Entry #3: Unfamilliar Text Translation

Italian Newspaper Article: “Siam oil 99 per cento”

Source:http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/speciali/2011/10/02/visualizza_new.html_673431734.html

Highlighting deliniates words I could recognize on sight, and below each paragraph is a translation I attempted on my own in blue itallics.

 Da Wall Street, cuore della finanza mondiale, fino al resto del pianeta. E' ormai globale la protesta degli Indignados, declinata in differenti connotazioni a seconda dei Paesi ma legata dal filo rosso della contestazione alle corporazioni, alle speculazioni finanziarie, alle banche, alla corruzione, alle lobby politico-economiche.

From Wall Street, core of the financial….global protest…indignation…in different contexts… corporations,…speculation, financial,…lobbying politicians/economists.

''Siamo il 99 per cento'', e' lo slogan piu' urlato dai manifestanti statunitensi, ripetuto oltreoceano anche dagli studenti italiani. ''Siamo quelli che combattono l'avidita' dell'1 per cento che ha tutto''. La protesta americana si rifa' alla Primavera Araba e agli Indignados spagnoli e cileni, come e' scritto sugli stessi blog del movimento Occupy Wall Street. Dal 17 settembre (giorno in cui gruppi sparuti di manifestanti si sono accampati a Wall Street), la protesta si e' diffusa a macchia d'olio di citta' in citta', coinvolgendo non solo i giovani, e poi via via varcando i confini Usa. 

“We are the 99%,” the slogan manifested, repeated by Italian students…The American protestors blog about the Occupy Wall Street Movement from September 17…Wall Street, the protests…city to city

Occupy Wall Street e' un movimento senza leader, organizzato con il sistema delle assemblee, di cui fa parte gente di tutte le razze, di tutti i generi e di tutti gli orientamenti politici. L'unica cosa che i dimostranti hanno in comune e' l'essere parte di quel ''99 per cento''. I messaggi viaggiano attraverso la rete, soprattutto attraverso i blog e i social network, Facebook e Twitter, come del resto accade anche in Europa e in Italia stessa.

Occupy Wall Street is a movement without a leader, organization with the system of assembly… “The 99 %”…blogging and social networks like Facebook and Twitter…in Europe and Italy

Dopo un paio di settimane il movimento e' arrivato in Europa, o meglio e' tornato (visto che i primi fermenti sono nati proprio in Spagna) con marce e accampamenti a Bruxelles e con cortei anche in Italia. A scendere in piazza sono soprattutto studenti, giovani precari, ma anche altri 'Indignati', di ogni eta'.

The Movement arrived in Eruope…primarily Spain with accompanying Brussles and Italy…A second in squares of students

In Spagna, in Cile, in Israele la ribellione e' gia' scattata da mesi: anche qui i giovani sono scesi in piazza, accampandosi e urlando il proprio dissenso, verso ''un sistema che non consente futuro'', per tentare un cambiamento profondo della societa'. In realta' questo fermento e' nato a Madrid, dove migliaia di giovani hanno occupato piu' volte e per piu' giorni Puerta del Sol, la piazza del 'km 0' di Spagna. Da Madrid il movimento si e' quindi diffuso in altre citta' spagnole. Anche in Cile si lotta: i giovani chiedono piu' certezze per il futuro.

In Spain, Chile, and Israel, rebellion… squares accompanied by dissent, “a system with no consent for the future”…society…In reality, quest fermented (began) in Madrid …the Madrid movement is for the future

La protesta e' approdata poi in Israele a luglio, quando Tel Aviv e' stata occupata da dimostranti che chiedevano una maggiore giustizia sociale. L'indignazione ha attraversato l'Atlantico e a settembre e' arrivata negli Stati Uniti. Dapprima a New York, con la protesta di Wall Street e poi a Washington, dove i manifestanti hanno marciato vicino alla Casa Bianca. Quindi a Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle e cosi' via. 

