Perceptions of Cultural Competence: the Trainees’ Perspective

An important element of what is generally referred to as translation competence is represented by the translator’s ability to offer an appropriate treatment of the culturallyembedded words, phrases and structures presented by the source text. What are the most effective means by which the translator trainer can help his/her students develop cultural competence? What are the translation trainees’ needs with regard to cultural training, and what kind of difficulties do they most frequently encounter from this point of view? The paper will discuss these aspects, taking into account both theoretical and research data.