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发表于 2005-4-6 08:23:46
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Reference translation(zt):
Be Cautious about Sending Your Children to Study Abroad
作者:suzhuofeng
Nowadays, sending teenagers to study abroad has become more and more popular, and the number is increasing sharply. Parents have unrealistic illusions about foreign education. Education exhibitions held by foreign schools and colleges often boast of their schools, prompting parents to turn their thoughts into actions.
However, sending children to study aboard doesn’t necessarily produce desirable results. Many students fall short of adaptability and flexibility, which means they can hardly integrate into the new environment abroad. Having difficulty in adapting to foreign cultures, or lacking the ability of living in a strange environment, they often suffer from the so-called “cultural shock”. Lack of the essential ability of observation makes the children hard to understand behaviors of the people in the host country, thus they can’t mix well with the local people. Lack of adaptability and the ability to communicate would certainly make them feel isolated.
Feeling lonely and being unable to take care of themselves in daily life, they often get homesick and lapse into depression. Moreover, since they haven’t laid a good foundation for their study, they can’t adapt themselves to the study in a foreign language environment. They lack the ability of independent learning, so they fail to make the desired progress.
Thereupon, many of them have to give up the hard-earned learning opportunity halfway. Hence, sending children to study abroad when they are still too young is not necessarily a good thing.
If parents want their children to see the elephant abroad, they can let their children attend short-term overseas tour study programs, stay at foreigners’ families, take summer vacation courses, and have some traveling there. But there must be some specially arranged teachers in the teams to keep company with the children and provide guidance and help all along.
Cautions on Sending Teenagers Abroad for Education
作者:ellejennycy
Nowadays in China, it has become more and more popular for parents to send their teenage children to study abroad, and the number of these teenage students is soaring. These parents have unrealistic expectations for overseas education. After hearing extravagant descriptions of overseas educational institutions at their own international higher education exhibitions, these ardent parents immediately turn their good wishes into action.
However, sending children to study abroad may not necessarily bring out good results. Since many students lack adaptability and flexibility, they can hardly accustom themselves to a strange foreign environment. Due to their difficulty in adjusting to another culture, i.e. lacking the ability to live in unfamiliar alien countries, the students are very likely to experience “culture shock”. Due to inadequate cultural awareness, the students can barely understand the behaviors and conducts of the natives in the host country, and naturally they fail to be accepted by the local community. Without adaptability and communication skills, they will inevitably feel isolated.
Feeling lonely and incapable in taking care of themselves in daily life (due to too much parental care or overindulgence), teenage students will often feel homesick and get depressed. More importantly, without solid foundation for learning, they cannot adjust themselves to education in foreign languages. Incompetent for independent study, these students cannot get the progress they expected.
As a result, many of these teenage students have to drop out, giving up their precious opportunities in education. Therefore, sending children, who are still too young, to study abroad is not necessarily a good choice.
To broaden their children’s horizons in a foreign country, parents can let them together take short-term international travel study programs. In such programs, the children can stay at the home of foreigners, attend summer schools, and make excursions around where they sojourn. However, it is necessary to have tutors who provide supervision and guidance throughout the programs.
参考译文 中译英
Mind the Pitfalls of Sending Young Children Abroad to Study
There is a growing trend of sending teenage students abroad to study – the number has been increasing dramatically. Their parents are fantasized by myths about education offered in foreign countries. They are attracted by the educational exhibitions presented by foreign universities and colleges, which paint many rosy pictures and tell many glow tales prompting them into actions.
However, sending young children to study abroad may not predict result in success. Many young students lack adaptability and flexibility. They find it hard to adapt themselves to new circumstances and situations. Because of the lack of cultural toughness – the ability to succeed in an alien culture, they are easily subject to the suffering of what is called “culture shock”. Without adequate perceptual ability – the ability to understand why the host-country people behave as they do, they find it difficult to empathize with them. And due to the lack of self-orientation, the ability to communicate and interact effectively with host-country nationals, they tend to find themselves isolated.
Feeling lonely and being unable to manage their daily lives well – as they are often spoilt at home by their parents – they often become homesick and feel sad. And more importantly, because these young students don’t have a sound academic foundation and the ability to pursue study in a foreign language, they don’t know how to work independently and often fail to make the progress they desire.
So a lot of them have to give up their hard-earned chance of studying abroad and return home. Therefore it may not be a good idea at all to send children to study abroad at too early an age.
If young students want to broaden their vision of the world, it is advisable to send them abroad in groups for short home-stay study programs. They can live with a host family, attend a summer school, and join in excursions in and around the host city. But these groups must be accompanied by a designated teacher who can provide orientation, guidance and assistance all the way.
