When a client assigns a translation job to a vender, has he/she realized the mistaken script or words underlying in original file to be translated? Should the assigned translator just translate loyally to the original script or words or converse the errors to correct ones according to 3 ways which the author suggests?
While we talk about the translation quality, recognition of errors in original presents great importance for a quality translation work. As we know, the translators are supposed to be the discerning readers who pursue refinement more than literacy. So when we take the recognition of original mistakes as an important factor for perfect performance. The assigned translator should emphasize on the interrelationship and coherence of the source language text and never draws an imprudent conclusion without any supporting proof. However, simple mistakes such as typing error, the slip of the pen and some factual mistakes could also be detected by an experienced translator. Actually, it is not rare to make such mistakes in the source materials unless the translator regards himself a first-hand information extractor instead of a literal translation operator. Also, the lack of the comprehension about the background, culture can make his translation no sense. In addition, sentence structure or arrangement is sometimes involved in careless original writing materials. The following examples might cast a light on common mistakes.
A sentence quoted from a report that related to ethnic investigation: “Among the informants, the percentage of race of Han is 97.5% while the ethnic races only share a percentage of 25%”. Evidently the data should be 2.5% instead of 25%. The publisher would lose fame for such a stupid mistake.
Let’s give another example about Chinese legal system history with such a statement in an original text: The modernization period in China lasted almost a century, from 1860 to 1949. The ages before the year 1910 is defined as Chinese feudalistic legal system time and the period after that till 1924 is called western modern legal system introduction and imitation period. After 1924, Chinese legal system stepped the stage of party regulating period….. However, the fact is Chinese feudalistic legal system doesn’t end in the year but in 1900. By checking and confirming, the translator changed the number after the communication with the writer of the text for translation.
In the process of translation quality control, recognition of original mistakes and handling with them should be paid great attention to by almost every translator. In despite of different translation constitutions, the methods to handle original mistakes can be roughly summed up to the following:
First, try to give correct translation directly followed by informing the writer to adjust the source edition.
Second, let the text provider know the factual mistake and continue the translation work after the writer has modified the text.
The third way is to translate the problem part into target language giving the correct information and to offer the relative notes or marks. However, the third way is only limited on the situation that the original writer is unavailable.
The prevalence of online free translation benefit countless communicators who may be professional translators or merely foreign web page browsers whose English is not good enough to access the relative information. However, depending on the online translation too heavily sometimes leads you to the opposite direction. For example: when you feed the sentence: The insurance was invalid for the invalid. (这项保险对残疾人是无效的) into the Google translation box the counterpart version appears as 保险是无效的无效.
Anyone who has even the least knowledge about insurance will feel amused by the amusing translation.
Of course we can not fully deny that the translation software which can do something for the translation process. For example, Trodos is quite helpful. Here I do not mean to discuss or compare the advantage and the disadvantage between Trodos and some other online tools such as Google and Altavista. What I want to say is that any software no matter how powerful it may be, is of assistance in essence. However, the internet has changed translators’ mental habit when they work on a translation project. The contemplation that used to come naturally is becoming a struggle. I am worrying that the style of translating online which is to puts “efficiency” and “immediacy” above all else, may be weakening our capacity for the kind of deep reading and translation. In this money-worshipping world, academic excellence seems to have been relegated to a role of secondary importance. The translator, a kind of intellectual, tends to become “mere decoders of information”, instead of weighing our words when we translate. And the hustling and bustling to routine life makes deep-reading and intensive study a kind of luxury.
