Bài giảng thực hành dịch (dành cho các lớp đại học liên thông)

1.1 Translating by a more specific word In some cases, it may be appropriate or necessary to use a more specific word to translate an English word into Vietnamese.. This usually involve

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QUANG BINH UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

PRACTICE ON TRANSLATION UNDERGRADUATE UNIVERSITY CLASS

(INTERNAL USE)

Lecturer: Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, MA

Year 2014

UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION TO THEORY OF TRANSLATION

1 Definition of translation

1 What is translation?

- Translation is the expression in another language (target language) of what has been expressed in one language (source language), preserving semantic and stylistic equivalencies (By Roger T Bell)

- Translation is the replacement of a representation of a text in one language by a representation of an equivalent text in a second language (By Roger T Bell)

- Translation is rendering a written text into another language in a way that the author intended the text (By Bui Tien Bao- Hanoi National University)

“ Translators are concerned with written texts They render written texts from one language into another language Translators are required to translate texts which arrange from simple items including birth certificates or driving licences

to more complex written materials such as articles in journals of various kinds, business contracts and legal documents.” (Bui Tien Bao- Hanoi National University)

- Translation, by dictionary definition, consists of changing from one state or form

to another, to turn into one’s own or another’s language (The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 1974) Translation is basically a change of form When we speak of the form of a language, we are referring to the actual words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, etc The forms are referred to as the surface structure of a language It

is the structural part of language which is actually seen in print or heard in speech

In translation the form of the source language is replaced by the form of the receptor/target language But how is this change accomplished? What determines the choices of form in the translation?

2 Form and meaning

There are certain characteristics of languages which have a very direct bearing on principles of translation First, let us look at the characteristics of meaning

components Meaning components are packaged into lexical items, but they are

packaged differently in one language than in another In most languages there is a meaning of plurality, for example the English -s This often occurs in the grammar

as a suffix on the nouns or verbs or both In Vietnamese, however, plurality is expressed in an isolated word ‘ những/các’ Many times a single word in the source language will need to be translated by several words For example, a projector was called the thing that shows pictures on the wall by the Chipara Bolivia

Second, it is characteristic of languages that the same meaning component will occur in several surface structure lexical items In English, the word ‘sheep’ occurs However, the words ‘lamb’,’ ram’ and ‘ewe’ also include the meaning

‘sheep’ They include the addition meaning components of young (in ‘lamb’, adult and male in ‘ ram’ and adult and female in ‘ewe’ In Peru, ‘lamb’ would need to be translated by ‘sheep its child’, ‘ram’ by ‘ sheep big’ and ‘ewe’ by ‘sheep its woman’

Third, it is further characteristic of language that one form will be used to represent several alternative meanings This again is obvious from looking in any good dictionary For example, the Reader’s Digest Great Encyclopedic Dictionary gives 54 meanings for the English word ‘run’ Most words have more than one meaning There will be a primary meaning-the one which usually comes to mind when the word is said in isolation-and the secondary meaning-the additional meanings, which a word has in context with other words In English, we can say ‘ the boy runs’, using ‘run’ in its primary meaning We can also say ‘ the motor runs, the river runs, and his nose runs’, using runs in its secondary meanings

 Notes

Form-based translation: dịch dựa vào hình thức hay cấu trúc

Meaning-based translation: dịch dựa vào nghĩa, dựa vào nội dung cần chuyển tải

Source language: ngôn ngữ gốc

Receptor language: ngôn ngữ dịch

Principle of translation: nguyên tắc dịch/kỹ thuật dịch

Meaning component: thành tố nghĩa

Surface structure: cấu trúc bề mặt

Primary meaning: nghĩa chinh/nghĩa gốc

Secondary meaning: nghĩa sinh

3 Practice

 Questions for discussion

1 What is translation? What definition do you think is the most appropriate? Can you give your own definition of translation?

2 What is a literal translation? Can you give some examples of literal translations?

3 What is an idiomatic translation? Give some examples of idiomatic translations

4 What characteristics of language affect translation?

5 What are the secondary meanings? Give ten sentences, each of which contains a word used in a secondary sense

6 What is the primary meaning? Give ten sentences, each of which contains a word used in a primary sense

 Exercises

A Identify change of meaning versus change of form Some of the following pairs

of sentences differ in their form Some differ in meaning Indicate if the primary change is in the form or in the meaning

Example: They robbed the old man

The old man was dropped by them

Answer: Change of form

1 Her skin was as soft as feather

Her skin was as soft as velvet

2 She was as quiet as a mouse I didn't even know she'd come in

She was as quiet as a night I didn't even know she'd come in

3 Adults often look back on their childhood as a gold age

Adults often look back on their childhood as a golden age

4 He was a really unpleasant man and as ugly as sin

He was a really unpleasant man and as ugly as a ghost

5 They're not blood relations, - they're only connected by marriage

They're not blood relationship, - they're only connected by marriage

6 The students like to listen to music

The students like listening to music

7 I heard one dog barking his loudest

I heard three dogs barking their loudest

8 The man who is walking down the street is her uncle

The man walking down the street is her uncle

9 You ate too fast, and your stomach will hurt

You ate too fast; your stomach will hurt

10 I saw him sometime yesterday

I sometimes saw him yesterday

B List as many grammatical forms as you can which realize the same meaning as the one given below Then put the same meaning into a language other than English in as many forms as you can

Example: the cat is black

the black cat the cat, which is black

1 the jug water

2 John bought a car

of the following possessive phrases? Answer by restating How can that meaning best be expressed in another language which you speak?

