汉英翻译能力的培养
要做一名合格的翻译，首先应打好汉语和英语的基本功，还要学习和研究中外不同的文化，同时还要再学一门专业知识。既然汉英翻译是如此艰巨复杂的任务，那么我们怎样才能有效地对学生进行训练，以提高他们的汉英翻译能力和水平呢？
汉英翻译能力的培养（translation competence development）涉及以下诸多方面：
一.要培养对英语的语感和悟性（language intuition – open and alert mind to pick up idioms, specific expressions, etc.）；
二.要培养对英语的判断能力和鉴赏能力（evaluation capacity – judgment）；
三.要培养对英语的洞察能力和剖析能力（power of observation – insight）；
四.要培养对英语细微特征的反应能力（linguistic nuances alertness）； -
五.要培养对社会文化和跨文化交流的敏感性（social-cultural sensitivity – cross-cultural awareness）；
六.要培养对英语和汉语之间差别的意识 (sense of differences between Chinese and English)；
七.要培养对英语和汉语之间的辩证关系的认识 (awareness of the dialectic relationship between Chinese and English)；
八.要培养对英语“洋为中用”的意识 (“use things foreign to serve Chinese purposes”)；
九.要培养对英语 “学以致用” 的意识 (apply what you have learned in your translation)；
十.要培养对翻译的多层次、多角度的立体思维方式 (a multi-tier approach )。
十一.一名称职的翻译工作者必须懂得什么是翻译的真谛(a clear conception of what translation is)。
十二.一名优秀的翻译人员必须具有高屋建瓴的视角 (great powers of conception)。
上述各种能力和意识的培养，可以通过不同的具体途径来实现。我通常是采取“下毛毛雨”的办法，让学生在诸多方面加强翻译意识的锻炼：
第一：要对翻译的重要性有深刻的、充分的认识，翻译的对与错、好与坏有时会产生绝然不同的效果。例如，把海南岛的“天涯海角”翻译成了the End of the World(“世界末日”), 应为Land's End / End of the Earth。再如某航空公司的广告中承诺的“一小时内免费送机票上门”变成了“一小时内送免费机票上门”：We give you tickets free of charge within one hour.（应为We offer free delivery of your air tickets within one hour after your booking confirmation.）
第二：要善于仔细地、深入地、准确地理解中文原文的意思。这是因为准确的理解是做好翻译的前提。例如，我们常用“摸着石头过河”这个俗语来形容我国的改革开放事业是没有先例。那么“摸着石头过河”应如何翻译成英语呢？有的人把它按字面翻译为crossing the river by feeling the stones。翻译的人根本就没有去认真地理解“摸着石头过河”是什么意思，应该怎样表达才能让外国人能够理解。正确的做法应该是按照下面的步骤去做：
•“摸着石头过河”的字面意思如何理解？
•它有什么暗含或延伸的意思？
•英语里有没有相同或类似的说法？.如果有，就可以直接借用；如果没有，是进行直译还是意译？
•如果直译为 crossing the river by feeling the stones是否能被外国人理解？
•过河是乘船过(crossing by boat)还是淌水过(wading across)，动词用什么形式？
•这里的河是大河、中河还是小河 (river, stream, brook, etc.)？
•摸的方式是用手摸还是用脚触？
•石头是大石头还是小石头(rock, stone, pebble, etc.)？
•如果意译为 learning by experiment / by trial and error是否可取？
•直译和意译相结合wading across the stream by feeling the way如何？
Since there is no previous experience to fall back on, we have to “wade across the stream by feeling the way,” as we say in Chinese.
第三：中文和英文的对应词有时意思并不相同或者不完全相同，不能照字面翻译。例如下面例子中的“外国人”和foreigner: 如果我们要把“他的英语说得真好，就像外国人一样。”翻译成这样的英语He speaks English so well, he sounds like a foreigner.那么这里的修饰语like a foreigner 是指说得不好，听起来很别扭。这种看上去非常准确的翻译其效果却适得其反。正确的翻译方法应该是：He speaks English so well, he sounds like a native speaker.
