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English - Vietnamese and Vietnamese - English Translation - Tourism
English - Vietnamese and Vietnamese - English Translation - Tourism
English - Vietnamese and Vietnamese - English Translation - Tourism
1. What is translation?
The term “translation” and “interpretation” are sometimes mistaken as they can be both
translated into Vietnamese as “dịch”. However, it should be distinguished clearly as the
former is concerned with changing a written text into another language (biên dịch) while
the latter deals with speech or spoken words, not written words (phiên dịch). There are a
number of definitions of translation as seen below.
1.1. “Translation, by dictionary definition, consists of changing from one state or form to
another, to turn into one’s own or another’s language”. (The Merriam-Webster
Dictionary,1974).
1.2. “Translation is the expression in another language (target language) of what has been
expressed in one language (source language), preserving semantic and stylistic
equivalences”. (By Roger T. Bell).
1.3 “Translation is rendering a written text into another language in a way that the author
intended the text.” (By Bui Tien Bao- Vietnam National University)
“Translators are concerned with written texts. They render written texts from one
language into another language. Translators are required to translate texts which arrange
from simple items including birth certificates or driving licences to more complex written
materials such as articles in journals of various kinds, business contracts and legal
documents.” (Bui Tien Bao- Vietnam National University).
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of grammar, of lexis, etc.) and at different ranks (word-for-word, phrase-for-phrase,
sentence-for-sentence).
However, languages are different from each other; they are different in form having
different codes and rules regulating the construction of grammatical stretches of language
and these forms have different meanings. To shift from one language to another is, by
definition, to change the forms. Also, the contrasting forms convey meanings which fail to
coincide totally; there is no absolute synonym between words in the same language, why
should anyone be surprised to discover a lack of synonym between languages.
Clearly, translation consists of transferring the meaning of the source language into the
receptor language. This is done by going from the form of the first language to the form of
the second language by a way of semantic structure. It is meaning that is being transferred
and must be held constant; only the form changes. The form from which the translation is
made will be called the source language and the form into which it is to be changed will be
called the receptor or target language. Translation, then, consists of studying the lexicon,
grammatical structure, communication situation, and cultural context of the source
language text, analyzing it in order to determine its meaning, and then reconstructing this
same meaning using the lexicon, grammatical structures which are appropriate in the
receptor language and its cultural context.
Let us look at an example. Assume that we are translating the Vietnamese sentence
“Cảm ơn anh đã giúp đỡ tôi tận tình” into English. This Vietnamese sentence has the verb
“giúp đỡ tôi tận tình”, but to convey the same meaning in English, one would use a noun
phrase “your kind help” (Thank you for your kind help). To do effective translation, one
must discover the meaning of the source language and use the receptor language forms
which express the meaning in a natural way.
It is the purpose of this unit to familiarize the learners with the basic linguistic and
sociolinguistic factors involved in translating a text from a source language into a receptor
language, and to give them enough practice in the translation process for the development
of skills in cross-language transfer.
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2. Characteristics of language which affect translation
There are certain characteristics of languages which have a very direct influence on
principles of translation. The first characteristic is the matter of meaning. Meaning
components are packaged into lexical items, but they are packaged differently in one
language than in another. One typical example is the meaning of plurality, for example the
English “-s”. This often occurs in the grammar as a suffix on the nouns or verbs or both. In
Vietnamese, however, plurality is expressed in an isolated word “những/các”. Many times
a single word in the source language will need to be translated by several words. For
example, the word “teenagers” is translated as “các thanh thiếu niên”. The meaning of
gender is another example. In Vietnamese, we need the words “đực” or “cái” or some
other words to indicate the gender of animals whereas in English this shade of meaning is
included in the words themselves. For example, Vietnamese words “bò cái” “bò đực” or
“gà trống” “gà mái” are equivalently transferred into English as “ox”, “cow”, “cork”
and “hen”.
Second, it is characteristic of languages that the same meaning component will occur in
several surface structure lexical items. In English, There is not only the word “sheep”
meaning “cừu”, but the words “lamb”,”ram” and “ewe” also include the meaning
“sheep”. They include the addition meaning components of young in “lamb”, adult and
male in “ram” and adult and female in “ewe”.
Third, it is further characteristic of language that one form will be used to represent
several alternative meanings. This again is obvious from looking in any good dictionary.
For example, the Reader’s Digest Great Encyclopedic Dictionary gives 54 meanings for
the English word “run”. Most words have more than one meaning. There will be a primary
meaning - the one which usually comes to mind when the word is said in isolation - and the
secondary meaning - the additional meanings, which a word has in context with other
words. In English, we can say “the boy runs”, using “run” in its primary meaning. We can
also say “the motor runs”, “the river runs”, and “his nose runs”, using “run” in its
secondary meanings.
This principle is not limited to lexical items for it is also true that the same grammatical
pattern may express several quite different meanings. For instance, the English possessive
phrase “my house” may mean “the house I built”, “the house I rent”, “the house I live
in”, or “the house for which I drew up in my plans”. Only the larger context determines
the meaning.
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Whole sentences may also have several functions. A question form may be used for a
non-question purpose. For example, the question: “Mary, why don’t you wash the dishes?”
has a form of a question, and may in some context be asking for information, but it is often
used with the meaning of command rather than a real question. A simple English sentence
like “He made the bed.” may mean either “He made (as a carpenter would make) the
bed”, or “He put the sheets, blanket, and pillows in neat order on the bed.”
Just as words have primary and secondary meanings, so grammatical markers have
their primary function and often have other secondary functions. The preposition “on” is
used in English to signal a variety of meanings. Compare the following uses of “on” with
the corresponding form used in Vietnamese.
John found the book on the floor. John tìm thấy cuốn sách trên sàn nhà.
John found the book on mathematics. John tìm thấy cuốn sách viết về toán học.
John found the book on Tuesday. John tìm thấy cuốn sách vào thứ ba.
John found the book on sale. John tìm thấy cuốn sách đang được bày bán
In the first, “by” is used to signal the meaning that the policeman is the agent of the
action. In the second, “by” is used to signal that the bookstand is the location.
We have seen that one form may express many meanings. On the other hand, another
characteristic of languages is that a single meaning may be expressed in a variety of forms.
For example, the meaning “the cat is black” may be expressed by the following: the cat is
black, the black cat, and, the cat, which is black, depending on how that meaning relates to
other meanings. In addition, the meanings of: “Is this place taken?” “Is there anyone
sitting here?”, and “May I sit here?” are essentially the same. Also, the meaning is
essentially the same in the following English sentences:
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Others blamed the difficulty on John.
We have seen that even within a single language there are a great variety of ways in
which form expresses meaning. Only when a form is used in its primary meaning or
function is there a one-to-one correlation between form and meaning. The other meanings
are secondary meanings or figurative meanings. Words have these extended meanings and
in the same way grammatical forms have extended usages (secondary and figurative
function).
This characteristic of “skewing”; that is, the diversity or the lack of one-to-one
correlation between form and meaning is the basic reason that translation is a complicated
task. If there were no skewing, then all lexical items and all grammatical forms would have
only one meaning and a literal word-for-word and grammatical structure-for- grammatical
structure translation would be possible. But the fact is that a language is a complex set of
skewed relationship between meaning (semantics) and form (lexicon and grammar). Each
language has its own distinctive forms for representing the meaning. Therefore, in
translation the same meaning may have to be expressed in another language by a very
different form.
To translate the form of one language literally according to the corresponding form in
another language would often change the meaning or at least result in a form which is
unnatural in the second language. Meaning must, therefore, have priority over form in
translation. It is meaning that is to be carried over from the source language to the receptor
language, not the linguistic forms. For example, to translate the English sentence “he is
cold hearted” i.e. “His heart is cold” (meaning “he is unfeeling, has no emotional
sympathy”) literally into Mambila in Nigeria would be understood to mean, “he is
peaceful, not quick-tempered.” And if translated literally into Cinyanja in Zambia, it would
mean, “he is frightened.”
The nature of language is that each language uses different forms and these forms have
secondary and figurative meanings which add further complications. A word-for-word
translation which follows closely the form of the source language is called a literal
translation. A literal translation does not communicate the meaning of the source text
effectively. In some cases, the forms of two languages may happen to be the same. For
example, the sentence “The woman I saw in the park was feeding the pigeons” can be
translated in a linear way into Vietnamese “Người phụ nữ tôi trông thấy trong công viên
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đang cho chim bồ câu ăn”. However, in most cases, this way of word-by-word translation
would result in unnatural translation which is hard to understand, and may even be quite
meaningless, or give a wrong meaning in the receptor language. It can hardly be called a
translation. The goal of a translator should be to produce a receptor language text (a
translation) which is idiomatic; that is one which has the same meaning as the source
language but is expressed in the natural form of the receptor language. The meaning, not
form is retained.
Anything which can be said in one language can be said in another. It is possible to
translate. The goal of the translator is to keep the meaning constant. Wherever necessary,
the receptor language form should be changed in order that the source language meaning
should not be distorted. Since a meaning expressed by a particular form in one language
may be expressed by quite a different form in another language, it is often necessary to
change the form when translating.