Example: The man’s car - the man owns the car

The man’s eye - the eye is part of the man

1 the doctor’s office

2 the doctor’s patient

3 the doctor’s book

4 the doctor’s brother

UNIT 2 STRATEGIES FOR TRANSLATORS

1 Kinds of Translation strategies

The following strategies have been suggested by translators, commissioners of translations, and others involved in translating as ways to approach difficulties in translations from English into Vietnamese

1 STRATEGY 1 : How to deal with non-equivalence at lexical level

It is often the case that no direct equivalents can be found in Vietnamese for English words It may be that the concept or idea is new to Vietnamese translators,

as in the case of ‘gender’, which is, in fact, a relatively new concept in general, and

a very difficult concept to understand and explain in many languages It may also

be that the concept is known or understood but there is no specific word in Vietnamese used to express it Another difficulty is that, in addition to their concrete meaning, some words have special connotations that are not conveyed by the Vietnamese word for the same thing The strategies listed below can be used to handle cases of non-equivalence

1.1 Translating by a more specific word

In some cases, it may be appropriate or necessary to use a more specific word to translate an English word into Vietnamese This usually involves choosing among several different words, as there may be many Vietnamese words that correspond

to the general category or meaning expressed by English word For instance, Vietnamese has many words that mean “to carry” with distinction being made depending on the size and shape of the object; its animate (e.g a child as opposed

to a box); and how it is carried (e.g in the hand, or in the arms ) Similarly, the English word for “rice” can be translated by many different Vietnamese words, depending on whether one is planting it, harvesting it, cooking it, or eating it In these cases, the English word alone is not enough to determine the appropriate Vietnamese translation, and it is necessary to examine the English context

1.2 Translating by a more general word

In other cases, it may be appropriate to use a more general word to translate an English word with no specific Vietnamese equivalent For example, English makes

distinctions among mopeds, scooters, and motorcycles, the latter having larger wheels and engines than both mopeds and scooters Vietnamese, on the one hand, refers to all two-wheel, motorized vehicles as “xe máy” Similarly, the English words “paw”, “foot”, or “leg” may all be translated by the Vietnamese word

“chân”, which does not suggest any problems of comprehension in Vietnamese, as

it should be clear from the context which of these words is meant Another

example can be found in a manual on community development, which translates the word “matrix” by the Vietnamese word “ma trận” However, in Vietnamese,

“ma trận” has a specific use in mathematics only, and does not have the additional sense of a model or a plan according to which something is developed In this example, “matrix” is better translated “bản”, which is a more general word used to classify a written plan or formula

1.3 Translating by cultural substitution

This strategy involves replacing a culture-specific item or expression with one of the different meanings but similar impact in the translated text Because of their self-described “respect” for the original text, most Vietnamese translators object to this strategy and tend to translate directly, even though it is in appropriate For example, a farmer’s manual that has been translated into Vietnamese suggests the planting of different types of fruit trees which are not even grown in Vietnam The original manual, which was developed in other parts in Asia, was not modified at all for the Vietnamese context Though some translators argue that it is not the responsibility of the translator to chance the text in this way, the translator is in fact playing an important role in this task Translators should be encouraged to consider the appropriateness of the documents they are translating and suggest changes to make them more culturally appropriate However, this is not only

of the translator, but also of the commissioners of the translation and the editor

1.4 Translating by using a loan word plus explanation

There is some objection to this strategy in Vietnam, as many translator prefer to coin new words in Vietnamese rather than borrow English words However, this strategy is very useful when the translator deal with concepts or ideas that are new

to Vietnamese audience, culture-specific items, and proper names of diseases or medicines that are widely known in English names For instance, HIV and AIDS are two loan words that are frequently used in Vietnamese, as they are referred to

by their English names in almost every part of the world Because these words have been in common used in Vietnam for a long time, they are often used without any accompanying explanation Whenever a loan word is used , it is better to give

an explanation Another example is the acronym for oral dehydration salts, or ORS, which is printed on every package and hence easily recognized; this is normally written in English with an explanation in Vietnamese : ORS (muối bù mất nước)

1.5 Translating by using a paraphrase

This strategy can be used when we translate an English word or concept that does not exist in Vietnamese, or when the Vietnamese term for it does not include all the meanings conveyed by the English term for the same concept For example, in the sentence: “ Pregnant women should avoid alcohol.”, the English ‘alcohol’ includes all alcoholic drinks in its meaning The Vietnamese word ‘rượu’ does not include beer in its definition, so the Vietnamese translation should add the word beer to reflect the full meaning of the source language sentence Another example

is that the English words ‘abuse’ and ‘neglect’ signify a whole range of behaviors, some of which are not conveyed by the Vietnamese words alone As a result, the

English sentence: “Children should be protected from abuse and neglect.” cannot

be translated as simply as “trẻ em nên được bảo vệ khỏi sự lạm dụng và lơ là.”

