After having a threemonth period of internship at Thien Ha NhaTrangCo.ltd, I have found difficulties in translating, especially when I work with sale contracts and finding some ways to solve these difficulties. For that reason, the researcher aims to give some strategies of English majored students in The Saigon International University when they translate sale contracts from Vietnamese into English, Vietnamese into Chinese and help them improve their study. To carry out this study, the researcher collected and analyzed the data from an experiment, a questionnaire and the results of participants in studying Translation at school. The experiment is a sample paragraph and the participants were asked to translate it. After process of assessing and discussing, students will straightforwardly translate the text with their ideal perceptions at the end of the thesis. They also get suggestions from the researcher to solve those problems effectively. Finally, the researcher hopes that this research will be a useful document for readers as well as Englishmajored students when finding some strategies in translating sales contracts.
Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, MA Thesis Graduation _ COMMITMENT I, Nguyen Thi Yen Anh, hereby declare that the work presented in this Graduation Thesis is completely prepared by myself I guarantee that all dataset collected and analysis used in the report are correct and report should not coincide with any other researches I also confirm that, this thesis is not for any purposes but my university graduation requirements It might not be used with the interest of the opposite party of the corporation NhaTrang, March 4th,2019 Student Nguyen Thi Yen Anh Nguyen Thi Yen Anh – 97011501032 i Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, MA Thesis Graduation _ ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, I would like to thanks all Teachers and Staffs of The Saigon International University for four years teaching and caring, they have always given students the best learning environment Actually, specialized lectures and useful life experiences along with a professional learning environment have helped me become a better me like today Thank you for all these good things for the past years Especially Ms Nguyen Thi Kim Chung – My supervisor, who has always taught and guided me during my studies at the university and process in completing my internship and thesis Thank you for your valuable lessons and dedication in the past, and useful knowledge as well as experience for my future career that you have given out Finally, I sincerely thank to Thien Ha NhaTrangCo.ltd, for helping me foster more professional knowledge and more practical work experience by participated in the company, engage activities and for sharing work experience and willing to help me improving this thesis Nguyen Thi Yen Anh – 97011501032 ii Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, MA Thesis Graduation _ SUPERVISOR’S COMMENT Mark: Signed: Nguyen Thi Yen Anh – 97011501032 iii Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, MA Thesis Graduation _ ABSTRACT After having a three-month period of internship at Thien Ha NhaTrangCo.ltd, I have found difficulties in translating, especially when I work with sale contracts and finding some ways to solve these difficulties For that reason, the researcher aims to give some strategies of English - majored students in The Saigon International University when they translate sale contracts from Vietnamese into English, Vietnamese into Chinese and help them improve their study To carry out this study, the researcher collected and analyzed the data from an experiment, a questionnaire and the results of participants in studying Translation at school The experiment is a sample paragraph and the participants were asked to translate it After process of assessing and discussing, students will straightforwardly translate the text with their ideal perceptions at the end of the thesis They also get suggestions from the researcher to solve those problems effectively Finally, the researcher hopes that this research will be a useful document for readers as well as English-majored students when finding some strategies in translating sales contracts Nguyen Thi Yen Anh – 97011501032 iv Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, MA Thesis Graduation _ Contents COMMITMENT i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .ii SUPERVISOR’S COMMENT iii ABSTRACT iv CONTENTS v LIST OF CHARTS viii LIST OF FIGURE ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS x CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE 1.2 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 1.3 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS 2.1.1 Translation 2.1.2 Translation and Interpretation 2.1.3 Translation process 2.1.4 Pre-translation 10 2.1.5 While – translation 12 2.1.6 Post – translation 15 2.1.7 Translation methods 15 2.1.8 Literal translation method 15 2.1.9 Word – for – Word translation method 15 2.1.10 Free translation method 16 2.1.11 Adaptation 16 2.1.12 Semantic translation 16 2.1.13 Faithful translation 17 2.1.14 Idiomatic translation 17 Nguyen Thi Yen Anh – 97011501032 v Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, MA Thesis Graduation _ 2.1.15 Communicative translation 17 2.1.16 Techniques of translation 17 2.1.17 Transcription 18 2.1.18 Transliteration 18 2.1.19 Borrowing 18 2.1.20 Literal 19 2.1.21 Transposition 19 2.1.22 Modulation 19 2.1.23 Adaptation 19 2.2 DEFINITION OF SALE CONTRACTS 20 2.2.1 A sale contract 20 2.2.2 The begin of the contract 20 2.2.3 What is formulaic language? 