Introduction
I've had some experience with consecutive translation in the past; we had a consecutive translation class last quarter, but it was from English to Spanish. Going into Spanish to English, I'm curious to see if it'll be easier than English to Spanish or not. Usually spoken translation is more difficult for me than written translation, and I want to see if I can improve that.
In this class, I was able to develop consecutive translation projects using videos about a variety of different texts and topics; during the classes, I presented the projects to the professor, in order to see if I had any mistakes. I could also develop tests on Moodle about concepts and information that the projects were based on. The links to all the projects are below.
List of Projects
Project 1 - Note-Taking: bilingual comment about note-taking videos on Moodle (link here).
Project 2 - Animated Video: consecutive translation of an animated video about photosynthesis (link here).
Project 3 - Parroting: parroting of a video in Spanish and a video in English (link here).
Project 4 - TED Talk: consecutive translation using an excerpt of a motivational TED Talk (link here).
Project 5 - Medical Video: consecutive translation using an excerpt of a video explaining the nervous system (link here).
Project 6 - Legal Video: consecutive translation using an excerpt of a video explaining legal terms (link here).
Optional Project - Short Fiction: consecutive translation of a retelling of 'Las Ruinas Circulares' by Jorge Luis Borges (link here).
Conclusion
By far the most interesting and useful activities for my learning were the consecutive translation projects. With them, I was able to practice and improve my consecutive translation skills; I felt like I was doing a bit better with each new project. It was also useful to develop these projects about different topics, to familiarize myself with a variety of technical terms I didn't know before.
I felt that the Moodle tests weren't as useful as the projects. Since the projects took up most of the time of the classes, the topics that the tests were based on weren't discussed or explained during the class. There were a few instances where we had time to spare and we could watch some videos about the topic, but dedicating a bit more time to explaining the topics we needed for the test would not only help the class be more engaging, but also help us develop the projects more easily, since they're about the same topics.
As far as if Spanish to English is easier than English to Spanish, I personally didn't feel much difference between the two. I've already been familiar with the English language for a while so both of them felt difficult in the same ways; both languages have certain terms or expressions that I'm not sure how to translate into the opposite language, and I have to do some research about that. Overall, I'm very glad I was able to develop my consecutive translation skills more.