AN ANALYSIS OF THE SUGGESTED RANSLATION OF CHAPTERS 12 FROM THE BOOK “HOW HAPPINESS HAPPENS FINDING LASTING JOY IN a WORLD OF COMPARISON, DISAPPOINTMENT, AND UNMET EXPECTATIONS” BY MAX LUCADO, 2019

NGUYEN HOANG MY – GRADUATION THESIS IN SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES - DANANG 2021 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING DUY TAN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH GRADUATION THESIS NGUYEN HOANG MY AN ANALYSIS OF THE SUGGESTED RANSLATION OF CHAPTERS 1&2 FROM THE BOOK “HOW HAPPINESS HAPPENS: FINDING LASTING JOY IN A WORLD OF COMPARISON, DISAPPOINTMENT, AND UNMET EXPECTATIONS” BY MAX LUCADO, 2019 GRADUATION THESIS IN SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES DA NANG – May 2021 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING DUY TAN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH GRADUATION THESIS NGUYEN HOANG MY AN ANALYSIS OF THE SUGGESTED TRANSLATION OF CHAPTERS 1&2 FROM THE BOOK “HOW HAPPINESS HAPPENS: FINDING LASTING JOY IN A WORLD OF COMPARISON, DISAPPOINTMENT, AND UNMET EXPECTATIONS” BY MAX LUCADO, 2019 Major : English for Translation and Interpretation Code : 701 Supervisor : Nguyen Thi Dieu Tram, M A ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This graduation paper could not be finished without the invaluable helps, advice, and encouragement of my dear teachers, friends, and family First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Ms Nguyen Thi DieuTram, M.A Her teaching style and enthusiasm made a strong impression on me and I have always carried positive memories for her with me She raised many precious points in my paper and I hope that I have managed to address several of them here Her kindly support and continuous advice went through the process of completion of my paper Her encouragement and comments had significantly enriched and improved my work Without her motivation and instructions, the paper would have been impossible to be done effectively Secondly, I am also grateful to all teachers of the Faculty of English at Duy Tan University for their dedication to convey valuable knowledge to me during my study time at school and inspirer my paper and who it is impossible to thank individually Finally, I want to express my deep gratitude to my parents and friends, all well-wishers whose enormous help assists me to complete this graduation paper I hope that this graduation paper will achieve great success To conclude, I am grateful to all of you I wish you all good health and success! Yours sincerely, Student Nguyen Hoang My STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in the whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the thesis This thesis has not been submitted for award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution ABSTRACT This paper is a suggested translation of chapters and of the book “How Happiness Happens: Finding Lasting Joy in a World of Comparison, Disappointment, and Unmet Expectations” written by Max Lucado (2019) Besides, I also analyze some problems which are extremely complicated such as structures, vocabularies in the chapters and Therefore, I reported some difficulties that I had encountered during the translating process in the end of this graduation paper ABBREVIATIONS SL: Source Language TL: Target Language TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION RATIONALE To be a student of the Faculty of English at Duy Tan University, I am always aware that acquiring new knowledge sources around the world is essential I constantly perceive new knowledge sources about some kinds of translation which are available in books, newspapers, magazines, and even on the social network page I choose the book "How Happiness Happens" by Max Lucado because I was encouraged and motivated after reading this book! I aim to be the "ice cream truck" in my world How Happiness Happens is a Christian-based selfdevelopment book that examines the true source of happiness for anyone in today's stress-ridden lifestyle I was intrigued by the subtitles: the Unexpected Door to Joy and Gimme Five, Rocky Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” The words of Jesus are spot-on When you give, it has a boomerang effect Happiness happens when we give it away That is such great news! And don’t be surprised when you begin to sense a newfound joy yourself This is the unexpected door to joy And standing at the entryway to welcome you is Jesus of Nazareth Your neighbor is depressed Your sibling is off track Your child is facing an uphill challenge You may not know what to say You may not have resources to help But you have this– you have prayer When you pray, when you speak for