This translation does not account for their full meaning , which must be unpacked for better understanding This can be done by paraphrasing as a translator has

attempted in the following translation: “trẻ em cần bảo vệ chống lại mọi hình thức

bạo lực, gây tổn thương hay xúc phạm, bỏ mặc hoặc xao nhãng trong việc chăm sóc” Back translated roughly into English, this sentence reads, : “Children must be protected from all forms of violence causing harm or offense, and from abandonment and negligence in their care.”

việc có thể làm ngày cả khi không có mặt tại cuộc họp” which omit the word

“physically” in the translation The difference in meaning between “ being physically present” and being present” is so minimal that it does not justify translation into Vietnamese, which cannot easily express the slight emphasis implied here by the author, and would not do so by emphasizing the physicality of

a person’s presence

2 STRATEGY 2 : How to deal with idioms and set expressions

Idioms and set expressions can be dealt with in the ways similar to those mentioned above With idioms, however, there is another difficulty that the translator may not realize that s/he is dealing with an idiomatic expression, since more idioms may make sense when translated literally

2.1 Using an idiom or a set expression of similar meaning and form

It is sometimes possible to find a Vietnamese idiom or expression with a similar meaning to an English idiom or expression, and which is expressed in the same way One example is the idiom “ to fight like cats and dogs”, which is expressed using the same words in Vietnamese: “ cãi nhau như chó với mèo.”; another is “ Better than never.”, which is translated : “Thà muộn còn hơn không đến” It is ideal if such a match can be found, but this kind of correspondence is not common, and it is usually necessary to use other strategies in dealing with idioms and set expressions

2.2 Using an idiom or a set expression of similar meaning but different form

It is possible and easy to find a Vietnamese idiom with a similar meaning for an English idiom or set expression A good example can be found is the translation for

to carry coals to Newcastle”: “Chở củi về rừng.", which is translated as “ to carry firewood to the forest.” The meaning here is clearly the same for both idioms- to bring something to a place that has an abundance of that thing- but the way in which each language expresses is bound to be the culture of that language It is far more cumbersome to translate this idiom literally into Vietnamese with an explanation that Newcastle is a well-known coal-producing city in England (as was suggested by some Vietnamese translators), which would unduly interrupt the flow

of the text and greatly diminish the idiom’s impact By substituting a similar

Vietnamese idiom, then, the flow and the impact of the source text are retained in the translation

2.3 Translating by paraphrasing

When Vietnamese equivalents cannot be found, paraphrasing may be the best way

to deal with an idiom or set expression in English A good example can be found in

an article on maternal mortality, which includes the sentence, “ But before the new estimates replace the old as a way of packaging up the problem, it should be said that a mistake has been made in allowing statistics such as these to slip into easy language The expression “packaging up the problem” caused the problems in translation, as it was misinterpreted to mean “assembling” or “gathering” However, even if this phrase were clearly understood, it would be difficult to find a precise equivalent in Vietnamese In fact, it would be difficult to restate concisely

in English This phrase is best dealt with by paraphrasing, which in English could

be understood as something like “summing up the problem by referring to it simply

as a number, which does not reflect its true magnitude or impact.” The expression

“to slip into easy usage” is problematic for the same reasons, and is also best dealt with by paraphrasing, as a literal translation into Vietnamese would be meaningless

2.4 Translating by omission

This strategy could be used when we translate words or phrases that would require lengthy explanations, awkward paraphrases, or literal and unnatural translation This strategy has also be used when we translate phases which has two meanings one of the meanings may be sacrificed for the other For instance, a book entitled “ Being Positive-Living with HIV/AIDS” causes problems in translate because of the double meaning of “ being positive” The meaning of the phrase could be that a person is suffering from positive HIV and that s/he should have an optimistic outlook on life This may be clear to the translator , who may interpret the phrase

to mean that this book is for and about people who are HIV positive However, the double meaning should be made clear through collaboration with the commissioner, after which a choice must be made between the two meanings, for it would not be possible to translate both meanings by one Vietnamese phrase As the emphasis is on positive outlook on life but not on the fact of being HIV positive, one translator has suggested the translation: “Hãy Sống Yêu Đời Dù Nhiễm HIV”

This translation expresses the notion of being positive about life without mentioning anything about being HIV positive status

3 STRATEGY 3 : How to deal with voice, number and person

3.1 Voice

The passive voice is used very often in English and poses some problems in Vietnamese translation Passive voice can be translated from English into Vietnamese in the following ways:

a English : A is/was/has been done by B

Vietnamese: (i) A được+ động từ+(bởi B)

A được/do+(B)+động từ (ii) A bị +động từ + bởi B

A bị +(B) + động từ

Example:

This house was built by Frank in 1930 Ngôi nhà này do Frank xây năm 1930 Tom is given a present by Mary

Tom được Mary tặng một món quà Tom was attacked by a stranger last night

Tom bị một kẻ lạ mặt tấn công tối hôm qua

b English : A is/was/has been done

Vietnamese: (i) A được+ động từ

(ii) A bị+ động từ (iii) Người ta/ai đó + động từ + A

Example:

Tom has been promoted recently

Tom mới được đè bạt gần đây

The CD has been broken

Chiếc đĩa CD đã bị vỡ/ Ai đó đã làm vỡ chiếc đĩa CD

The positive and negative connotation is not often conveyed in English, so it is difficult to know what way used to translate into Vietnamese

