Procedures and strategies in the vietnamese english translation of culture specific items

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION PAPER PROCEDURES AND STRATEGIES IN THE VIETNAMESE-ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF CULTURE-SPECIFIC ITEMS Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Cam Linh, M.A Student: Ngo Thi Huyen Course: QH.2008 Hanoi, May 2012 ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƢ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP NGHIÊN CỨU PHƢƠNG PHÁP VÀ THỦ THUẬT TRONG CÁCH DỊCH VIỆT – ANH CỦA CÁC THUẬT NGỮ ĐẶC TRƢNG VĂN HÓA Giáo viên hƣớng dẫn: Thạc sĩ Nguyễn Thị Cẩm Linh Sinh viên: Ngô Thị Huyền Khóa: QH.2008 Hà Nội, tháng năm 2012 I hereby state that I: Ngo Thi Huyen from group 081E20, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purpose of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarians for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper Hanoi, 2nd May 2012 Ngo Thi Huyen ACKNOWLEGEMENTS In the completion of this paper, I owe my appreciation to many people My first and foremost thank goes to my supervisor, also my friendly and dedicated Translation teacher for the last two years, Ms Nguyen Cam Linh, for her enthusiastic support, valuable guidance and research advice Besides, I would like to send my gratitude to our teachers at Translation Division – FELTE, ULIS for building up in me a solid background knowledge in translation and inspiring me to carrying out this research I would like to express my deepest thankfulness to Mr Huu Ngoc – cultural researcher and translator, for composing the book Wandering through Vietnamese culture - the major source of data for this research, and for providing me with priceless suggestions and advice in translation through the interview My sincere thanks are saved for students of two classes 08E20 and 09E24 for helping me complete research questionnaires I am also grateful to the friendly librarians of ULIS for providing me interesting reference materials After all, my special thanks are for my family - my parents, brothers and sisters who have always encouraged me, and my dear sister Tuyet Mai for her explanation in research methodology I want to say thanks to my classmates, my friends both in Vietnam and abroad for being by my side during the whole process of conducting this study Without them, never could I win this challenge i ABSTRACT Translation of cultural words has proved itself to be important in the context of Vietnam‟s integration into the world The issue poses quite a few challenges for the students and translators though The study sought to investigate common problems among students when translating culture-specific items and strategies to solve the problems in the light of Newmark‟s theory on translation procedures The book Wandering through Vietnamese culture and its author Huu Ngoc were chosen for major data collection and affirmation for research findings At the same time, 30 questionnaire responses from 30 surveyed students provided statistics to find out their difficulties and strategies to deal with the terms It was discovered that 60% of the students encounter culture-specific terms on a regular basis and their most serious problems were the achievement of naturalness in the target language, lack of cultural knowledge in the source language and their provision of various translations for only one source language word Analysis of document data, previously collected and divided into ecology, material culture and customs-traditions, revealed that couplets with transference and description was the most-employed solution by Huu Ngoc, though description could be in various forms Interview with the author indicated important considerations in cultural translation: accuracy, conciseness and the ability to trigger the source language‟s ideas of the translated versions The importance of understanding the cultural nuance of one culture-specific items rather than its lexical meaning was emphasized The study was expected to support those interested in the research topic and especially ULIS students in their