Sometimes I really wonder that whether the fundamental reason that so many hardworking translators haven’t been replaced thoroughly by those stiff machines is the flexibility of human language or not. The complicatedly-built language structure therefore has to be decoded by the genuine masters. I never surrender myself to any machinery servant but to boost its utilization to the utmost. I used to proofread a Chinese- English translation project about cooking equipment brochure. In my opinion, decent product launch is the first step to success and an eye-attracting pamphlet with delicate pictures and stirring words is critical to publicize their products. The first translator completed the task with a dumbfounding speed and quality— 20,000 words within 3 days. You can hardly imagine how poor the translation quality it was, it was nothing but piling of English words throughout the pages. Another victim of auto-translation! Finally, I retranslated it at the cost of 5 long days. Actually, it is the incidence that made me pay much more concerning about the online translation. I have to say the online translation is like a double edged sward, and if you have the ability to link all the fragment information together or grasp the substance meaning from the strange-looking sentences, the online translation is okay. But to those more demanding customers, only human talent and the sense of responsibility will show their prowess in bridging culture and ideas.
This article firstly explains the importance of legal document translation in nowadays world, then provides two fundamental principles of qualified legal translation with the specific examples.
After china entered the “WTO” successfully, the domestic market presents the unprecedented translation demands and serious emphasis on legal document translation. Along with the trend of globalization and the increase of cross-cultural exchanges, translators have already been aware of the importance of legal translation study. The legal translation tends no longer to be regarded as a linguistic code conversion process, but a legal mechanism in the act of communication.
The law is a kind of social norm, it is enacted or approved by the government or other authorities and people in that particular country or area must obey. Therefore, the legal language as a carrier of the law rules is broad and complex and it also possesses the professional and standard characteristics for legal context. A success legal document translation requests the translator not only to grasp the meaning of the original text, but also to understand what the legal effect will be performed from the original text. However, the legal translation so far mostly focuses on the settlement of a single word of the sentence-level practical translation skill, rarely seen on systemic and synthesis aspects as well as theoretical basis and legal practices.
Frankly speaking, on the way of legal document translation I am still in a research process herein is only some summary on the basis of reading a lot of legal translations:
1.The accuracy of vocabulary, semantics, and syntax
As a special text translation, legal vocabulary has its own features, such as frequent use of archaism and the loanwords; the word usage is serious and standard; the ordinary word has the special legal meanings; the use of doubling word or near-synonym pairs and repeated structure; the long sentence, complex sentence on the high side. Let’s see an example:
Translation 1: Parties shall adhere to the principle of honesty and trust worthiness in exercising their rights and performing their obligations.
In this translation version, we can see the twice use of the word “their”, this situation in the legal translation is extremely rare. The legal language should avoid using the indefinite pronoun. Therefore, should obliterate “their” and instead of “thereof” as legal expression. See its revision in Translation 2.
Translation 2: The parties to the contract shall, in accordance with the principle of good faith, execute the rights and perform the obligations thereof.
2.Faithful and rigorous; standard and smooth
As law text is born of high degree seriousness, the legal translation must be loyal to the original content, at the same time make the translation to be smooth and conformable to the legal tongue style. Therefore, in my view, “faithful and rigorous, standard and smooth” is very important. The ideal legal translation should be the perfect combination of both above. Here are two examples:
Translation 1: After a contract goes into effect, the parties may reach a supplementary agreement on items that have not been included or are not explicitly in the contract, such as quality, price or remuneration, place for performance and other matters;
The meaning of “a supplementary agreement” is not definite.
Although “that have not been included” is a restrictive attributive clause, it still doesn’t explain what it contains in.
“Such as”causes the sentence to appear insufficiently strict, and the meaning between translation version and original text has the significant difference.
The revision sees the translation 2.
Translation 2: If, after the contract made by and between the parties becomes effective, there is no agreement therein on the terms and provisions regarding quality, price or remuneration and place of performance, etc. or such agreements are unclear, the parties may, through consultation, agree upon supplementary terms and provisions;
As the legal translation’s uniqueness, it is not only required for the translator to have a superb translation skill, but also to have good sense of legal articles. Absence of these two premises, the quality of legal document translation can not be guaranteed.
In the article the author attempts to make clear several points for attention in thesis translation—style of expression, word selection and format.
A thesis is often an in-depth discussion on a particular subject matter, for instance, the results from a research, data analysis of a survey, usually reaching a conclusion of some significance. Thesis translation should comply with the unique characteristics of theses in general, especially in style of expression, word selection and format. Here are some tips which may guide you in your thesis translation.
