How would I approach a translation in the exam?

-read the passage carefully, identifying any tricky/unknown vocabulary and grammatical points (5 mins) -write a draft translation, leaving gaps for parts you're unsure about (10 mins) -go back to the blanks, and try to make educated guesses, referring to your knowledge of other words in the language that seem to have a connection to the unknown one. (5-7 mins) -go over your translation, rephrasing parts you think could be made to sound more natural and fluent in the target language. (5 mins) -check your work when you're done! (3-5 mins) (My timings are based on the duration of the Edexcel exam. It is 2hrs 30 mins long, and contains 1 translation and 2 essays. Typically, a student would spend an hour on each essay, and 30 mins on the translation. If, however, a student is particularly strong in essay writing and weaker in translation, for example, I would suggest dedicating an extra 10 to 15 minutes to the translation.)