A lifelong Journey -Moving Between Chinese and English Sept 24, 2009 A lifelong Journey -Moving Between Chinese and English Sept 24, 2009

Translation and Interpretation  Core Requirements – Performance – Approach – Criteria  What are the elements of each?

Performance Skill Knowledge Language Performance

Performance Element - Language  What is the most glorious of all human inventions, and the finest of all achievements-- language  Love it, enjoy using it, improve and enhance your mastery of it, esp. that of your mother tongue.

Performance Element - Knowledge  Knowledge covers many areas, try to know something of everything.  Skills can be made a full use of only when the interpreter or translator has a solid command of both source and target languages, as well as a wide range of essential knowledge.

Criteria Delivery Accuracy Completeness Criteria

 Accuracy, completeness and delivery - the way content is delivered.  In interpreting delivery should be fluent, clear and pleasant.  In translation delivery should be smooth, which means that the translation reads clear and coherent.

Approach Communicative, idiomatic Source Language Target Language Approach Word for word, literal

Approach  Word-for-word, or literal 直译  Its alternative is semantic, communicative or idiomatic 意译  Try to translateg the following examples: 空车，浓茶，南北对话，贫富差别，积 极接触，最大利益，和而不同，少说空 话 多做工作，你问得我很难为情，反恐 的范围定不下来

What is idiomatic?  It is the way in which native speakers use their own language.  To be correct in both grammar and style is no easy matter.

Look at the following example: 中英相距遥远，但两国人民友好 交往不断增多。

 Despite the great distance between China and Britain, friendly exchanges between the two peoples have been on the rise.  Although China and Britain are far apart, there have been increasing friendly exchanges between our two peoples.

 In the above example, “but” – the English equivalent of the Chinese conjunction “ 但 是 ”, is not used.  But very often we succumb to Gravitational Pull and our translations are unidiomatic.

More examples follow: 2001 年 9 月 11 日， 早上八点钟刚过一会儿， 一架飞机撞上了纽约世贸中心大楼。

A little after 8 o’clock on the morning of Sept 11, 2001, a plane hit the World Trade Center building in New York. OR It was a little after 8 o’clock on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 when a plane hit the WTC building.

说到 “9.11” ， 我记得纽约当地时间早 晨八点过不久，电视上就播出了有关 的镜头。

Talking of Sept. 11, 2001, I remember it was a little after 8 o’clock in the morning New York time when the incident was broadcast on television.

那天我正要离家去上班，突然同事来 电话，要我别去了。

I was leaving home for work that morning when a colleague of mine called, asking me not to go.

我正要睡着，电话铃响了。

I was going to sleep when the telephone rang.

我正要过马路，一辆汽车冲着我 飞速开来。

I was going to cross the street when a car sped toward me.

汤姆的车失去了控制，撞伤了 好几个路人，最后在一家商店 前停了下来。

Tom’s car went out of control and injured several pedestrians on the sidewalk before it came to a stop in front of a shop.

要花多年的时间努力练习, 你最后 才能说自然地道的英语。

It will take years’ effort and hard work before you can speak natural and idiomatic English.

示威游行是相当和平的，与警察只 发生了一两次冲突。

The demonstration was fairly peaceful in that there were only one or two clashes with the police.

 The above sentences are deceptively simple. They are misleadingly easy.  Say “no!” to Gravitational Pull.

 What about long and complicated sentences?  Pay special attention to the way English clauses or sentences are formed. The following are some examples ：

39 年来，中加关系虽经风雨波折，但总 的方向是向前发展的。双方在经贸、司 法、执法、能源、环境、科学、教育、 文化、卫生等广泛领域建立起 40 余个交 流合作机制。

 In spite of some twists and turns, China- Canadian relations, on the whole, have been moving forward in the past 39 years. We have put in place over 40 exchange and co-operation mechanisms that cover a wide range of areas including economy, trade, justice, law enforcement, energy, the environment, science, education, culture and health.

 当今世界，加强对话，深化合作，实现 共赢已成为处理国际关系的主旋律。

We live at a time when enhanced dialogue and deeper cooperation for win-win progress has become the main approach in handling international affairs.

 世界局部冲突和热点问题此起彼伏，南 北差距拉大，传统安全威胁和非传统安 全威胁相互交织，世界和平与发展仍面 临诸多难题。

The road to peace and development is still fraught with difficulties as evidenced by increasing local conflicts and hotspot issues, widening gap between th North and the South and simultaneous presence of traditional and non-traditional security threats.

 中国是爱好和平的，我们要建设自己的 国家，不会搞对外扩张。和平统一，一 国两制，我们是有耐心的。最终问题的 解决主要还是靠我们自己，把自己的事 情做好。

China is a peace-loving nation, concerned with construction, not expansion. We have the patience to achieve the goal of “peaceful reunification, one country, two systems”. In the final analysis, it is up to us to solve our problems by managing our own affairs well.

 当各个国家为了鼓励发展本国的工业， 用征收进口商品税的办法来保护自己 的市场时，自由贸易协定常常受到威 胁。

Free trade agreements are always threatened when individual countries protect their own markets by imposing duties on imported goods to encourage their own industries.

 Make a study of the frequently used connectives such as by, through, for, while, however, but, yet, so, etc.  All the fun’s in how you say a thing. (Robert Frost)

 And last but not least, resist Gravitational Pull.  Strive to be idiomatic!

Learning to become an excellent translator or interpreter is a lifelong journey. To pass the national aptitude test is only a milestone, not your destination!

Thank you! And good luck!