3. Kinds of translation
3.1. Literal versus idiomatic translation
Because a given text has both form and meaning, as discussed in the previous sections,
there are two main kinds of translation. One is form-based and the other is meaning-based.
Form-based translations attempt to follow the form of the source language and are known
as literal translation. Meaning-based translations make every effort to communicate the
meaning of the source language text in the natural forms of the receptor language. Such
translations are called idiomatic translations.
This literal translation makes little sense in English. The appropriate translation would
be: Would you like to come to my home?
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If the two languages are related, the literal translation can often be understood, since
the general grammatical form may be similar. However, the literal choice of lexical items
may make the translation sounds foreign. The following bilingual announcement was
overheard at an airport ( Barnwell 1980:18)
An idiomatic translation into English would be: “Miss Odette, passenger for Domda.
You are wanted on the phone”.
Idiomatic translations use the natural forms of the receptor language, both in the
grammatical constructions and in the choice of lexical items. A truly idiomatic translation
does not sound like a translation. It sounds like it was written originally in the receptor
language. Therefore, a good translator will try to translate idiomatically. This is his goal.
However, translations are often a mixture of a literal transfer of the grammatical units
along with some idiomatic translation of the meaning of the text. It is not easy to
consistently translate. A translator may express some parts of his translation in very natural
forms and then in other parts fall back into a literal form.
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In one translation, the source text said, “Nhiều du khách nước ngoài đã giới thiệu cho
chúng tôi về khách sạn Hương Giang”. It was translated, “Many foreign tourists have
introduced us about Huong Giang Hotel.” It would have been translated idiomatically,
“Huong Giang Hotel has been recommended to us by a number of foreign tourists.”
Parts of speech are language - specific. Each language has its own division of the
lexicon into classes such as nouns, verbs, adjectives and so on. Different languages will
have different classes and subclasses. It will not always be possible to translate a source
language noun with a noun in the receptor language. For example, English has many nouns
which really refer to actions while Vietnamese prefers to express actions as verbs rather
than nouns.
In one translation, the source text said, “There is a general agreement that the
government has given top priority to education.” It was translated, “Có một sự đồng ý
chung rằng chính phủ đã dành nhiều sự ưu tiên cho giáo dục”. This would have been
translated idiomatically, “ai cũng đồng ý rằng chính phủ đã dành nhiều ưu tiên cho giáo
dục”. Similarly, a translator in Papua New Guinea was asked to translate the Eight Point
Improvement Plan for Papua New Guinea. One point reads, “Decentralization of economic
activity, planning and government spending, with emphasis on agricultural development,
village industry, better internal trade, and more spending channeled through local and
area bodies.” Such sentences are very difficult for translators who want to translate into
the native language of the country. Words such as “decentralization, activity, planning,
government spending, emphasis development, trade” would have to be rendered by verbs
in most languages. When verbs are used, then, the appropriate subject and object of the
verb may need to be made explicit also. The form in the receptor language is very different
from the source language form and yet this kind of adjustment, using verbs rather than
using nouns, must be made in order to communicate the message. An idiomatic translation
was made which used verbs as in the following.
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“The government wants to decrease the work it does for businesses and what it plans
and the money it spends in the capital, and wants to increase what people and groups in
local area do to help farmers and small businesses whose owners live in the villages, and
help people in this country buy and sell things made in this country and to help local
groups spend the government’s money.”
Most languages have a class of words which may be called pronouns. Pronominal
systems vary greatly from language to language and the translator is obliged to use the
form of the receptor language even though they may have very different meanings than the
pronouns of the source language. For example, if one is translating into Kiowa (USA), the
pronouns will have to indicate a difference between singular, dual and plural person even
though the source language does not make this three-way distinction. Or if a translator is
translating into Balinese, he must distinguish degrees of honor even though nothing in the
source language indicates these distinctions. He will need to understand the culture of the
Balinese and the cultural context of the text he is translating in order to choose correctly.
In English, the first plural pronoun “we” is often used when the real meaning is second
person “you”. The reason for the use of “we” is to show empathy and understanding. The
nurse says to the sick child, “It’s time for us to take our medicine now.” Or the teacher
says, “We’re not going to shout, but quietly we’ll walk to our places.” Clearly, the
pronouns do not refer to the nurse or the teacher but to the children whom she is addressing
“you”. In translating these pronouns into another language, a literal translation with first
person plural would probably distort the meaning. The translator would need to look for
the natural way to communicate second person and the feeling of empathy carried by the
source language.
Grammatical constructions also vary between the source language and the receptor
language. The order, for example, may be completely reversed. The following simple
sentences from Vietnamese is given with a literal English translations:
It will readily be seen that understandable translations into English requires a complete
reversal of the order: She often wears a small blue silk shirt.
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It is not uncommon that passive constructions will need to be translated with an active
construction or vice versa, depending on the natural form of the receptor language. For
example, Vietnamese people tend to use active constructions to express their ideas whereas
English people prefer to use passive constructions.
English:
A: What has happened to all your money after the will was settled and the business was
sold? (passive)
B: The usual thing, false friends, fast-living style and bad investment.
Vietnamese:
A: Chuyện gì đã xảy ra với toàn bộ số tiền mà bạn có được sau khi giải quyết xong
chuyện chúc thư và bán đi cả sản nghiệp. (active)
B: Cũng lẽ thường tình thôi, bạn bè giả dối, ăn chơi hoang tàn và đầu tư sai chỗ.
The above translated sentences are only examples to show some types of grammatical
adjustments which will result if a translator translates idiomatically in the source language.
Certainly, there will be times by coincidence they match, but a translator should translate
the meaning not concern himself with whether the forms turn out the same or not.
Each language has its own idiomatic way of expressing meaning lexical items.
Languages abound in idioms, secondary meanings, metaphors, and other figurative
meanings. For example, notice the following ways in which a fever is referred to ( literal
translations are given to show the source language form):
Aguaruna: He cooled.
Vietnamese: He cooled.
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Or: The fever was no more in him.
The English translations of all six would be: His fever went down, or His temperature
returned to normal.
All languages have idioms, i.e. a string of words whose meaning is different than the
meaning conveyed by the individual words. In English to say that someone is bullheaded
means that the person is “stubborn”. The meaning has little to do with “bull” or “head”.
Similarly, in Vietnamese to say that someone is “cứng đầu cứng cổ” means that the person
is “stubborn”. The meaning has little to do with “đầu” or “cổ”. Languages abound in
such idioms. The following are a few English idioms using “in” and “into”: “run into
debt, rush into print, step into a practice, jump into a fight, dive into a book, stumble into
acquaintance, fall in love, and break into society”. In spite of all these combinations, one
cannot say the following “break into debt, fall into print, rush into a fight, dive into debt,
etc”. The combinations are fixed as to form and their meaning comes from their
combination. A literal word-for-word translation of these idioms into another language will
not make sense. The form cannot be kept, but the receptor language word or phrase which
has the equivalent meaning will be the correct one to use in the translation. The following
idioms occur in Vietnamese. In the first column is a literal translation from Vietnamese. In
the second is an idiomatic translation. The literal English is misleading.
LITERAL IDIOMATIC
I have buried my head into my business. I have been busy with my work.
Translators who want to make a good idiomatic translation often find figures of
speech especially challenging. A literal translation of “strong as a horse” might sound
really strange in a language where the comparison between a strong person and a horse has
never been used as a figure of speech. In Vietnamese, it would be more natural to say
“strong as a buffalo”. Similarly, a literal translation of “blind as a bat” might sound really
strange in a language where the comparison between a blind person and a bat has never
been used as a figure of speech. There is a legend in which the sun borrowed the fox’s eyes
and then returned to heaven taking the fox’s good eyes with him and leaving the fox with
the sun’s inferior eyes. That is why they say, when the fox is trying to see, he stretches
back his head and looks with his throat. Figures of speech are often based on stories or
historical incidents. Names of animals are used metaphorically in most languages. But the
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comparison is often different and so the figure will be misunderstood unless some
adjustment is made. For example, when someone is called a pig in English, it usually
means he is dirty or a greedy eater. In Vietnamese, it has different meanings. It could
means that the person is stupid or that the person is a greedy. Care would need to be taken
if pigs were used metaphorically or a wrong meaning might result in the receptor language.
Some lexical combinations of the source language may be ambiguous. The meaning is not
clear. For example, “It is too hot to eat,” could mean any of the following: “The food is
too hot to eat; the weather is too hot for us to feel like eating; the horse is too hot after
running a race and does not want to eat”. In the process of making an idiomatic
translation, such ambiguities must often be resolved and only the intended meaning
communicated.
4. Conclusion
Considering the complexity of language structures, how can a translator ever hope to
produce an adequate translation? Literal translation can only be avoided by careful analysis
of the source language: by, first of all, understanding clearly the message to be
communicated. A translator who takes the time to study carefully the source language text,
to write analysis of it, and then to look for the equivalent way in which the same message
is expressed naturally in the receptor language, will be able to provide an adequate, and
sometimes brilliant translation. His goal must be to avoid literalisms and to strive for a
truly idiomatic receptor language text. He will know he is successful if the receptor
language readers do not recognize his work as a translation at all, but simply as a text
written in the receptor language for their information and enjoyment.
