elegantlion Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 (edited) I working with ds on building the skill of deciding what to do for a project. This is an assignment that would normally work with assigning an essay. I'm trying to get him to think outside the box and an essay is a skill he's working on in other areas. We're using the Theory of Knowledge book and the chapter is on language. It talks mostly about the meaning of words, connotation, denotation, and problems in translation between languages. If I leave it up to him, he'll take 4 days to decide after I get this look :001_huh:. So, I thought I'd give him 5-10 ideas and let him pick, unless he surprises me. We only have five days to complete this, so it can't be too intense and I'd prefer ideas that don't focus on a lot of writing. Edited September 2, 2012 by elegantlion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 (edited) We're using the Theory of Knowledge book and the chapter is on language. It talks mostly about the meaning of words, connotation, denotation, and problems in translation between languages. . For many topics you could substitute an oral presentation for an essay, if you want to avoid the writing (not that this is faster to prepare). here are a few suggestions on top of my hat: How far along is he with his foreign language studies? Could he translate something, and talk about the difficulties encountered in the process? Compare different translations of the same work and note the differences. How do those differences affect the overall tone and style and atmosphere? How do the translations feel different? Get a book of rhyming poetry from a non-English speaking author that has been translated into English. Select a version that has both the literal translation and a verse translation, possibly on opposite sides. Compare. Discuss how the style of poetry is an artifact of the language itself and how moving to a different language makes it sometimes impossible to retain the type of verse. (For example, the interlocking rhyme schemes of Dante's Comedia don't work well in English; the dactylic hexameters of Homer sound rather strange in English as well.) Investigate word plays and jokes which rely on differences in meaning of the same word, depending on connotation. Collect examples. Look at idioms and proverbs. Those are often impossible to translate, because they rely on a very specific connotation for a word, and often rhyme. Try to find literal translations of proverbs that mean the same as certain English provers and see how the same thought is expressed in a different language. Edited September 2, 2012 by regentrude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted September 2, 2012 Author Share Posted September 2, 2012 These are great ideas, thank you. He's not far enough in his foreign language to do any real translations, words and short phrases might work. We did spend some time discussing translations when we read Gilgamesh. I know he'd enjoy the jokes and idioms too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 (edited) Has he gotten far enough in his Japanese to learn about how differently you speak to people depending on their different relative status to you? That would be a great application of this idea for him. If you don't want to do an essay, how about a visual display - like a presentation, poster or other computerized graphic. Edited September 2, 2012 by Karen in CO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted September 2, 2012 Author Share Posted September 2, 2012 Has he gotten far enough in his Japanese to learn about how differently you speak to people depending on their different relative status to you? That would be a great application of this idea for him. I'd go with a visual display - like a presentation, poster or other computerized graphic. In a general sense. Irasshai has covered the informal, formal, and most formal in business, not to any real depth however. I have a couple of culture books I'll add to his resources. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 For the right kind of kid, a project about constructed languages could be really fun. For example, when the Star Trek folks created the Klingon language, what aspects about that fictional culture show up in the language? What did Tolkien do with the Elvish and Dwarfish languages to show their cultures? If you were to create a fictional language for your favorite fictional creature, what grammatical structures would it have? Would it be easy to translate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted September 2, 2012 Author Share Posted September 2, 2012 For the right kind of kid, a project about constructed languages could be really fun. For example, when the Star Trek folks created the Klingon language, what aspects about that fictional culture show up in the language? What did Tolkien do with the Elvish and Dwarfish languages to show their cultures? If you were to create a fictional language for your favorite fictional creature, what grammatical structures would it have? Would it be easy to translate? We started working on our own made up language last year. I had written an alphabet years ago and we've "evolved" the language to add his input. This is a long term project we have let slide lately. He was very impressed with Tolkien's depth in creating his own world. He wants to do something like that but with a video game. I could have him work on our language, but he likes to do that together. I'm trying to step back, get out of the way a bit, and resist my weakness to help him too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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