您現在的位置: Language Tips> Columnist  
 





 
Learn to write idiomatic English
[ 2007-04-13 14:45 ]

Translators should try to avoid Chinglish like the plague.

Chinglish is Chinese English, idiomatic Chinese forcibly rendered into awkward English, often literally and word for word.

In translation, it's sometimes a good idea to forget about the words in the original language in order to put across the meaning. The ideas to convey are often more important than what particular words may have been used in the original language.

"Did you eat?" (吃了嗎?), for example, is a piece of Chinglish expression, innocuous as it may look.

The purpose of someone asking you "Did you eat?" is just for them to say "Hello" most of the time, rather than to seriously probe into your dinner menu. Its English equivalent therefore will be "How are you doing?" or simply "Hi!"

In these cases, don't bother to translate verbatim, unless you want to achieve an extra effect. "Long time no see" (好久不見)is another piece of Chinglish gem. This one, however, is simple, short and funny, and may yet creep its way into accepted English on the strength of its peculiar comical-sounding effect. English is flexible, you see, so don't be surprised if one day "long time no see" becomes part of Standard English as a Chinese import.

I'm kidding. Don't wait for that day. It may never come. At any rate, you as a translator for the time being should try to ensure that your English writing read fluent, natural and idiomatic.

Idiomatic?

Yeah, like, idioms. An idiom involves "a group of words with a meaning of its own that is different from the meanings of each separate word put together" (Longman). In the same way Chinese idioms lend color to Chinese writing idiomatic phrases and expressions have the same effect in English.

This is an area where most Chinese translators are found wanting. I often hear translators excuse themselves saying their English sounds awkward because they have to "explain Chinese things" to the ignorant foreigner. But that's just another lame excuse they give. I think Chinglish scribes write the way they do due not to their overwhelming love for the motherland, but to their very lack of skills in navigating the muddy waters of English as a foreign language, plain and simple.

Plain and simple, indeed, translators should learn to write idiomatic English. If they do that, they'll have put their best foot forward.

Keep clinging to Chinglish, on the other hand, they'll keep doing their clients, as well as themselves, a disservice.

 

About the author:
 

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

 
 
相關文章 Related Stories
 
         
 
 
 
 
 
         

 

 

 
 

48小時內最熱門

     
  “出入境手續”怎么說?
  炒股應該跟著感覺走嗎?
  學會說“不”
  The Da Vinci Code《達?芬奇密碼》(精講之三)
  “帥呆了”怎么說

本頻道最新推薦

     
  著名景點名稱英譯要避免說法不一
  Hocus pocus?
  英語和漢語之間的詞匯空缺
  Greener pasture?
  “江南”怎么譯

論壇熱貼

     
  CDCLUB(BJ)+非凡英語沙龍(e-Salon)秋日朝陽公園英語交游盛會
  “黃土高坡”怎么說
  “穿幫”怎么說
  “托養協議”,指老人托養
  As If!(e-c)practice
  “試婚”怎么說






主站蜘蛛池模板: 最新中文字幕在线观看| 精品视频一区二区三三区四区| 天堂√在线中文最新版8| 久久国产精品一国产精品| 欧美黑人粗硬大在线看| 四虎最新紧急更新地址| 四虎免费影院ww4164h| 天堂网2018| 中文字幕日韩精品无码内射 | 男人桶女人爽羞羞漫画| 国产极品粉嫩交性大片| 99久久夜色精品国产网站| 成人小视频在线观看免费| 久久精品国产精品| 欧美成人综合在线| 人妻无码一区二区三区AV| 美女网站免费福利视频| 国产成人AV区一区二区三| 2021av网站| 在线观看日本中文字幕| 一级片一级毛片| 日本高清免费xxx在线观看| 亚洲图片国产日韩欧美| 狠狠久久永久免费观看| 和僧侣的交行之夜樱花| 高校饥渴男女教室野战| 国产精品99久久久久久宅男| 91热视频在线| 天堂在线ww小说| 一区免费在线观看| 手机永久无码国产av毛片| 久久国产精品最新一区| 最近更新2019中文字幕国语4| 亚洲成AV人片在WWW色猫咪| 特级做a爰片毛片免费看| 北岛玲在线一区二区| 色综合久久天天综合| 国产女人水多毛片18| 福利视频757| 国产精品高清一区二区三区| JIZZYOU中国少妇|