translation training However, further research should be carried out on the connotative equivalence in the translation of culture-specific items and equivalence at above-word level ii TABLE OF CONTENT Page Acceptance page Acknowledgements Abstract Table of content List of figures and tables List of abbreviations i ii iii v vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Objectives and Research questions 1.3 Methods of the study 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 Organization of the study 1 3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Translation 2.1.1 Definition of translation 2.1.2 Translation procedures 2.2 Equivalence in translation 2.2.1 The nature of equivalence 2.2.2 Types of equivalence in translation 2.2.3 Translation and equivalent effect 2.3 Culture and translation 2.3.1 Culture from translation perspective 2.3.2 Culture-specific items 2.3.2 Common problems in translating non-equivalence 2.4 Related studies regarding translation of cultural-specific items 5 8 11 11 11 12 13 14 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Selections of subjects 3.2 Research instruments 3.3 Procedure of data collection 3.4 Procedure of data analysis 17 17 17 18 18 iii CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Results from students’ survey 4.1.1 The frequency of encountering culture-specific items 4.1.2 The outstanding problems that students face 4.1.3 Students‟ ways to deal with culture-specific items 4.2 Translation procedures provided in Wandering Vietnamese culture 4.2.1 Procedures applied for ecology-related items 4.2.2 Procedures applied for material culture related items 4.2.3 Procedures applied for customs – ideas related items 4.2.4 Problems with Huu Ngoc‟s translation 4.3 Inferences from the interview with Huu Ngoc 21 21 21 22 23 through 26 26 30 33 36 39 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 5.1 Summary of findings 5.2 Limitations of the study 5.3 Recommendations for further study 42 42 43 44 REFERENCES 45 APPENDIXES Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix 48 67 74 76 iv LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Names of figures Page Figure 1: Translation procedures Figure 2: Research phases 18 Figure 3: Frequency of encounter with culture-specific items by students 21 Figure 4: Major problems as perceived by students 22 Figure 5: Ratio of words divided by subcultures 26 List of tables Table 1: Incorrect translations made by students 23 Table 2: Inconsistency in students‟ translation 25 Table 3: Ratio of words in divided by subcultures 26 Table 4: Examples of non-existent words in English and translations 28 Table : Names of Vietnamese dishes - Group 30 Table 6: Names of Vietnamese dishes - Group 31 Table 7: Cooking ways in Vietnam 32 Table 8: Vietnamese traditional custom and translations 34 Table 9: Examples with one-to-part-of-one equivalence 34 Table 10: Examples of inconsistence in Huu Ngoc‟s translation 36 Table 11: Examples with one-to-part-of-one equivalence 37 v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS FELTE: Faculty of English Language Teacher Education OALD: Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary SL: Source language ST: Source text TL: Target language TT: Target text ULIS: University of Languages and International Studies VNUH: Vietnam National University, Hanoi vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This very first chapter is a concise map of the paper The presentation of rationale, objectives and research questions, brief statement of research method, significance and organization of the study are the chapter‟s main points 1.1 Rationale In the context of integration, countries in the world are making every effort to understand and cooperate in various fields: economy, education, healthcare, and especially culture In that trend, Vietnam is at the threshold of dramatic changes, both in economy and culture Cultural cooperation stimulates development in other fields, but it leads to the fact that “boundaries are disappearing and distinctions are being lost” (Karamanian, 2002) Therefore, cultural