专家点评 中译英
把每一次的翻译实践都当作一个学习、应用、研究和总结提高的过程。
总的情况:这次翻译的质量和效果不错,英文的意思比较清楚通顺,各种错误相对比较少。有些人行文比较流畅,用词相当讲究(比如paint too rosy a picture,they often get homesick and lapse into depression,immerse themselves in the new environment, survive in an alien environment),反映了较好的翻译水平。
不足的方面是,多数人还是拘泥于中英文词汇之间字面意思的转换,没有能摆脱中文字面的影响。在语言的运用方面,多数人都是着眼于单词本身,而较少考虑上下文和表达习惯。比如,对于标题,绝大多数人都是翻译为 Be Prudent / Cautious to Send… 翻译成Be Prudent / Cautious about Sending 的人比较少。Think twice before sending your children to study abroad 是较好的选择,但 Look before you leap to send your children to study abroad 应该改为Look before you leap if you want to send…。“与当地人交往”用interact比用intercourse 更好,“适应”是adapt (to)不是adopt。
我本来期望大家多用一些比较地道的表达方法,因为很多要翻译的内容都能从互联网上查到英文的参考资料,比如 cross-cultural adjustment, culture shock, home-stay programs等等。
我给大家提一点建议:我们应该把每一次的翻译实践都当作一个学习、应用、研究和总结提高的过程。汉英翻译是个十分艰巨复杂的任务,在进行翻译时我们不能只是简单地依靠自己的头脑和几本词典。我们必须依靠多方面的资源:第一,我们学过的确实已经掌握的那部分极为有限的知识;第二,各种有效的工具书和参考书(要不厌其烦地去查阅,包括常用的词语,多查找一些例句);第三,从广度和深度上学会利用互联网资源(包括中文和英文的网站)。互联网能为我们提供大量的知识和信息,能帮助我们解决翻译中的许多难题。这个取之不尽用之不竭的宝库如果不充分利用实在可惜。如果大家都养成勤查词典和参考书,以及勤上网查询的习惯,翻译的质量一定会有大幅度的提高。
本期一些重点词语表达注释:
1.mind the pitfalls = beware of the pitfalls:谨防陷阱或暗礁
2. are fantasized by myths about:fantasize – 臆想,幻想 to think about something very pleasant that is unlikely to happen e.g. Don’t fantasize about looking for the perfect job – it’s unrealistic. 抱有不切实际的幻想可以翻译为 fantasized by。myth – 这个词有多个意思:1神话;2根本不可能存在的人或事物a person or thing existing only in imagination, or whose actual existence is not verifiable;3 错误的认识 an idea or story that many people believe, but which is not true 例如Most people think that bats are blind, but this is in fact a myth. 有的人把Ten Big Myths about Copyright翻译成“版权的十大神话”(应译为“关于版权认识的十大误区”);也有人把“误区”翻译为mistaken areas, 这些都是不对的。
3. paint many rosy pictures and tell many glow tales … prompting them into action 说得天花乱坠、绘声绘色,使他们心动变为行动; prompting 这个现在分词短语表示一个结果状语。
4. adapt themselves to new circumstances and situations = adjust themselves to the new environment
5. cultural toughness = cultural adaptability / flexibility. It is an important aspect to be developed by anyone needing to study or work across different cultures. The cultural adaptability index concerns with how a person is perceived in relation to four critical areas: Attitudes (Respect and Cooperativeness), Awareness (Perceptiveness and Empathy), Knowledge (Curiosity and Learning), and Skills (Communication and Collaboration). Students with cultural adaptability will find their work environment more open, more dynamic, more effective, more productive, and less hostile.
6.alien culture 陌生的环境 culturally new environment / circumstances and situations
7.culture shock:文化冲击Confusion and disorientation caused by contact with a civilization other than one’s own. Cultural customs and habits differ greatly throughout the world, so international students have to learn to overcome culture shocks. 推荐一篇网上文章:“International Students Coping with Culture Shock” by Katherine Schneider
8.perceptual ability = perceptive skills: 洞察力、判断力
9. empathize with: 体谅、理解(他人)to imagine and share another person’s feelings, experience, etc. e.g. Doctors must empathize with their patients. Chinese and foreign partners of joint ventures must learn how to empathize with each other. “与…打成一片”也可以是 identify oneself with the local people / immerse oneself in the alien atmosphere
10.self-orientation 自我调整适应能力
11.interact effectively with host-country nationals: 顺利地与东道主国家的人民打交道, to immerse in the alien culture
12. have a sound academic foundation = develop a firm academic base 打下坚实的学习基础
13.pursue study in a foreign language: 用外语进行学习,此处指在国外/外语环境中求学
14.hard-earned chance:You should value your hard earned money / credibility. 你要爱护你那来之不易的金钱 / 信誉。 Trust is hard earned but easily spent. 信任得来不易但失去容易。
15.broaden their vision of the world 拓展他们的视野: e. g. You will learn the basics of HR management and its development, enabling you to broaden your vision and enhance your managerial abilities in market economy.
16.home-stay study programs = host family programs,也可以说home-stay study tours / trips: 在当地人家中住宿的一种短期学习安排,比如这个来自新西兰的例子:
Our priority criteria are that the hosts are warm and kindly and the house of comfortable standard. All Home-stays are within walking distance of the school. This may mean 25 minutes walking which New Zealand students do all the time. Students will have their own fully furnished room, all meals including a lunch to bring to school, and their laundry done.
Students should know the following about living with a New Zealand family:
It is hoped the student will be one of the family and spend time talking and socializing with them.
There are no servants in New Zealand. We all share household chores. Students will be expected to help wash or dry dinner dishes and to keep his/her room tidy.
Students must be thoughtful in their use of hot water, electricity and telephone. Hours on the Internet are forbidden unless the student gets the hosts' agreement to install his own telephone line (and pay for it).
Students must keep regular hours. They are here to study. Weeknights should be spent studying and if students go out at weekends they must tell their hosts where they are going and they must be home at the time specified by the hosts.
17.designated teacher / supervisor: 指定 / 指派的老师 / 导师
18.provide orientation … all the way: 这里的orientation是“入门指导”或“定向引导”,它也可以指“新生周”或“新生入学教育”(orientation week),其基本意思是“情况介绍”:We invite you to attend an orientation (情况介绍会)at Clifton High School on Monday, January 12, 2004 at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium. We will be discussing important issues concerning your child's educational future. Topics such as graduation requirements, local, state and national testing, scheduling procedures, course content, career and/or college requirements, and building facilities will be addressed. |
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