20 2.2.4 The middle of the contract 21 2.2.5 The end of the contract 22 2.2.6 The importance of translation in business 22 2.2.7 Some Strategies in Translation 23 Tip Do change verbs and tenses 23 Tip Use shall properly (if at all) 24 Tip Use hereby properly (if at all) 24 Tip Recast, a lot, especially to active voice 25 Tip Be specific and consistent (even when the source text isn’t) 28 Tip Use only ‘useful’ legalese 29 Tip Decide on the register of the noticeable bits 29 CHAPTER 31 METHODOLOGY 31 3.1 PLACE OF THE INVESTIGATION 32 3.2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH METHODS 32 3.2.1 Research methodology 32 3.2.2 Research methods 32 3.2.3 Participants 33 3.2.4 Procedures 33 3.2.5 Doing experiment 33 3.2.6 Scoring 34 3.2.7 Questionnaire 34 Nguyen Thi Yen Anh – 97011501032 vi Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, MA Thesis Graduation _ 3.2.8 3.3 Benchmark 34 DATA ANALYSIS 34 CHAPTER 35 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 35 4.1 FINDINGS FROM SAMPLE TRANSLATION 36 4.2 FINDINGS FROM QUESTIONNAIRE 37 CHAPTER 40 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 40 5.1 CONCLUSION 41 5.2 RECOMMENDATION 42 5.3 LIMITATION 43 APPENDIXES 47 I The sample paragraph 47 II Some Translations of Students 47 English translation: 47 Chinese Translation: 49 III The questionnaire 50 Nguyen Thi Yen Anh – 97011501032 vii Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, MA Thesis Graduation _ LIST OF CHARTS Chart Eugene Nida’s Model of Translation Process Chart Tou’s Model of Translation Process 10 Chart Sample translation results 37 Chart Completion rate of participants who have ever translated document 38 Chart Problems of participants in translating 39 Nguyen Thi Yen Anh – 97011501032 viii Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, MA Thesis Graduation _ LIST OF FIGURE Figure 1.Clauses in active voice in an English contract (Horse purchase contract) Error! Bookmark not defined Nguyen Thi Yen Anh – 97011501032 ix Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, MA Thesis Graduation _ LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CI: Consecutive Interpreting OALD: Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary SDL trados: Translation & documentation software SI: Simultaneous Interpretation SIU: The Saigon International University SL: Source Language Thien Ha Nha Trang Co.ltd: Thien Ha Nha Trang Limited Liability Company TL: Target Language Nguyen Thi Yen Anh – 97011501032 x Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, MA Thesis Graduation _ Nguyen Thi Yen Anh – 97011501032 xi Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, MA Thesis Graduation _ CHAPTER INTRODUCTION Nguyen Thi Yen Anh – 97011501032 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, MA Thesis Graduation _ 1.1 RATIONALE Translator is understood simply as translating a language into another language by speaking Foreign language is clearly the key to unlocking the barriers of nations in today's globalization As we know the importance of English in life so far, because it is the common language of the world And in recent years Chinese is also beginning to become important, because China's population and strong growth make Chinese users more and more, and Chinese people are also present in many countries today Therefore, translation is becoming more important not only for individuals but also for companies and organizations So how does this profession have difficulties and benefits? After three months of internship as a translator at the Thien Ha NhaTrangCo.Ltd, I realize this profession has a lot of difficulties for a newcomer like me And because of its current importance, many people are attracted to this work So I want to contribute a small part of my knowledge to those who are passionate or want to approach this job in the first days, especially are the English major students of the Saigon international university 1.2 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY As I mentioned above, in today's globalization,in general, countries in the world are economically or politically linked Besides, many entrepreneurs go abroad to invest So which means for us to communicate, learn and develop? The answer is language Of course not all but language is essential to bring people together That's how this topic attracted me, this work, too Related to the translation profession, Everyone seems to be confused about concepts like: General knowledge, language skills, translation capability Therefore, people often think that if you are good at one language, you can completely translate But actually when you are good at a language,it is not certain that you will translate that language well People may lack of professional knowledge, or it may be inadequate to translate Translation skills are Nguyen Thi Yen Anh – 97011501032 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, MA Thesis Graduation _ something that we have to train, have to put in the real situation, and there must be people who are very experienced in guiding us Otherwise, it is difficult to self-study, because obviously there must be an audience for you to interact And our country Viet Nam now, as you can see, there are many foreign companies currently investing In recent years, Vietnam's tourism industry is also working hard to develop, with the desire to compete with countries such as: Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, etc The translation profession is still being interested by many young people That is why this topic needs to be born immediately I hope it will solve some of your difficulties 1.3 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY This research is researched about some strategies to solve difficulties when we translateVietnamese to English, and Vietnamese to Chinese in sale contracts 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION This research is carried out on English majored seniors of The Saigon International University (SIU) to answer a following question: What strategies should be applied to translate Vietnamese sale contracts into English, and Vietnamese to Chinese become easier? Nguyen Thi Yen Anh – 97011501032 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, MA Thesis Graduation _ CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW Nguyen Thi Yen Anh – 97011501032 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, MA Thesis Graduation _ 2.1 DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS 2.1.1 Translation According to Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, “Translation” is “the process of changing something that is written or spoken into another language” It’s playing the most important role in the economy today The work of transferring words/ sentences in this language into another language with equivalent meaning and full expression helps every one worldwide understand and have business transactions as they want Besides, Catford (1969:20) quoted: “Translation is the replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL)” Pinkchuck (1977:38) also definite that Translation is a process of finding a TL equivalent for a SL utterance From the definitions, translation can be defined as a process of transferring various types of texts and speeches from source language into target language with equivalent expression and meaning Those types of material resources can be in forms like letters, datasheets, newspapers, magazines, contracts, business reports, etc The process of translation makes the gap between nations shorter and bring everyone together Besides the definitions above, Mc Guire (1980:2) pointed out that: “Translation is the rendering of a source language (SL) text into the target language (TL) so as to ensure that the surface meaning of the two will be approximately similar and the structure of the SL will be preserved as closely as possible, but not so closely that the TL structures will be seriously distorted.” As reviewed as this writer, when translating, the meaning of TL may not be completely exact to SL Translators can adjust as possible the meaning and express them in their own way but they must sure correct grammar and main idea of objects in SL Therefore, no one can translate in the same way with the same version of SL materials For instance, translator A is working with an article in “The Times” At the same time, translator B is also Nguyen Thi Yen Anh – 97011501032 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, MA Thesis Graduation _ working with the same article of translator A They are working in different companies and they have their own writing styles with the aim to make the article as short as possible (news is usually short to save time) These translators, for sure will create different versions of the article and no matter they release different texts, the article in TL must meet the requirements of both the same meaning and correct structures in SL Thus, translation requires everyone to be carefully and too prepared in order to express completely correct make the opinions, the ideas or the contents of source materials 2.1.2 Translation and Interpretation There are so many people not recognize what translation is and what interpretation is In Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, “Interpretation” is defined as “the particular way in which something is understood or explained” It must be similar to translation when both of them translate SL into TL Translation and interpretation are all the same in field of linguistic knowledge, they work with language, transfer this language to other languages but they are completely different At first glance, the difference between translation and interpretation lies in the different types of SL: interpreters translate spoken language orally, while translators translate the written word Translators usually work with material resources in forms of letters, datasheets, newspapers, magazines, contracts, business reports, etc Interpreters usually work with conferences and meetings, medical appointments, legal proceedings, live TV coverage, sign language, etc Interpretation has two different kinds: consecutive interpretation and simultaneous interpretation The first one – simultaneous means ‘at the same time’ For example, the person starts talking and the interpreter wait a little bit until he/ she understand the concept and then go ahead and start interpreting at the same time they are talking So they’re talking and Nguyen Thi Yen Anh – 97011501032 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, MA Thesis Graduation _ interpreting at the same time There is often a little bit of a delay but they are still working at the same time The second one – consecutive means following one after another in a series, without interruption (OALD) For example, the persons say a few sentences or one or two concepts and then they pause and the interpreter goes ahead and interpret Then, it goes back and they talk and interpret Therefore, in simultaneous interpreting, interpretation’s happened at the same time and in consecutive interpreting, the interpretation’s does not have any “stops” According to Wikipedia: “Simultaneous interpretation (SI) suffers the disadvantage that if a person is performing the service the interpreter must the best he or she can within