identity of each country requires to be strictly preserved and it holds true that when translating or writing using foreign languages, translators and writers should convey Vietnamese cultural values as exactly as possible Translation is not merely the language transfer but also cultural transposition, or the conveyance of thoughts, emotions, and ideology of people using that language One culture-specific word, if translated incorrectly, may result in misunderstanding and inaccurate awareness from the readers/listeners Keeping up with the flow of integration, thanks to open-door and doi moi [renovation] policy, the number of visitors choosing Vietnam as their destination has witnessed a steady increase in recent years Therefore, the issue of how to introduce Vietnamese culture by means of language has become of great importance in improving the image of Vietnam in the international community In this field, cultural translation plays an important role Concerning cultural translation, culture-specific items are embedded with very special connotation; therefore, the successful translation of one “cultural word” into English with all its cultural and communicative value has never been an easy task 49 Thanh Minh 50 Thầy đồ 51 Thọ 52 Thơ lục bát 53 Thuốc lào 54 Tiến sĩ 55 Tiết hạnh Chữ trinh 56 Trạng Nguyên 57 Treatise on Geography 58 Trồng Nụ Trồng Hoa 59 Tứ Quí 60 Tuồng 61 Chèo 62 Cải lương 63 Tuồng 64 Văn 65 Xin số village Thanh Minh (Pure brightness) Traditional teacher Longevity Lục bát metrical pattern Water pipe/ water bubble pipe Doctor of humanities Doctor of philosophy Female virtue Virginity Trạng Nguyên (First Laureate) Trồng Nụ Trồng Hoa (Planting Buds and Planting Flowers) Four Precious Tuồng opera/ classical opera Chèo opera/ popular opera Renovated theatre Reformed theatre/ melodrama* Tuồng (traditional opera theatre) Confucian temple Go to the temple to consult the “oracular” (Xin số) *The translation is retrieved from http://tratu.soha.vn/ 66 APPENDIX TRANSCRIPTION OF THE INTERVIEW The interview was conducted on April 13th 2012 at Huu Ngoc‟s office at Thế Giới [World] Publisher, 46 Trần Hưng Đạo Street, Hà Nội – Việt Nam Researcher: Good morning! Thank you helping me with this interview I would like to introduce myself first I am Ngo Thi Huyen, now a senior year student of ULIS – VNU I am doing a research as my graduation paper entitled “Procedures and strategies in the Vietnamese-English translation of cultural specific items” Today I would like to listen to your advice and suggestions on this field Huu Ngoc: Very well Your school is University of Languages and Foreign Studies, right? Researcher: Actually no, I‟m from the former University of Foreign Languages Teacher Education, in Cau Giay It now has translation major too Huu Ngoc: I see Researcher: Now I would like to ask you some questions about translation The first question is “While translating the culture-specific items, what is your priority, the denotation of the word or its cultural connotation?” Huu Ngoc: Firstly, I want to make clear of the book The book was originally in French and Vietnamese The English version was not translated by me Each week, Vietnam News printed my writing and their experts and editors were the ones who translated it into English, of course with my acceptance and revision Therefore, all translations in the book were my choice and my final decision That‟s to make clear of the book 67 What is your question again? Researcher: My question is “While translating the culture-specific items, what is your priority, the denotation of the word or its cultural connotation?” Huu Ngoc: Your question is kind of unclear to me Researcher: It means when we have to translate a cultural word, for example, “Lễ đưa dâu”, or “Lễ xem mặt” in Vietnam, should we keep the word unchanged, or translate them into English? Huu Ngoc: Any other examples? Researcher: How about the word “Áo tứ thân”? Huu Ngoc: The most important point here is the accuracy of translation We must translate it correctly If the word-for-word translation is accurate, we can translate it using word for word If