Example: The children were given injections

Vietnamese translation : “Các cháu được tiêm.”, or “Các cháu bị tiêm.”

depending on whether the receiving injection is considered a positive or negative experience On the other hand, when the positive or negative connotation of the sentence is clear it is more appropriate to retain the passive voice in Vietnamese

In Vietnamese, there are some cases where one can see the words được/bị but they

are not translated into English passive sentences at all

Example : Phụ nữ: can mean either woman or women

In Vietnamese, some plural markers such as “các”, “những”, tất cả”, “mọi" ,”mỗi” can be used in addition to the noun “các” generally means all of the given category of things, whereas “những” refers only to some of the total number of things being discussed “Mỗi” emphasizes the identity of the individual member of the category without indicating anything of their totality; “mọi” expresses both the individuality of the items and the totality of the category If it is clear from the

English context which of these plural markers should be used in the Vietnamese, then the translator should choose accordingly

3.3 Person

Participants’ roles and forms of address are expressed in Vietnamese through a very complicated system of personal pronouns based largely on kinship terms Unlike English pronouns, Vietnamese pronouns bear a number of semantic components depending on the relationship within a family, age, sex, familiarity, social status, and even one’s particular mood or attitude in a given situation These distinctions are not always explicitly expressed in English and can usually be determined by the context in which the language operates If it is not possible to determine the distinctions of the English pronouns, the attention should be focused

on the tone and the overall purpose of the text to be translated

Example: A book on health-care contains many sections written especially for children and adults In the sections for children the pronoun “you” is translated as

“em” or “các em” In the sections for adults, “you” should be translated as “chúng

ta”

4 STRATEGY 4 : How to deal with non-subject sentences

(Vietnamese- English translation)

The following techniques could be used to translate the non-subject sentences in Vietnamese texts:

Cần đảy mạnh công nghiệp hóa, hiện đại hóa

Industrialization and modernization should be promoted

Or: It is necessary to promote industrialization and modernization

Vẫn chưa có cách chữa khỏi bệnh AIDS

There has been no cure for AIDS

5 STRATEGY 5 : How to deal with newspaper headlines

Some main characteristics of newspaper headlines are as follows

5.1 Present tense = past events

5.2 Present participle = event in progress

5.3 To infinitive = future events

5.4 Past participle = passive voice

5.5 Nouns

5.6 Verb + noun

Example:

1 Chinese Professors Turn To Business

Các giáo sư Trung Quốc chuyển sang kinh doanh

2 US President Visiting Vietnam

Tổng thống Hoa Kỳ đang thăm Việt Nam

3 Oil Price To Rise?

Giá dầu sẽ tăng

4 Three More Investment Projects Licensed This Year

Thêm ba dự án đầu tư nữa được cấp giấy phép trong năm nay

5 Investment Boom

Bùng nổ đầu tư

UNIT 3 ERRORS IN TRANSLATION

1 Lexical errors

E.g in English “to cook an account” translated as “nấu sổ sách” is meanigless and

it must be translated as “giả mạo sổ sách” Lexical interference is very dangerous because it can distort the meaning of a sentence

1.1 Context

The context itself determines the meaning of words Therefore, their meaning should be solved in the context It is commonly known that a word may have equivalents and accordingly the analysis of its meaning has to be made carefully in order to pick out the most appropriate word

When translators are asked to translate these sentences into English

a Kha Luân Bố đã tìm ra Tân thế giới vào năm 1842

b Tôi đang tìm cuốn sách

c Michael Faraday đã tìm ra máy phát điện

Obviously, there are many equivalents in English for the word “tìm” such as

“seek”, “look for”, “search for”, “find”, “find out” In addition, there are two more words related to this meaning: “to invent” and “ to discover” However, in sentence (1) the word “tìm” has an equivalent in English as “discover” In sentence (2) the word “tìm” is understood as “look for”, search for” or “seek” In sentence (3) the word “tìm” has an equivalent as “invent”

The three above-mentioned sentences can be translated as follows

1 The New World was discovered by Christopher

2 I am looking for my book

3 Michael Faraday invented the generator

It is characteristic of word that a single lexical item may have several meanings For example, the word “head” in isolation means something like” the upper part of

the body” But the same word used in the context of talking about a company or an organization has nothing to do with the human body though the idea of the upper position of something still remains

Example:

1 He is the former head of the Chemistry Section of the Australian Atomic

Energy Commission (leader)

2 Although he is the head of the company, he has no head (leader-intelligence)

The following examples show that the translators do not treat words in context but rely on the meaning in dictionary:

1 “In 1999, some major commodities were stockpiled because of poor quality.” It

is not accurate at all when “stockpiled” was translated “lưu trữ” Therefore, the sentence should be translated as “Năm 1999 một số mặt hàng chủ yếu bị tồn kho

do chất lượng kém.”