the ones who need help to the One who can give it, something wonderful happens And this is how happiness happens Personally, I am always interested in this topic, so I decided to have a deep understanding of this book I hope that with all my knowledge and skills, I can make a complete translation and gain high evaluation as well AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 2.1 Aims - To present my ability in translating and analyzing a document - To improve some skills in translation as well as analysis of the content of the book - To understand the idea of the author to express the content to the reader 2.2 Objectives - To translate the text smoothly and fast - To analyze complicated words, phrases, structures, idioms, and contexts, as well as translate content of the text - To help myself improve in translating - To translate chapters & titled “The Unexpected Door to Joy” and "Gimme Five, Rocky" THE SCOPE OF THE STUDY In this book, Max shares the unexpected path to lasting happiness, the one that produces reliable joy in any season of life Based on the teachings of Jesus and backed by modern research, How Happiness Happens presents a surprising but practical way of living that will change you from the inside out However, within the scope of the paper and due to time limitation, this paper only focuses on translating and analyzing the suggested version and some difficult vocabularies and structures of chapters & 3.1 Text features This book is a combination of stories, real experiences of real people, and words and words of encouragement of Jesus 3.2 Text length The text that I choose to translate belongs to chapters & from pages 19 to 37, with about 4,280 words 3.3 Text organization The book “How Happiness Happens” has 11 chapters and I choose chapters 1&2 to translate The name of chapters 1&2 are “The Unexpected Door to Joy” and “Gimme Five, Rocky” 3.4 Text source The text is a part of the book “How Happiness Happens” written by Max Lucado I get this book on the website: https://www.pdfread.net/ebook/how-happiness-happens-by-max-lucado-pdfread/ METHODS OF THE STUDY I implemented this study based on two main methods 4.1 Translating Method - Scanning and skimming the whole text to get the main content of the text; - Highlighting ambiguous vocabulary and difficult grammar structures; - Translating the text and paying attention to highlighted terms, idioms, and structures of the text; - Discussing with the supervisor and friends as well as searching on the Internet to get the most suitable meanings for those words and structures; - Checking for mistakes in suggested translation 4.2 Analyzing Method - Analyzing difficult vocabulary and grammar structures based on translation and grammar theories after completing translation process; - Finalizing the study Example 8: “boomerang effect” In the paragraph: “Because when you do, it has a boomerang effect.” [64] Figuratively meaning: If a plan boomerangs, it brings a harmful result instead of the intended good one Basing on the meaning in the situation, I translate this sentence depending on the context into the Vietnamese meaning as “phản ứng ngược” My suggested translation: Bởi bạn làm vậy, có phản ứng ngược Example 9: “Debbie Downer” In the paragraph: “An analysis of twenty five studies indicated that happy people are more effective leaders than Debbie Downers.” [26] According to the Internet, Debbie Downer is a name for someone who is constantly making others feel bad or dampening the mood of a group with negative comments My suggested translation: Một phân tích 25 nghiên cứu người hạnh phúc người có sức ảnh hưởng Debbie Downers Example 10: “wedgie” In the paragraph: “Thanks to him I learned the meaning of the word wedgie.” [76] In the Cambridge Dictionary, the word “wedgie” is explained as: “an occasion when someone's underwear moves or is pulled up so it is uncomfortably tight around, or between the two sides of, their bottom” I thought this meaning is unsuitable with the context of this sentence So, I decided to choose the meaning of this word as “bất lực (khó chịu, tức tối mà khơng làm được)” My suggested translation: Nhờ anh ấy, học ý nghĩa từ “bất lực” Example 11: “Elvis smile” In the paragraph: “I tilted my head to the side, smiled an Elvis smile, swaggered through the sad, pitiful lot of unpicked players, and took my place next to my unexpected hero.” [100] Elvis is taken from the name of the singer and actor Elvis Presley, he has a very beautiful smile like an angel Based on the context, this smile is from Max (he is a child) so I translate the Vietnamese equivalent as “nụ cười dễ thương trần đời” My suggested translation: Tôi nghiêng đầu sang bên, nở nụ cười dễ thương trần đời nghênh ngang qua nhiều cầu thủ đáng thương không chọn, đứng vào chỗ bên cạnh người hùng không ngờ 3.1.3 Phrasal verbs A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and a preposition, a verb, and an adverb, or a verb with both an adverb and a preposition Phrasal verbs are very common in spoken and written English so we need them to understand Here are some phrasal verbs in my translation Example 12: “took its tool” In the paragraph: “For many, perhaps most of us, the answer is “Well, it’s been a while I used to be happy, but then life took its toll.”” [19] In the Cambridge Dictionary, the phrase “took its tool” is explained as: “to cause harm or suffering” In English – Vietnamese dictionary, it means “gây thiệt hại” I thought this meaning is unsuitable with the context of this sentence So, I decided to choose the meaning of this phrase as “trả giá” My suggested translation: Đối với nhiều người, có lẽ hầu hết chúng ta, câu trả lời “Chà, lâu Tôi hạnh phúc, đời lại bắt trả giá.” Example 13: “turns out” In the paragraph: “Happiness, it turns out, helps everyone.” [27] The phrase verb "turns out" has four basic meanings according to Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary: [1] to be present at an event [2] to happen in a particular way; to develop or end in a particular way [3] to point away from the center [4] to be discovered to be; to prove to be There are four meanings of this phrase “turns out” However, basing on the context, I think the fourth meaning is suitable for the context Thus, I chose the Vietnamese equivalent meaning as “hóa ra” My suggested translation: Hóa hạnh phúc lại giúp ích cho tất người Example 14: “ wears off ” In the paragraph: “Even the thrill of winning the lottery wears off.” [47] According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the phrase “wears off” is explained as: [1] If a feeling or the effect of something wears off, it gradually disappears [2] to stop having an effect or influence However, basing on the context, I think the first meaning is suitable for the context Thus, I chose the Vietnamese equivalent meaning as “biến mất” My suggested translation: Ngay cảm giác hồi hộp trúng số biến Example 15: “pick on” In the paragraph: “My big brother used to pick on me.” [70] In the Cambridge Dictionary, the phrase “pick on” is explained as: “to criticize, punish, or be unkind to the same person often and unfairly” I thought this meaning is suitable with the context of this sentence So, I decided to choose the Vietnamese equivalent meaning as “trêu chọc, bắt nạt” My suggest translation: Anh trai lớn trêu chọc 3.1.4 Idioms and Expressions Example 16: “in short supply” In the paragraph: “Smiles are in short supply.” [30] According to Cambridge Dictionary, “in short supply” mean “only available in small amounts” Basing on the definition above, I translate this sentence depending on the context into the Vietnamese meaning as “khan hiếm” My suggested translation: Nụ cười dần khan Example 17: “Way to go!” In the paragraph: In modern-day parlance, “Way to go! You’re the man! Give me five! You nailed it!” [135] According to Cambridge Dictionary, “Way to go!” mean “used to tell someone they have done well, or used humorously when someone has done something stupid” Basing on the definition above, I translate this sentence depending on the context into the Vietnamese meaning as “Tốt lắm!” Example 18: “Give me five!” According to Cambridge Dictionary, “Give me five!” mean “something you say when you want someone to open a hand so you can hit it with your open hand in greeting or celebration” Basing on the definition above, I translate this sentence depending on the context into the Vietnamese meaning as “Đập tay nào!” My suggested translation: Theo cách nói thời đại, “Tốt lắm! Bạn đấng nam nhi! Đập tay nào! Làm đó! ” Example 19: “the better part of” In the paragraph: “For the better part of the evening, she touched and prayed her way through the rehab center.” [61] According to Cambridge Dictionary, “the better part of” mean “most of” Moreover, it is used to emphasize that most of a period of time was spent doing something Based on the definition above and context, I decided to translate the sentence “For the better part of the evening” into the Vietnamese meaning as “Cảnh tượng đẹp buổi tối là” My suggested translation: Cảnh tưởng đẹp buổi tối là, quanh hết trung tâm cai nghiện chạm vào bệnh nhân cầu nguyện 3.2 STRUCTURES Structures play an important role in the meaning of the sentence In addition to words or phrases that are difficult to translate, I also encounter cases where it is difficult to translate grammar and sentence structure In a paragraph, there