the word is translated from Vietnamese to English and recognized already, we should use this recognized version The word “Áo tứ thân”, meaning “four-part dress”, or “Lễ đưa dâu” (taking the bride to the groom‟s house), if it is translated already, we need to follow that way Except for cases when literal translation confuses the readership, then it‟s necessary to translate and explain the meaning at the same time For example, “lễ đưa dâu” should be translated completely as the ceremony of escorting the bride to the groom‟s house, “áo tứ thân” should be “four-part dress” That‟s the literal meaning But in other cases, if the literal translation is not successful, we need to change and add information Take “Lễ Vu Lan” as an example, we still have to translate the meaning of the word 68 “Vu Lan”, but we need more explanation for this later So, the rule is, if literal translation for the word Vu Lan is not clear enough, we have to keep the word “Vu Lan” and add explanation Researcher: Thank you, now I would like to ask you another question As an experienced cultural researcher and translator, during translating cultural terms, what are the difficulties that you have encountered? Huu Ngoc: Which field are you concerned about? Translation of the text or the text content? Researcher: I mean the translation, how to help readers of another language understand Vietnamese culture-related concepts? Huu Ngoc: This should originate from this point: Vietnamese-English translation should be as concise as possible Because Western languages like English or French are much more concise than Vietnamese, which often has lengthy expressions So, translator should make it as concise and understandable as possible But, there are words that, if we translate them concisely, the readers may not understand due to cultural difference or cultural gaps That‟s why we need to add some words to explain it so that people of another culture can understand For example, “Hai Bà Trưng” in Vietnamese is the symbol of brave and tough women So, when translating this word, we must explain how brave they were in the struggle against the invaders But if the explanation is too long, the requirement of conciseness can‟t be achieved Therefore, the explanation, 69 though of great necessity (otherwise foreigners can not understand who they were) should not be lengthy But when adding explanation, the translator must be very tactful, in order that the translation remains truthful to the SL text This is like when we are wearing a torn shirt and we need a patch But if the patch is so visible, the shirt will not look as nice as when it‟s new That‟s why we should something to make sure the patch is not over-visible to maintain the beauty of the costume This consideration is especially important in literary translation Researcher: Thank you, I have understood what you mean The next question I would like to ask you is as following I have researched the translation of plants and herbs names… (peculiar to Vietnam) into English in your book I noted that most of them were translated by using Latin-originated names of those plants But I think this way can confuse the readers, because such names are all long and unfamiliar to readers of both languages Would you mind explaining why this method is used, and if we don‟t use this, is there any easier and more effective way? Huu Ngoc: The most important thing here is still the accuracy of the translation If using Latin words or English words are correct, we can use them But the most accurate way is using Vietnamese word first, for example, “rau húng” we need to use the original word first, then add some note at the end of the page in Latin word But imagine, it will be annoying to read a passage with a lot of Latin words, especially in literary 70 texts this should be avoided It‟s better to use Latin words as explanation in forms of footnote in order not to affect the flow of ideas Researcher: The next question I would like to ask you is it‟s difficult to find the only translation for one word For example, I have just conducted a survey among students in my university, in