Huang's Mandarin House of Asian Antiques

Chinese Song

Chinese Translation Teaching Failures Diagnosed

Chinese translation teaching and learning in university level has been confronted with many failures and deficiencies, mostly because of the lack of awareness of the irreplaceably key role played by contexts either in understanding the source texts or in translating. An empirical study based on the recognition of contextualization in translation is of paramount importance to all translators, esp. university students who are most desperately in need of both guidance and practice in translation.

First and foremost, it is contexts that determine the comprehension of the original contents, meaning and views. Word itself alone can not live without contexts, so do phrase and sentence or even paragraph. A ready consciousness of a complete and consistent context invariably gives rise to a more complete, accurate and insightful grasp of the discourse under analysis. On the contrary, the failure of contextualization is bound to generate sometimes inconsistent, sometimes disjointed, and even self-contradictory rendering, the view of which is universally justified by both Chinese translation theorists and translators.

Secondly, it is contexts that determine the mastery of the structure, form and style of the source texts. The understanding of the original contents and views alone can never guarantee a faithful and comprehensive understanding of the original text, not to mention a further faithful Chinese translation based on comprehension. Besides, the translator should also gain an insight into and stick to the original structure, form and style. It is common knowledge that merely a fraction of words, phrases or sentences, at most, can only hint at the structure, form or style of the whole discourse whereas contexts unveil the flow of ideas, the development of the utterances, the organizational features of the original text, and the stylistic features of the author's works.

Last but not least, it is contexts that determine the quality of different translation versions of the same text. Chinese translation techniques applied, or the choice of words made must owe the kind of treatment to the needs of specific contexts, and be selected strictly within the realm of a faithful and smooth rendering of the original text. Moreover, in translation, every word chosen or transitional phrases selected lead to a series of changes and considerations upon the treatment of the following contents in the text. Thus, a high-quality translation version must subject to the realization of contextualization in translation.

An easy and readable rendering is justified by the translator's exhaustive efforts made to read the Chinese version out aloud time and time again and check whether the rendering is comfortable to the picky ears of the target audience. In this way, generally speaking, stiff translation and mechanical copying are readily perceived and further revised into idiomatic expressions in the receptor language.

In the final analysis, as regards the learning and teaching of Chinese translation at university level, it is highly advisable that all translation programs pay due attention to the importance of contexts and provide corresponding translation exercise and practice based on a whole discourse instead of focusing on the translation techniques applied in translating a certain word, phrase or sentence, which constitute the common practice in most translation programs. Students, on the other hand, should take the initiative to practice translation based on a complete discourse and equip themselves with a ready awareness of contextualization in translation upon introspection and retrospection.

About the Author

Michael Song is a professional Chinese translator working for VERY TRANSLATION which provides
Chinese translation
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