How to translate into English

The Chinese language is concise and concise, and the sentences are flexible. One Chinese word often corresponds to N English words. As for which meaning should be used in this sentence, you must grasp the spiritual essence and cannot adapt to changes. As for how to respond, this is where the translator's skill is shown.

For example: They are all "problems", and the following translations are different, almost like taking a shot and changing the place.

***questions of common interest

solve a problem

the heart of the matter

a question/matter of principle

without any mishap

Something is wrong with the motorcycle the motorcycle.

That is not the point.

To master this kind of "guerrilla tactics" in Chinese-English translation, the translator should be from a different "cultural kingdom" "Guerilla strategists" on the border.

Shaboli translated "Water Margin" as: Outlaws of the Marsh (Desperados on the Swamp), and Yang Xianyi translated Qu Yuan's "National War" as: For Those Fallen for Their Country, Beijing Foreign Studies University The publishing house translated "The Scholars" as: The Scholars. These are all excellent works produced by translators who have thoroughly understood the original meaning of the original text.

2. Be careful of literal translation and mechanical literal translation

This is mostly a mistake made by beginners, who are easily confused by superficial phenomena.

Yellowcow——ox is correct, the same below) Yellow bird——oriole

Cucumber（yellow melon——cucumber) Purplevegetable——laver )

Redwood (redwood——padauk) Yew (redfir——Chinese yew)

Blacksociety (blacksociety——sinister gang)

3. Quit " "Water and soil do not match", improper matching of habits

This is indeed a difficult problem. It requires the translator to have both high Chinese literacy and high English attainments. People who have only a little knowledge often This "rollover". For example:

After writing, throw the pen on the table. After singing another song and drinking a few more glasses of wine, he felt intoxicated and exhausted, so he asked the bartender to calculate, and he took some silver to pay back, and rewarded the bartender with the excess.

And tossed the pen on the table. Heintoned the verses to himself, then downed a few more cups of wine. He was verydunk. Song-Jiang asked for the bill, paid, and told the waiter to keep thechange.(Shaboli's translation of "Water Margin·Anti-poetry of Song Jiang in Xunyanglou")

Currently, the best English translation of "Water Margin" is Mr. Shaboli's book. Shaboli was born in the United States and came to China as a young man, where he stayed for more than half a century. In order to translate "Water Margin" well, it is said that he devoted himself to studying the local chronicles and old dialects of Shandong. It can be said that due to his sincerity, the translation was both "expressive" and "elegant". However, history tells us that the ancient Chinese did not use fountain pens. In the Song Dynasty, they still used writing brushes, so the pen should be changed to the writing-brush.

The following translation takes better care of Westerners’ thinking and understanding habits.

The United States’ linking trade and human rights will only harm the economic interests of both countries.

The US policy of linking trade with human rights can only bring harm to the economic interests of the two countries.

Construction behind closed doors will not work, and China’s development cannot be separated from it. world. China can't develop in isolation from the rest of the world.

4. Avoid dim subjects

The subject is the soul of the sentence, and fixing the subject of the translation is a key step. If the subject is wrong, the entire sentence will appear loose and weak, and may even mislead the reader. For example:

If this issue is not resolved, it will inevitably affect the interests of both countries.

Failure to settle this issue is bound to impair the relations between the two countries seriously.

If the problem is not solved, it is sure to affect the interests between the two countries.

If the problem is not solved, it is sure to affect the interests between the two countries.

p>

Among the above two translations, it is obvious that the subject of the first translation is well chosen and the sentences are fluent. Another example:

A fish was missing from the kitchen, and the owner vowed to investigate and find out who stole the fish.

On the beach in Hawaii, with the coconut shadows dancing and the sea breeze blowing, a young girl was lying on a white plastic chair to relax.

On the Hawaiian sandy beach, thecoconut palms are whirling, the congenial sea breeze is blowing, and a younglady is lying in the white plastic chair resting to restore energy.

Because it is relaxing The reader is also a descriptive text. It is still advisable to use three subjects: the coconut palms, the congenial sea breeze, and a young lady.

5. Avoid monotonous structure and stiff combinations.

Due to the different structures and expressions between Chinese and English, "rigid translation" will not only read awkwardly, but also cause trouble. joke. This requires the translator to flexibly use integration techniques during translation to integrate sentences, highlight the hidden levels in Chinese, and supplement the missing components. Sometimes simple sentences need to be translated into parallel sentences, and sometimes parallel sentences need to be translated into main and subordinate clauses.

At a party commemorating the 20th anniversary of my graduation from college, I suddenly asked my former class teacher: "I'm not short, so why were I placed in the front row?"

At the reunion party for 20anniversary of graduation from university, I suddenly asked my former teacherin charge of our class then: "Since I am not of short stature, how did you arrange me at the first row?"

a A highly myopic female doctor went to a shoe shine shop to shine her high boots, and the bald boss personally knelt down to serve her.

When a woman doctor who suffers asevere myopic went to shoes-polishing shop for her buskins, the bald boss squatted down to serve her personally.

6. Avoid "foolish loyalty", no Know the ways of adding and subtracting

Foreigners may feel confused about what we are familiar with. The translator needs to add necessary explanations and supplements or subtract from the translation. Otherwise, foreigners will be confused. After all, Chinese-English translation is ultimately for foreigners.

For example: Feng Shui

fengshui——the location of a house ortomb, supposed to have an influence on the fortune of a family.

7. Precept sentences Repetition

Repeat more in Chinese to strengthen the tone; in English, avoid repetition as much as possible.

The king said: "The bird may not have flownyet", replied the King, "Once it does, it will soar to the sky. It maynot have cried out yet, but once it does, it will startle everyone."

(Yang Xianyi's translation of "Historical Records - Funny Biographies")

Whether it is Chinese or foreigners, dead or alive, what is right is right and what is wrong is wrong.

What is right is right and what is wrong is wrong, no matter what it concerns, the Chinese or foreigners, the dead or the living.

8. Stop starting over from scratch and lose your energy.

The translation should strive to be "faithful" and match the momentum, mood and structure of the original Chinese sentence as much as possible.

For example, Wang Shifu of the Yuan Dynasty wrote "The Romance of the West Chamber", which was adapted and translated by Zhang Xuejing——

Took out Zhang Sheng's letter and looked back at the words on the dressing table. Dressing box, I rolled my eyes and thought I had it, put the letter in it, and when I closed the lid, I deliberately left a corner exposed.

Rose took out Zhang's letter, shethought, "It would be better to put it in her make-up case, and letterfind it herself." So she put the letter in the case, leaving a corner of it sticking out, so that it would be quickly noticed.

It is not difficult to see that the translation is far from the original text and does not match each other, becoming "two skins".

Have you died in excessive resentment?

Death? No, no, I'm still alive -

Please give me fire, give me fire!

Have you perished in this deep rancorand bitterness?

Death? No, no. I'm still alive.

Please give me a light, give me alight!