Deciding How Much to Translate When Reading a Short Authentic Text
In a reading task you are given a short authentic Greek text: a notice about a community event. It contains about 80 words. You recognise roughly 60 percent of the words, including the date, the time, the place and the word for 'free'. The remaining words include some adjectives and a few nouns you have never seen. You have ten minutes. You are tempted to look up every unknown word, but you have no dictionary in the exam and must answer three comprehension questions: when, where, and whether there is a cost. A classmate says you should translate the whole text word by word into English first.
1. Should you translate the whole text word by word? Justify your answer with reference to the three questions and your time limit.
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No. Word-by-word translation is the wrong strategy here. Reasoning: (1) The three questions ask for when, where and cost - all three are carried by words you already recognise (date, time, place, 'free'). (2) Full translation spends your ten minutes on unknown adjectives and nouns that the questions do not require. (3) Word-by-word translation can distort meaning because Greek and English do not map one-to-one, and a beginner may mistranslate and then answer from the mistranslation. Better approach: scan for the information the questions demand, confirm each answer against the text, and ignore unknown words that are not load-bearing for the task. Principle: match reading strategy to task purpose under time pressure.
2. One unknown adjective appears next to the word for the event. How would you handle it, and what would you do if it seemed to change whether the event is suitable for you?
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First, assess relevance. If the adjective does not affect when, where or cost, note it as unknown and move on; the three questions can still be answered. If it seems to affect suitability (for example, it might describe the audience or an age limit), then it becomes load-bearing and must be handled. Handling options: (1) use morphology - check the ending and any recognisable stem to narrow the meaning; (2) use context - the surrounding words and the event type constrain what the adjective can mean; (3) if it remains genuinely uncertain and affects your decision, say so in your answer rather than inventing a meaning. Principle: unknown words matter only when they change the answer; when they do, use word shape and context, and flag uncertainty honestly instead of guessing.