Translation
is the art of erasing oneself in order to speak in another's voice.
– David Cole, professor, author, and correspondent (b. 1958)
Class routine:
The main content of this course will be a series
of translation practice exercises, starting off very short, then increasing
in length and difficulty. The professor will choose most of the texts, but you
are also welcome to contribute Chinese texts you'd like to use as class assignments
anytime during the semester, though the earlier the better.
The texts for translation can be downloaded from this
page - see links below. You are expected to finish your translation and e-mail
it back to the professor at latest by the Monday before the
next class. The professor will then compile all the translations and send them
out to everyone by e-mail. You are expected to read over your classmates' translations
and make corrections and suggestions, so we can all learn from each other. We
will go over the texts in class, and the professor will offer suggestions for
improvement to each student, along with a model translation for reference. The
model translation is by no means to be considered a "standard answer"
or the only right way to translate a passage. It will, however, include important
points of reference, such as verb forms, nominal number
choices, and useful sentence structures and idioms
appropriate to the context. Each student is then asked to correct and revise
their translations and resubmit them by e-mail, again at the latest by Monday
of each week. The professor will usually do some final editing and
send the finished translations out again to the whole class, unless the passage
is quite long, in which case there will only be a model translation. Other occasional
exercises focusing on specific topics in translation may be assigned.
It is very useful if you have a notebook computer
you can bring to class; that way you can do corrections and revisions in class
as we go along, and you can also look things up on the Internet as needed.
Note, however, that you are expected to use physical
books as reference works, and not to rely on online dictionaries.
While there are some very useful online resources for Chinese and Chinese-to-English,
such as the online
Yahoo dictionary, they are as yet extremely inadequate, incomplete and often
unreliable as well. See below for which references are required for this course.
You will find further online reference works here.
There will be a final exam consisting of an in-class
Chinese-to-English translation similar in nature other work done in the class,
as a test of the level of your translation skill by the end of the semester.
You will be allowed to use any references you choose.
Your final grade will be based on the quality
of your translations and other class work, attendance and punctuality, participation,
progress made and attitude, and your final exam.
Indispensable reference works:
(1) Rodale, J.I., ed. The Synonym Finder.
New York: Warner Books, 1978 (originally published by the Rodale Press). Taiwan
reprint available at 書林
Bookman Books; paperback version possibly available at Lai
Lai 來來 Books; Cave's
敦煌 may also have it.
(2) 新世紀漢英大辭典 A New Century Chinese-English
Dictionary. 外語教學與研究出版社, 2003. Purchase at 秋水堂
(Or: 漢英辭典. 修訂版. 1995. 北京：主編：危東亞; out of print and currently difficult to get).
(3) A good desktop English-English dictionary,
like Webster’s, Merriam-Webster’s, American Heritage, or Random House. The online
version of Merriam-Webster’s is available here: http://www.m-w.com/home.htm
Note: English-Chinese dictionaries are useful for many purposes, but don’t trust
them blindly; check again in a good English-English dictionary.
Search
engine:
Use Google. You can set it for English, Chinese,
Chinese traditional characters, or Taiwan Websites only; each is useful for
different purposes.
Online Pinyin tools:
(1) Convert zhuyin fuhao to Hanyu Pinyin:
This tool will convert zhuyin fuhao (better known as bopomofo or bpmf) to Hanyu
Pinyin.
http://www.pinyin.info/tools/converter/bpmf2hp.html
(2) Pinyin tone tool: Type out
the Pinyin spellings with numbers for the tones, and this online tool puts in
the correct tone markings for you.
http://toshuo.com/pinyin-tone-tool/#
(3) Theron Stanford's Pinyin tone marking
tool: Generates Pinyin with tone marks as you type
http://www.geocities.com/shixilun/pinyintextfield.html
(4) Pinyin Annotator: Convert
Chinese characters to Pinyin:
http://www.pinyinannotator.com/index.php
Elements of Chinese to English translation:
(1) Make sure you fully understand the Chinese
original, including specialized vocabulary, background, assumptions and associations,
idioms, slang, and allusions.