2 “The Prime Minister has also assigned relevant agencies to formulate a law on

industrial zones to provide a complete legal background/frame for the operation of Izs and EPZs in Vietnam.” was translated “Thủ tướng đã bổ nhiệm những chính

sách thích hợp để đưa ra luật về khu công nghiệp để cung cấp một bối cảnh hoàn toàn hợp pháp cho các hoạt động của khu công nghiệp, khu chế xuất Việt Nam ” This translation is quite vague in Vietnamese

In fact, a word in source language has many equivalents in target language The

word “ assign” is equivalent with “phân công/ bổ nhiệm”; “ relevant with “thích đáng, thích hợp, có liên quan”; “ agency” with “ đại lý, cơ quan, chi nhánh”;

“foundation” “nền móng, nền tảng, cơ sở”

For this reason, in this context it should be chosen the most appropriate equivalents

to create an idiomatic translation: “ Thủ tướng đã giao cho các cơ quan có liên quan ban hành bộ luật về khu công nghiệp nhằm cung cấp một số cơ sở pháp lý hoàn chỉnh cho việc hoạt động của khu công nghiệp và khu chế xuất ở Việt Nam.” 1.2 Word collocation

Each of language has its own principle in word collocation For example, the word

“pretty” often goes with girls and women, while the word “handsome” often goes

with boys or men Some translators do not realize this, which leads to wrong and funny collocation For instance, in Vietnamese the word “uống” (drink) can go with many different kinds of liquid including water, beer, alcohol, medicine and even poison However, in English these are clear distinction as follows:

Drink beer/ water/ wine/ coffee

Take medicine/ poison

Another example indicates that in Vietnamese the word “nói” (say) can be collocated with “lời tạm biệt” “goodbye”, “lời chào hỏi” “hello”, “dối” “a lie”, “sự thật” “ the truth”, “tiếng Pháp” “French” However, in English it is quite different Say hello/ goodbye/ yes/ no

Tell a lie/ the truth/ a story

Speak English/ French/ Chinese

In Vietnamese, the word “đàn” can be collocated with many different nouns such

as “cá”(fish) “chim” ( bird), “sư tử” (lion), “gia súc” (cattle) On the contrary, in English there are many words meaning “đàn” as follows

A flock of birds/ sheep: Đàn chim/ cừu

A herd of cattle/ buffaloes: Đàn gia súc/ trâu

A pack of dogs/ calves: Đàn chó/ bê

A school of fish/ chickens: Đàn cá/ gà

A pride of lions/ deer : Đàn sư tử/ nai

Similarly, the word “decision” can be collocated with many word such as “to make/ to reach/ to arrive at/ to come to a decision” The following examples

show the wrong collocations of some translators:

1 Chính phủ đã tiến thực hiện nhiều biện pháp nhằm ngăn chặn việc buôn lậu ma túy

(The government has made many measures to stop the drug smuggling.)

2 Chúng tôi phải hoàn thành nhiệm vụ trước khi tổ kiểm tra chất lượng sản phẩm

(We have to complete our duty before the investigators control the product

quality.)

3 Sau khi nghiên cứu thị trường, chúng tôi quyết định đưa ra thị trường một sản phẩm gây ấn tượng có sức cạnh tranh với hàng ngoại nhập

(After making a market research, we decided to launch an impressive product

which can compete against the imported ones.)

4 Từ khi Mỹ bỏ lệnh cấm vận Viẹt Nam, nhiều nước trên thế giới đx đầu tư vào các lĩnh vực khác nhau

(Since the USA abolished the embargo against Vietnam many foreign countries

have been investing in many different fields.)

It is the mother tongue interference that leads to the mechanic collocation which is unacceptable in target language In fact, each language has its own principles of word collocation Neither English nor Vietnamese is an exception As a result, the above-mentioned examples should be translated more accurately and idiomatically

as follows

1 “The government has made many measures to stop the drug smuggling.” should

be corrected as “The government has taken many measures to stop the drug

smuggling.”

2 “We have to complete our duty before the investigators control the product

quality.” should be corrected “We have to fulfill our duty before the investigators

control the product quality.”

3 “After making a market research, we decided to launch an impressive product

which can compete against the imported ones.” should be corrected “After doing a

market research, we decided to launch an impressive product which can compete

against the imported ones.”

4 “Since the USA abolished the embargo against Vietnam many foreign countries

have been investing in many different fields.” should be corrected “Since the USA

lifted the embargo against Vietnam many foreign countries have been investing in

many different fields.”

In a word, it is inevitable for the translators to obey the principles of English and Vietnamese word collocations In order to avoid this type of errors, the translator should read as many English books and magazines to take notes of collocated words under the English standard

1.3 Misuse of personal pronouns and prepositions

In Vietnamese, there are many ways to express the thoughts and feelings or attitude which differ from those in English The social status, age, sex, and the family order are distinguished clearly and systematically This is reflected in a distinguished clearly and systematically This is reflected in a number of words for addressing such as “cụ, ông, bà, bác, cô, chú, thím, dì, dượng, cậu, anh, chị, ngài, quí vị, mày, em, ” such words are generally expressed by English people in one word “you”

a talk on history : một cuộc nói chuyện về lịch sử

be disappointed in : thất vọng về

be interested in : quan tâm về

lay emphasis/ stress on : nhấn mạnh về

be worried about : lo lắng về

be proud of/ take pride in : tự hào về

be famous for : nổi tiếng về

instead of “disappointed about”, “ proud about”, “famous about” as the translator may use

These are the typical errors made by the translators:

1 “According to Mr Thien, his plant currently produces lubricants under the API

(American Petroleum Institute) standards”

(Theo ông Thiện thì hiện nay nhà máy của ông đang sản xuất dầu nhờn dưới tiêu

chuẩn của

Viện xăng dầu Mỹ.)

