Anna Ponomareva

Let Us Talk About Sugar

Introduction

Let us talk about sugar. Explore simplicity in technical, scientific & medical translation through practice. Uses sugar replacement texts & astronomy writing to teach clarity, depth & popular terminology for Master's students.

Abstract

This article explores the idea of simplicity from three different angles: translate-simplify, write-simplify and teach-simplify. It is a practice-based rather than desk-top research. One specific tutorial is chosen to illustrate the pedagogy adopted on the subject which blends translation studies and comparative literature. The title of this presentation has been borrowed from a popular brochure Your Health Your Pharmacy (2022). One of its articles advertises the replacement or reduction of sugar by maple syrup in people’s daily intakes. This text is used in my practical translation classes at UCL where I teach technical, scientific and medical translation modules to Master students who specialise in translation from English into Russian. The popular style of this publication is chosen to discuss the issues of simplicity and clarity in translation. For example, examining the idea of maple syrup as an attractive, all-natural sugar alternative is a good start for developing the students’ understanding of topics related to language for specific purposes and various readerships. Our closer look at the source text has provided unexpected results which lead to an unusual conclusion that “Perhaps the All-There-Is is not all there is” (Popova, 2014). This gives me an opportunity to talk about The Edge of the Sky: All You Need to Know About the All- There-Is (2014). The story is written by Roberto Trotta, my former colleague from Imperial College London. It exemplifies and highlights important issues in today’s popular semi-specialised writing, in particular the use of the 1,000 most common English words without compromising on clarity and depth of scientific descriptions related to astronomy and cosmology. Trotta’s methodology is further examined in the field of translation. The focus is on checking the students’ translation of Let’s Talk About Sugar (2022) in which the key role of popular terminology is underlined.

Review

The article "Let Us Talk About Sugar" offers a practice-based exploration into the multifaceted concept of simplicity, viewed through the lenses of translation, writing, and teaching. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach that blends translation studies with comparative literature, the author grounds their discussion in a specific tutorial conducted within a Master's translation program at UCL. The central pedagogical illustration involves a popular health brochure, "Your Health Your Pharmacy" (2022), which advocates for the reduction of sugar intake, providing a concrete example for students specializing in English-to-Russian technical, scientific, and medical translation. A key strength of this work lies in its practical application of theoretical concepts of simplicity and clarity directly to the challenges faced by translation students. By utilizing an accessible, popular science text as a source, the article effectively engages with crucial issues related to language for specific purposes and catering to diverse readerships. The narrative takes an intriguing turn, however, with "unexpected results" leading to an examination of Roberto Trotta's "The Edge of the Sky: All You Need to Know About the All-There-Is" (2014). This unexpected connection allows for a sophisticated discussion on how clarity and depth in scientific descriptions, particularly in astronomy and cosmology, can be achieved using a limited, common vocabulary, and how this methodology can be effectively scrutinized and applied within translation pedagogy. Overall, this article presents a unique and thought-provoking contribution to the fields of translation pedagogy and scientific communication. The interdisciplinary framework, which seamlessly integrates real-world classroom practice with an unexpected, yet insightful, foray into the principles of popular scientific writing as exemplified by Trotta’s work, offers a fresh perspective on how "simplicity" can be conceptualized and taught. The paper's emphasis on fostering critical thinking in translation students regarding the nuanced use of popular terminology has significant implications for training future professionals to navigate complex texts for varied audiences, making it a highly relevant and engaging read for educators and researchers alike.

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