Language notes:
Form-based translation: Dịch dựa vào hình thức hay cấu trúc
Meaning-based translation: dịch dựa vào nghĩa, dựa vào nội dung cần chuyển tải
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Context: ngữ cảnh/ văn cảnh
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QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
3. What is primary meaning? Give some sentences, each of which contains a word
used in a primary sense.
4. What are secondary meanings? Give some sentences, each of which contains a word
used in a secondary sense.
5. What are the differences between a literal translation and an idiomatic translation?
7. What grammatical features should be considered when you translate a text? Give
some examples to support your ideas.
8. What lexical features should be considered when you translate a text? Give some
examples to support your ideas.
9. Why do you have to take the time to read the source language text carefully before
translating it?
EXERCISE
Look for literalisms in the following translations into English and underline the words
or phrases that do not sound natural in English. Suggest a more idiomatic way of saying
it. All of these examples are from published translated material.
1. The third-year students often visit the schools in the city for the attendance of the
class.
2. Foreign tourists usually at Kinh Do Hotel for their friends have introduced to them
very much about this hotel.
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3. After saying lies many times, he lost our belief in him.
6. One thing makes me proud of my village is a large green field that provides one part
of life for people.
7. I left my village for three years, a time not long but like a century.
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UNIT 2: PATTERNS AND SOURCES OF ERRORS
MADE BY VIETNAMESE TRANSLATORS
In the narrow definition, interference in translation takes place when apparently; any
feature of the source language – notably a syntactic structure, a lexical item, an idiom, a
metaphor, word order or culture - is carried over or literally translated as the case may be
into the target language (TL) text. In a wider definition, interference includes cases when
sentence length, punctuation, proper names, culture words are evidently transferred in the
translation.
When the mother tongue interference is an error, a “false friend”, a sign of the
translator’s ignorance, a mark of the effect of the source language (SL) or the SL culture, it
can be categorized as follows.
2. Linguistic errors
The linguistic errors can be divided into the following groups:
2.1. Lexical Errors
Lexical interference traps are common enough but more invidious are innocent looking
collocations which appear to make sense until one asks oneself what they mean in
particular context. For example, in English “to cook an account” translated as ‘‘nấu sổ
sách’’ is meaningless and it must be translated as “giả mạo sổ sách”. Lexical interference
is very dangerous because it can distort the meaning of a sentence. In order to avoid such
errors, translators must take into consideration the following factors.
2.1.1. Context
The context itself determines the meaning of words. Therefore, their meaning should
be solved in the context. It is commonly known that a word may have equivalents and
accordingly the analysis of its meaning has to be made carefully in order to pick out the
most appropriate word. There are many ways of translating of some nouns related to
professions, classes, and fields in society. For example, in a text written about Buddhism in
which there are two words “clergy” and “death”. Some translated transferred “clergy” as
‘‘giáo sĩ’’ and “death” as ‘‘cái chết” for Buddha. It sounds strange and funny. In fact,
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“clergy” translated as ‘‘giáo sĩ” for Catholicism but “giới tăng đồ” for Buddhism. The
word “death” is normally translated as ‘‘cái chết” but ‘‘vua băng hà” in “King’s death”
and as for Buddhism this word should be translated as ‘‘viên tịch”.
Obviously, there are many equivalents in English for the word ‘‘tìm’’ such as “seek”,
“look for”, “search for”, “find”, “find out”. In addition, there are two more words related
to this meaning: “to invent” and “to discover”. However, in sentence (1) the word ‘‘tìm’’
has an equivalent in English as “discover”. In sentence (2) the word ‘‘tìm’’ is understood
as “look for”, “search for” or “seek”. In sentence (3) the word ‘‘tìm’’ has an equivalent as
“invent”.
It is characteristic of word that a single lexical item may have several meanings. For
example, the word “head” in isolation means something like “the upper part of the body”.
But the same word used in the context of talking about a company or an organization has
nothing to do with the human body though the idea of the upper position of something still
remains.
Example:
1. He is the former head of the Chemistry Section of the Australian Atomic Energy
Commission. (leader)
2. Although he is the head of the company, he has no head. (leader-intelligence)
The following examples show that the translators do not treat words in context but rely
on the meaning in dictionary:
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1. “In 1999, some major commodities were stockpiled because of poor quality.” It is not
accurate at all when “stockpiled” was translated ‘‘lưu trữ’’. In fact, due to poor quality,
major commodities were not sold out leading to stockpile. Therefore, the sentence should
be translated as “Năm 1999 một số mặt hàng chủ yếu bị tồn kho do chất lượng kém”
2. “The Prime Minister has also assigned relevant agencies to formulate a law on
industrial zones to provide a complete legal background/frame for the operation of IZs and
EPZs in Vietnam.” was translated “Thủ tướng đã bổ nhiệm những chính sách thích hợp để
đưa ra luật về khu công nghiệp để cung cấp một bối cảnh hoàn toàn hợp pháp cho các
hoạt động của khu công nghiệp, khu chế xuất Việt Nam”. This translation is quite vague in
Vietnamese. In fact, a word in source language has many equivalents in target language.
The word “assign” is equivalent with “phân công/ bổ nhiệm”; “relevant” with “thích
đáng/ thích hợp/ có liên quan”; ‘‘agency’’ with “đại lý/ cơ quan/ chi nhánh”;
“foundation” “nền móng/ nền tảng/ cơ sở”. For this reason, in this context, we should
choose the most appropriate equivalents to create an idiomatic translation: “Thủ tướng đã
giao cho các cơ quan có liên quan ban hành bộ luật về khu công nghiệp nhằm cung cấp
một số cơ sở pháp lý hoàn chỉnh cho việc hoạt động của khu công nghiệp và khu chế xuất
ở Việt Nam”.
In brief, the translators have a habit of translating literally and depending largely on the
meaning in dictionary due to the mother-tongue interference. In order to avoid committing
errors of context, words should be solved in context and the analysis of their meaning has
to be made carefully to pick out the most appropriate equivalent.
2.1.2. Word collocation
Another example indicates that in Vietnamese the word “nói” (say) can be collocated
with “lời tạm biệt” (goodbye) “lời chào hỏi” (hello), “dối” (a lie), “sự thật” (the truth),
“tiếng Pháp” (French). However, in English it is quite different.
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Say hello/ goodbye/ yes/ no.
Tell a lie/ the truth/ a story.
Speak English/ French/ Chinese.
In Vietnamese, the word “đàn” can be collocated with many different nouns such as
“cá” (fish) “chim” (bird), “sư tử” (lion), “gia súc” (cattle). On the contrary, in English
there are many words meaning “đàn” as follows.
Similarly, the word “decision” can be collocated with many words such as “to make/
to reach/ to arrive at/ to come to... a decision”. The following examples show the wrong
collocations of some translators:
1. Chính phủ đã tiến hành thực hiện nhiều biện pháp nhằm ngăn chặn việc buôn lậu ma
túy.
“The government has made many measures to stop the drug smuggling.”
2. Chúng tôi phải hoàn thành nhiệm vụ trước khi tổ kiểm tra chất lượng sản phẩm.
“We have to complete our duty before the investigators control the product quality.”
3. Sau khi nghiên cứu thị trường chúng tôi quyết định đưa ra thị trường một sản phẩm
gây ấn tượng có sức cạnh tranh với hàng ngoại nhập.
4. Từ khi Mỹ bỏ lệnh cấm vận Việt Nam, nhiều nước trên thế giới đã đầu tư vào nhiều
lĩnh vực khác nhau.
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“Since the USA abolished the embargo against Vietnam many foreign countries have
been investing in many different fields.”
It is the mother tongue interference that leads to the mechanic collocation which is
unacceptable in target language. In fact, each language has its own principles of word
collocation. Neither English nor Vietnamese is an exception. As a result, the above-
mentioned examples should be translated more accurately and idiomatically as follows.
1. “The government has made many measures to stop the drug smuggling.” should be
corrected as “The government has taken many measures to stop the drug
smuggling.”
2. “We have to complete our duty before the investigators control the product
quality.” should be corrected as “We have to fulfill our duty before the investigators
control the product quality.”
3. “After making a market research, we decided to launch an impressive product
which can compete against the imported ones.” should be corrected as “After doing
a market research, we decided to launch an impressive product which can compete
against the imported ones.”
4. “Since the USA abolished the embargo against Vietnam many foreign countries
have been investing in many different fields.” should be corrected as “Since the USA
lifted the embargo against Vietnam, many foreign countries have been investing in
many different fields.”
In a word, it is inevitable for the translators to obey the principles of English and
Vietnamese word collocations. In order to avoid this type of errors, the translator should
read as many English books and magazines to take notes of collocated words under the
English standard.
In Vietnamese, there are many ways to express the thoughts and feelings or attitude
which differ from those in English. The social status, age, sex, and the family order are
distinguished clearly and systematically. This is reflected in a number of words for
addressing such as “cụ, ông, bà, bác, cô, chú, dì anh, chị, em, …”; such words are
generally expressed by English people in one word “you”.