the time permitted by the pace of source speech.” Or in other words, the interpreter transfers the message in the target-language as quickly as he/ she can formulate it from the source language, while the source-language speaker continuously speaks In the ideal setting for this type of interpretation, the interpreter must sit in “a small sound box” which is equipped with electric equipment like headphone, speaker, computer, screen, etc and the interpreter must speak (interpret) into a microphone when he/ she clearly sees and hears the source-language speaker via headphone and computer’s screen “In consecutive interpreting (CI), the interpreter starts to interpret when the speaker pauses Therefore, the time needed is much greater (possibly double the time needed).” “Consecutive interpretation can be conducted in a pattern of short or long segments according to the interpreter's preference.” And the interpreter sits or stands beside the SL speaker, listens and take notes When the speaker pauses or finishes speaking, the interpreter then renders a portion of the message or the entire message in the TL In addition, interpretation causes more pressure than translation because the interpreter is required to transfer the messages of speaker in a limited time while he/ she is listening to Nguyen Thi Yen Anh – 97011501032 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, MA Thesis Graduation _ the speaker And note-taking is the most important in process of interpreting The interpreter must have good memory (both long-term memory and short-term memory), good note-taking skills, good listening skills and amazing speaking skills Each of them must play a role of a public speaker and to be able to deliver the meaning of source language accurately in short time In contrast, a translator is required a “bank” of vocabulary with good memory Translation needs the learners read a lot of documents When they have to translate any text, translator must be able to use those things they read before and have the best word choice in their translation Moreover, the biggest difference between interpreters and translators, then, is that almost translators apply technology like the use of computer-aided tools in their work This involves converting the source content into a file type that’s easy to work with, applying a translation memory to the text to automatically translate anything the tool has translated before, and filling in the gaps from scratch One of the most useful software that translators are now using is SDL Trados – which helps translators make a backup for their translated documents and when they translate new documents, SDL Trados will automatically match all the words, phrases, sentences that the translator translated and used before In translation, the learners can work on any information in written form: Websites, print, video subtitles, software, multimedia, etc 2.1.3 Translation process According to Dr Kolawole (2012): “Bilingualism is necessary, but not sufficient for translation proficiency and efficiency.” Nowadays, many schools or institutes are teaching languages in their course worldwide It’s really great to know languages and be a bilingual Many colleges and universities have included some foreign language courses in their regular academic syllabus, too Nguyen Thi Yen Anh – 97011501032 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, MA Thesis Graduation _ For instance, SIU has applied Chinese into the course with the purpose to help students have good study background and skills when they finish their study and it’s a needed condition for graduation However, being fluent in at least two languages is not a sufficient condition to translation work Proficiency is also a relative concept A person who speaks fluently in a language is not sure to write properly and write well Also, reading and understanding two languages does not mean people can successfully translate the language Hence, when talking about translation capabilities, translators must know at least two languages, but no matter they know about those languages, the most important things is how they transfer the language, how they express the meaning of the sources language Students need to understand basic grammar and learn vocabulary, of course it’s the first condition when translating To that well, it’s necessary to be well organized with clear understanding in translation process As cited above, translation is “the process of changing something that is written or spoken into another language” (Oxford Learners’ Dictionaries) Therefore, the translators must have deep understanding and be well organized about stages when translating in order to make the translation smooth, accurate and effective So when translating, there must be a tactic According to Bassnet (2014:26), Eugene Nida’s model of translation process illustrates the stages involved bellow: RECEPTOR LANGUAGE SOURCE LANGUAGE TEXT TRANSLATION RESTRUCTURING ANALYSIS ANALYSIS Chart Eugene Nida’s Model of Translation Process Nguyen Thi Yen Anh – 97011501032 ... Chinese and help them improve their study To carry out this study, the researcher collected and analyzed the data from an experiment, a questionnaire and the results of participants in studying. .. studying Translation at school The experiment is a sample paragraph and the participants were asked to translate it After process of assessing and discussing, students will straightforwardly translate... correct make the opinions, the ideas or the contents of source materials 2.1.2 Translation and Interpretation There are so many people not recognize what translation is and what interpretation is In