2 “It is so easy to be misunderstood when talking on the phone.”

( Nói chuyện trên diện thoại thì dễ bị hiểu nhầm.)

3 “Tòa án Nhân Dân quyết định kết án chúng 15 năm về tội buôn lậu ma túy.”

(The People’s Court decided to condemn them to 15 years imprisonment about

the drug

smuggling.)

4 “Là giáo viên ưu tú trong nhiều năm, ông Nam có nhiều kinh nghiệm về việc

giảng dạy học sinh.”

(As a qualified teacher for many years, Mr Nam is experienced about educating

and teaching the pupils.”

5 “Chúng tôi thành thật chia buồn về việc ra đi của bố bạn.”

(We really condole with you about the loss of your father.”

As can be seen from the above-mentioned examples, the translators tended to choose the English prepositions basing on Vietnamese meanings without paying attention to their variations These errors could be corrected as follows

1 “According to Mr Thien, his plant currently produces lubricants under the API (

American Petroleum Institute) standards” should be translated (Theo ông Thiện thì

hiện nay nhà máy của ông đang sản xuất dầu nhờn theo tiêu chuẩn của Viện xăng

dầu Mỹ.)

2 “It is so easy to be misunderstood when talking on the phone.” is equivalent

with (Nói chuyện qua điện thoại thì dễ bị hiểu nhầm.)

3 “Tòa án Nhân Dân quyết định kết án chúng 15 năm về tội buôn lậu ma túy.”

should be translated (The People’s Court decided to condemn them to 15 years

imprisonment for the drug smuggling.)

4 “Là giáo viên ưu tú trong nhiều năm, ông Nam có nhiều kinh nghiệm về việc

giảng dạy học sinh.” should be translated (As a qualified teacher for many years,

Mr Nam is experienced in educating and teaching the pupils.”

5 “Chúng tôi thành thật chia buồn về việc ra đi của bố bạn.” should be translated

(We really condole with you for the loss of your father.”

of one of the following sentences unacceptable

“ You have my deep/ profound sympathy.( acceptable)

“ The river is deep.”( acceptable)

“ The river is very profound.” (unacceptable)

Another example shows that some translators do not realize the connotational meaning, which leads to the distorting of the meaning of the sentence Take

“famous”(nổi tiếng) and “notorious” (khét tiếng) as an example While “famous” means “well-known/ celebrated”, and therefore contains some features of positive meaning, “notorious” means “well-known” especially for unfavorable reason & negative meaning

The following can be seen as the misuse of the synonyms by some of the inexperienced translators

1 “Cậu bé này rất bướng bỉnh.”

(This boy is very stubborn/unyielding.) ( right)

2 “Người Việt Nam có tinh thần bất khuất.”

(The Vietnamese people are really stubborn.) (wrong)

In Example 1 “stubborn” synonymous to “unyielding” means “cứng đầu/bướng bỉnh” in Vietnamese

In Example 2 “stubborn” fails to evoke the features of positive meaning which praises the Vietnamese people on their heroism expressing the speaker’s admiration In contrast, it expresses the speaker’s anger and discontent

1.5 Idioms & terminologies

The meanings of idioms are not definitely related to grammatical rules or the lexical meaning of each word because they feature the metaphor and figures of speech For example, “ wet blanket” should be translated “người rầu rĩ” instead of

“cái chăn ướt” or “to read one’s palm” translated as “xem chỉ tay” instead of “đọc cái gì ở lòng bàn tay”

In fact, idioms can be translated satisfactorily by considering the context, if not, it

is difficult to find the exact meaning An English idiom must be translated into Vietnamese by an equivalent one It is very important to be aware that we must not choose the equivalents of every word forming the idiom but we do find the equivalent ways of expression which exist in both languages If we stick to each word, the meaning becomes strange, unnatural and funny For instance, “to sell like a hot cake” is usually translated as “bán đắt như tôm tươi.” Instead of “bán như bánh nóng” “ There is no time like present.” is usually translated as “việc hôm nay chớ để ngày mai” instead of “không có thời gian như bây giờ” “Live and learn” is usually translated as “còn sống còn học” instead of “sống và học”

The following errors were found in some of the translated texts and should be corrected

1 “Every time, we have our children’s birth certificates signed at the local

People’s committee, we have to go though a lot of red tape.” was translated as

“Mỗi khi nhờ họ ký giấy khai sinh tại ủy ban nhân dân phường, chúng tôi phải đi

qua nhiều băng đỏ.”

2 “At first we intended to stay at home On the second thought, we decided to go

out.” was translated as “Thoạt đầu chúng tôi có ý định ở nhà Trong lần suy nghĩ thứ hai chúng tôi quyết định đi ra ngoài.”

3 “ She rarely saves her time to do her homework She often lets the grass grow

under her feet.” was translated as “Cô ấy hiếm khi tiết kiệm thời gian để làm bài

tập ở nhà Cô thường để cỏ mọc dưối chân.”

