The Sheer Joy of Translation

 This year we have been adding more Culture into our scheme of work, matching songs and poems to some of the units we do. This a poem we do in Year 8 for the topic of School. It is Prevert's well-known poem "Le Cancre."

We work on it over a series of lessons, ending up with them working on their own translation of the poem into English. The resources are available free on my TES "shop". Just check all the YouTube video links are up to date before you use it.

First we watch all the different YouTube videos of this popular poem. I do this over several lessons, in between other activities. I don't do the "rate the video" activity on the worksheet. We just talk about any words they heard, and any clues in the video. By watching several videos, we start to get an idea of what is actually in the poem, rather than the specific interpretation of any one video.

So when we eventually see the text of the poem, the pupils have an idea of all the things it probably says, and they can say what they think each line is about. We do a little bit of work on hunting for words I ask them to find. And then I give them a very literal translation of the poem, so they can find the meaning of any words that are still frustrating them.

Then the real work starts.

We look at the poem for structure, contrasts, rhythm, figurative language, rhyme. And then they write their own versions in English. My Year 8 class really enjoyed this approach and I saw a side of them (and some individuals in particular) that I hadn't seen before in French lessons.

Here are just two translations. But reading them both and seeing the different creative decisions, gives you a sense of the passion and excitement and sheer joy they put into this task: