Merry Christmas & Happy 2025!

 Happy holidays!!!

Machine translation activity

1.   Read the text Please please - perfecting prospects for pleasure by Michael Haywood on the impact of Swiftenomics

2.   Pick up an idiom or a phrasal verb and translate it into your mother tongue using:

-An online corpus-based dictionary (e.g. Cambridge Dictionary or WordReference).

-An online corpus-driven dictionary (e.g. Linguee).

-2 or 3 machine translation systems (e.g. Google Translate, DeepL and/or Microsoft Translator).

-A generative AI chatbot (e.g. ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot)

3.   Compare different results, reflect on their suitability and discuss.

4.   Translate isolated words and isolated sentences into your mother tongue using different systems.

5.   Translate the whole source text into your mother tongue without punctuation marks using different systems.

6.   Translate the whole source text into your mother tongue with the correct punctuation using different systems.

7.   Try to pre-edit the source text in English and post-edit the source text in your mother tongue using the guidelines provided (see Editing guidelines below).

8.   Compare:

-The initial source text in English and the pre-edited source text in English.

-The initial target text in your mother tongue and the post-edited target text in your mother tongue.

9.   Reflect on the whole process and implications (including practical and ethical considerations) and discuss orally or write a report.

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Editing guidelines

1. Pre-editing guidelines:

-Lexical choice: Avoid lexical shifts in register; Avoid uncommon abbreviations; -Avoid unnecessary words; Be consistent (in the use of consistent terminology).

-Structure and style: Use short and simple sentences; Use complete sentences (without eliding or splitting information). Use parallel structures in related sentences (e.g., section headings, direct instructions); Use the active voice; Maintain a homogeneous style; Use simple verb tense forms (preferably the present or past simple); Avoid concatenated verbs.

-Referential elements: In the case of languages that reflect relationships between referent and pronominal forms through mechanisms such as gender and number agreement, the agreement may be lost. This particular kind of problem can usually be minimized by the use of simple sentences (for intratextual references). As regards extratextual references, in addition to all the references inherent to the nature of the documentation being translated – for example, specific legislation in documents of a legal nature – there are two types of references that need to be taken into account during the pre-editing phase: 1) those that address the reader, and 2) any cultural references the reader identifies with. From a stylistic point of view it is best to compose simple, short sentences and use a direct style with the active voice or passive sentences that include the agent and patient. This style is especially appropriate for instructive texts. Extratextual references to cultural aspects with which the reader of the source text particularly identifies are difficult to deal with generically. In many cases, pre-editing the text consists of making all the implicit information related to these cultural references as explicit as possible, keeping the global audience in mind.

2. Post-editing guidelines:

-Aim for grammatically, syntactically and semantically correct translation;

-Ensure that key terminology is correctly translated;

-Ensure that no information has been accidentally added or omitted;

-Edit any offensive, inappropriate or culturally unacceptable content;

-Use as much of the raw MT output as possible;

-Apply basic rules regarding spelling, punctuation and hyphenation;

-Ensure that formatting is correct.

Source: Adapted from Kenny, D. (2022). Machine translation for everyone: Empowering users in the age of artificial intelligence. Language Science Press.

Academic year 2024-25 - First session

Welcome to the academic year 2024-25. In this introductory session, you're required to carry out two production tasks.

1. Written expression. Write a story in pairs using as many of the following words as possible:

-Actually

-Career

-Despite

-Regardless of

-If she/he had only known

Swap your texts with another pair after 10 minutes and continue writing them until you have contributed to all the stories. Use your imagination and be creative!

2. Oral expression. Rank the following concepts according to your personal priorities in life:

-Family

-Friends

-Health

-Money

-Politics

-Romance

-Sex

-Sport

-Studies

-Work

Make a list individually and then compare it to other students' choices to reach a consensus and create a single list. Once you've finished, join another pair to follow the same process and come up with a single list you all agree with. Provide arguments for this pyramidal discussion until the entire class produces a consensual ranking.

