This book was translated from French into English. Often we overlook the role a translator plays in the experience we have in reading a book. Locate a passage in electronic form from a suitable work written in a foreign language, perhaps coordinating with a foreign language instructor. Have students use online translation tools (e.g., https://translate.google.ca) to create a literal translation of the passage into English. Have students then independently work to refine that translation to make it as polished and professional as possible. Encourage them to be creative. Break students into small groups to review their first drafts. Based on peer feedback, have them revise their work. Next, come together as a class and share the different translations of this one passage. Discuss the power the translator has in creating the readers’ impressions of an author’s work.
