聊聊翻譯

Translation is a challenging task. I observed many successful attempts on this forum recently. I attempted translation quite a bit in the past. I am sharing a few lessons from my own unsuccessful attempts. Monther tongue is so strong that it inevitably shows up in my translation. My attempts were mostly marredd with Chinglish. The English syntax is dramatically different from Chinese. My impression is English's priority in 4 W is this order, who, what, where, and when. Another impression is verb makes a stronger statement than noun, adjective, and adverb. I have to rely on dictionaries during translation due to my limited vocabulary. I learned that Chinese English dictionaries do not provide sufficient information to reveal subtle differences in English synonyms. Further reseach of a word using an English dictionary is essential. So much for my Chinglish, I am listing one example of problematic translations, at least I think they reveal the limitations of Chinese English dictionaries.

The word "Staggering" is not the best choice here. I guess the translator did not bother look up its definition in an English dictionary. 

Definition of staggering
: so great as to cause one to stagger : ASTONISHING, OVERWHELMING
a staggering feat
staggering medical bills

 
 

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Yes, Looking up in the E-E dictionary is a good point! -beautifulwind- 給 beautifulwind 發送悄悄話 beautifulwind 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) () 05/13/2021 postreply 09:41:07

Agree ^ -青鬆站- 給 青鬆站 發送悄悄話 青鬆站 的博客首頁 (185 bytes) () 05/13/2021 postreply 09:42:40

Thanks for sharing. Well said. Can ‘t agree more. -天邊一片白雲- 給 天邊一片白雲 發送悄悄話 天邊一片白雲 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) () 05/13/2021 postreply 11:14:56

謝謝 -顫音- 給 顫音 發送悄悄話 顫音 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) () 05/13/2021 postreply 12:50:53

翻譯真的很難, 我很久沒有英譯漢漢譯英的習慣了, comprehend, 我新學到的英文知識理解了也翻譯不成漢語, -移花接木- 給 移花接木 發送悄悄話 移花接木 的博客首頁 (119 bytes) () 05/13/2021 postreply 14:22:39

深有同感 -顫音- 給 顫音 發送悄悄話 顫音 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) () 05/13/2021 postreply 16:57:07

Thanks for sharing. Well said. Can ‘t agree more. - 天邊一片白雲 -盈盈一笑間- 給 盈盈一笑間 發送悄悄話 盈盈一笑間 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) () 05/13/2021 postreply 19:07:57

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