The benefits, essential of translation theory in translation process and professional development Nowadays, in parallel with the process of integration and exchange between countries, translation is becoming increasingly important.
Translation course Hue University College of Foreign Languages ESSAY: The benefits, essential of translation theory in translation process and professional development Nowadays, in parallel with the process of integration and exchange between countries, translation is becoming increasingly important It is a bridge to help people understand the other languages However, translation is quite complex and requires many skills Therefore, people gave translation theory that plays an important role in the translation approach Translation theory is very essential, brings many advantages forin translation process and professional development because it enables having an overview of translation, helps orient translation well and assists the translation process easier Translation theory brings basic knowledge, give an overview of translation to translators Firstly, it helps them understand what translation is by giving many definitions Although there are many different translation definitions with differences in expression, we can understand that translation is written communication and the translator's work is expressing the source texts into task language without changing the content, style or tone of the texts Hence, we can identify the functions as well as the purposes of translation Secondly, translation theory offers many kinds of translation that help translators to actively select the types appropriate for each text and apply them in translation For instance, one of them is form-based which is called literal translation and another is meaning- based or idiomatic translation Literal translation follows the syntactic structures of the source language and keeps the semantic equivalence between source language and target language Idiomatic translations use the natural form of target language In fact, they use meaning-based methods more than form- based methods because it helps target text more naturally For example, in one translation, the source text said, “Nhiều du khách nước giới thiệu cho khách sạn Hương Giang.” It was translated,“ Many foreign tourists have introduced us to the Huong Giang hotel” This would have been translated idiomatically, “Huong Giang hotel has been recommended to us by a number of foreign tourists” ( Nguyen Van Tuan, Translation I, p 22) Therefore, translators can apply flexibly many kinds in translation process by choosing the most appropriate type or combine two kind to make the translation like an originally text In addition, translation theory introduces steps in a translation project , which orientate the translation process It is important to elaborate a translation project before translating Translation process is divided into seven steps They like the basic instructions before beginning the translation process Each specific step will help translators determine the specific details of work The first step is establishing the project It figures out four T’s- the text, the target, the team and the tools According to theory, someone translates for sharing enjoyment, someone translates for work, for money, etc, so, translators should examine their reason, their purpose before choosing a text Moreover, it is very important to determine who is the reader because the form of translation will be affected by education level, ages, class of people, ect For example, if the audience are children, sentences will be short, clear and vivid Identifying the readers following theory of text, the translator will favor the words search process, as well as appropriate style and achieve the purpose of translation that helps the readers understand the receptor texts The theory indicates that sometimes they should work in a group to complete the project To apply three kinds of teams in theory and depending on each project, translators can choose the suitable kind to help their work complete quickly because they cannot always undertake the entire project The next step is an exegesis or analysis process that points out what we need to resolve including ambiguity, identifying implicit information, etc In the translation process, translators usually have many problems in discovering the meaning of the source language text The translator should be carefully studied in order to find out the meaning of the source language For example, the source text said “ They are annoying neighbors” It can be understood as “ They are annoying their neighbors' ' or “ Their neighbors are annoying people” Translator process will be easier when translators determine the word meaning and they can avoid misunderstanding the text meaning Next steps are transfer and initial draft, evaluation, revised, consultation and final draft Translators need to follow this order to have a perfect final translation They need to have a draft to a quick rough translation then go back and tighten up the details or prepare a proposition- like a semantic draft and then reword it for naturalness.( Nguyen Van Tuan, Translation I, p.39) Before going to the final draft, they should consult the evaluation of receptor language speakers to make sure that they can understand the translation and to ensure clearness, accuracy, and naturalness By giving specific steps, translation theory can help outline the specific tasks clearly When this is applied to the actual work, translator can have a good translation, as well as make a habit of working in a scientific way Furthermore, to assist the translation process more conveniently, translation theory also offers strategies for translators It is really difficult to translate no direct equivalent or new concept, idea to Vietnamese translators and in these cases, people often try to find the appropriate words in the target language This is really time consuming, making the translation process more difficult Therefore, in the strategies “ how to deal with non-equivalence at lexical level” and “ how to deal with idioms and set expressions”, theory gives methods to solve this problem Thus, they can translate by using a more specific word For instance, the word with meaning “ love” can be distinguished by the relationship, the ages of speakers and the hearers Translators also use a more general word to translate a word with no specific word in other languages For example, in English they distinguish roadster, SUV, MPV… but in Vietnam all of them are called “ xe hơi” If the concept or word does not exist in Vietnamese, they can use paraphrase or loan word plus explanation UNESCO, WHO… are the loan words that are often used in Vietnam Sometimes we need to omit some words or phrases excessively The sentence “ Much can be done even without being physically present in the meeting” is best to translate into Vietnamese by “ nhiều việc làm khơng có mặt họp” ( Nguyen Van Tuan, Translation I, p 49) Similar to non- equivalence problems however, we need to focus on the idiomatic expression to deal with idioms There are many English idioms and set expressions that can be found in Vietnamese and it is expressed in the same way We can use an idiom or a set expression of similar meaning and form For instance, “ Easy come, easy go” can be translated as “ Dễ đến dễ đi” Another way is using an idiom or a set expression of different form “ Don’t judge a book by its cover” can be translated “ Đừng nhìn mặt mà bắt hình dong” If the translators not use these methods, literal translation into Vietnamese will be meaningless and it is difficult to translate fluently Voice, number and person are also the trouble translators have to deal with in the translation process In English, passive voice is commonly used but active voice in Vietnamese Passive voice are translated “ bị/ được/ do/ tại” into Vietnamese and it is based on the positive or negative connotation When translating Vietnamese into English, they usually switch from passive to active Sometimes the passive voice in Vietnamese is active in English For example, “ cô bị đau đầu ” can be translated as “ she has a headache” Vietnamese words not represent the number, so we need to add " những/ mọi/ ) depending on each group we mention Person in Vietnamese is not fixed as in English, it changes according to the relationships We rely on it to select the appropriate person Based on the above theory, the translation can solve problems favorably In brief, the translator has many advantages from theory that help them solve problems in the translation process Definitions and kinds of translation give the translator an overview that brings to the function and purpose of translation Moreover, steps in translation projects help orientation and outline the specific works in process It also gives translators strategies to deal with lexical, meaning form in translation, and contributes to assist the process become conveniently REFERENCE NGUYỄN VĂN TUẤN “ Translation I” 2001 NGUYỄN VĂN TUẤN “ Theory of translation and interpretation” 2011