Another fruitful language exchange is over

Thank you for participating in the second virtual language exchange between Limerick University (Ireland) and CETT Barcelona School of Tourism, Hospitality and Gastronomy (Spain)

Greetings from the students of the Bachelor's Degree in Digital Business and Tourism Innovation and the students of the Bachelor's Degree in Tourism!!!

Machine translation activity

1.    Write a composition in English on the topic you discarded for writing test 1 or 2. Alternatively, you can use your composition for writing test 1 or 2. Avoid using any extra aids.

2.    Look for 2 or 3 machine translation systems (e.g. Google Translate, DeepL and/or Microsoft Translator) and translate your composition into Spanish.

3.    Evaluate if the Spanish text makes sense and make a list of errors, classifying them into categories (and subcategories, if possible), e.g.:

-Focus on form vs meaning, i.e. fluency or well-formedness of the target text (e.g. errors in grammatical agreement, word order, collocation, punctuation, etc.) vs adequacy if the meaning of the target text is not consistent with that of the source text (including cultural references or register).

-Word order errors (incorrect word order at phrase or word level) / mistranslations (incorrectly translated word, wrong gender, number, or case) / omissions (words from the source text have been omitted from the target text) / additions (words not in the source text have been added in the target text.

4.    Try to fix problems in Spanish text following the post-editing guidelines.

5.    Translate the post-edited text in Spanish back into English using the same MT systems and compare this backtranslation with the first version in English to identify your own mistakes.

6.    Pre-edit your English texts correcting your own errors and following the pre-editing guidelines.

7.    Translate the pre-edited English texts into Spanish again using the same MT systems.

8.    Compare:

-The initial source text in English and the pre-edited source text in English.

-The initial target text in Spanish and the post-edited target text in Spanish.

9.    Reflect on the whole process and implications (including practical and ethical considerations) and discuss orally or write a report.

Research project. Stage 4

Now that you have described the product/service's features, examined customers' views, and analysed the main strengths and weaknesses (as well as the opportunities and threats, optionally), you must make specific improvement proposals based on your findings, to conclude. It is not necessary to tackle absolutely all the problems that derive from the analysis, but the most relevant ones should certainly be addressed.

Present your improvement plan in a structured way, reporting on the methodology you have followed, cross-referring to data from previous stages, and referencing your information sources. Your suggestions may draw on multiple perspectives, e.g. sustainable development goals and environmentally-friendly policies, quality standards, experience design, human resources and corporate social responsibility, revenue management, etc. 

These are some resources that may inspire you.

-5 ways to lead in an era of constant change:

https://www.ted.com/talks/jim_hemerling_5_ways_to_lead_in_an_era_of_constant_change?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

-Two reasons companies fail - and how to avoid them:

https://www.ted.com/talks/knut_haanaes_two_reasons_companies_fail_and_how_to_avoid_them?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

-Interactive risk assessment tool:

https://www.innotour.com/innovation-tools/interactive-risk-assessment-tool/

-Innovation checklists:

https://www.innotour.com/innovation-tools/innovation-checklists/

-Innovation ability test:

https://www.innotour.com/innovation-tools/innovation-ability-test/

You can provide your classmates with peer feedback by filling in this form: 

https://forms.gle/6ZtCRLZmyUGUjFDf6

Research project. Stage 3

SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, and it is an essential component of your project. The following links will help you to find out more about how to do it:

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm

http://esl-educate-school-learn.blogspot.com/2012/02/swot-analysis.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_6AVRGLXGA

The data you collected in the second stage will help to design this part of the project. The analysis can derive from customer reviews, opinions, or information from press articles, which will allow you to identify both internal aspects (strengths and weaknesses) and external aspects (opportunities and threats). Remember to mention your information sources.

It is mandatory to present an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses, while the opportunities and threats can be analysed optionally as well if you wish to aim at a higher qualification.

As in the previous stages, you can post the text on this blog.