are sentences with different clauses I have to analyze the grammatical components that are able to guess the meaning of the sentence Below I have classified and analyzed the sentence structures to be able to better understand the meaning of that sentence 3.2.1 Compound Sentences A compound sentence consists of two simple sentences that are connected with a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) Example 20: “We’ve made advancements in everything from medicine to technology, yet 66 percent of us can’t find an adequate reason to check the yes box on the happiness questionnaire.” [36] - According to the structure of the compound sentence with coordinator “INDEPENDENT CLAUSE, + COORDINATOR + INDEPENDENT CLAUSE” The first independent clause is “We’ve made advancements in everything from medicine to technology” The second clause is “66 percent of us can’t find an adequate reason to check the yes box on the happiness questionnaire.” As we can see that there are two clauses connected by the coordinator “yet” There is a subject “We” in the first clause and a subject of the second clause is “66 percent of us” My suggested translation: Chúng ta đạt nhiều tiến thứ, từ y học đến công nghệ, mà 66% số khơng thể tìm thấy lý thích hợp để đánh dấu vào “có” bảng khảo sát hạnh phúc Example 21: “The crowd was thick, and people were pushing, but she was desperate.” [191] In this sentence, there are independent clauses: • Independent clause 1: The crowd was thick • Independent clause 2: People were pushing • Independent clause 3: She was desperate The first clause is connected to the second by “ and”, the second is connected to the third with “but” My suggested translation: Đám đông dày đặc, người xô đẩy, cô tuyệt vọng 3.2.2 Complex Sentences A complex sentence is an independent clause connected to one or more dependent clauses using a subordinating conjunction (despite, although) or a relative pronoun (who, which) 3.2.2.1 Complex sentences with Adverbial Clause An adverbial clause is a dependent clause that functions as an adverb and gives information about a verb, adjective, or adverb This clause usually combines with an independent clause to form a complex sentence A complex sentence is a sentence that contains one independent clause and one dependent clause or more Adverbial clause gives additional information about independent clauses to answer the example for example: how, when, where, why, or to what degree Example 22: “When the researchers analyzed their results, they found that the recent accident victims reported gaining more happiness from these everyday pleasures than the lottery winners.” [46] The independent clause is: “they found that the recent accident victims reported gaining more happiness from these everyday pleasures than the lottery winners” And the dependent clause is: “When the researchers analyzed their results” Two clauses are connected by comma “,” Besides, the subordinating conjunction is “When” (adverbial clause of time), I decided to translate from “When” into “khi” My suggested translation: Khi nhà nghiên cứu phân tích kết họ, họ nhận thấy nạn nhân vụ tai nạn gần đây, họ có nhiều hạnh phúc từ thú vui hàng ngày so với người trúng số Example 23: “During his break he would hurry across the street to a fastfood restaurant and get fries and water.” [166] The independent clause is: “he would hurry across the street to a fastfood restaurant and get fries and water” And the dependent clause is: “During his break” The subordinating conjunction is “During” (adverbial clause of time), I decided to translate from “During” into “trong thời gian’ My suggested translation: Trong thời gian nghỉ ngơi, anh nhanh chóng băng qua đường để đến nhà hàng thức ăn nhanh, lấy khoai tây chiên nước 3.2.2.2 Complex sentences with Relative Clause Complex sentences can contain relative clauses These clauses generally begin with relative pronouns such as who, which, and that The relative clause acts as the dependent part of a complex sentence There are two types of relative clauses, defining and non-defining relative clauses Example 24: He is “the God who gives endurance and encouragement” [106] This sentence has a relative clause “who gives endurance and encouragement” The pronoun “who” modifies the pronoun “the God ” The clause “who gives endurance and encouragement” works as object My suggested translation: Ngài “Đức Chúa Trời ban bền bỉ động viên” Example 25: “One evening her daughter had an idea She placed her mother in a wheelchair and rolled her from room to room, looking for people who needed encouragement.” [59] In the whole sentence, the relative clause is “who needed encouragement” The relative pronoun “who” modifies