Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

amortizar

English translation:

recoup

Added to glossary by schmetterlich
Apr 30, 2019 03:35
5 yrs ago
3 viewers *
Spanish term

amortizar

Spanish to English Other Education / Pedagogy
Si bien el entusiasmo o motivación que el docente posee al empezar a emplear la PDI no determina el éxito o fracaso final de su incorporación, pues constituye “una herramienta aceptada por la generalidad del profesorado por 3 razones: porque es de fácil uso, mejora rápidamente la enseñanza y el aprendizaje, y potencia la creatividad” (Sáez-López, 2011, p. 306), se enfatiza la posibilidad de que los retrasos durante los procesos didácticos “disminuye con la formación y además se amortiza al aumentar el número de sesiones” (Llorente, 2012: 93).

Thank you!

Discussion

Robert Carter Apr 30, 2019:
@Charles I rejected "recover" or "recoup" when I first looked at this because I mistakenly got the sense that it was to do with "spreading out" the familiarisation time over a number of sessions. I've come around to your idea, though I still think it's slightly off-the-mark (albeit this is no more than a quibble). "Amortizar" doesn't strictly mean "sacar rentabilidad", though it does mean "to redeem" an investment, i.e., recover the original money you had invested in a company's shares or capital, whether it be at a loss or a profit.
So it's not quite saying that it's an investment that "pays off", (although I suppose this is implicit here!) but more that you get this time back again later on (redeem it), presumably through efficiency gains.
Granted, it's not much of a distinction, just that your answer threw me slightly when you mentioned "sacar rentabilidad".
Charles Davis Apr 30, 2019:
I suppose it might mean delays in the sense that it takes the teacher so long to master an unfamiliar ICT that he/she is not ready to implement it in the classroom as soon as originally planned; its implementation is delayed.
Charles Davis Apr 30, 2019:
And I think "retrasos", rather than "delays" as such (falling behind schedule), simply means taking a long time: tardanzas, if you like.
Charles Davis Apr 30, 2019:
PS. By the way, I don't understand how "amortizar" can mean "disminuir", decrease or get shorter.
Charles Davis Apr 30, 2019:
I'm sure the idea must be that it takes a long time to prepare a session at first but once you've done it you can do it again much more quickly. It's a phenomenon familiar to any teacher: when you start teaching, lesson preparation takes a long time, but you reap the rewards later when you repeat the course and have everything already prepared, reusable with at most minor changes. The financial metaphor is investment rather than debt: you invest a lot of time at the beginning but you get the returns later.
Marta Maojo Apr 30, 2019:
... any delays ... will probably be made up for / recovered as the number of sessions increases.
Cecilia Q Clare Apr 30, 2019:
Not clear In my opinion, since 'amortizar' has almost one meaning, and that is what Charles has posted, you should investigate, if possible what Jose Llorente meant when he says 'amortizar'. All meanings refer to pay off a debt, or recoup the value, either in Spanish or English.
neilmac Apr 30, 2019:
Agree with phil ... they highlight that the delays will probably be reduced as the number of sessions increases.
philgoddard Apr 30, 2019:
I think it may be a synonym for "disminuye".

Proposed translations

+1
4 hrs
Selected

recoup / capitalize on // pay off

"Amortizar" here has one of its standard meanings: "recuperar o compensar los fondos invertidos en alguna empresa" (DLE def. 2)
https://dle.rae.es/?id=2QNpMF8

It means "sacar rentabilidad", treating time here as an investment.

The quotation from Llorente has been clumsily incorporated into the sentence, as reflected by the singular verbs (disminuye, se amortiza) with a plural subject (retrasos). In Llorente's original, which Robert has usefully quoted, the subject is "tiempo": the time teachers have to spend learning to use the digital blackboard and preparing teaching material with it. This is seen as an investment up front which pays off over time. The idea is that on the one hand this time invested by the teacher is reduced through training — as they are trained to use the media they get quicker at it — and once they've made that investment, they can capitalize on it by using it multiple times: "al aumentar el número de sesiones". So the more teaching sessions they use it for, having mastered it, the more they profit from the time they spent learning to use it. That's the idea of "amortizar": recouping or capitalizing on an investment.

You could say "is/can be recouped by increasing the number of sessions". I like "capitalize on" here, but it's awkward in the passive ("can be capitalized on by..."). However, you could make this part active: "and moreover teachers can capitalize on it by increasing the number of session". Another possibility might be to use "pays off" for "se amortiza": "and moreover it pays off when/if/as the number of sessions increases".
Peer comment(s):

agree Robert Carter : Yes, but not "capitalize on", more "redeem" (see discussion).
6 hrs
Thanks, Robert :-) I see what you mean; the financial metaphor is just making back what you put in. "Sacar rentabilidad" was loosely put; I just meant making a "profit" to compensate for your original "loss".
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
9 hrs

it is settled/regulated

... when the number of sessions increases.
Something went wrong...
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search