“拉动经济增长”不能翻译为pull economic growth，这不符合英语的表达习惯，而要用下列动词才能与economic growth相匹配：push/lift/increase/boost/stimulate/
spur/drive/fuel/speed up/accelerate/generate/ fire up/ propel/ facilitate/reinforce/
aid/assist/support/promote/encourage/foster/(sustain/maintain)。
我们也不能把“素质教育”翻译成quality education，那是指“高质量的教育”。正确的翻译应该是caliber-focused education 或trait-centered education。
第四：有时候中文字面的意思表达不充分，部分信息被省略了或被隐藏起来了。例如下面的例子：特区是个窗口，是技术的窗口，管理的窗口，知识的窗口，也是对外政策的窗口。有人把它翻译为：The special zone is a window. It is a widow for introducing technology, management and knowledge. It is also a window for foreign policy.
这样的翻译外国人是无法理解的，我们必须把那些被省略了或被隐藏起来的信息都翻译出来：The special economic zones are a window opening onto the outside world. They are a window through which to bring in from abroad sophisticated technology, advanced managerial expertise and up-to-date know-how. It is also a window through which to disseminate China’s external policies.
与此相似的例子还有很多，如“退耕还林”不是return farmland to forest(把耕地退还给森林)，而应该是restore “woodland-converted farm-plots” back for afforesting (把从林地开垦出来的耕地还原成林地，即重新进行植树造林)。“春运”也不能简单地说成是spring transportation(春季的运输) 而是the rush / peak season of passenger transportation during the Spring Festival(春节期间的客运高峰)。
第五：有些中文词语没有什么特殊涵义，而与之相对应的英文词语却有着特殊的涵义。例如，与“便宜”、“价廉”相对应的“cheap,”它有时候会带有贬义，成为“质次价低”的意，如cheap jewelries, cheap dresses, cheap furniture 等。我们可以说I bought a cheap watch for my child，对小孩无所谓；但不能说I bought a cheap dress for my girlfriend. 因为这样说会冒犯对方。在后一种情况下必须用inexpensive一词。
第六：避免用中式英语进行表达，而要尽量用地道的英语进行表达。假如我们要把“我过去学过一些法语，但现在都忘了，都还给老师了”这句话翻译成英语，最好不要说 I learned some French in the past. Now I have forgotten it. I’ve returned it to the teacher. 比较好的说法是 I used to know some French, but I’ve forgotten it. It has found its way back to my teacher.
再比如我们要用英语说“我攒了一大堆赃衣服，等着周末来洗，”最好不要说I have accumulated a large amount of dirty clothes. I’m going to wash them at the weekend. 比较好的说法是 I have a lot of laundry to catch up at the weekend.
第七：根据不同场合，英语的表达有庄重(formal) 与随意(informal) 之分。比如“禁止吸烟”（No Smoking）、“请勿吸烟”(Thank you for not smoking) 和“为了您和他人的健康，请勿在此吸烟”（For hygiene's sake, please refrain yourself from smoking in this room.）
下面两组例子中都各包含有formal- normal - informal 三种文体风格(style):
Please await instructions before dispatching items.
Please wait for instructions before sending items off.
Don’t send anything off until you’re told to do so.
Essential measures should be undertaken at the earliest opportunity.
One should undertake any necessary measures at the earliest opportunity.
You should do whatever you have to as soon as you can.