which I asked them to complete a small translation task Then I got several results for one word, though their translation all make sense I don‟t know what is the best version, and what are the standard to assess quality of cultural translation? (Show the author table from students survey) For example, the word “áo tứ thân” was translated in different ways: Huu Ngoc: (After reading the examples) For these translation, to choose the best one, there are three criteria, first is accuracy, the second is conciseness and the third is the ability to trigger the idea of the original word in an understandable way These versions are two long We also need to consider which contexts these words are in If the readers have known that the context is about culture and tradition, it‟s not necessary to add such word as “traditional” and the translation “four-piece dress” is the best one But if in a context that readers may not know it‟s traditional or not, it‟s better to add “traditional to your translation” So it depends on the context Researcher: Thank you for your very interesting sharing I have one more 71 question As far as I know, proper names, for example Hồ Tây, Hồ Gươm, or street names in Hà Nội like Hàng Khay, Hàng Buồm, Hàng Đường… are not often translated into English So should we remain the name or translate it? Huu Ngoc: The point here is if that name appears once only, we should accompany it with English translation in brackets But if the name appears again and again, we should use Vietnamese version for the first time only, since the second time onward, English version is preferred This would avoid unnecessary repetition Using English will trigger a clearer impression of the word “Hồ Tây” for example If we only use Vietnamese, we fail to trigger the idea of “the lake in the west of Hà Nội” Therefore, it‟s advisable to use English through the translation One point I want to tell you is that when I wrote this book, I didn‟t translate it from Vietnamese to English, but wrote it in Western thinking If you want to use the book for translation research, this is not a good source Researcher: I understand your point In my research, I only put my emphasis on the equivalence at word level About sentence and higher level, I would like to a further research in the future Before finishing the interview, when translating cultural terms, at word level, students like us encounter a lot of difficulties Would you give us some advice? Huu Ngoc: The best choice is to translate the phonetic aspects of the words, not the meaning If the translator does not know the real meaning of the word, he can not translate Therefore, first and foremost, it‟s necessary to understand cultural issues, 72 particularly Vietnamese culture And one more thing I want to tell you is that, cultural translation is not only about translating lexical meaning of the words, but it‟s about conveying the cultural connotation of the whole text or we call it “cái thần văn bản” Researcher: Yes, I agree Because this is my first research on this field, I know that there remain certain flaws Thank you for helping with this interview I will analyze what you have just told me and if any problems emerge, I expect to meet and ask you for more suggestions and advice Thank you for your valuable sharing Wish you and your family good health and happiness Huu Ngoc: Very well Hope you have good graduation paper Researcher: Thank you And I am looking forward to see you again Note: This is the translation of the interview The original version is in Vietnamese and not included in this research because of the university guidelines for graduation paper If you have any interest in authentic material, please contact the researcher via email at pumpkin1311@gmail.com Thank you! 73 APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE I am Ngo Thi Huyen, from group 08.1.E20 I am carrying out this survey with a view of information collection for my graduation thesis entitled “Connotative equivalence in the Vietnamese-English translation of culture-specific items” I would be grateful if you could answer the following questions