The protests started in Israel and Tel Aviv started occupation demonstrations, a major social movement…crossed the Atlantic in September and arrived in the United States in New York with protests on Wall street and Washington, at the White House, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle. 

Sul movimento e' intervenuto anche il presidente Barack Obama per dire che "chi contesta dà voce alla frustrazione del Paese" per una crisi economica e occupazionale frutto della crisi finanziaria. Infine sono scesi in piazza anche gli Indignados cinesi, ottenendo l'appoggio delle autorità locali in una protesta che pero' ha connotati del tutto diversi, se non opposti: la rabbia verso l'Occidente e gli Stati Uniti.

The movement, President Barack Obama said “voices the frustrations” of the economic crisis and occupying the financial crisis…in cities…is a protest…in the United States

Direct translation provided by http://translate.google.com/#

“We are the 99 Percent”

       From Wall Street, the heart of global finance, up to the rest of the planet. And 'now the global protest Indignados, divided into different connotations depending on the country but linked by a common thread of complaint to corporations, financial speculation, banks, corruption, political and economic lobbies.
       ''We are 99 percent'', and 'more than the slogan' protesters shouted from the U.S., overseas repeated even by Italian students. ''We are those who fight the greed 'of 1 percent that has everything.'' The protest American remakes 'the Arab Spring and Indignados Spaniards and Chileans, and as' written on the same blog movement Occupy Wall Street. From September 17 (day of scattered groups of protesters camped out on Wall Street), the protest and 'spread like wildfire in cities' in town', involving not only the young, and then gradually crossing the boundaries.

       Wall Street and Occupy 'a movement without leaders, organized the meetings with the system, which is part of people of all races, all genders and across the political spectrum. The only thing they have in common and the protesters' being part of that''99 percent''. The messages travel through the network, especially through blogs and social networks, Facebook and Twitter, as indeed happens in Europe and in Italy itself.

       After a couple of weeks and the movement 'arrived in Europe, or better, and' back (since the first enzymes were born precisely in Spain) with marches and parades in Brussels and camps in Italy. To take to the streets are mostly students, young people are insecure, but also others' Outraged ', of all ages'.
       In Spain, Chile, Israel's rebellion and 'already' taken for months: here the young people took to the streets, camping and shouting their dissent towards a system that does not allow ''future'', groped for a change depths of society '. In reality, 'and this ferment' was born in Madrid, where thousands of young people have occupied more 'times and for more' days Puerta del Sol, the square of the 'Km 0' of Spain. From Madrid, and the movement 'and then spread to other cities' Spanish. Even in Chile are fighting: the young want more 'certainties for the future.

       The protest 'then arrived in Israel in July, when Tel Aviv' was occupied by demonstrators calling for greater social justice. The outrage has crossed the Atlantic and in September, and 'arrived in the United States. First in New York, with the protest on Wall Street and in Washington, where demonstrators marched near the White House. So in Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle and so 'on.

       Movement and 'also addressed by President Barack Obama said that "those who contest gives voice to the frustration of the country" for economic and employment crisis the result of the financial crisis. Finally took to the streets also Indignados Chinese, obtaining the support of local authorities in a protest but that 'has connotations entirely different, even opposite: anger toward the West and the United States.

My Process & Reflection

            I was incredibly surprised at how difficult it was to try making sense of an Italian text through a recognizable headline and cognates.  Even by trying to translate word by word, then sentence by sentence and eventually paragraph by paragraph, I still missed so much of the Italian article’s information.  When I tried to make meaning, I often found myself looking at fragments of ideas and sentences that didn’t blend well into a cohesive article.  Sounding out words aloud helped me to identify some words I would have missed by reading the article silently.  After giving this a bit of time, the loose translation I was able to create on my own didn’t offer very much in terms of specifics, and I didn’t come away from my translation feeling like I’d learned anything significant from this news story. 