Style of expression, the thesis writer is expected to make his viewpoints clear to the readers, leaving as little doubt as possible referring to his intention. On the part of a translator, he should first and foremost gain a complete understanding of what the thesis is all about. Without a full and correct comprehension of the thesis content for translation, how can he transform it into another language? When all the information in the thesis is fully digested, the translator can then move onto the next stage—put it in the target language. But how good his translation turns out to be has a lot to do with the style of expression. Content usually determines the way the thesis is presented. When it comes to thesis translation, expression should be clear, correct and convincing. Good language skills in both the source and target languages lay a solid foundation for thesis translation. Different expression techniques should be taken into consideration in order to achieve a variety that is attractive to the reader’ eyes and maintains his attention, for example, making a long sentence into several short ones. The most important is to be in line with the original style of the thesis as intact as possible, so that the information lost in thesis translation may be reduced to a minimum.
Word selection, unlike the translation of literature works, thesis translation leaves little room for the translator’s creative writing to be in full play. In conformity with the formality in style of thesis, more formal words are preferred in thesis translation. Rather than creating an ingenious translation of a word, a translator should first make sure to adopt a previously well-established translation if there are any. In terms of word selection, it is also required that the translator should have certain familiarity with the special area the thesis which he deals with. In selection of the most correct word, the translator should make use of all resources available at hand, in particular, never ignoring the power of Internet which can virtually provide you with all information which you need. Various special dictionaries can be helpful too. All in all, translators should always keep in mind that thesis translation demands preciseness
Format, thesis has its own unique format. Though format always comes second to content, its importance should not be overlooked in that only the combination of the two can lead to a perfect thesis. The format of the thesis translation should also be well attended to. Especially there are differences in the application of punctuation between English and Chinese languages. For instance, book titles referred in a thesis are included in the quotation marks or in italics or in bold type in English, but they are marked with “《》” in Chinese. Though these small errors may not affect the readers’ understanding of your translation, it may reflect your attitude in serving your clients that you have not paid as much attention as you are supposed to. Remember that the devil is always in the details.
As China enters into a knowledge-based economy, thesis translation will be increasingly in high demand. Translators can make a greater contribution in the introduction of latest achievements occurring overseas by producing more valuable thesis translations.
In the trend of globalization, the contract translation plays a vital role in the aspect of fair cooperation. In this article, I introduce four principles of contract translation and detail them as examples.
To my working experience of translation, the major cases came from the business documents, especially the contract translation. In fact, the international business activities become more frequently in the process of globalization, and therefore the status of commercial translation gets increasingly remarkable. The contract translation belongs to the business translation, and it is usually pretty hard for beginners. For a person who wants to engage in contract translation, he or she firstly needs to know what the eligible principles to the contract translation are. Many experts summed up the characteristics of commercial translation into five or seven principles. In my own eyes, there are “Four C’s Principles” in contract translation, which separately represent Correctness, Clarity, Conciseness and Completeness.
I.Correctness
The definition of contract means a promise or a set of promises, a breach of which shall be resolved by the law, or the performance of the the law in some way is recognized as a duty. Therefore, in dealing with contract translation, we need to ensure the earnest and accuracy in every corner of the document; otherwise, it is extremely easy to cause the two parties’ misunderstanding and lead the dispute, or even let others to suspect the sincerity of the translator. Generally speaking, there are two types of incorrectness:
a.The non-standard format
For example: we usually use “Dear sirs” and “Your faithfully” to open and end our letters respectively. However, in contract translation, we do not use the phrases, such as “Dear Sirs” and “Yours faithfully.”
b.The non-formal format
Let us see a sentence: “Ownership to such information and the interest related thereto shall remain with the provider all the time.” Here we should change “ownership” to “title”, because the latter is more formal.