2 Sentence Errors Structural problems

1 Dangling participles

The dangling participle is the most bizarre and comical of all sentence errors Because it is such a glaring error, it stops readers dead in their tracks The sentence lacks clarity, and the reader must take a moment to determine the writer’s intention

N I saw fish sitting on a bench by the brook

Y: I saw a fish while I was sitting on a bench by the brook

N: I saw two stores and a move theater walking down the stess

Y: Walking down the stress, I saw two stores and a movie theater N: Harold watched the painter gaping in astonishment

Y: Harold watched the painter and gaped in astonishment

N: You can see the moon standing in the front yard

Y: If you stand in the front yard, you can see the moon

N: Sheila hung the towels dripping wet

Y: Sheila hung the dripping wet towels

N: He found a nest of tiny birds mowing the law

Y: He found a nest of tiny birds while mowing the lawn

N Andy saw the ferryboat pulling into his parking space

Y: Andy was pulling into his parking space when he saw the ferryboat N: No one noticed the danger, playing so enthusiastically

N: No onr noticed the danger, because everyone was playing so

enthusiastically

2 Lack off Parallel Structure

When ideas are similar, they should be expressed in similar forms When elements of a sentence are similar, they too should appear in similar form

N: She likes sun, the sand, and the sea

Y: She likes the sun, the sand, and the sea

N: The instructor explained the problem, method, and the tools that

unimportant?

Y: Why did you make Carl feel useless and unimportant?

3 Errors to Avoid in Agreement

Do not be distracted by words that come between the subject and the verb Remember to always make the verb agree with the subject of the sentence N: The arrival of many friends promise good times

Y: The arrival of many friends promises good times

N: All the Democrats, including John, hopes Murray wins

Y: All the Democrats, including John, hope Murray wins

N: Every one of you know your subject well

Y: Every one of you knows your subject well

N: Mary, as well as the Joneses, are coming along

Y: Mary, as well as the Joneses, is coming along

N: Mr.Green, along with Miss Oakley and Mr.Smith, were late

Y: Mr.Green, along with Miss Oakley and Mr.Smith, was late

N: A color of many hues are most interesting

Y: A color of many hues is most interesting

In sentences in which the subject follows the verb, be especially careful to determine the subject and make it agree with the verb

N: In the back of the room sits many of my friends

Y: In the back of the room sit many of my friends

N: Into the dark stares her black cats

Y: Into the dark stare her black cats

3 Errors in style

1 Short, Choppy Sentences- Sentence Variation

N: People change Places change Alan felt this He had been away for ten years Y: On returning after a ten-year absence, Alan had a strong feeling of how people and places change

N: She looked at the sky Then she looked at the sea They were too big She threw a rock in the ocean She started to cry Then she went home

Y: The sky and the sea looked too big She threw a rock into the ocean, and as

it disappeared she began to cry Then she turned to go home

N: I have a brother He is older than I Everybody thinks I look older We fight a lot He doesn’t like it Everybody thinks I look older than him

Y: I have a brother He is older than I, but everybody thinks that I look older

He doesn’t like that, so we fight a lot

N: I’m happy The sun is shining You said it was going to rain Now we can paint the boat

Y: Didn’t you say it was going to rain? Look, the sun is shining; now we can paint the boat

N: Did you hear the wind? It was loud It was whistling at the corners of the

house I heard it last night I was awake all night

Y: Did you hear the wind last night? I heard it whistling at the corners of the house It was so loud that it kept me awake all night

2 Wordiness

Effective writing means concise writing Wordiness, on the other hand, de- creases clarity of expression by cluttering sentences with unnecessary words However, repetition of words, sounds, and phrases should be reduce its bulk.Notice the

difference in impact between the first and second sentences in the following pairs N: The medical exam that he gave me was entirely complete

Y: The medical exam he gave me was complete

N: Larry asked his friend John, who was a good, old friend, if he would join him and go along with him to see the foreign film made in Japan

Y: Larry asked his good, old friend John if he would join him in seeing the Japanese film

N: I was absolutely, totally happy with the present that my parents gave to me at 7 a.m on the morning of my birthday

Y: I was totally happy with the present my parents gave me on the morning of

my birthday

3 Rambling Sentenxes

A rambling sentence continues on and seems to never end

N: The mountain was steep, but the road was clear; the sun was shining, and we all had the spirit of adventure in our heart and a song of the open road on our lips, so we took the turn that took our car up that steep mountain road

Y: The mountain was steep, but the road was clear The sun was shining All of us had the spirit of adventure in our heart and a song of the open road on our lips So we took our car up that took our car up that steep mountain road

N: Everyone knows a person like that, a person who has no concern for others, who will pretend to be a fiend, but only because he profits from the relationship, and he never really gives of himself, he just takes, and one cannot call him a friend in any sense of the word

Y: Everyone knows a person like that, a person who has no concern for others He will pretend to be a fiend, but only because he profits from the relationship He never really gives of himself, but he just takes, and one cannot call him a friend in any sense of the word

4 Practice

There are some errors by translators Are they lexical, structural errors, or style-errors? Correct the errors in each sentence

Example:

