These days I spent sometime studying a book entitled the Translator's Guide to Chinglish. It has been frequently recommended by pundits from the school of English Advanced Translation in Beijing Foreign Language University and referred to in many Professional theses in the area of English translation by scholars. Therefore, when I have to do some reading, I didn’t take any hesitation to grab the book and made up my mind that I would take time to dig into the techniques mentioned by the author.
The author of this book is Joan Pinkham, who spent eight years working as an English polisher in Beijing, first at Foreign Languages Press and later at the Central Translation Bureau(Bureau for the Compilation and Translation of Works of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin). With her excellent qualifications and working experience in this profession, Pinkham spared no efforts to offer us readers the generous guidance in English translation. This book is said to be addressed primarily to Chinese translators and advanced students of English who are practising translation, which means that it is exactly the very book which I've been looking for to help me open the door to better and advanced translation. However, this is not just confined to professionals working in relevant areas, for the author thinks it will prove equally useful to other Chinese who are called upon to write English and who wish to improve their mastery of it, like those working in journalism, foreign affairs, business, tourism, advertising and many other fields.
Of course, readers who open this book will have achieved varying levels of skill in their second language. But to one degree or another, the work of all but the most highly trained and experienced among them will inevitably contain elements of Chinglish. It is almost impossible for Chinese individuals to avoid mistakes of Chinglish, unless you were born and raised up in nativ-speaking environment. And Chinglish, for sure, is that misshapen, hybrid language which is neither English nor Chinese, but is always called"English with Chinese Characteristics". The source of Chinglish can be found almost everywhere, some can even be found in published materials like China Daily. Besides, one of the most conspicuous mistakes which can be easily found available almost in every text translated into English from Chinese is the unnecessary words during the process of C-E translation, because English is not like Chinese which tends to draw long sentences and phrases.
The good writing in English is concise, and careful writers say what they mean in as few words as possible. Any words that perform no useful functions in the sentence-that is, which add no meaning at all-should be edited out. Several examples are listed below:
1. A. ...to accelerate the pace of economic reform.
B. ...to accelerate the economic reform.
Analysis:Most Chinese English users are inclined to say "accelerate the pace of economic reform", ignoring that the word"accelerate" already means "to increase the pace of", and the right version should be "accelerate the economic reform".
2. A. There have been good harvests in agriculture.
B. There have been good harvests.
Analysis: “Harvests” implies agriculture. There are no harvests in industry.
3. A. These hardships are temporary in nature.
B. These hardships are temporary.
Analysis: Any adjective describes the “nature” or “character” of the noun it modifies. To say that hardships are “temporary in nature” is like saying the Chinese flag is “red in color”, or the pandas are “few in number”.
4. A. The development of our economy in the future will, to a large extent, depend on...
B. The development of our economy will, to a large extent, depend on...
Analysis: the future tense of the verb is already sufficient enough to demonstrate futurity, thus the phrase “in the future” is definitely unnecessary in sentence A.
5. A. At that time the situation in northeast China was still one where the enemy was stronger than the people’s forces.
B. At that time the enemy in northeast China was still stronger than the people’s forces.
Analysis: “situation” is a particular dangerous noun to apply in one’s writing. Not only is it unnecessary, but also it drags other unnecessary elements after it. (in this instance, “one where”)
6.A. The key to the solution is lies in the curtailment of the expenditure.
B. The solution is to curtail (or cut back on) the expenditure.
Analysis: the word “key” is sometimes useful, but usually it is better to be dispensed with. Just like the word “situation”, it also leads to further unnecessary complications
7.A. We must make an improvement in our work.
B. We must improve our work.
Analysis: Like unnecessary nouns, most unneeded verbs in Chinese occur in phrases. Usually, they are combined with nouns (plus the inevitable articles and prepositions that nouns bring with them). Here the verb “make” is a weak, colorless, all-purpose verb having no specific significance or meaning of its own, while the real action is expressed in the noun “improvement”. Since the verb here does not make any contribution to the sense, it can be edited out:”We must improve our work”.
Additionally, some other redundant words may be less easy to identify. Nevertheless, a little thought will be able to reveal that they add nothing to the meaning of the sentence. When they are deleted the overall meaning of the sentence is not diminished or affected, but more clarified.
There are far more similar examples in this book which can provide us with the correct writing instructions without using Chinglish, especially in avoiding the redundant use of unneeded and repeated words and phrases during C-E translation..
All in all, after reading this book, I gained abundant acquisitions of correct and vigorous English writing techniques, and still, I know that there's still a long way for me to go on my way to better myself as a professional translator.
So if a person is not in the "natural enviroment of native speakers of both languages" then effective communication cannot occur ? A French person living in France who has never been to England can study English as long as he or she likes but never fully achieve accuracy of understanding ? Or will that French person be able to know English thoroughly if he or she is put together in the "natural environment" with a native speaker from Scotland whose brogue could not be understood by any sassonack south of Hadrian's Wall ?
Or are people who are multlingual e.g. Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, Cantonese not able to fully understand these languages if they have not visited some of these countries ?
And what about people who are deaf, dumb and / or blind ? Should they not as well travel abroad if they cannot communicate fully with others that they meet in foreign countries ?
If one is a native English speaker can one not understand a book written in USA if one has never been there ? Do all internet posters have to have been to the "natural environments" of each other's whereabouts to be able to comprehend what others are writing e.g. you can't understand the comments of a poster from Finland since you've never been there ?
"English and Chinese must be interpreted and not merely translated in order to clearly be communicated. Translation is inadequate. There must be a conveyance of cultural mindset in context in addition to proper grammar and commonly accepted language conventions for effective accuracy. This can only be accomplished by experiencing the language in a natural environment of native speakers of both languages." ~ Lin Yutang
That makes sense. I didn't take too much time in wrting this one.
Examples of Chlinglish : @1. "I didn’t take any hesitation" - try "I didn't hesitate" @2. "to dig into the techniques" - try "to explore / research /understand" @3. "who spent eight years working as an English polisher in Beijing"- try "..as an English editor / copywriter / translator..." @4. "With her excellent qualifications and working experience" - try "...work experience" @5. "Pinkham spared no efforts" - try "Pinkham spared no effort" @6. "but more clarified" - try "but clarified" @7. "All in all" - redundant @8. "I gained abundant acquisitions..." - try "I gained a thorough knowledge /understanding..."
The author comments that "...English is not like Chinese which tends to draw long sentences and phrases" and in her own writing provides many examples of "...avoiding redundant use of unneeded and repeated words and phrases". The latter could have been reduced to "avoiding redundances".
Comment