中式英语之鉴Part1(1)

人生不过三万天

Summary of the Content: The section one in Part One is based on the theme of unnecessary nouns and verbs, most nouns are easy to recognize while most Chinglish verbs occur in phrases, Pinkham explains that many Chinese-to-English translations include words that are redundant or add no meaningful value to the sentence. These unnecessary elements often stem from literal translations of Chinese expressions, where certain nouns or verbs are required for grammatical or cultural reasons but are not needed in English. For example, phrases like "accelerate the pace of economic development" can be simplified to "accelerate economic development," as the word "pace" is redundant in English. The section provides numerous examples and emphasizes the importance of conciseness and clarity in English writing.

Evaluation: This section is highly practical and insightful. Pinkham’s writing is clear and direct, with a focus on identifying and solving specific problems. There isn’t very hard words and complicated sentences but full of understandable examples, which made me read fluently. Form the book, I have learned a lot and begun to think how can I impove my translations.

Reflection: As a beginner in translation, this section was immensely useful to me, and as I read it, I wondered how I could recognize a Middle English translation so as to avoid it. In the examples given by the author, I found that a lot of Chinglish is due to the fact that it is too direct, trying to translate every word in Chinese to the right place without reflecting the principle of “economy”, and on the other hand, it is due to the fact that the translation has been done so many times that it has begun to be numb, as the author cited the example of his grandfather, “I'm go”. I'm going to work” is not a problem for anyone, but it is actually a wrong usage. So in future translations I will have to ask myself from time to time if it is too cumbersome to translate this way, and if I am being influenced by my own experience.