My-Understanding-of-Translation

MyUnderstandingofTranslationTranslation,asanindependentdiscipline,hasalonghistory.Translatorsandscholarshavebeingmadestudiesofitandhavemadetremendousprogress.Astothedefinitionoftranslation,IagreewiththeopinionsofEugeneNida,whoseexactdefinitionoftranslationisthattranslatingconsistsinreproducinginthereceptorlanguagetheclosestnaturalequivalentofthesourcelanguagemessage,firstintermsofmeaningandsecondlyintermsofstyle.Whendotranslation,thetranslatorshouldfirstreadthroughthepassagehewilltranslate,shouldhaveathoroughandoverallunderstandingofthepassage,thenwillhebeabletostarttodotranslation.Justasweseeanotice,wereaditandnaturallyweunderstandwhatitshowsandwhatitwantstotell,anddoingthiswillhelpthepassagetoleavesomeimpressionsuponus,thenaccordingtotherequirementsofthetranslation,wewillchooseinthereceptorlanguageorthetargetlanguagetheproperequivalentofthesourcelanguage,sowecantranslatethenoticeintoEnglishandsoon.AsfarasIamconcerned,themeaningisthemostimportantandwhatpeoplemostwanttoshowbytranslatingandmostwanttoknowbyreadingthetranslationistheinformationthetranslationwillconveyandthemeaninginthepassage.Sowhendoingtranslation,thetranslatormustmakesurethatheorsheactuallyhasagoodunderstandingofwhathewilltranslate,thisis,inmyopinion,thedoorwayorthethresholdtothetranslation,ifthetranslatordoesnotunderstandthepassageduetosomereasons,thenitisnotlikelythathewilltranslatewellorhasaeasyandfluenttranslation.Inmyopinion,translationiseverywhere.Youcanfindtranslationanywhereandanytime.Evenwhenweareonbuses,wecanseethattherearetranslationsonthesignboardsonbothsidesoftheroad:whenwegointoaparkorhotels,wecanseemanywordswhichareexpressedbyseveralkindsoflanguages,forexample,“小心地滑,accordinglyitwastranslatedintoWetFloor,TakeCare”.Ofcoursetheyareexpressedsoastoletforeignersknowclearlyandthisisoneofthefunctionsoftranslation.Whydopeopledotranslation?Thequestiondealswiththefunctionsoftranslation.First,itistrulythatitisascience,andthenitmustbeandshouldbedonesystematically.Translatinghasitsownrulesthatmustbeobeyed;otherwisethescientificalitywillbeaproblem.Andjustastalkedabove,peoplewanttoshow,totellortoknowsomethingbydoingtranslationandbyreadingtranslation.Sothiscouldbesaidtheinformativefunctionofthetranslation.Inmyopinion,theinformativefunctionisthemostimportantoneofthetranslation,whateverthelanguagesinvolvedinthetranslation,orwhichparticularkindoflanguageisinvolved,suchastranslationbetweenChineseandEnglishorthetranslationbetweentheclassicalChineseandthecolloquialChineseorthevernacularChinese.AsanEnglishmajor,IdohavedifficultiesinunderstandingtheclassicalChinese,andtrulyIdon’thaveagoodunderstandingoftheclassicalChinese,andthisdoesreallyaffectmytranslationwhenweareoftenrequiredtodotranslationbetweenEnglishandChinese,forsometimesIcannothaveagoodandproperunderstanding,Icannotdothetranslationwellandfluently.EvenifIfinallyfinishthetranslation,undoubtedlywhenpeoplereadmytranslation,theywillfeelpuzzledanditisverylikelythattheinformationtheycangetbyreadingislimitedandthecorrectnessisinquestion.Andwhat’smoreimportantisthatnowadaysthetrendofglobalizationisbecomingmuchmoreapparent,soisthecross-culturalcommunication.Consideringthattranslationcantransmitcultureandinformation,soitshouldbedonewithaseriousattitude.Inaddition,becauseofthecross-culturalcommunicationandthetranslationbetweendifferentlanguages,readers,takemyselfforexample,byreadingtranslationworks,suchasthewesternclassics,Icannotonlygetnewinformationbutalsocanhavepleasures,Ifeelcomfortableandrelaxed,Icanenjoytheaestheticsoftheauthorswritingandthedescribedworldandthedifferentlifethoughthetranslatedversionsandtheoriginalonescannotbethesameandtherewillbediscrepancies.Itisliketherecreationalfunctionofthelanguage.Astothecriteriaoftranslation,Ifeelthatthedifferentcriteriathetranslatorshaveandhavebeingadvocatedhavetheirpersuasiveness,andfrommyhumbleopinion,Ifeelthatagoodtranslationshouldfirstensurethatthespiritandthemeaningsarekept,andthentheformandthestyleshouldbeconsidered,andtrulyagoodtranslationshouldbefaithfultotheoriginalone,shouldbefaithfultothewriter,andthestyleshouldbeconsistentwiththeoriginalandatthesametimethetranslationshouldbesmoothandfluent.Thebesttranslationshouldconformtothethreecriteria,namelythemeaning,theform,theexpression.Whendotranslation,thetranslatorsshouldtakethewriterandreaderintoconsideration.Thetranslatorsaresupposedtoknowclearlythewriter’sintentionofwritingandhaveanoverallimpressionofthewriter,thebackground,whatthepassageisabout,whatstylethepassageis,whatspecialculturethepassagehas,andwhatisthesimilarityanddifferencebetweenthesourcelanguageandthetargetlanguageofthepassage.Thatistosay,alltheinformationaboutthewriterandthepassageneedpayingattention.Thenthetranslatorsthemselvesshouldalsobereaders,thentheycanunderstandthereaders’inneremotionsmoreclear,whichwilldogoodtothetranslation.Alltheseshouldbeconsideredduringtheprocessoftranslating.Tobeagoodtranslatorisnoeasything.Inmyopinion,themostimportantthingatranslatorshouldhaveistheattitude,havingagood,rigorous,activeattitude,beinghard-wo