Introduction to Arabic Translation (Arabic to English)

AKU-ISMC’s new Centre for the Languages of the Muslim World is delighted to offer this new short course as part of its Professional Development series. Introduction to Arabic Translation is a 10-hour online course designed to introduce participants to key issues inherent in translation from Arabic to English and to provide a foundation for further study and professional practice in Arabic > English translation.

This stimulating course is taught in 2-hour sessions across 5 weeks and is highly interactive. The course is taught mostly via English, with extensive use made of Arabic, and is open to non-native speakers (of either/ both languages) with advanced proficiency.

Introduction to Arabic Translation is open to participants from a wide range of educational and professional backgrounds. The course will function primarily to support potential translators considering a career move into Arabic/ English translation, via the exploration of key issues in Arabic-to-English translation, and an introduction to the underpinnings of translation methodology. The course tutor is a trained linguist and Arabist, with extensive experience of teaching and examining Arabic > English translation to postgraduate and undergraduate university students of varying backgrounds within highly rated and accredited university programmes in the UK.

• Study a selected range of Arabic texts in order to comparatively analyse competing translations of each, via exercises in contrastive stylistics
• Identify and discuss typical rhetorical features of Arabic and English
• Facilitate an understanding of key issues in Arabic-to-English translation
• Introduce the underpinnings of translation methodology

Dr Alex Bellem is a Linguist and Arabist, and Assistant Professor at AKU-ISMC, where she leads on developing the Institute’s new Centre for the Languages of the Muslim World. She specialises in comparative–theoretical phonology (& phonetics) and Arabic dialectology, with expertise in the languages & linguistics of the Middle East and contiguous regions. She collaborates with Rex Smith in a project on the language of texts composed in Literary Mixed (“Middle”) Arabic and has previously collaborated on projects on the Modern South Arabian languages Mehri and Sheret (Jibbali). She has broader research interests in folk literature, and in cultural heritage, and has also published on Iraqi folk poetry. She has held academic posts at Durham University, Salford University and the CBRL British Institute (Amman & Damascus), and at these institutions as well as SOAS she has extensive experience teaching linguistics, Arabic translation, and Arabic language she holds a PhD in Arabic Linguistics from SOAS, an MA from UCL (Linguistics), and a BA from Manchester University (Turkish & Arabic).

3, 10, 17, 24, 31 October | 14:00 – 16:00 (London time)

£149 professionals | £99 students, AKU alumni and staff. The number of tickets is limited

The course will be delivered via Zoom. Readings and further details will be provided later upon registration.

This course will not be recorded.