because you
- can translate individual words and
- some words do not have meaningful synonyms.
A synonym is a word that means the same thing as another word. A synonym for freedom is z. B. liberty.
Example and formulation aids for a main part
For example, a main part might look like this:
The main point of the article was to talk about how the longest word in the German language – «Beef labeling monitoring task transferring act» which translates to beef cattle etiquette monitoring task transferring act – has become obsolete because the law that it describes has been turned over.
The German language is known for its «tapeworm words» – its long words. As you were able to see above, it is a perk that is special about the German language and cannot be easily translated into another.
In this main part, information from the original text was transferred into English as an example. In your mediation you would provide the most important information.
Formulations for the main part of a mediation
Here you will also find some formulations that can help you:
Writing English Mediation – Conclusion
The final part is there to round off the main part and thus the text break up. In order for you to succeed, you should take up the most important aspects of the main part again. No statement is necessary unless this is explicitly requested in the task.
Make sure that you only pick up the essential points and do not explain them again, as you should have already done so in the main part.
Example and formulation aids for a final part
So finally, a close for Jean and the tapeworm words:
That concludes the excursion into the oddities of the German language – I hope I could be of help, and I’d be happy to assist you in the future. The main takeaway is: Where there is a will, the German language will find a long word to express the way.
I look forward to hearing from you soon!
love,
Otis
In this final part, the form of an e-mail was preserved and a brief summary of the content was noted.
Formulations for the final part of a mediation
In this table you will find…