Some recommendations to improve translation skill for students majoring in the English language at department of foreign languages – Saigon University

Translation - Interpretation is an important orientation for students majoring in the English Language and English Language Teacher Education at Department of Foreign Languages - Saigon University. Students have three modules to cover: Introduction to Translation and Interpretation, Translation module and Interpretation module. All are taught to students after they gather a considerate amount of language knowledge, mainly in the third and fourth academic year.

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SÀI GỊN SAIGON UNIVERSITY TẠP CHÍ KHOA HỌC SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL ĐẠI HỌC SÀI GÒN OF SAIGON UNIVERSITY Số 70 (04/2020) No 70 (04/2020) Email: tcdhsg@sgu.edu.vn ; Website: http://sj.sgu.edu.vn/ MỘT SỐ ĐỀ XUẤT GIÚP CẢI THIỆN KỸ NĂNG DỊCH THUẬT CHO SINH VIÊN NGÀNH NGÔN NGỮ ANH TẠI KHOA NGOẠI NGỮ – ĐẠI HỌC SÀI GÒN Some recommendations to improve translation skill for students majoring in the English language at department of foreign languages – Saigon University ThS Đặng Quỳnh Liên Trường Đại học Sài Gịn TĨM TẮT Biên - phiên dịch định hướng quan trọng sinh viên chuyên ngành Ngôn ngữ Anh Sư phạm tiếng Anh Khoa Ngoại ngữ, Trường Đại học Sài Gịn Sinh viên phải hồn thành ba học phần: nhập môn dịch thuật biên dịch, kỹ biên dịch kỹ phiên dịch Sinh viên học ba học phần sau tích lũy khối lượng kiến thức ngôn ngữ đáng kể, chủ yếu vào năm thứ ba thứ tư Từ phương pháp thủ pháp phổ biến dịch thuật, người viết xin trình bày số đề xuất trình biên dịch để nâng cao chất lượng dịch cho sinh viên Từ khóa: định hướng dịch thuật, phương pháp dịch thuật, quy trình dịch thuật ABSTRACT Translation - Interpretation is an important orientation for students majoring in the English Language and English Language Teacher Education at Department of Foreign Languages - Saigon University Students have three modules to cover: Introduction to Translation and Interpretation, Translation module and Interpretation module All are taught to students after they gather a considerate amount of language knowledge, mainly in the third and fourth academic year However, students are still facing many difficulties during practice process Based on some translation methods and procedures, I would like to present some recommendations in translation process in order to improve the quality of their translations Keywords: translation orientation, translation methods, translation procedures According to several translators, in translation, language knowledge plays a very important role; it helps to analyze exactly what are involved in the translation process from one language to another In the framework of formal university training program of Department of Foreign Languages - Saigon University, students at their third and fourth academic year have to cover three modules in the Introduction Nowadays, the demand for conversion of two languages, especially Vietnamese and English, is increasing with a noticeable speed due to higher and higher needs of social exchange and development This requires research and resolution on translation issues not only in practical aspect but also in scientific reasoning basis, in other words, translation theories Email: dqlien@sgu.edu.vn 67 SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL OF SAIGON UNIVERSITY No 70 (04/2020) Translation - Interpretation orientation They are Introduction to Translation and Interpretation module, Translation module and Interpretation module They are taught to students at their third and fourth academic year when the students accumulate a considerate amount of language knowledge However, students still encounter various problems during practice process Based on some translation methods and procedures and due to time limitation, I would like to present some recommendations in only translation process in order to improve the quality of their translations What is translation? There are many viewpoints presented by researchers on translation concept during its developing history Translation is usually known as the process of transferring meaning from the source language into the target language Jeremy Munday (2001:4) states: “The process of translation between two different written languages involves the translator changing an original written text (the source text or ST) in the original verbal language (the source language or SL) into a written text (the target text or TT) in a different verbal language (the target language or TL) According to Larson (1998:5), translation is the research of vocabulary, structures, communication situations and cultural context of source language, analyzing text to define meaning, then using vocabulary and appropriate structures in target language in order to restructure the text in target language However, Newmark (1988:5) states that translation is rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended the text In general, translation, as the process of conveying messages across linguistic and cultural barriers, is an eminently communicative activity A diagram of the communicative relationship in the process of translation shows that the translator is both receiver and emitter, the end and the beginning of two separate but linked chains of communication: Author - Text - Receiver - Translator Text Receiver In translation from the source language into the target language, translator needs a translation way or a translation strategy Some translation theorists call them