The following example shows clearly that the translator sometimes does not master the
relationship between the speaker and the hearer, leading to a funny translation. A mother
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was taking care of her child in hospital. She said: “I love you very much, dear”, which was
translated as “Em yêu anh lắm cưng à.” instead of “mẹ yêu con lắm, cưng à”
In Vietnamese, each preposition has a fixed meaning which does not change regardless
of the noun, adjective or verb preceding it. On the contrary, the meaning of a preposition in
English depends on its preceding word. This difference leads to errors in using prepositions
of TL. For example, the Vietnamese preposition “về” can be expressed by different
prepositions in English:
1. According to Mr Thien, his plant currently produces lubricants under the API
(American Petroleum Institute) standards.
(theo ông Thiện thì hiện nay nhà máy của ông đang sản xuất dầu nhờn dưới tiêu chuẩn
của viện xăng dầu Mỹ)
3. Tòa án Nhân Dân đã quyết định kết án chúng 15 năm về tội buôn lậu ma túy
(The People’s Court decided to condemn them to 15 years imprisonment about the
drug smuggling.)
4. Là giáo viên ưu tú trong nhiều năm, ông Nam có nhiều kinh nghiệm về giảng dạy.
21
(As a qualified teacher for many years, Mr.Nam is experienced about educating and
teaching the pupils.”
(We really condole with you about the loss of your father)
As can be seen from the above-mentioned examples, the translators tended to choose
the English prepositions basing on Vietnamese meanings without paying attention to their
variations. These errors could be corrected as follows.
1. “According to Mr Thien, his plant currently produces lubricants under the API
(American Petroleum Institute) standards” should be translated “Theo ông Thiện thì
hiện nay nhà máy của ông đang sản xuất dầu nhờn theo tiêu chuẩn của viện xăng
dầu Mỹ”
2. “It is so easy to be misunderstood when talking on the phone.” is equivalent with
“nói chuyện qua điện thoại thì dễ bị hiểu nhầm”
3. “Tòa án Nhân Dân quyết định kết án chúng 15 năm tù giam về tội buôn lậu ma túy”
should be translated “The Peoples Court decided to condemn them to 15 years
imprisonment for the drug smuggling” .
4. “Là giáo viên ưu tú trong nhiều năm, ông Nam có nhiều kinh nghiệm về giảng dạy.”
should be translated “As a qualified teacher for many years, Mr Nam is experienced
in educating and teaching the pupils.”
5. “Chúng tôi thành thật chia buồn về sự ra đi của bố bạn” should be translated as “We
really condole with you for the loss of your father.”
Due to the mother tongue interference, the translators found themselves in a confusing
situation when they use prepositions in English. In order to avoid this type of errors the
translators should learn the prepositions going with nouns, adjectives or verbs by heart. If
they do not know how to use prepositions exactly, they tend to translate the Vietnamese
ones into English or vice versa. As a result, the translators should be provided with as
many structures with prepositions systematically as possible to help them take notes and
draw out the formation and rules.
2.1.4. Misuse of synonyms
Some translators depend largely on the meaning in dictionary picking out the
synonyms without paying much to the context. In fact, the pairs of synonyms share at least
22
one sense in common but do not share all their senses. To some extent, they can hardly
substitute for each other. The misuse of synonyms makes the meaning of one of the
following sentences unacceptable.
Another example shows that some translators do not realize the connotational meaning,
which leads to the distorting of the meaning of the sentence. Take “famous’’ - “nổi tiếng”
and “notorious” - “khét tiếng” as an example. While “famous” means “well-known/
celebrated”, and therefore contains some features of positive meaning, “notorious” means
“well-known” especially for unfavorable reason & negative meaning.
The following can be seen as the misuse of the synonyms by some of the inexperienced
translators.
3. Chính phủ có kế hoạch xây hàng ngàn ngôi nhà cho người vô gia cư.
(The government plans to build thousands of homes for homeless people.) (wrong)
In Example 2 “stubborn” fails to evoke the features of positive meaning which praises
the Vietnamese people on their heroism expressing the speaker’s admiration. In contrast, it
expresses the speaker’s anger and discontent.
In Example 3 “home” and “house” are places where one lives, meaning “nhà” in
Vietnamese. However, in terms of the connotational meaning they are quite different.
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“House” refers to the building or structure while “home” refers to the atmosphere or
feeling found in the house.
Examples:
Most of the synonyms have the same meaning in certain context. If a translator use
synonyms without referring to the context, (s)he can make wrong & funny for his readers.
In order to avoid the misuse, the translator should carefully take the synonyms into
consideration before using them. In addition, it would be better for the translator to
consider the differences of the pairs of synonyms when translating.
2.1.5. Idioms
The meanings of idioms are not definitely related to grammatical rules or the lexical
meaning of each word because they feature the metaphor and figures of speech. For
example, “wet blanket” should be translated “người rầu rĩ” instead of “cái chăn ướt” or
“to read one’s palm” translated as “xem chỉ tay” instead of “đọc cái gì ở lòng bàn tay”.
The following errors were found in some of the translated texts and should be
corrected.
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1. “Every time, we have our children’s birth certificates signed at the local People’s
committee, we have to go through a lot of red tape.” was translated as “Mỗi khi nhờ
họ ký giấy khai sinh tại ủy ban nhân dân phường, chúng tôi phải đi qua nhiều băng
đỏ”
2. “At first we intended to stay at home. On the second thought, we decided to go out.”
was translated as “Thoạt đầu chúng tôi có ý định ở nhà. Trong lần suy nghĩ thứ hai
chúng tôi quyết định đi ra ngoài”
3. “She rarely saves her time to do her homework. She often lets the grass grow under
her feet.” was translated as “Cô ấy hiếm khi tiết kiệm thời gian để làm bài tập ở nhà.
Cô thường để cỏ mọc dưới chân”
1. Mỗi khi nhờ họ ký giấy khai sinh tại ủy ban nhân dân phường, chúng tôi phải làm
nhiều thủ tục rườm rà.
2. Thoạt đầu chúng tôi có ý định ở nhà. Sau khi suy đi tính lại, chúng tôi quyết định đi
ra ngoài”
3. Cô ấy hiếm khi tiết kiệm thời gian để làm bài tập ở nhà. Cô thường để nước đến
chân mới nhảy.
Each language has its own division of lexicon into classes such as nouns, verbs,
adjectives, adverbs, etc. It is not always possible to translate a SL noun with a noun in TL.
In English, there is a tendency of using more nominal structures while verbal structures are
used more in Vietnamese. Some translators keep the same structures when translating,
25
leading to vagueness in TL texts. For example, “Thank you for your pretty present.” was
translated as “Cám ơn anh vì món quà đáng yêu” instead of “Cám ơn anh đã tặng em món
quà đáng yêu”. In addition, there is also a tendency of using more passive constructions in
English than in Vietnamese. For instance, “The USA is said to be a powerful country.” was
translated as: “Mỹ được coi là một cường quốc” instead of “Người ta nói rằng Mỹ là một
cường quốc”
1. The Vietnamese Airlines has coped with difficulties due to the regional financial
crisis.
(Hàng không Việt Nam gặp phải những khó khăn do cuộc khủng hoảng tài chính
vùng trầm trọng.)
(Huế được xem là di sản văn hóa thế giới bởi UNESCO vào năm 1994)
4. I was rewarded with a trip to Nha Trang by my parents after a year of hard work.
(Tôi đã được thưởng một chuyến đi đến Nha Trang bởi bố mẹ của tôi sau một năm
làm việc vất vả)
The above-mentioned translations do not sound Vietnamese, lacking the coherence and
smoothness, not conveying the desired meaning of the SL sentences. It would be more
idiomatic to translate as follows.
1. Do ảnh hưởng của cuộc khủng hoảng tài chính trầm trọng trong khu vực nên hãng
hàng không Việt Nam phải đương đầu với những khó khăn.
2. Trường học dạy toán vì toán học đóng/ có vai trò rất quan trọng.
3. Huế được UNESCO công nhận là di sản văn hóa thế giới vào năm 1994.
4. Sau một năm học hành chăm chỉ, bố mẹ đã thưởng cho tôi 1 chuyến du lịch tới thành
phố Nha Trang.
As can be seen from the examples mentioned above, some translators focus on the
structures of SL so much that they fail to convey all the implicit meanings of TL. In fact, it
26
is not necessary to keep the form at all. The most important thing is that the translations
must be done on the basis of the TL grammar that is familiar to the readers. This principle
suggests that the translator should not depend largely on the structures of the SL but break
them, conveying the meaning as much as possible in an appropriate structure in the TL.
Another problem is that some translators are not aware of the relationship between
form and function of language. It is commonly known that in some languages, one function
is expressed by many forms and vice versa. For example, in English the way of giving an
advice could be expressed by a number of structures: “Why don’t you..?”, “You should/
ought to…”, “If I were you, I would...”, “You’d better” or “I advise you to.” In addition,
some translators do not realize the conversational implicature understood implicitly as
follows.
As mentioned in the previous part, the structural difference between the SL and the TL
is likely to make it difficult for the translators. The translators are not aware of dividing or
combining the sentences within a text to be translated. If they try to keep the same
punctuation of the SL text, the correspondent TL text will have clumsy, run-together, long
and complex sentences. It is much better to divide long sentences into short ones aiming at
creating coherence, attraction for readers in the translations.
