Tharjama Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

An individual Arabic translation item for the upper-primary and high-school bands, marked on clarity of the idea, sentence structure, style and completeness.

Tharjama is the Arabic word for translation, and in a school Arabic section it asks a student to carry the meaning of a given passage from one language into another in writing. The template does not print the passage, the language pair or the direction of translation, so the organiser must announce them before the round. This page describes only what the entry rules and scoring table show.

In the all-sections festival template it is an Individual item offered in two Arabic bands, both open to boys and girls together: Arabic UP (classes 5-7, about ages 10-12) with a 15-minute limit and a warning at 14 minutes, and Arabic HS (classes 8-10, about ages 13-15) with a 30-minute limit and a warning at 29 minutes. Each is marked out of 100.

The longer window for the older band signals a longer or harder passage rather than a different skill. A finished entry is a neat, complete written rendering that a reader who has not seen the original could follow, with the sense of every sentence carried over and nothing left untranslated at the end.

Organisers include it because it tests comprehension in two languages at once, which a recitation or song cannot. It needs no stage, props or equipment: a quiet room, identical question papers, answer sheets and a clock are enough, so it sits easily beside the other written Arabic items on a festival day.

Where Tharjama is run

In this dataset Tharjama is carried by two templates: a state-level all-sections school arts festival built from an official item-code list, and a school Arabic literary-festival template. Both place it in the On Stage category at the Arabic bands. It is a Kerala school-syllabus item, so an organiser elsewhere can adopt it as a timed translation exercise for learners of Arabic aged about 10 to 15.

• Kerala, India (school arts festivals with an Arabic section)

Key facts

• Individual item – one student works alone, never a team.
• Two bands: Arabic UP (classes 5-7, about ages 10-12) and Arabic HS (classes 8-10, about ages 13-15).
• Open to boys and girls together in each band.
• Marked out of 100: clarity of the idea 30, sentence structure 25, style (shaili) 25, completeness (poornatha) 20.
• Time limit 15 minutes for Arabic UP (warning at 14) and 30 minutes for Arabic HS (warning at 29).
• The passage and the language direction are not printed in the template, so confirm both with the organiser.

On eTalenter, Tharjama is filed under On Stage and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 2 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Tharjama is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to 15–30 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Tharjama

What a Tharjama panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Clarity of the idea (30 marks): the translation must carry the meaning of the original accurately. A fluent sentence that says something different loses the biggest share.
• Sentence structure (25 marks): sentences should be built correctly in the target language, with word order and agreement that a reader accepts as natural rather than word-for-word.
• Style – shaili (25 marks): the register and flow should suit the passage. A stiff literal rendering or a mix of formal and casual wording costs marks even when the meaning is right.
• Completeness – poornatha (20 marks): every sentence must be translated. Leaving the last lines undone because time ran out is the commonest way to lose this mark.
• Balance: meaning and sentence structure carry 55 of 100, so check accuracy before polishing style.

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Tharjama under Scoring Setup, or start from the judge scoring and tabulation guide.

How to prepare for Tharjama

How entrants and their teachers usually get Tharjama right on the day:

• Practise on short graded passages in both languages, translating the sense of each sentence instead of each word, then compare with a teacher’s version.
• Build a two-column vocabulary notebook of common Arabic words and their equivalents, and revise it aloud each week.
• Learn the usual sentence patterns of both languages so you can restructure a sentence instead of copying the original order.
• Time yourself: 15 minutes for upper-primary and 30 minutes for high-school practice pieces, leaving the last two minutes to re-read.
• Read the whole passage first, mark difficult words, and translate what you know before returning to them so nothing is left blank.
• Ask a teacher to mark practice translations for wrong meaning, awkward structure and omissions, and redo the weakest one each week.

Frequently asked questions

Is Tharjama judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

Is Tharjama judged individually or as a team?

Individually. Each student is scored on their own marks out of 100.

How long does Tharjama last?

The template sets 15 minutes for Arabic UP (warning at 14) and 30 minutes for Arabic HS (warning at 29).

Which languages are translated?

The template does not print the language pair or direction. The organiser sets and announces them before the round.

How is Tharjama marked?

Out of 100 across four criteria: clarity of the idea 30, sentence structure 25, style 25 and completeness 20.

Want the full judging picture? Read the judge scoring and tabulation guide, or browse every on stage competition item.