The translating process can be defined as a set of operations performed by a translator in rendering source text into target text. Contrastive analysis of these two texts makes it possible to distinguish types of errors which may occur in the process of translation. Understanding of the nature of errors may help to improve the methods of teaching translation. In order to develop a set of tasks which can. teach students to avoid errors in translation, it is important to classify translation errors. They can be classified into two groups: 1. errors caused by an inappropriate rendering of the original context; 2. errors caused by an inappropriate modification of original information and the forms of its expression. In the first group it is possible to differentiate between the following errors: distortions, discrepancies, ambiguities. The reasons for them may be misunderstanding of the source text due to the lack of background or factual knowledge, or wrong understanding of grammatical or lexical Problems of the text and others. These errors may fully distort the information of the source text and that may lead to general misunderstandings. In the second group we can distinguish errors caused by literal or free translation. In case of literal translation we can also observe distortions and ambiguities, but also the loss of implicit information, systemic errors (i.e. the violation of semantic and logical links in the source text), language errors leading to distortions of the norms of language, errors in the usage of language units (register), stylistic and lexical errors. Free translation is closely connected to literal translation as they both distort the communicative effect of a source text. It means that free translation may lead to the occurrence of practically the same errors, but in case of free translation we observe the excessiveness of information in a target text compared with a source text. The set of tasks to teach students to work with errors may be the following: 1. Compare source text and target text and pay attention to the underlined errors in a source text. Define the group of errors and correct them. 2. Compare source text and target text and find semantic errors, classify and correct them. 3. Compare source text and target text and find register errors, explain and correct them. 4. Compare source text and target text. Define the variants of translation which can be considered optimal. Find all translation errors, classify, correct them. 5. Compare a source text and 3 translations of this text performed by different translators. Find the most appropriate variant, justify the choice. 6. Proof read and edit a target text In any language we can find lexical units which cause translation errors, such as so-called " translator's false friends', "traps of the inner form of lexical units", some kinds of geographical names. To overcome the problem of such words the number of exercises can be fulfilled, aimed at translating and classifying such words.
