Meredith Students Gain Real-World Translation Experience

Students in SPA-385 (Basic Concepts of Spanish Translation), taught by Associate Professor of Spanish Debora Maldonado-DeOliveira, gained real-world translation experience during the fall 2024 semester. 

Meredith’s Marketing Department served as the students’ client and selected pages on the meredith.edu site to translate into Spanish. 

“The final project applies the basic concepts of translation learned in class through a real-world translator-client scenario,” said Maldonado-DeOliveira. “It reinforces the importance of thorough reading and careful analysis of the source text before translating it into the target language, as well as deepens the understanding of the differences between Spanish and English.”

Pages translated included Dining Services, Residence Life – What to Bring to Campus, and Residence Life – FAQs, as well as two Admissions Blog posts, The Benefits of Living on Campus During College and Three Types of Financial Aid. Students had the opportunity to discuss the project with marketing staff before beginning their translation to ensure they understood their audience and topic. At the end of the semester, students also presented their progress to the marketing staff and received feedback. 

“I worked with a classmate to translate the “Three Types of Financial Aid” blog. Overall, it was an interesting and challenging project that tested my language and writing abilities,” said Grace Landenberg, ’27, about her experience. “I am very proud of our translation and am grateful for the opportunity to experience translating in a more professional manner.”

“I hope that this experience will motivate students not only to continue their studies in Spanish or any world language but also to pursue translation further as a potential future career,” said Maldonado-DeOliveira.

The translated pages will be published on Meredith’s En Español site during the spring 2025 semester.