            While I’ve had several ELA students each year, I haven’t ever attempted to literally put myself in their position.  I couldn’t believe how difficult it was to try to extract information from something that seemed so foreign to me.  As someone who teaches students of varying abilities how to read nonfiction texts and extract pertinent information from news articles, I was most likely better equipped than my ELA students at translating a piece of writing, and I still found myself completely lost for most of the article. 

Approaching this unfamilliar text from the standpoint of a student, I think my comprehension would have benefitted from additional support.  For instance, images and illustrations would have helped me find textual clues within the paragraphs.  I think it would have also helped to work with a partner on the reading where we could benefit from running ideas by each other.  Hearing the article read aloud at a reasonable rate would have given me some more recognizable terms to identify as well.  Having some structural questions in advance to let me know what I needed to extract before beginning the reading would also aid in my comprehension (Hill & Flynn, 2006, p. 8).  I have had luck with printing articles in English as well as translating them using the internet for my ELA students, and I think that for students just learning English, it would be helpful to offer both articles for students to review as they completed an assignment. This could then be broken down paragraph by paragraph or sentence by sentence to help with a direct translation of the article's main ideas. Once I was able to read the Google translation, I felt I had a much better grasp of the material, and I felt validated to see that my own translation ideas were a decent attempt at understanding the article’s message. 

 

Entry #2: Relationship between Oral Language & the Reading Process

     I would say in my experience there is an incredibly strong link between being a strong reader and a strong verbal communicator.  Children are exposed to so much language before they even begin to read that they have an unconscious understanding of pronunciation, syntax, and expression well before they begin a formal education in reading.  Young children who receive a lot of verbal explanation and exposure to language from their families and caregivers early on truly benefit from these early interactions with words, and their spoken vocabularies will blossom as a result.  This audio exposure gives these kids an advantage as they begin assigning sounds to the various phonemes they encounter as early readers.  The act of someone reading aloud to a child provides such tremendous benefits to that early reader, not just for fostering interest, but for teaching the child the letter/word/sound correspondences that appear on a page.  Children who can go on a picture walk before reading a story are able to verbally communicate and predict what might happen in the story, thus giving them an idea of where the author is headed.  Further, students who can dictate their own ideas and stories to an adult witness first-hand the connection between speaking and writing, and they often read their own material with more expression and sophistication than another author's work.  There is absolutely a definite connection between a child's oral language skills and their development of his/her reading and writing skills.

Entry #1: Literacy Discussion

     As a secondary teacher who only has experience teaching younger students on a one-on-one tutoring basis, I sought out an elementary school classroom teacher who has taught in less-advantaged schools (Vaughn and Jewell in APS) for thirty years to get her philosophy for teaching literacy.  She began and ended her career teaching Title One reading to small groups, but the bulk of her experience is teaching second through fourth grade as a classroom teacher.  We reached a general consensus that one of the most important elements of a strong literacy program is maintaining student interest where students feel they are being successful readers, writers, and communicators.  Students need the opportunity to feel that they are the experts on things they write about, and they must have the opportunity to share their learning/expertise with their classmates in creative and varied formats. 
     Another thing we both found in common for secondary and elementary education is the necessity of a purpose for the assigned work. Students retain information so much better if there is personal relevance and a reason for completing a task.  They also need to be made aware of their own thinking and understanding as they read and write to be able to comprehend the varied course material.  Therefore, thinking maps, graphic organizers, guided questions, discussions, and free response questions should be used to integrate the processes of reading and writing in the classroom. A very nice part of scaffolding reading is the potential to differentiate instruction to fit the varied needs of the learners in the classroom. 
     Students also need to be exposed to a variety of texts and learn the processes needed to comprehend the diverse material--there are different ways to approach poetry, picture books, fiction, and content-specific texts, to name a few.  Fostering and promoting student independence and student interest will continue in a successful lifelong interest  in literacy that will serve them well across the curriculum at school and beyond.