the noun “people” and it functions as a subject My suggested translation: Một buổi tối gái có ý tưởng đặt mẹ vào xe lăn lăn từ phịng sang phịng khác, tìm kiếm người cần động viên 3.2.2.3 Complex sentences with Noun Clause Noun clauses as the name implies, function as nouns That is, they are word groups with their own subjects and verbs that in turn function as a subject, object, or complement in a sentence Noun clauses also function as an appositive sometimes Example 26: “People have a way of becoming what you encourage them to be—not what you nag them to be.” [147] In this sentence, main clause is “ People have a way of becoming” It is easy to see that this sentence contains two noun clauses: • Noun clause 1: what you encourage them to be • Noun clause 2: not what you nag them to be Two noun clauses connected by dashes “ – “, and they work as an object in the sentence My suggested translation: “Mọi người có cách để trở thành bạn khuyến khích họ trở thành — khơng phải bạn cằn nhằn để họ trở thành vậy.” Example 27: “Happiness depends on what you hang in your closet, park in your garage, mount on your trophy wall, deposit in your bank account, experience in your bedroom, wear on your wedding finger, or serve at your dining table.” [41] In this sentence, with main clause is “Happiness depends on” , the noun clause is “what you hang in your closet, park in your garage, mount on your trophy wall, deposit in your bank account, experience in your bedroom, wear on your wedding finger, or serve at your dining table.” We can see easily that the noun clause works as an object in the sentence My suggested translation: Hạnh phúc tùy thuộc vào bạn treo tủ quần áo, đậu ga-ra, vào thứ bạn treo tường vốn đầy vật trang trí, vào số tiền gửi tài khoản ngân hàng, trải nghiệm phòng ngủ, nhẫn cưới ăn dọn bàn 3.2.3 Sentences in Passive Voice The passive voice is used when we want to emphasize the action (the verb) and the object of a sentence rather than subject This means that the subject is either less important than the action itself or that we don’t know who or what the subject is The passive voice is not a tense in English Each tense has its own passive voice which is created by using a form of the auxiliary verb to be + V3 (past participle) Example 28: “Every type of deity was worshiped there.” [126] This sentence is simple past tense, I decided to translate this sentence with its original structure – passive voice I realized that its meaning is still natural and smooth in our Vietnamese My suggested translation: Mọi loại thần thờ Example 29: “Tim was dealt a bad hand of cards.” [163] This sentence is simple past tense In this sentence, I don't think it's allowed to translate as "được" but rather as "bị" because it's “a bad hand of card”, so I decided to translate this sentence based on the context into the Vietnamese meaning as “bị chia ván xấu” My suggested translation: Tim bị chia ván xấu 3.2.4 Sentences with Empty Subject Empty subjects are subjects that don't mean anything, and the two most common ones are “it” and “there” Although a complete sentence must be composed of a subject and at least a verb, in many situations, I don’t know the subject or the subject is too long, so I use the empty subject to replace it According to the structure of the: IT + BE + ADJ + TO V Example 30: The words of Jesus are spot-on: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” [63] In this sentence, the authors used empty subject to express their idea This form of sentence isn’t existed in Vietnamese, it’s difficult to translate it So, I apply the free translation method to transfer the idea, then I have a suggested version as follow My suggested translation: Những lời Chúa Giê-xu đúng: “Cho hạnh phúc nhận lại” CHAPTER IV: DIFFICULTIES AND SOLUTIONS 4.1 DIFFICULTIES This graduation thesis is a good opportunity for me to use my English skills and get more knowledge that I learned at Duy Tan University during four years I have gained lots of things about translation through this thesis and I had more chances to practice and improve my translation skills as well However, I also had a lot of limitations in my knowledge of complex sentences, which has challenged me a lot when translating And there are many difficulties that I face in implementing the analysis In the translation process, I had difficulty choosing the right words for the context in order to convey the author’s best ideas to the readers It’s hard to find suitable words from the dictionary Although I have their definitions and know exactly their meaning, I may not translate them into Vietnamese fluently To have a good translation, I must find out brief Vietnamese words with the same meaning as the English words This took me a lot of time process of translating this book Moreover, the structure is also another issue that made me quite anxious Finally, difficulties are things which all translators must experience, but thanks to them, our skill and vocabulary are improved.  