CHARPTER III: SOME DIFFICULTIES AND REQUIRED
3.1 Some difficulties in translating news story
While Vietnam has gone through ‘renovation” to being a market economy, the people of Vietnam have also gone through various stages, rushing and elbowing their way through to learn an international language as a mean of relating meaningfully to the wider world. This has created what could be could
‘English fever’. The government plans to popularize English until 2010 at schools. Thus, Vietnamese learners of English tend to encounter a lot of difficulties in their acquisition of the target language especially in press. In this paper, I would like to mention about the barriers of culture and language for Vietnamese to understand English news stories.
3.1.1 Cultural difficulty
Our culture provides the lens through which we view the world. It refers to a group or community with which we share common experiences that shape the way we understand the milieu in which we live. Culture is a kind of meta- preference, in the sense it tells us what we should want to want. The term
‘culture’, is a complex concept which has been defined in numerous ways often reflecting the writer’s academic orientation. Common to all definitions of culture, however, is that culture is something shared by members of a social group.
The system of language is a part of shared cultural knowledge of social groups, and ways of communicating are an important part of the observable behavior of people in social groups.
It is clear that there is climate close relationship between language and culture. For example, thinking of the richness if vocabulary to take about relations in languages spoken by people whose culture places a strong emphasis on family ties, such as Pitjantjatjara, Burmeae or Vietnamese, to
mention only a few. In fact, most linguists today would agree that it is impossible to prove that language determines or only reflects the way we think.
Some questions relating to language are raised that if there are any concepts which can’t be translated or expressed in some other languages, especially in press. Answering it briefly, it is clear that there are some concepts which need many words to express into another language.
For example, the English word ‘baby-sister’ is central to western cultures in which it is assumed that a baby or a child will from time to time be left in the care of an individual who is not a member of the family, and who undertakes to care for the baby or child usually in return for remuneration.
And it may be translated into Vietnamese as ‘cô trông trẻ’, ‘cô nuôi dạy trẻ’
or ‘vú em’…
It would be strange to Vietnamese if someone says [22]:
“… these which survive may live for twenty years and reach the size of a dinner plate”.
Traditionally, Vietnamese might not know what a dinner palate is. We always have meals with bowls and chopsticks and hardly know the size of a dinner plate. Therefore, this group of words is a barrier preventing Vietnamese reader from understanding the text.
In conclusion, language consists of a complex system of communication, which enables people to construct the meanings needed to communicate with each other. Culture is the whole complex of ways of acting, believing, valuing and thinking which are shred by group of people and passed on one generation to others.
In addition, the cultural differences between Vietnamese and the English speaker are a lot, which causes plenty of difficulties to the Vietnamese learner as well as the translator. Therefore, just by obtaining the knowledge of all aspect, can the reader understand, since translate the news stories well.
3.1.2 Linguistic difficulty
Newspapers impart news by the language. And it is newspaper that is the most typical mean of indicating language as well as indicating any change of language and life. Because language is a mean of human interaction and people are social beings in a society with specific values, norm and cultural traditions, the language people use will be intricately linked to and shaped by their social and cultural practices.
In a particular society and culture, the socialization process will include leaning to use language appropriately according to the norms of that society.
If not then one needs to learn how to behave linguistically in ways appropriate to society.
It is obvious that languages are not the static. They change over time not only in lexicon but also with regard to grammar, pronunciation, spelling or signing. The uses of language also change which will affect meaning. All this makes language learning a complex task.
Therefore, the differences between languages: between Vietnamese and English in particular, as well as our use of language is also a factor in preventing us from understanding English newspaper.
English preposition is a truly difficult aspect for Vietnamese learners to use preciously. The Vietnamese often says ‘dưới nền nhà’ (under the floor) when the English says ‘on the floor’, we say ‘bơi dưới sông’ (under the river) while the English says ‘in the river’, we say ‘trên trời’ (on the sky), meanwhile the English says ‘in the sky’.
In addition, in Vietnamese there are phrases or clauses that need no preposition. But its equivalent clauses in English need one. The Vietnamese says ‘buổi sáng’ (the morning), ‘buổi tối’ (the evening), but the English says
‘in the morning’ and ‘in the evening’. Here, the preposition ‘in’ is placed before a noun phrase ‘the morning’ and ‘the evening’. In Vietnamese, we say
‘lúc đi học’ (without preposition) but in English, it is ‘on the way to shool’
(with preposition ‘on’).
Eg: In Vietnamese: đường tới vinh quang (without preposition) In English : on the road to the glory (with preposition ‘on’) Moreover, in Vietnamese-English translation, the word ‘President’ can be translated as ‘tổng thống’ if the article refers to the position in USA or Russia ( eg: President George Bush= Tổng thống George Bush). On the contrary, the word must be translated as ‘Chủ tịch nước’ if the position taken by a Vietnamese or Cuban official (President Trần Đức Lương = Chủ tịch nước Trần Đức Lương, or President Fidel Castro = Chủ tịch Fidel Castro)
In Vietnamese – English translate, the world ‘Thủ tướng’ can be translate as ‘Prime Minister’ or ‘Premier’ if the position holders are Vietnamese, Thailand official. However, it must be translated as
‘Chancellor’ if the position belongs to the German official (Chancellor Helmut Kohl).
Sometimes, paraphrases can make the readers or translators embarrassed.
For example, the word ‘alcohol’ in English includes all alcoholic beverages in its meaning. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese word for this generally understood as ‘rượu’ and it does not include beer in its definition. As a result, the Vietnamese translators should add the word ‘beer’ in its definition to convey the full meaning of the English word.
Otherwise, using an idiom of fixed expression of similar meaning but different form is also one difficult for Vietnamese readers of translators to find its equivalents in Vietnamese.
Eg
- To toil and moil : Bán mặt cho đất, bán lưng cho trời - Sell like hot cakes : Đắt như tôm tươi
- To pick and choose : Kén cá chọn canh
Since idiomatic expressions are culture-bound, they can not be understood and translated exactly. In search for idiomatic equivalence when reading or translating, we should concentrate on expression and transfer from one culture to another.
In summary, the society in which we live and the culture of that society can influence how we use language in these major functions. Knowing how to use language in a culturally appropriate way is something we acquire as part of the socialization process for our first language. When learning a second or subsequent language or receiving a language, this process is not only more conscious but also more difficult because the learners are often not familiar with the cultural practices associated with the language they learn.