and complete a short translation exercise The information in the survey is kept for the purpose of research only Thank you for your contribution! Part 1: Please answer the following questions by choosing the answer that best suits your situation or fill in the blank with your own opinions: Question 1: How often you encounter cultural specific items? (Which are likely to appear in famous places, interpretive signage, your translation assignments, movies….) A Never B Rarely C Usually D Don‟t remember exactly Question 2: What is your biggest problem when encountering culture-specific items during translation practice? A B C D Difficult lexical expressions Naturalness in the target language Lack of cultural knowledge of the source language Unclear context/ communicative situation of the sentence Other (please specify): …………………….……………………………………………………………… 74 Part 2: Translation exercise Please think carefully and provide your translation for the following words in the space given There is one example which has been done for you: Number Vietnamese terms Nước mắm 10 Đình 11 Thành hồng làng 12 Quan Âm 13 Hương ước 14 Mâm ngũ 15 Tứ Quí 16 Ếch xào măng 17 Áo tứ thân 18 Thầy đồ 19 Lễ đưa dâu English translation Nước mắm (fish sauce) 75 APPENDIX Image of the book Wandering through Vietnamese culture: 76 (Article by Mr Van Long, published on Sức khỏe đời sống [Health and Life], online version, on February 6th 2011, retrieved from http://suckhoedoisong.vn/2011012711163498p15c77/mon-quadac-biet-cho-khach-quy.htm on April 25th 2012) Món quà đặc biệt cho khách quý Mỗi độ xuân về, có đến hàng vạn khách nƣớc Việt kiều đến Việt Nam ăn Tết Nhu cầu tìm hiểu văn hóa đất Việt họ lớn Từ sau Đổi Mới, nƣớc ta mở cửa, phƣơng tiện truyền thông, đặc biệt sách báo giới thiệu văn hóa ta ngồi nhiều Trong số trƣớc tác đó, có lẽ ba tác phẩm Nhà văn hóa Hữu Ngọc nhà thơ Vân Long ơng Hữu Ngọc có điều kiện tập hợp đƣợc nhiều thông tin, tri thức đa dạng, đáp ứng đƣợc nhu cầu ấy, qua tiếng Anh Wandering through Vietnamese culture (Lang thang văn hóa Việt Nam), tiếng Pháp À la découverte de la culture vietnamienne (Khám phá văn hóa Việt Nam) tiếng Việt Lãng du văn hóa Việt Nam Ba q Tết tặng cho khách nước ngồi Việt kiều, nhà văn Mỹ Lady Borton nhận xét: “Dù thuộc thành phần gia đình xã hội nào, tất hấp thụ vui thích đọc sách này, thời điểm mà trào lưu kiểu sống ngoại lai tràn vào VN Hữu Ngọc cho đặc ân gọt giũa văn hóa cổ truyền thành viên ngọc tuyệt mỹ để ta mãi nâng niu… Đây q hồn hảo mang từ VN” Cả ba giống cách nhìn, cấu trúc văn phong Về cách nhìn, nhà thơ Trần Đăng Khoa nhận xét: “Bằng mắt người Việt, ông nắm bắt vẻ đẹp văn minh nhân loại Và mắt nhân loại, ông phát tính chất đặc sắc VN mà nhiều người Việt nước khơng nhìn ra” Về cấu trúc bài, “Sự pha trộn thông tin ngắn với phát triển vấn đề cách có hệ thống, phương pháp độc đề cập đến vấn đề khơng có ranh 77 giới rõ rệt văn hóa “(Delalange, Giám đốc Tổ chức khu vực châu Á- Thái Bình Dương khối Pháp ngữ) Về văn phong, “tuy sách to, nặng, nghiêm cẩn hình thức, nội dung lại tế nhị, nhẹ nhàng, duyên dáng” (Nữ giáo sư Đại học Pháp J.Gillon, (Paris) Còn ý kiến độc giả, nhà phê bình báo chí sao? Xin lược qua vài tư liệu sách, mặt báo nhà xuất Thế giới: Cuốn tiếng Anh Wandering through Vietnamese culture (Lang thang văn hóa VN - 1254 trang, tái lần) Giải Vàng sách Việt Nam 2006 Dan Duffy, Giám đốc nhà xuất Mỹ - VN Generation đánh giá “là sách hấp dẫn, cung cấp hiểu biết bổ ích thú vị” Cịn nhà văn Thụy Điển Modil Malmsten: “Đọc tác phẩm này, dường người bạn biết đường, cầm tay nhẹ nhàng hướng dẫn qua khu vườn tri thức” Đại sứ Thụy Điển Borje Lungren khẳng định: “Từ trước đến nay, chưa gặp người bắc cầu văn hóa ơng Hữu Ngọc!” Cuốn tiếng PhápÀ la découverte de la culture Vinamienne (Khám phá văn hóa VN 1212 trang, tái lần thứ tư) mang đến cho tác giả Giải GADIF 2008, Giải Đại sứ nước Pháp ngữ Tổ chức Pháp ngữ VN (lần thứ nhất) Trong buổi trao giải, Đại sứ Hy Lạp thay mặt GADIF, phát biểu tác giả Hữu Ngọc: “Ngài học giả biết đến người xây nên cầu nối văn hóa VN giới… Ngài số học giả, “sofos” (minh triết) triết gia cổ đại Hy Lạp nói Ngài vượt