These are the translated sentences with their structural errors made by some
inexperienced translators.
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1. “The dividing gap between the rich and the poor as well as corruption and social
unrest caused by the relocation of people in industrialized areas, have made many
people hesitate in further changes.”
( Khoảng cách giữa người giàu, người nghèo, cũng như sự tham nhũng và tình trạng
bất an của xã hội gây ra do sự phân bố lại dân cư ở các khu công nghiệp đã làm cho
nhiều người phải do dự khi chấp nhận những thay đổi lớn)
(Nó cũng rất cần thiết để đầu tư vào việc tăng năng suất của những cơ sở sản xuất
ắc qui để đáp ứng nhu cầu dây chuyền sản xuất vào việc chế tạo ô tô và xe máy phù
hợp với chương trình ở trong nước.)
Now let’s see if you can fix these problems! Work in your group, discuss the errors
and suggest better translations for these.
In order to overcome this type of structural errors, the most effective way for
translators is to master the structures of both languages. It is clear that a translator who is
proficient in English cannot help being good at Vietnamese and vice versa.
Styles play an important role in formal translation and strongly affect the second
language meaning. Due to the context, text-type and audience, the levels of language in
translation can be different - the informal language used in informal situations ;
colloquials used in spoken language; familiar language used among friends, relatives,
members in a family; formal language used in formal texts such as speeches in conference,
legal documents, business letter & documents, research papers.
The examples given below clearly indicate that the same massage could be expressed
in different styles.
28
Style error is an acute problem to the translators. Some translators did not master the
difference when using various styles such as conversational, academic, scientific, literary
styles. Many translators failed when coming across the unfamiliar styles due to being
unaware of degrees of formality (informal or formal style), usage of vocabulary (informal,
colloquial, and formal)
Culture could be understood as the total set of beliefs, attitude, customs, behaviour, and
social habits etc. of the member of a particular society. In the broad sense, it includes mode
of production, production activities, community organization, spiritual life, knowledge of
nature and society, emotions, and moral conceptions. Language is regarded as both a
component of a culture and network through which other elements of culture operate.
Language, therefore, uses almost all other cultural elements so as to perfect its universal
and self-sufficient nature. It could be said that we will not translate from this to that
language perfectly unless we know its relation to its culture.
It is commonly known that “ao dai” is a traditional costume of the Vietnamese women
and we never find an equivalent word in English to translate “ao dai”. However, some
translators translated mechanically “ao dai” into “a dress”. Writing down “ao dai” to
express the cultural feature would be preferred rather than making foreign people
misunderstand “ao dai” as “a dress”. “Trang phục truyền thống của người phụ nữ Việt
Nam là áo dài tượng trưng cho sự duyên dáng” should be translated as “The traditional
costume of the Vietnamese women is ‘‘ao dai’’ which symbolizes the grace.”
“Translation is a kind of activity which inevitably involves at least two languages and
two cultural traditions.” As this statement implies, translators are permanently faced with
the problem of how to treat the cultural aspects implicit in a source text (ST) and of finding
the most appropriate technique of successfully conveying these aspects in the target
language (TL). These problems may vary in scope depending on the cultural and linguistic
gap between the two (or more) languages concerned.
The cultural implications for translation may take several forms ranging from lexical
content and syntax to ideologies and ways of life in a given culture. The translator also has
to decide on the importance given to certain cultural aspects and to what extent it is
necessary or desirable to translate them into the TL. The aims of the ST will also have
implications for translation as well as the intended readership for both the ST and the target
text (TT).
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3. Questions for discussion
30
UNIT 3: BASIC TRANSLATION STRATEGIES
- Learn new words/ phrases difficult to translate (class work/ groupwork): Ss pick
up the new and difficult words and discuss to negotiate their meaning and use.
Special attention should be paid to idioms or fixed expressions.
- Identify sentence structures/ grammatical patterns (individual work class
work).
- Does the translation communicate the same meaning as the source language?
- Does the audience for whom the translation is intended understand it clearly?
- Is the form of the translation easy to read and natural in receptor language
grammar and style?
5. Comments (whole class): Teacher listens and comments about accuracy, style,
emotion, etc.
6. Completion: Write the final version of the translated text (individually and possibly
at home).
2. Some basic strategies for translators
2.1. STRATEGY 1: How to deal with non-equivalence at lexical level
It is often the case that no direct equivalents can be found in Vietnamese for English
words. It may be that the concept or idea is new to Vietnamese translators, as in the case of
“gender”, which is, in fact, a relatively new concept in general, and a very difficult concept
to understand and explain in many languages. It may also be that the concept is known or
31
understood but there is no specific word in Vietnamese used to express it. Another
difficulty is that, in addition to their concrete meaning, some words have special
connotations that are not conveyed by the Vietnamese word for the same thing. The
strategies listed below can be used to handle cases of non-equivalence.
2.1.1. Translating by a more specific word
In other cases, it may be appropriate to use a more general word to translate an English
word with no specific Vietnamese equivalent. For example, English makes distinctions
among mopeds, scooters, and motorcycles, the latter having larger wheels and engines than
both mopeds and scooters. Vietnamese, on the one hand, refers to all two-wheel, motorized
vehicles as “xe máy”. Similarly, the English words “paw”, “foot”, or “leg” may all be
translated by the Vietnamese word “chân”, which does not suggest any problems of
comprehension in Vietnamese, as it should be clear from the context which of these words
is meant.
2.1.3. Translating by cultural substitution
This strategy involves replacing a culture-specific item or expression with one of the
different meanings but similar impact in the translated text. Because of their self-described
“respect” for the original text, most Vietnamese translators object to this strategy and tend
to translate directly, even though it is inappropriate. For example, a farmer’s manual that
has been translated into Vietnamese suggests the planting of different types of fruit trees
which are not even grown in Vietnam. The original manual, which was developed in other
parts in Asia, was not modified at all for the Vietnamese context. Though some translators
argue that it is not the responsibility of the translator to change the text in this way, the
translator is in fact playing an important role in this task. Translators should be encouraged
to consider the appropriateness of the documents they are translating and suggest changes
32
to make them more culturally appropriate. However, this is not only the burden of the
translator, but also of the commissioners of the translation and the editor.
2.1.4. Translating by using a loan word plus explanation
There is some objection to this strategy in Vietnam, as many translators prefer to coin
new words in Vietnamese rather than borrow English words. However, this strategy is very
useful when the translator deal with concepts or ideas that are new to Vietnamese audience,
culture-specific items, and proper names of diseases or medicines that are widely known in
English names. For instance, HIV and AIDS are two loan words that are frequently used in
Vietnamese, as they are referred to by their English names in almost every part of the
world.
Because these words have been in common use in Vietnam for a long time, they are
often used without any accompanying explanation. Whenever a loan word is used, it is
better to give an explanation. Another example is the acronym for oral dehydration salts, or
ORS, which is printed on every package and hence easily recognized; this is normally
written in English with an explanation in Vietnamese: ORS (muối bù mất nước)
2.1.5. Translating by using a paraphrase
This strategy can be used when we translate an English word or concept that does not
exist in Vietnamese, or when the Vietnamese term for it does not include all the meanings
conveyed by the English term for the same concept. For example, in the sentence:
“Pregnant women should avoid alcohol”, the English “alcohol” includes all alcoholic
drinks in its meaning. The Vietnamese word “rượu” does not include beer in its definition,
so the Vietnamese translation should add the word “beer” to reflect the full meaning of the
source language sentence. Another example is that the English words “abuse” and
“neglect” signify a whole range of behaviors, some of which are not conveyed by the
Vietnamese words alone. As a result, the English sentence: “Children should be protected
from abuse and neglect.” cannot be translated as simply as “trẻ em nên được bảo vệ khỏi
sự lạm dụng và lơ là”. This translation does not account for their full meaning, which must
be unpacked for better understanding. This can be done by paraphrasing as a translator has
attempted in the following translation: “trẻ em cần được bảo vệ chống lại mọi hình thức
bạo lực gây tổn thương hay xúc phạm, bỏ mặc hoặc xao nhãng trong việc chăm sóc”. Back
translated roughly into English, this sentence reads: “Children must be protected from all
forms of violence causing harm or offense, and from abandonment and negligence in their
care.”
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2.1.6. Translating by omission
Though some translators may reject this strategy as too drastic, it is sometimes
appropriate to omit words or phrases that are not essential to the meaning or impact of the
text. This is especially true for words that would require lengthy explanations, awkward
paraphrases, or literal and unnatural translations, which would interrupt the flow of the text
and could distract the reader from the overall meaning. For example, the sentence “Much
can be done even without being physically present in the meeting.” is best translated into
Vietnamese by, “nhiều việc có thể làm ngay cả khi không có mặt tại cuộc họp” which omit
the word “physically” in the translation. The difference in meaning between “being
physically present” and “being present” is so minimal that it does not justify translation
into Vietnamese, which cannot easily express the slight emphasis implied here by the
author, and would not do so by emphasizing the physicality of a person’s presence.