The waiter made a fault over the bill

The waiter made a mistake over the bill

1 Fish does not keep well in hot days

2 He went to France by means of a long boat

3 She was concerned about Jamie and his many dogs

4 Because he was wrong That's why he was embarrassed

5 The medical exam that he gave me was entirely complete

6 She loved him dearly but not his dog

7 Her reaction not only was strong but also immediate

8 My uncle and your aunt's cats are nice

9 Everyone knows the answer no one is willing to say

10 I was absolutely, totally happy with the present that my parents gave to me at 7 a.m in the morning of my birthday

11 The table's legs will be broken

12 He loved her dearly but not his house

13 Let's see the both of them on Monday

14 I like to sing I used to sing in a band The band broke up Now I don't sing very well

15 Ms Emerson is not enough experienced for this job

16 My son, your daughter, and his nephew's teachers are intelligent

UNIT 4 CROSS - CULTURE IN TRANSLATION

1 Cross - culture translation

Culture could be understood as the total set of beliefs, attitude, customs, behaviour, social habits etc of the member of a particular society In the broad sense, it includes mode of production, production activities, community organization, spiritural life, knowledge of nature and society, emotions, and moral conceptions

It is common ly known that “ao dai” is a traditional costume of the Vietnamese women and we never find an equivalent word in English to translate “ao dai” However, some translators translated mechanically “ao dai” into “ a dress” How funny it is! It would be preferredcto writing down “ao dai” to express the cultural feature to making foreign people misunderstand “ao dai” as”a dress”

* “ Trang phục truyền thống của người phụ nữ Việt Nam là chiếc áo dài tượng trưng cho sự duyên dáng.” should be translated as “ The traditional costume of the Vietnamese women is “ao dai” which symbolises the grace

Translation is a kind of activity which inevitably involves at least two languages and two cultural traditions." As this statement implies, translators are permanently faced with the problem of how to treat the cultural aspects implicit in a source text (ST) and of finding the most appropriate technique of successfully conveying these aspects in the target language (TL) These problems may vary in scope depending

on the cultural and linguistic gap between the two (or more) languages concerned

2 Similarities and differences

1 Đen như mực as Black as ilk

2 Đen như than

3 Sáng như ban ngày

4 Nhanh như sóc/ flash

5 Sâu như giếng

6 Tròn như quả bóng

7 Nhẹ như bông feather

20 Cao như tháp chuông

21 Giòn tan như kính

22 Di chuyển như mặt trăng

23 Sắc như dao cạo

3 Translate and put them in the right column

Eg as Black as ilk as quiet as a fish

UNIT 5 SOME NOTES IN TRANSLATING SIMPLE SENTENCES

I Simple sentences

1 Subject verb:

- Breeze blows

2 Subject verb adjunct

- My uncle lives in that room

3 Subject verb complement

- That sounds a good idea

4 Subject verb object

- The boy ate the cake

5 Subject verb object adjunct

- The university sent the students to Thailand

6 Subject verb object object

- They gave me the book

7 Subject verb object complement

- I’ve made the sauce too thin

Note: State of verb/ linking verbs: appear, seem, look, smell, taste, sound, remain, become, get, go, turn

 Translate the following sentences into English

1 Câu chuyện có vẻ thú vị

2 Cậu bé có vẻ huyên thuyên

3 Bạn tôi sẽ ở lại đây trong 3 tuần

4 Chị ấy nếm món cá Cá có vị ngọt và tươi

5 Tôi hay nhầm bạn tôi với ba của bạn ấy trên điện thoại

6 Ba mẹ cô bé đặt tên cho bé là Mai, nhưng thường gọi cô bé là Tí

 Translate the following sentences into Vietnamese

1 Patience is a golden key for success

2 The more we get together, the happier we'll be

3 An old person should be cared by at least one of his or her family members

4 I had rather (that) no one smoked in our meeting room

5 She stayed silent

6 To be parents, we should rear our children before they become naughty / spoilt / spoiled

7 We buy security welfare insurance for each employee

8 It is our pleasure to announce the establishment of our new subsidiary

9 In honor of its fiftieth anniversary, intercontinental corporation requests the pleasure of your company for a reception to be held on Saturday, the seventeenth

of March at five o'clock at Sai Gon Hotel

Suggested answer:

1 Sự nhẫn nại là chìa khóa vàng cho sự thành công

2 Chúng ta họp nhau càng đông thì càng vui

3 Một người già nên được chăm sóc bởi ít nhất một người trong gia đình

4 Tôi mong rằng tốt hơn không ai hút thuốc trong phong họp

5 Cô vẫn ngồi lặng yên

6 Làm cha mẹ, chúng ta nên giáo huấn con cái trước khi chúng trở nên hư hỏng

7 Chúng tôi mua bảo hiểm phúc lợi sức khỏe cho mỗi người lao động

8 Chúng tôi vui mừng tuyên bố việc thành lập công ty chi nhánh mới

9 Nhân lễ kỷ niệm lần thứ 50, Công ty liên lục địa hân hạnh kính mời ông (bà) tham dự bữa tiệc chiêu đãi được tổ chức vào thứ Bảy, ngày 17 tháng 3 lúc 5 giờ tại khách sạn sài Gòn

 Practice:

1 Flowers grow along the side of the wall

2 Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today

3 The heat has turned the milk sour

4 Time hangs heavy on our shoulders

5 The moon rises behind the village bamboo cluster

6 Human life is like a dream

7 Life is more precious than anything

8 Girls and boys in their twenties are active