qua tất năm tháng khó khăn lịch sử VN để thành cơng chứng kiến phần tốt đẹp văn minh Pháp chứng minh rằng: văn hóa Pháp phần khơng thể tách rời văn hóa VN” Ơng Orso Delage de Luget Pháp gửi thư cho NXB Thế giới, viết “Cuốn sách ông H.N đọc thường xuyên Quả bữa tiệc lớn! Tôi ngưỡng mộ việc ông làm chủ ngôn ngữ Tơi biết có hai người rành tiếng Pháp: đại tướng Võ Ngun Giáp ơng…” Ơng tình cờ trước nước mua Khám phá văn hóa Việt Nam Suốt đêm máy bay, ơng khơng ngủ để ngốn ngấu sách Ơng viết “Tơi hạ cánh Paris bỏ bùa ngòi bút tác giả” Sau đó, ơng gửi bà bạn cầm sách nặng 2kg sang VN để xin chữ ký tác giả 78 Một độc giả khác, ông Aubert: “Tôi khám phá hưởng thụ cách viết tế nhị tác giả, viết điều kinh khủng (terrible) với văn phong nhẹ nhàng Trước đây, có nhà văn Ý lớn Sciascia ngồi đảo Sicile mà có nhìn phóng chiếu châu Âu Ngày tơi thấy ông VN mà cho hiểu châu Á với phản xạ văn hóa, lại cho biết châu lục khác từ Osaka tới Paris, ông nắm lục địa đầu ông khiến chúng tơi đọc thích” Cuốn thứ ba Việt ngữ: Lãng du văn hóa VN(1046 trang), Hội chợ sách TP Hồ Chí Minh 2007 thừa nhận sách bán chạy Tác phẩm chủ yếu tập hợp viết cho chuyên mục Sổ tay văn hóa báo Sức khỏe & Đời sống (80%), 14 năm không nghỉ tuần Báo Sức khỏe & Đời sống giới thiệu: “Đây bách khoa phổ thông văn hóa VN” Báo Sài Gịn giải phóng nhận định: “Chống ngợp hồn Việt trang sách!” Báo Tuổi trẻ cho “tác giả cố ý dùng chữ lãng du để lãng mạn hóa tập sách, thật công phu nghiên cứu đồ sộ” Bác Hữu Ngọc tiếp sau trưa thường lệ Buổi sáng bác “đi làm” văn phòng, địa quen thuộc bạn nước Biết tơi muốn tìm hiểu ngun nhân mở đầu ba dịng chảy báo văn hóa Việt qua ba thứ tiếng Anh, Pháp, Việt suốt hai chục năm qua để hơm hình thành ba sách đồ sộ bạn đọc giới yêu mến trên, bác Hữu Ngọc cười tươi: “Chắc ông nhớ thuyết tôi: ngẫu nhiên chi phối đời Năm 1992, tờ báo đối ngoại Vietnam New mắt, ông Khuyến, Tổng biên tập, họp, nhờ tơi: “Ơng viết giúp cho số văn hóa VN cho bạn nước ngồi hiểu thêm nhé!” Thế tơi viết số bài, mở mục Tản mạn truyền thống Tôi viết suốt đến năm 2008 nghỉ, 16 năm Từ đó, tập hợp, văn hóa VN tiếng Anh Năm 1994, ngẫu nhiên báo Courier du VN lại gọi điện nhờ “Ông giữ mục văn hóa cho chúng tơi nhé!” Tự thấy vốn liếng cịn dồi dào, lại hoạt động Quỹ Thụy Điển VN phát triển văn hóa, Quỹ Đan Mạch, ln tiếp xúc với hình thái văn hóa sở, đề tài bổ sung Tôi nhận, sau 14 năm dừng, sinh tiếng Pháp ! Cịn báo Sức khỏe & Đời sống thì, năm 1996 gặp ông nhà Trần Lê Văn, ông bảo “Tôi giúp ông Lê Thấu làm tờ SK&ĐS, cần mục có tính chất sổ tay văn hóa Báo tiếng Anh, tiếng Pháp bác giúp họ, chả lẽ bác không muốn chia sẻ nguồn văn hóa với độc giả Việt 79 Nam? Thế sau 15 năm, tập hợp phần lớn in báo có Lãng du văn hóa VN!” Nói dễ dàng vậy, gần hai chục năm, có thời gian dài tuần bác viết ba ba thứ tiếng, chuyến bác phải cơng tác nước ngồi vài tháng, dăm bận đau yếu năm, biết bác phải làm việc chuyên cần khoa học bảo đảm không lỡ kỳ Rồi hàng trăm đăng đàn nói chuyện văn hóa năm cho người nước ngoài, mà bác gọi vui “đá bóng quốc tế” Sức làm việc thật khủng khiếp! Nhà thơ Trần Đăng Khoa mệnh danh bác “con khủng long ngành văn hóa” Tơi kết thúc viết vào dịp sinh nhật thứ 92 nhà nghiên cứu văn hóa lão thành: 22/12 (1918 - 2010), để mừng thọ bác, chúc bác bước sang tuổi 93 vẫn… hoành tráng, tự vượt kỷ lục 16 năm đa mang chuyên mục với báo Vietnam New, tờ báo Sức khỏe & Đời sống chúng tôi! Trên bàn viết tôi, ba sách ba khối vàng nắng sớm chiếu dọi, chúng lan tỏa ánh sáng văn hóa Việt Nam vượt qua biên giới… -Vân Long- 80 ... effects in the translation of culture- specific items, the study aims at:  Identifying students‟ difficulties and strategies in translating culture- specific items  Identifying the translation procedures. .. when translating culture- specific items and strategies to solve the problems in the light of Newmark‟s theory on translation procedures The book Wandering through Vietnamese culture and its author... exotic culture into something familiar with the readers, implying that translation, in the end, seeking to blur the language barriers between cultures In the context of intensive and extensive integration,