2.2. STRATEGY 2: How to deal with idioms and set expressions
Idioms and set expressions can be dealt with in the ways similar to those mentioned
above. With idioms, however, there is another difficulty that the translator may not realize
that s/he is dealing with an idiomatic expression, since more idioms may make sense when
translated literally.
2.2.1. Using an idiom or a set expression of similar meaning and form
It is possible and easy to find a Vietnamese idiom with a similar meaning for an
English idiom or set expression. A good example can be found is the translation for “to
carry coals to Newcastle”: “Chở củi về rừng”, which is translated as “to carry firewood to
the forest.” The meaning here is clearly the same for both idioms- to bring something to a
place that has an abundance of that thing- but the way in which each language expresses is
bound to be the culture of that language. It is far more cumbersome to translate this idiom
literally into Vietnamese with an explanation that Newcastle is a well-known coal-
producing city in England (as was suggested by some Vietnamese translators), which
34
would unduly interrupt the flow of the text and greatly diminish the idiom’s impact. By
substituting a similar Vietnamese idiom, then, the flow and the impact of the source text
are retained in the translation.
2.2.3. Translating by paraphrasing
When Vietnamese equivalents cannot be found, paraphrasing may be the best way to
deal with an idiom or set expression in English. A good example can be found in an article
on maternal mortality, which includes the sentence, “But before the new estimates replace
the old as a way of packaging up the problem, it should be said that a mistake has been
made in allowing statistics such as these to slip into easy language.” The expression
“packaging up the problem” caused the problems in translation, as it was misinterpreted to
mean “assembling” or “gathering”. However, even if this phrase were clearly understood,
it would be difficult to find a precise equivalent in Vietnamese. In fact, it would be difficult
to restate concisely in English. This phrase is best dealt with by paraphrasing, which in
English could be understood as something like “summing up the problem by referring to it
simply as a number, which does not reflect its true magnitude or impact.” The expression
“to slip into easy usage” is problematic for the same reasons, and is also best dealt with by
paraphrasing, as a literal translation into Vietnamese would be meaningless.
2.2.4. Translating by omission
This strategy could be used when we translate words or phrases that would require
lengthy explanations, awkward paraphrases, or literal and unnatural translation. This
strategy has also been used when we translate phrases which have two meanings; one of
the meanings may be sacrificed for the other. For instance, a book entitled “Being Positive-
Living with HIV/AIDS” causes problems in translation because of the double meaning of
“being positive”. The meaning of the phrase could be that a person is suffering from
positive HIV and that s/he should have an optimistic outlook on life. This may be clear to
the translator, who may interpret the phrase to mean that this book is for and about people
who are HIV positive. However, the double meaning should be made clear through
collaboration with the commissioner, after which a choice must be made between the two
meanings, for it would not be possible to translate both meanings by one Vietnamese
phrase. As the emphasis is on positive outlook on life but not on the fact of being HIV
positive, one translator has suggested the translation: “Hãy Sống Yêu Đời Dù Nhiễm HIV”.
This translation expresses the notion of being positive about life without mentioning
anything about being HIV positive status.
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2.3. STRATEGY 3: How to deal with voice, number and person
2.3.1. Voice
The passive voice is very commonly used in English and can cause problems for
translation into Vietnamese. It can be translated into Vietnamese in the following ways
Though both languages have similar notions of number and countability, each language
has its own way to express these notions. In English, number is expressed as a grammar
category; that is, there are different grammatical forms for singular and plural nouns. In
Vietnamese, however, no such distinction is grammatically made. For example, “phụ nữ”
can mean either woman or women. In Vietnamese, some plural markers such as “các,
những, tất cả, mọi, mỗi” can be used in addition to the noun. “các” generally means all of
the given category of things, whereas “những” refers only to some of the total number of
things being discussed. “mọi” emphasizes the identity of the individual member of the
category without indicating anything of their totality; “mỗi” expresses both the
individuality of the items and the totality of the category. If it is clear from the English
context which of these plural markers should be used in the Vietnamese, then the translator
should choose accordingly.
2.3.3. Person
Participants’ roles and forms of address are expressed in Vietnamese through a very
complicated system of personal pronouns based largely on kinship terms. Unlike English
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pronouns, Vietnamese pronouns bear a number of semantic components depending on the
relationship within a family, age, sex, familiarity, social status, and even one’s particular
mood or attitude in a given situation. These distinctions are not always explicitly expressed
in English and can usually be determined by the context in which the language operates. If
it is not possible to determine the distinctions of the English pronouns, the attention should
be focused on the tone and the overall purpose of the text to be translated.
Example: A book on health-care contains many sections written especially for children
and adults. In the sections for children the pronoun “you” is translated as “em” or “các
em”. In the sections for adults, “you” should be translated as “chúng ta”.
2.4. STRATEGY 4: How to deal with non-subject sentences (in Vietnamese-
English translation)
37
2. US President Visiting Vietnam
(Tổng thống Hoa Kỳ sang thăm Việt Nam)
3. Oil Price To Rise?
(Giá dầu sẽ tăng?)
4. Three More Investment Projects Licensed This Year
(Thêm ba dự án đầu tư nữa được cấp giấy phép trong năm nay)
5. Investment Boom
(Bùng nổ đầu tư)
6. See You In Court
(Hẹn gặp tại tòa)
PRACTICE:
Practice 1: Translate the following into Vietnamese, paying attention to the idioms/
fixed expressions.
1. A year from winning the Miss World title, she still has her feet firmly on the
ground, keeping her childhood friends around her.
2. The Bush administration realizes now that they have come to the end of the road
of their unilateral policy.
3. Fire crews were working around the clock to bring the huge blazes under control.
4. Human Rights Watch suggests that if the human rights situation does not
improve, foreign aids should be suspended. But privately, they admit that this
appeal is likely to fall on deaf ears.
5. Do you think that the country is going in the right direction or is it heading on the
wrong track?
6. Come on, this is the peak season. We are truly up to our eyes and we are working
flat out to fulfill the orders. I wouldn’t ask for a leave if I were in your shoes.
Practice 2: Translate the following into English, using the given phrases/structures
1. Hiện nay ở Malaysia, dân chúng càng ngày càng tỏ ra tin tưởng hơn, vì tất cả các
chỉ số cơ bản đều cho thấy nền kinh tế đang phục hồi mạnh mẽ. (effect a full
rebound)
2. Việc hạ lãi xuất đã làm cho thị trường trái phiếu trở nên sôi động. (inject life into
sth)
3. Những nỗ lực của chính phủ nhằm thu hút đầu tư nước ngoài đã bắt đầu mang lại
hiệu quả. (bear fruits)
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4. Singapo hầu như không có một sai phạm nào trong quá trình khắc phục khủng
hoảng. Với sự quản lý chặt chẽ của chính phủ, nền kinh tế của nước này đang
phục hồi trên mọi khía cạnh. (put a wrong foot; effect a full rebound)
5. Để thành công trong nỗ lực xóa đói giảm nghèo, các nước châu Á cần đẩy mạnh
cải cách chính sách kinh tế hơn nữa. (win the battle against sth)
Practice 3: Translate the following into Vietnamese or English, paying attention to
the passive structures.
1. There has been a shortage of labour in the country, so new jobs have to be filled by
women.
2. As Asia is home to 2/3 of the world’s poor, the battle against poverty must be won
here in this region.
3. Japan’s invasion of Western markets has been viewed internationally with a
mixture of admiration, envy and fear.
4. Tua du lịch trọn gói là tua du lịch được cung cấp bởi các công ty du lịch bao gồm
cả dịch vụ đi lại ăn ở và có thể cả các dịch vụ khác như thuê xe, dã ngoại... Chuyến du
lịch trọn gói đầu tiên do Thomas Cook, ông tổ cuả ngành du lịch, đứng ra tổ chức vào
năm 1841. Từ đó trở đi du lịch trọn gói phát triển nhanh chóng và giành được sự yêu
mến của rất nhiều du khách. Tuy nhiên trong những năm gần đây hình thức du lịch này
không còn được yêu chuộng như trước nữa do sự bùng nổ của các dịch vụ du lịch trên
mạng Internet và sự ra đời của các hãng hàng không giá rẻ.
Practice 4: Translate the following into English
1. Dư luận rộng rãi đều cho rằng cần thông qua nghiên cứu để khám phá những cơ
hội nhằm giúp những nông dân nghèo và người tiêu dùng có thu nhập thấp có thể
thu được lợi từ cây trồng biến đổi gen.
2. Chúng ta cần thương lượng và đưa vào thực hiện các thỏa ước quốc tế để bảo vệ
sức khỏe cộng đồng và tài nguyên môi trường.
3. Cần phải xây dựng một hệ thống kiểm tra đánh giá mới, khách quan hơn và đáng
tin cậy hơn.
4. Cần phải cải tổ hệ thống pháp lý để thu hút đầu tư trực tiếp nước ngoài nhiều hơn
nữa.
5. Có rất nhiều việc phải làm để đảm bảo rằng việc mở cửa nền kinh tế sẽ đem lại lợi
ích chứ không phải những tác động tiêu cực.
