The course is firmly based on the idea that language is a powerful reflection of cultural values, and therefore uses translation as a means to explore the workings and characteristics of our own language as well as those of English. Making use of subtitled/dubbed movies and TV shows as material, we will mainly work on Japanese to English translations. In every class, we will challenge ourselves with the task of creating our own "sub-channel" scripts or subtitles. It is an activity-based course in which students are expected to learn from practical experience and experimentation. Creativity, imagination, and humor will be highly appreciated. We will also be working towards a common goal- producing a dubbed ("fukikae") English version of a segment from a Japanese video of your choice in groups. In the beginning of the course we will work on English-language videos translating the subtitles or dubbed versions and "re-creating" the English scripts. After writing Japanese dub scripts for English videos for a few weeks, we finally move on to using Japanese materials to create the English versions.
In class, we will use short video segments and work on the translation in pairs or small groups. Class activities will basically follow the same procedure every week:
1. Watching the video segment
2. Translating and discussing in pairs or groups
3. Presenting the script and sharing each other's work
4. Comparing our versions with the original version
5. Discussing the work and material