(2) Word-for-word translation may be helpful for
your rough draft, but right from the beginning it is better if you can “hear”
a native-speaking English voice in your head expressing the ideas of the Chinese
original in a credible and natural way in English. If you speak English well,
you will translate well. If your English is based mainly on memorized (or looked-up)
vocabulary and grammar rules, your translations may not flow and sound natural.
Read your work aloud after you have finished it to catch mistakes and test for
naturalness. Listen to your “gut”, the way you would do for Chinese!
(3) Pay attention to regional differences; decide
beforehand whether to use US or British or some other variety of English; it
will affect vocabulary, spelling and grammar. The same expression can mean very
different things in the two dialects, e.g. to table a motion means ‘to bring
up a motion’ in UK English, but ‘to remove from consideration indefinitely’
in US English, just the opposite of the UK meaning; to perform erratically is
‘to play up’ in British English, but ‘to act up’ in US English. In UK English
you can say ‘to prevent someone doing something’; in US English you must add
a preposition: ‘to prevent someone from doing something’. There are further
differences in Canadian, US, South African, and other varieties of English.
Inconsistency will confuse the reader.
(4) When in doubt about a phrase, do a Google
search on it to see how common it is, paying attention to where the site is
based. If there are very few hits, the phrase may need some revision. The most
important thing in translation is knowing when you do not know something. It’s
OK not to know something, long as you know you don’t know it, so you can look
it up or ask. If you assume you know something, even ignoring the feeling that
a usage or idea is a bit odd, you are certain to make many mistakes.
(5) Use correct Romanization for Chinese personal
and place names and special terms. The current standard is Hanyu Pinyin, but
different passages may have different requirements.
(6) Pay attention to register, that is, the correct
level of language you are using, and the tone it communicates.
(7) Get feedback from each other before finalizing
your translation.
(8) Use a spell checker, and a grammar checker
too, if you find it helpful.
(9) Learn and use good format,
appropriate to the type of text you are translating.
1. a. Practice
texts for translation (Five Short Stories)
(9/17/08)
b. Translations
of stories 1-3 by class members
c. Translations
of stories 4 and 5 by class members
d. Translations
of stories 1-5 by Karen Chung (11/01/08)
2. a. Practice text for translation
(Bo Yang) (9/25/08)
b. Translations
of Bo Yang piece by class members (updated 10/16/08; 10/22/08; 11/01/08)
c. Translation of Bo Yang
piece by Karen Chung (11/1/08)
3. a. Practice text for
translation (Shao Xian); 10/23/08
b. Translations
of Shao Xian piece by class members (10/30/08; 11/06/08)
c. Translation
of Shao Xian piece by Karen Chung (1/09/09)
4. a. Practice text for translation: Children’s
literature (1) (10/30/08)
b. Practice text for translation: Children’s
literature (2) (11/01/08; 11/13/08)
c. Translations
of Children's literature assignment (1) by class members (11/06/08; 11/13/08)
d. Translation
of Children's literature assignment (1) by Karen Chung (1/09/09)
e. Translations
of Children's literature assignment (2) by class members (11/06/08; 11/13/08;
11/20/08)
f. Translation of Children's
literature assignment (2) by Karen Chung (1/09/09)
5. Practice texts for translation: a. Classical Chinese novels (1): Passages
from Hong Lou Meng, ch. 12 and 14;
read entire chapters for context: Ch.
12 source page Ch.
14 source page (12/04/08)
b. Translations of Hong
Lou Meng, ch. 12 assignment by class members (12/11/08)
c. Translations
of Hong Lou Meng, ch. 14 assignment by class members (12/18/08)
d. Translation
of Hong Lou Meng, ch. 12 and ch. 14 assignments by Karen Chung (1/09/09)
e.
Classical Chinese novels (2): Excerpt
from Xi You Ji, ch. 33 (12/18/08)
f. Translations
of Xi You Ji, ch. 33 by class members (12/25/08; updated 1/08/09)
6. a. Four poems for translation
(1/08/09)
b. Translations
of four poems for translation by class members (1/15/09)
7. Final project: Short short story by Ai Ya: "Hongse
de Shangxian Yue" (1/09/09) Submit by e-mail no later than January
17.