39
Phần II:
Thực hành dịch: Du lịch
The second-half of the 2008 year witnessed the onset of the global economic crisis
which inevitably entailed the slump down of the tourism
industry worldwide. In the last six months of 2008, Europe
and Asia endured a decrease of 3 per cent. Especially Asia
was hit by the recession hard since it enjoyed a double digit
growth in 2007. As an integral part of the world and Asia,
Vietnam was not an exception.
Despite strong growth rates early in 2008, the last few months saw Vietnam’s
dramatic decline in foreign visitors. The country saw, for example, a reduction of 5.9 per
cent from Japan, 3.5 per cent from South Korea and 3.1 per cent from Taiwan. A sharp
drop in the number of visitors from other high-income countries, such as the US and
Canada, also caused great concern within the tourist industry.
Since visitors from high-income markets account for 40 per cent of
the total number of foreign arrivals, the Viet Nam National
Administration of Tourism’s (VNAT) Travel Department,
therefore, referred to the current situation as “quite serious”. In
October 2008, fewer than 300 000 international visitors arrived in
Vietnam, a drop of almost 12% in October in 2007, according to
40
VNAT figures. A decline in the number of foreign arrivals in Viet Nam made the country
impossible to hit the target of attracting five million international tourists in 2008.
Hotels and tour operators were struggling and dropping
their rates during the steepest fall in arrivals since the 2003
SARS crisis and then bird flu outbreaks scared tourists away
from Vietnam and other Asian destinations. Many luxury
hotels reported room occupancy rates of only 55 percent in the
last month of 2008, lower than the rate recorded during the
same period of the previous year. Tourism operators have
echoed the complaints. "Our clients from the United States
and Europe -- especially France, Britain and Germany -- have
been down since mid-year," said Nguyen Hang Quy of Huong Giang travel agency in the
former royal capital of Hue. "It's because of the international downturn," he said.
Struggling in the current climate, both State-owned and private travel companies, are
striving to offer new products, while also adopting new marketing strategies to attract new
tourists. They have also been advised to explore new markets. To help give impetus to the
industry, the Government has agreed to provide VND30 billion (US$1.93 million) for a
range of promotional activities. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has approved
a plan to advertise images of Viet Nam on the BBC, and it is planning to further build on
this approach by promoting the country’s natural beauty via other worldwide television
channels like CNN and the Discovery Channel.
Right now, travel experts are unable to predict further developments of the economic
crisis. What they can say for sure is that the 2009 year will still remain a stormy year for all
tourism industries, Vietnam included. They, however, expect tourism to recover as soon as
the global economy gets better in late 2009 and early 2010.
Language notes:
Find the Vietnamese equivalents for the following words and phrases
- economic crisis:
- endure:
- integral:
- inevitable:
- to slump:
- a sharp drop in:
- occupancy rate:
41
- to hit the target of:
- the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism:
- Travel Department:
- recession:
- downturn:
- the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism:
DU LỊCH BỤI
Ngày nay hình thức du lịch độc lập, tiết kiệm, hay còn gọi là
du lịch bụi, đã trở thành một hình thức du lịch phổ biến và hấp dẫn
mà rất nhiều người, đặc biệt là những người trẻ tuổi hết sức thích
thú. Thực ra, với một cuộc hành trình như thế có thể bạn sẽ phải
đương đầu với rất nhiều khó khăn, thất vọng, hiểm nguy,vv, thế
nhưng cái cảm giác “thu hoạch” và sự thỏa mãn của bản thân mà
nó mang lại dường như vượt trên cả những khó khăn. Mọi người đều thừa nhận rằng hình
thức du lịch bụi này tạo cho bạn cơ hội được hoạt động nhiều hơn, ngắm nhìn nhiều hơn
bởi nó giúp bạn giao lưu trực tiếp với người dân địa phương, mang lại cho bạn nhiều thách
thức hơn.
Khi đi du lịch bụi bạn phải chuẩn bi đối phó với những tình huống bất
ngờ có thể xảy ra mà không có sự trợ giúp của một người có kinh nghiệm
chẳng hạn như hướng dẫn viên du lịch. Do đó việc chuẩn bị trước khi lên
đường cần phải hết sức kỹ lưỡng. Tốt nhất là bạn nên tìm kiếm thông tin
trên mạng, đọc sách hướng dẫn du lịch, hoặc hỏi kinh nghiệm từ những
42
người đã từng đến, hoặc sống ở nơi mà bạn dự định đến về những mặt như: giao thông đi
lại, chỗ ăn ngủ, con người địa phương, vv. Sau đó hãy lập nên một lộ trình dự kiến và tiếp
theo là chuẩn bị thật chu đáo cho chuyến đi của mình. Dưới đây là một số gợi ý về những
vật dụng mà bạn nên mang theo.
- Đồ dùng thiết yếu cá nhân: bao gồm quần áo, quần áo tắm và đồ lót, vài đôi tất, xăng
đan hoặc giày chạy bộ, túi ngủ và một số vật dụng cần thiết khác như khăn tắm, mũ.
- Bộ dụng cụ sơ cứu
- Đồ vệ sinh cá nhân như dầu gội, xà phòng tắm, kem và bàn chải đánh răng, dao cạo, và
cả kem chống nắng.
- Thiết bị điện tử: Máy ảnh kỹ thuật số, máy nghe nhạc MP3, một đèn pin loại nhỏ, đồng
hồ báo thức. Ngày nay nhiều du khách còn mang thêm cả máy tính xách tay.
Tóm lại, khi chuẩn bị hành lý cho một chuyến du lịch bụi, bạn cần phải cân nhắc kỹ
lưỡng bởi bạn không chỉ cần phải chuẩn bị đầy đủ mà cũng phải đảm bảo là mình có thể đi
lại một các thoải mái, thuận tiện nhất.
Language notes:
Find the English equivalents for the following words and phrases
43
Task 1: Boosting your vocabulary: Compound Adjective
* Formation: Here are some most common ways of forming compound Adj:
4. Number + singular N:
A three-year-old boy a five-minute call
5. Others:
Part-time, first-class, second-hand, long-distance, so-called, etc.
Practice 1: Fill in each blank with one word to make a good compound adjective.
44
3. It was a badly-…………. article; I noticed several mistakes and the meaning wasn’t
clear.
4. They are very well-………, so they can afford to go to expensive restaurants.
5. She is not very tall, so she often wears high-……… shoes.
6. He is rather…………..-minded. He always forgets things.
7. She has got lots of carefully- ………….vests.
8. You shouldn’t type your application letter on poor-………….letter.
9. The criminal was caught red-............ He was seen steeling the young lady’s
handbag.
10. People should be tolerant towards other cultures. They should be .........-minded.
11. Don’t expect him to invite you for dinner. He is ....... -fisted.
12. When Brian got his promotion, he bought a .........-new car.
13. Look at Leila. She's wearing an old-.......... skirt. She found it in her gradmother's
drawer.
14. Some people think that we should preserve the ..........-rooted traditions of
countries.
15. Cathy is a ...........-mannered girl. She's very polite.
16. I made a long-...............call to England and it cost me a fortune.
17. On the train I travel second-............ because it’s cheaper.
18. He’s so proud – I have rarely met anyone so big-.............. He has a really high
opinion of himself.
19. A ...........-maintained car won’t have a reliable engine.
20. He is a ................-reliant boy. He always tries to do everything by himself.
Practice 2: Now look back at the text on section A and B and find the compound
adjectives. Can you notice any other ways of forming compound adjectives?
When listing a pair or a series, the items should be equal in form, that is, all should
belong to the same part of speech. In this way we say that the sentence has good
parallelism.
45
Practice 1: Rewrite the following sentences, using parallel structure.
1. I like just a glass of orange juice better than eating a big breakfast.
2. He was not only an outstanding athlete but he was a first-rate student as well.
3. The landlord said we would either have to turn down the hi-fi set or we would have
to move out.
4. Jenifer is smart, beautiful, and loves everyone.
5. Cutting down on driving serves both the interests of the economy and of energy
conservation.
6. The verbal facility scores of girsls are usually higher than the boys.
7. I spent two hours with Ms Smith, reviewing my job performance, evaluating my
goals, and my future with the company was also discussed.
8. Most people play golf for pleasure, for exercise, and so they can meet people.
9. I would rather pay for my education than financial aid.
10. My dog not only likes to play fetch but also chase car.
Practice 2: Translate the following into English, making sure that the structure is parallel.
1. Tôi rất thích khách sạn Ritz-Carlton vì nó được thiết kế rất đẹp, trang bị trong
phòng cũng rất tốt, và có lẽ chất lượng dịch vụ ở đây thì không đâu sánh được.
2. Chìa khóa dẫn đến những con số tăng trưởng kỷ lục của các nước Đông Nam Á
trong những năm 80 và đầu những năm 90 là tỉ lệ tiết kiệm cao, cơ chế đầu tư và
thương mại tự do, vốn được tự do lưu chuyển, và các nước này lại có chính sách thu
hút FDI phù hợp.
3. Hiến pháp của một quốc gia là công cụ pháp lý quan trọng nhất của chính phủ và
tòa án tối cao của quốc gia đó. Hiến pháp cũng là cơ sở để đạt được ổn định chính
trị, tự do cá nhân và tiến bộ xã hội.