第八：要注意各行各业的不同术语的选择。比如我们要把“专业签证人员”翻译成英语，那么我们就要按照外交用语的习惯把它翻译为visa officers，而不应该照字面上翻译成specialized visa personnel。“安居工程” 的英译不是housing project for low-income urban residents，而应该按照社会经济用语的习惯翻译为the Affordable Housing Program; “信息化”的英译不是informatization 或informationization，而应该按照高科技行业习惯翻译为the spreading / sweeping information explosion / the information explosion process / trend; “外资企业”的英译不是overseas-funded enterprises,而应该按照外贸行业习惯翻译为enterprises with foreign investment / enterprises with foreign elements；再比如，高速公路上的警示语“请勿疲劳驾驶，”翻译成英语不是Don’t drive tiredly，按照交通法规术语应该翻译为Drowsy driving is dangerous 或Drive alert, arrive alive。
第九：注意汉语和英语之间的文化差异。把“相声”翻译成英语不能只是翻译其形式，还要翻译其内涵。翻译成cross talk 外国人不明白；不如翻译为comic dialogue 更好懂。再如，假设我们要把“以外贸为龙头”翻译成英语，能不能直接翻译为with foreign trade as the dragon head呢？这样翻译是很难让外国人明白的，因为“以……为龙头”这个说法是源自耍龙灯的习俗，而多数外国人不一定熟悉中国人的这一习俗。为了取得好的翻译效果，最好是用能够跨越文化障碍的表达方法，如“火车头”或“旗舰”：with foreign trade as the locomotive / flagship。
但是不能机械地对待一切类似的翻译问题，我们的头脑里应该有一点辩证法。比如汉语的“鱼米之乡”(land of fish and rice)，在英语里有一个类似的说法land of milk and honey，但由于land of fish and rice 外国人也能理解，不会造成跨化交流的障碍，所以我们可以采用land of fish and rice的说法，以保留一点中国的特色。
第十：对于暗含的意思，必须把它明白地翻译出来，这样便于外国读者理解。例如“东边日出西边雨，道是无晴却有晴”中的“晴”字，它是个双关语，有“天晴”和“爱情”的双重意思。我们在翻译的时候，必须做到二者兼顾：
It’s sunny in the east but in the west it’s raining hard.
Whether rain or sunshine, he’s the sunshine in my heart.
再比如，广告语“这种鞋油为您足下增光”中的“足下”也是个双关语，翻译的时候也必须把两层意思都表达出来：This shoe shine shines your shoes and you look great.
第十一：有时候，比如翻译诗句，光翻译字面上的意思是不够的，还必须把字里行间的深度、力量和美感表达出来。我们以“朱门酒肉臭，路有冻死骨”为例，如果简单地把它翻译为 Wines and meats become rotten in the mansions; Dead bones become rotten at the doors of them，那就没有任何诗意。下面这样的翻译则把它的意思、深度、力量和美感通统都表现出来了：
In the mansions, rolling luxury allows wine and meat to go rotten away;
On the streets, grinding poverty causes dead bodies to freeze and decay.
第十二：汉语和英语在语法语序和句子结构上都有很大的差别。因此，在进行中译英的时候必须要考虑到这些方面的变化。例如，翻译“改革开放开放取得了巨大的成就”这个句子时，我们不能亦步亦趋地将它翻译为：The economic reform and the opening-up have made great achievements. 而是应该这样翻译，把“巨大的成就”当作主语，把主动语态变成被动语态：Great achievements have been made in the economic reform and in our efforts to open-up China to the outside world.
综上所述，一个好的翻译人员必须具有高屋见瓴的视角，要懂得翻译的真谛是什么。要想提高汉英翻译水平，必须加强对上述各种意识的培养。必须养成多层次、多角度的思维习惯。
摘自一个马来西亚记者的文章：
http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/9290
China preferred the term "reversion", while Britain employed the term “handover” to describe Hong Kong’s transfer from British to Chinese hands. Actually, it could be said that both sides were right in their assertion. Historically, Hong Kong Island was permanently ceded by China to Britain in the Treaty of Nanking of 1842 after the Opium War, while Kowloon Peninsula (south of Boundary Street in what is bustling Mong Kok today) was also permanently ceded in the Convention of Peking in 1860. As such, they became sovereign British soils.
Only the New Territories north of Boundary Street were“leased”to Britain in 1898 for 99 years. But few lay persons paid attention to the fine print of the early Anglo-Chinese political settlements on Hong Kong. As such, legalistically, Britain was only obliged to “revert” New Territories to China in 1997, and legislation was actually passed in Westminster to “cede” the rest of Hong Kong to China. Both sides finally settled on the term “transfer of sovereignty” of Hong Kong.
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