4.2 SOLUTIONS During the translating process of my graduation thesis, there are many difficulties I had to face when translating it I gained experience in solving difficulties and challenges Firstly, I consulted some good graduation theses in the library and the direction of the department to master the process and the way of implementing the thesis Secondly, before translating, I read carefully the whole text to understand the main idea of the original text as well as the ideas and the author’s message Thus, you need to find documents, information that is related to the book on the internet Thirdly, in the translating process, I must seek equivalents between a SL and TL This can help the translator make a better decision on which translation methods should be applied for each section On the other hand, need to catch the idea through SL, then express it again by TL Finally, I used many kinds of dictionaries, such as: English Vietnamese Dictionary, the Cambridge Dictionary, the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, etc to find out the best meanings PART C: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS Summary of the Findings After finishing this graduation thesis, I not only gained a lot of precious experiences but I aslo had great valuable comprehension in translating Through this thesis, I had more chances to practice and improve my translation skills as well Moreover, when translating, I usually encounter with so many new words, and it makes them feel difficult in understanding the whole meaning of the translation text I feel so confused to choose the most suitable meaning and even sometimes I could not how to convey it into Vietnamese and how to use suitable word in each certain context Besides, the structures in this chapter are really diverse and difficult and I have to translate and analyze carefully Thanks to this graduation thesis, I could improve my translating skills a lot during this time It is an undeniable fact that this thesis would have not been completed without my supervisor invaluable support Also, I would like to express my particular thanks to all the lectures of the Faculty of Foreign Language whose lecturers have enriched my academic knowledge of English during four years Suggestions I would like to give some suggestions for the Faculty of English at Duy Tan University: Firstly, I think teachers should give students more opportunities to practice analyzing many difficult structures When students understand the structure clearly, they can avoid mistakes during translating It also helps them very much in the future about translation Secondly, the Faculty of English at Duy Tan University could create conditions for students to gain more practical experience and have many opportunities to practice translating and interpreting in the real life Finally, I hope Duy Tan University will expand some useful extracurriculum so that students can practice many projects Because I believe that thing will help you have a lot of experiences and knowledge and you can be more confident to complete this graduation thesis REFERENCES I ENGLISH BOOKS [1] Alan Duff (1989) Translation Oxford University Press [2] Bell R.T (1991) Translation and Translating: Theory and practice London: Longman [3] Catford, J.C (1995) Alinguistic Theory of Translation London Oxford University Press [4] Nguyen Manh Quang (2013) Translation Theory Department of Foreign Languages of Duy Tan University II VIETNAMESE BOOKS [5] Hữu Ngọc (2007) Sổ tay người dịch tiếng anh Nhà xuất giới III DICTIONARIES [6] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/ [7] https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/ [8] http://tratu.soha.vn/dict/en_vn/Trang_%C4%91%E1%BA%A7u [9] http://grammar.yourdictionary.com SUPERVISOR’S COMMENT ... ABSTRACT This paper is a suggested translation of chapters and of the book “How Happiness Happens: Finding Lasting Joy in a World of Comparison, Disappointment, and Unmet Expectations” written by. .. definitions of translation given by many translation theorists as follows: Newmark indicates that translation is “rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author... translation and gain high evaluation as well AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 2.1 Aims - To present my ability in translating and analyzing a document - To improve some skills in translation as well as analysis