Translation as a laboratory of linguistic awareness: spanish and the romance languages in comparative perspective

Abstract

This article examines translation as a laboratory of linguistic awareness within the Romance language family, focusing on Spanish in relation to French, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian. It argues that translation between closely related languages is not simply a matter of transfer, but a privileged form of linguistic inquiry in which resemblance must be tested rather than assumed. By slowing down comprehension and bringing lexical, grammatical, and pragmatic friction into view, translation reveals how related languages both enable and resist one another. Drawing on the author's experience as translator and teacher of Spanish as a foreign language, the article further shows how contrastive work can be used pedagogically to sharpen metalinguistic awareness, challenge false transparency, and foster more precise interpretation. Translation thus emerges not only as a professional practice, but also as a method of analysis and a pedagogical tool for deeper learning within the Romance continuum.