translation methods such as Newmark (1988:45) and others regard them as translation procedures such as Nida (1964) However, Newmark believes that translation methods relate to full documents, while translation procedures are used in sentences and smaller language units Some common translation methods Newmark (1988: 45-48) states that there are eight translation methods as follows: 3.1 Word- For- Word translation This is the method of converting source language into target language just by serial translation way: word to word, clause to clause and sentence to sentence The source language word-order is preserved and the words translated singly by their most common meanings, out of context Cultural words are translated literally This method of translation is normally effective only for short simple sentences, for example, “I play basketball every day” for “Tơi chơi bóng rổ ngày.” 3.2 Literal translation Grammatical structures of the source language are converted to their nearest equivalences in the target language but vocabularies are translated in the most common meaning, out of context This 68 ĐẶNG QUỲNH LIÊN TẠP CHÍ KHOA HỌC ĐẠI HỌC SÀI GỊN method is used as a pre-translation process and ranges from word to word, phrase to phrase, clause to clause and sentence to sentence 3.3 Free translation This is translation method which translators get out of source language’s constraints, use target language to paraphrase the meaning of the source language in a natural way and match target language’s context and culture This is the reason why by this method, the translation is often longer than the original The advantage of this translation method is that the translation sounds more natural On the contrary, its disadvantage is that as being free, different variations as compared to the original meaning usually happen, especially for documents with spiritual feature such as philosophy, theology and literature 3.4 Adaptation Modulation method means a variation in the message due to a change in the point of view: understand something in another viewpoint This method is suitable when translating literally or transposing so that we have one correct grammar translated sentence but does not sound naturally in target language In modulation method, we can differentiate free/optional modulation from fixed/obligatory modulation 3.5 Idiomatic translation Metaphor is a method which uses a specific object that literally implies something figuratively Idiom also has the same character of insinuation Metaphor and idiom are often local, national (cultural); although it is possible to translate, it is unlikely that strangers will understand the meaning, if not attach annotation 3.6 Faithful translation A faithful translation attempts to reproduce the precise contextual meaning of the original within the constraints of the target language’s grammatical structures It “transfers” cultural words and preserves the degree of grammatical and lexical “abnormality” in the translation It tries to be completely faithful to the intentions of the source language writer This method is used often in documents that need to be completely correct such as economic contracts or legal documents 3.7 Sematic translation Semantic translation is written at the author’s linguistic level It is personal and individual, follows the thought processes of the author, tends to over-translate, pursues nuances of meaning, yet aims at concision in order to reproduce pragmatic impact 3.8 Communicative translation On the contrary, communicative translation is written at the readership’s linguistic level It is social, concentrates on the message and the main force of the text, tends to under-translate, to be clear, simple and brief and is always written in a natural and resourceful style For example: The source language text: “'I never hear or read the name of Yarmouth (name of a town) but I am reminded of a certain Saturday on the beach ' (extracted from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens) Semantic translation: Tôi không nghe đọc đến tên 'Yarmouth' mà lại khơng nhớ đến sáng thứ bảy bãi biển ( không mà lại không ) Communicative Translation: Cứ lần nghe đọc đến tên 'Yarmouth' tơi lại nhớ đến sáng thứ bảy bãi biển (Cứ lần lại ) From my perspective, translator should avoid Word-for-Word translation and Literal translation If the source language 69 SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL OF SAIGON UNIVERSITY No 70 (04/2020) text is too difficult to translate, we can use Literal method as a pre-translation process, and then restructure the text in the target language For novels or literature documents, we can apply Free translation or Adaptation In economy, education, health and other social sectors, Faithful translation can be applied If the emphasis is on the source language, Word-for-Word translation, Literal translation, Faithful translation and Semantic translation are used On the contrary, Adaptation, Free translation, Idiomatic translation and Communication translation are applied in case the translator focuses on the target language Some recommendations in the translation process Based on the translation methods discussed above and in order to prevent mistakes in translation, I would like to recommend following principles so that we can enhance translation skill: 1- Before translating a document, make sure to read it carefully, highlight difficult-to-translate or not-understandmeaning paragraphs Please keep in mind that a word/ phrase may have many different meanings and expressions, therefore, translator should direct towards