II.Clarity
I remembered that Zheng Yuanjie (a famous children’s fiction writer in China) used to write a set of stories for his son to teach him how to avoid breaking laws. Of course it is an interesting idea, which is of importance, and it has aroused our attention to the law. When working in contract translation, we must make every effort to ensure concrete and explicit. For instance, we do not say “The contract will remain valid until the end of this month”, but we should say “The contract will remain valid until December 4, 2008.” The reason for this is that the latter is clearer than the former.
III.Conciseness
Let us see a common sentence in contract translation: “This contract is made by and between the buyers and the sellers, whereby the buyers agree to buy and the sellers agree to sell the under mentioned commodity according to the terms and conditions stipulated below.” The italic parts are the usual expressions in contracts, and these expressions regularly refer to synonym or near-synonym in compound structure. This structure appears to be redundant, but in fact it is rigorous and precise.
IV.Completeness
A qualified contract translation must provide its readers with the information which is needed and answer the questions which are concerned. Compare the follow two sentences:
A.According to the contract, your order for 500 microscopes has been shipped on board the vessel on June 5.
B.According to the contract, your order for 500 microscopes has been shipped on board the vessel “Victoria” on June 5. The vessel is to leave for your port on June 8 and will arrive at your port on June 25.
Obviously, sentence B provided more comprehensive information, which is not only including the name of vessel, but also the arrival date.
Above four points is just the first step to the contract translation, there are still many words which need to notice, many phrases need to mind and many sentence structures need to heed. It is hoped that these four principles of contract translation could establish the favorable concept to those freshmen.
Many methods have been released for a wide variety of managing a translation project. But some essential tactics have been hidden behind those articles that are published free on the Internet. These tactics include project definition, translator selection, professional proofreading and quality review. The problem is how we can use these steps to assure the quality of the final translation? As for the requirement definition to a project, we should learn the writing style of the original text, special terminology and the target market the translation is used for. Terminology is a direct characteristic for the audience to get the first expression. Grammatical correction is just a normal criterion for a quality translation. Words in a language are active in real life and business practice. Many words don’t mean their meanings in a dictionary. There are many extended and even implicative meanings for active words in language practice. Only a native translator or one who have lived in a mother tongue country for a long time can grasp these meanings except for technical document translations. For technical translation, the key is to choose an expert in the technical industry concerned. He has gone through many projects on the process of either management or technical direction. He knows how the technical process works and avoids misunderstanding the details of the translation contents. Terminology in technical fields (including social science) is standardized in language practice and is used in the most common ways. The important core for the quality management is to keep glossaries updated in related fields in comparatively real time with the development of project accumulated. A good translator may not be a good proofreader. For good translators, the important thing for him/her is to catch the stream meanings of sensitive sentences and rewrite them in an understandable and fluent way and this also demands the written sentences to reflect the original style even of very national characteristic. For example, “Fuwa” is the final name of Olympic mascot for Beijing Olympic Games. It means a mascot doll for 5 kinds of happiness according to the traditional social conventions. It is got by Chinese Pinyin Romanization, which reflects the origin and expresses the original pronunciation.
A quality review always needs a professional who has the ability to inspect the translation. Perhaps he is not a perfect translator, but he can examine the fluency of sentences and the terminology accuracy and the final writing style suitable to the original text. These items require much more ability of language utility and carefulness for the details in the translation. A good proofreader looks into the translation for errors in it. His most important ability lies in amending and correcting the minor mistakes or errors hidden in the translated sentences comparing with the original text. He plays a role to adjust the improper expressions and synonyms as well as correct the mistaken spellings to make the translation more professional. Self-check is often used for small translation projects. It requires translators’ high writing quality and self-examination ability. For some projects with more than 1000 words the self-check is beyond the scope the translator can undo the mistakes in the translation because the more translated words there are, the easier the mistakes occur.
It is a must to have the translation double checked by another one in this situation. A professional translation cannot contain any minor mistake in it. The translation for publication with mistakes can destroy the public image of an organization or a company. Any translation company pursuing zero rate of error can be considered as to be responsible to its clients. For anything the result is the most important. Whatever quality control process a translation company apply, it must guarantee an accurate, sterling, fluent translation without any minor error delivered to its clients.
