Assistant Professor of Professional Practice, Spanish Translation
Professor Andreu has worked as a literary translator for about 25 years, during which time he has translated some two hundred titles from English and German into Spanish and Catalan for several top Spanish and U.S. publishers. In addition to his core literary background, he also has sizable experience outside the publishing circuit, where some of his clients include the Council on Foreign Relations, FIFA, MACBA (Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona), the Goethe Institut, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, AARP, the City of Salinas, and the County of San Diego Health & Human Services Agency.
Professor Andreu’s interests in translation lie at the intersection of human expertise, intuition, and technology. His courses focus on both the quality of translation output and a sound translation process based on efficiency and best practices. He believes in preparing his students to leverage translation technologies (machine translation and machine translation post-editing, corpus linguistics, gen AI and terminology tools) while emphasizing the importance of old-school hard skills: solid linguistic abilities, discursive cohesion, analytical acuity and creativity.
From a pragmatic perspective, Professor Andreu believes that translation practice at its best involves a multifaceted relationship with collaborators, proofreaders, fact-checkers, and publishers, each of whom brings their own knowledge, sensibility, priorities, and points of view to the project. He believes in the idea of translation as a team effort, a process leading to negotiation and enrichment, as it encourages flexibility, agreeing on criteria, respecting other people’s methodologies, decisions and workflow, and assuming shared responsibility, values he strives to bring into the classroom experience.
TIAG 8515
Foundations in TranslationCourse Description
Introduction to Translation
This course introduces students to the basic theories and practices of written and sight translation. Discussions and activities will explore the purposes of translation and decisions made when deciding how to best approach a translation assignment, including issues of text equivalency, source and target text intention, directionality, language pairs, translation speed, revision processes, and the use of translation tools and resources.
Terms Taught
TIAG 8630 Current
Literary TranslationCourse Description
This course introduces students to the theories and craft of literary translation into English (or Spanish) from a second language, which may be the students' A, B, or C language. During the semester we will read and discuss foundational texts in literary translation, touching on questions of translatability, fidelity, domestication and foreignization, genre, the relationship between original texts and their translations, and the notion of authorship. We will compare different translations of literary texts, in order to examine how each version works, and will discuss how translators make decisions on language, style, format, and cultural equivalency. We will also discuss the professional aspects of submission, publication, contracts, translation schedules, and ethics. Throughout the semester students will work on an individual translation project on a text of their choice that then will be workshopped in class. At the end of the term, each student will turn in a portfolio of their translation. Students will also submit (a portion of) their translation to a literary journal or publisher.
Terms Taught
TISP 8512
Intro Written Trans to SpanishCourse Description
Introduction to Written Translation into Spanish
Introduces students to the basic theory and practice of written translation. Students will learn to apply text analysis, text typology, and contrastive analysis of their working languages to identify, analyze, and resolve translation problems while independently developing an efficient and rational approach to the process of translation. The appropriate application of electronic translation tools will also be introduced. Fundamental translation theory will be emphasized at the beginning of the course and will be conveyed in the form of assigned readings, lectures, class discussions, and independent research. In addition, course assignments will include practice and graded exercises in written translation, utilizing authentic texts drawn from an extensive variety of text categories that include, but are not limited to, current events, general political economy, general legal documents, and scientific and technical topics for general audiences. As the term progresses, student time and effort will increasingly be spent on the preparation and evaluation of written translation assignments. Students will be expected to take at least one midterm exam and one final exam, to be assigned at the discretion of the instructor(s) of record.
Terms Taught
TISP 8522 Current
Intrm Translation into SpanishCourse Description
Builds on the theoretical and practical foundation laid in Introduction to Translation and introduces the translation of specialized subject matter. Depending upon the language program in which they are enrolled, students will be expected to acquire and demonstrate basic proficiency in the sight and written translation of either commercial and economic texts, legal texts, or scientific and technical texts. The amount of emphasis accorded to a particular topic will depend on the specific professional requirements of each language program. Course assignments will include readings, research, presentations, practice and graded exercises in sight translation, and practice and graded written translation assignments, including exercises in speed translation. Students will also be expected to take at least one midterm and one final exam. The frequency, nature, and structure of course assignments and examinations are largely at the discretion of the instructor(s) of record.
Prerequisite: Introduction to Translation or equivalent background.
Terms Taught
TISP 8560
Adv Spanish Grammar for T&ICourse Description
Advanced Spanish Grammar for T&I (TISP 8560) offers a comprehensive review of the grammatical structures that are most problematic for Spanish B translation and interpreting students, with particular attention paid to Spanish pronominal and verbal systems. Students will analyze grammar on the sentence level and develop strategies for translating/interpreting problematic structures.
Terms Taught
TISP 8632
Adv Translation I into SpanishCourse Description
Advanced Translation I into Spanish
This is the first of two complementary courses designed to bring translation knowledge and skills up to the level that would be required of someone working in a professional translation environment. Students will be expected to apply the knowledge and skills acquired during the first-year translation courses to produce translations that meet high standards for content, form, and presentation. A great deal of attention is given to subject matter knowledge and research, precision in text analysis and writing, and the appropriate application of translation technology. Some programs emphasize scientific and technical topics in this course, but others give considerable attention to commercial, economic, legal, and political texts, many of which have a technical component. The frequency, nature, and structure of course assignments and examinations are at the discretion of the instructor(s) of record. Students will, however, be expected to take at least one midterm exam and one final exam.
Prerequisite: 2nd-year student in good standing or equivalent background.
Terms Taught
TISP 8642 Current
Advanced Trans II to SpanishCourse Description
This course is the counterpart to Advanced Translation I. Students are expected to translate texts of considerable difficulty and complexity and to cope with the types of operational challenges that are likely to be encountered in professional translation settings, such as working in teams or coping with multiple technologies. Emphasis is on particular text categories and subject-matter knowledge that are pertinent to current market demand for the specific language combination and direction in which the course is being taught. The frequency, nature, and structure of course assignments are at the discretion of the instructor(s) of record, but will include projects that simulate, as closely as possible, the professional translation environment, as well as at least one midterm and one final exam.
Prerequisite: Advanced Translation I or similar background.
Terms Taught
Professor Andreu holds an BA in Translation and Interpretation from Universitat Pompeu Fabra and an MA in Literary Theory and Comparative Literature from Universitat de Barcelona, with a specialization in exophonic writers—that is, authors who at some point produce their fiction in a language other than their mother tongue (think Vladimir Nabokov, Samuel Beckett, Joseph Conrad, Ha Jin, Agota Kristof, Jhumpa Lahiri or Milan Kundera).
Languages: Spanish, Catalan, English, German
His translations include Fortune Smiles, by Adam Johnson, winner of the National Book Award for Fiction in 2015, A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2011, and The Orphan’s Master Son, by Adam Johnson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2013, as well as works by Dana Spiotta, Doris Lessing, John Grisham, James Patterson, Gerald Murnane, Ingo Schulze, Uwe Timm, Erika Mann, and John Green among many others.
| by Jason Warburg
Middlebury Institute students Andrew Belisle MACI ’23 and Leilani Padilla-Young MATI ’22 both recently passed the notoriously difficult Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination, qualifying them to serve as interpreters in any federal courtroom.
| by Jessie Raymond
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