the meaning which author is referring to in order to translate correctly 2- During translation process, in order to accurately express translated meaning from Vietnamese into English or vice versa, use the correct English / Vietnamese synonym phrase, also use equivalences to translate phrases and idioms accurately For example: "Carry coals to Newcastle" -> "Chở than đá Newcastle"= "chở củi rừng" (carry coals to the forest) (Newcastle is a city in England which is also the World's largest coal exporting port, it means not bring back something to an overabundant place) Or “Ngưu tầm ngưu, mã tầm mã” can be translated as “Birds of a feather flock together” 3- Absolutely avoid completely literal translation (or word by word) because this may lead to incorrect translation and not conveying author's ideas exactly Especially, in order to understand text’s meaning, it is necessary to understand the intention of the author and meaning in each sentence, each paragraph, not in each word For example” “It was cold enough to freeze our fingers” -> “Trời đủ lạnh để làm tê cóng ngón tay tơi” -> Trời lạnh ngón tay tơi tê cóng” (The author wants to emphasize that cold weather freezes his/her fingers, not the level of the coldness) 4- However, we should not avoid faithful translation because if we translate too freely, the translation may be unreal and not close to the original text’s meaning Therefore, it is essential to select and retain necessary ideas and remove unnecessary ideas, we can re-edit translated sentences so that they remain unchanged as compared to the original 5- Avoid using less common words or old technical terms which are rarely used or are unpopular Only select words that we know well and readers can easily understand in translation Do not use too exaggerated words; this will make readers confused and does not ensure an effective translation 6- Do not use too many synonyms in a translated document; this will make the translation become incoherent 7- During translation process, when encountering complex sentences which are difficult to translate, split them into short sentences, it will be easier However, make 70 ĐẶNG QUỲNH LIÊN TẠP CHÍ KHOA HỌC ĐẠI HỌC SÀI GÒN sure to keep the meaning unchanged so that when joining together, the paragraphs will have the same meaning as compared to the original For example: “Thousands of Algerians tonight fled from the dead city of Orleansville after a 12-second earthquake had ripped through central Algeria,billing an estimated death toll of 1,100 people.” “Đêm trung tâm Angieri xảy trận động đất kéo dài 12 giây đờng hờ Theo ước tính số người bị thiệt mạng lên đến 1.100 người Hàng ngàn người khác chạy khỏi thành phố Orleansville đầy tang tóc đó.” 8- After pre-translation process, always ensure that sentences in the translated text are coherent and connected to each other The style of the target language text must be clear and still keep accurate meaning as compared to the original 9- In addition to practicing and improving the above-mentioned skills, it is necessary to read and learn more about English used in many different fields: English for Business, English for Banking, English for Construction, English for Medicine, English for Environmental Studies for a better understanding to support English translation process Conclusion Good translators need a variety of knowledge including background knowledge of both languages and professional knowledge of the fields they are translating They need to be proficient, have a rich vocabulary, a thorough understanding of linguistic issues of both languages, understand the similarities and differences between the two languages not only in term of grammar but also in terms of semantics and pragmatics These insights are closely linked with cultural knowledge about country, people, lifestyles, habits, customs and practices of the two language communities Finally, each field has its own terminologies, expressions, and styles, requiring translators to understand at least their meaning and connotation, although it cannot be as deep as a specialist The requirements for a translator on such knowledge are not easy for students who have just started taking translation courses However, some of the principles and noted issues during translation process mentioned above may contribute to facilitating students more during their translation practice process REFERENCES Larson, M.L (1998) Meaning-based Translation: A Guide to Cross-language Equivalence Oxford: University Press of America Munday, J (2001) Introducing Translation Studies New York: Routledge Newmark, P (1981) Approaches to translation New York: Pergamon Press Ltd Newmark, P (1988) A textbook of translation New York and London: Prentice Hall International (UK) Ltd Nida, E A (1964) Toward the Science of Translating: With special reference to principles and procedures involved in Bible translating Leiden: E J Brill Ngày nhận bài: 13/3/2020 Biên tập xong: 15/4/2020 71 Duyệt đăng: 20/4/2020 ... diagram of the communicative relationship in the process of translation shows that the translator is both receiver and emitter, the end and the beginning of two separate but linked chains of communication:... Idiomatic translation and Communication translation are applied in case the translator focuses on the target language Some recommendations in the translation process Based on the translation. .. appropriate structures in target language in order to restructure the text in target language However, Newmark (1988:5) states that translation is rendering the meaning of a text into another language