Language notes:
46
Part D: Home Assignments
SPACE TRAVEL
Space Tourism is the term that's come to be used to mean
ordinary members of the public buying tickets to travel to space
and back. Many people find this idea futuristic. But over the past
few years a growing volume of professional work has been done
on the subject, and it's now clear that setting up commercial space
tourism services is a realistic target for business today.
Like any other business, once space tourism gets started it will develop progressively.
It can be helpful to think of it as going through several phases. Starting with a relatively
small-scale and relatively high-priced "pioneering phase", the scale of activity will grow
and prices will fall as it matures. Finally, it will become a mass-market business, like
aviation today.
“Du lịch sinh thái”, một ý tưởng tương đối mới mẻ lần đầu xuất hiện vào đầu những
năm 80/ thập niên 80, đã phản ánh sự dấy lên trong nhận thức về
tầm quan trọng của môi trường cũng như sự nhận thức của các nhà
điều hành du lịch rằng rất nhiều du khách muốn chắc chắn là sự
xuất hiện của mình ở một quốc gia khác sẽ không gây tác động tiêu
cực đến quốc gia đó. Du lịch sinh thái nhanh chóng thu hút được
sự chú ý của đông đảo người dân ở mọi tầng lớp khác nhau và
ngay lập tức trở thành cái mác “nóng” nhất của mọi tua du lịch.
47
Bất chấp một số tranh cãi về bản chất thực sự của du lich
sinh thái, phần lớn mọi người đều đồng ý rằng du lịch sinh thái
phải là động lực thúc đẩy sự duy trì và bảo vệ các nguồn tài
nguyên thiên nhiên. Với một ngành công nghiệp tương đối mới
mẻ như thế, việc gặp phải những khó khăn ban đầu cũng không
có gì đáng ngạc nhiên cả. Việc kinh doanh du lịch sinh thái vẫn
rất cần một sự chuyển mình và một phương pháp tiếp cận mang tính chuẩn hóa. Tuy nhiên
đã có dấu hiệu cho thấy mọi việc đang thay đổi theo chiều hướng tích cực.
48
Unit 2: ABOUT VIETNAM
ATF stands for ASEAN Tourism Forum which is the most important event in
ASEAN tourism cooperation. Vietnam is delighted and proud to host ATF 2009
under the theme “ASEAN Tourism – Striving for a New Height” in the beautiful and
thousand-year-of-culture Capital City of Hanoi. The following article is a brief but
attractive introduction about Vietnam.
Throughout the land, thousands of temples, pagodas, and churches attract millions of
worshippers. Wherever visitors travel in Viet Nam, relics of the past would be never far
away. Hanoi’s architecture, Hue’s splendid Imperial Citadel,
Hoian’s charming wooden buildings and Ho Chi Minh City’s
‘Chinatown’ are obvious examples, but there are many more. In
Da Nang, a unique sculpture museum pays homage to the
traditions of the Cham people. In the Central Highlands, the
ancient ritual of the Gong players is now recognised by UNESCO
as an intangible cultural treasure. The many ethnic minority
communities in the Northern Mountains and Central Highlands
also provide more insights into Vietnam’s colourful and exotic
society.
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The Vietnamese gastronomy offers an endless variety of tasty cuisines, ranging from
regular food to fine cuisines that can please the taste of the most demanding guests. In
addition, there are thousands of restaurants offering food from the four corners of the
world.
Among various attractions in Viet Nam, the most fascinating is its people.
Vietnamese are very peace-loving, kind, considerate, sociable and hospitable, and well
known for their sense of humour. Viet Nam is a safe and fascinating country for travellers
who appreciate culture, nature, adventure and relaxation. No wonder Vietnam’s slogan is
‘The Hidden Charm’!
Language notes:
Find the Vietnamese equivalents for the following words and phrases
- to strive for:
- topography:
- striking:
- magnet:
- pinnacles:
- terraces:
- ubiquitous:
- splendid:
- Imperial Citadel:
- to pay homemage to:
- intangible cultural treasure:
- exotic:
- gastronomy:
Với khoảng 13,000 loại thực vật và hơn 15,000 loại động vật khác nhau, Việt Nam
có tiềm năng rất lớn về du lịch, đặc biệt là du lịch sinh thái. Tiềm năng du lịch sinh thái ở
Việt Nam khá đa dạng, bao gồm hệ sinh thái ven biển, hệ sinh thái núi đá vôi, hệ thống các
vườn quốc gia và các miệt vườn ở đồng bằng sông Cửu Long.
50
Việt Nam có tới 3260 km đường bờ biển nên hệ
sinh thái ven biển hết sức phong phú. Có rất nhiều bãi
biển đẹp nổi tiếng trên khắp 3 miền đất nước như Cát
Bà (Hải Phòng), Trà Cổ, Bãi Cháy (Quảng Ninh), Đồ
Sơn (Hải Phòng), Sầm Sơn (Thanh Hóa), Thiên Cầm
(Hà tĩnh), Lăng Cô (Thừa Thiên Huế), Ngũ Hành Sơn
(Đà Nẵng), Nha Trang (Khánh Hòa), Phan Thiết
(Ninh Thuận), Vũng Tàu. Bên cạnh đó hệ thống các
vỉa san hô ngầm cũng là một điểm thu hút lớn với khách du lịch. Tới các khu nghỉ mát ở
đảo Cát Bà, Cô Tô, Bạch Long Vĩ, Côn Đảo, Phú Quốc…, du khách có thể lặn và khám
phá các vỉa san hô mầu sắc rực rỡ cùng với hàng loạt các loại động thực vật biển khác
nhau. Tới Đông Nam Bộ, du khách có thể tham quan các khu rừng đước, nơi trước kia đã
từng bị tàn phá nặng nề trong 2 cuộc chiến tranh Đông Dương. Ngày nay các chính quyền
địa phương, chính phủ và các tổ chức quốc tế đang nỗ lực tái trồng rừng nhằm bảo tồn các
khu này. Một ví dụ điển hình là rừng đước Cần Giờ đã được UNESCO công nhận là khu
dự trữ sinh quyển đầu tiên của Việt Nam vào năm 2000.
Hệ thống núi đá vôi tập trung chủ yếu từ miền Bắc vào
tới tỉnh Quảng Bình (Cát Bà, Ba Bể, Cúc Phương, Phong Nha
– Kẻ Bàng…) là địa điểm lý tưởng cho du khách yêu thích đi
bộ đường trường và tham quan ngắm cảnh. Các dãy núi này
không chỉ có những khu rừng xanh tốt quanh năm với nhiều
loại động thực vật phong phú mà còn là quê hương của các
nền văn hóa đặc sắc của một số dân tộc thiểu số. Ngoài ra du
khách còn có thể tham quan các khu rừng quốc gia như Pù
Mát, Bến En, Ba Vì, Cúc Phương, Cát Bà, Tam Đảo, Bạch Mã, Nam Cát Tiên, …
Một hình thức du lịch khác cũng được rất nhiều du khách
yêu thích là tham quan các miệt vườn ở đồng bằng sông Cửu
Long. Do nằm ở khu vực nhiệt đới, có khí hậu ấm áp quanh năm,
miền Nam Việt Nam có rất nhiều loại hoa trái khác nhau. Một
khu làng du lịch mới được hình thành gần đây là làng Mỹ Khánh
ở Cần Thơ đã trở thành một điểm đến lý tưởng của du khách
trong và ngoài nước. Đó là một khu miệt vườn rộng khoảng
40,000 m2 với nhiều kênh rạch, chợ nổi, nhà rông và các hồ dành
cho hoạt động câu cá hay bơi thuyền.
Ý thức rõ về tầm quan trọng của du lịch sinh thái, chính phủ Việt Nam ưu tiên hàng
đầu cho hình thức du lịch này trong chiến lược phát triển du lịch. Mặc dù ở Việt Nam, du
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lịch sinh thái mới trong giai đoạn bắt đầu nhưng người ta kỳ vọng là nó sẽ phát triển mạnh
mẽ với sự ủng hộ của chính phủ cũng như các tổ chức quốc tế.
Language notes:
Find the English equivalents for the following words and phrases
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Un- In- Ir- Il- Im- Dis- Mis- Non-
Practice: Fill in the gaps in the following sentences, using a negative prefix with the
correct form of the root word given.
1. Risk analysis is very important to help the bank sort out ………….borrowers.
(RELY)
2. They have ………my name on this form. The first letter is L not R. (SPELL)
3. I was so tired that I fell asleep without getting …. (DRESSED)
4. …........ is a serious problem in poor countries. (LITERATE)
5. The player was then fined because of his ..............behaviour to the referee.
(ATHLETIC)
6. No matter how intelligent you are, you can not get respected if you ……….. so
often. (BEHAVIOR)
7. Why mention this issue here? It’s totally ……….. (RELEVANT)
8. My boss was so stubborn and ……………any alternative we proposed. (APPROVE)
9. I was late because I was ............... of the time. (INFORM)
10. He wrapped my present so well that it took me 5 minutes to ………it (WRAP)
11. They were then sacked as they were very ............ to the company. (LOYAL)
12. If we only look at a person’s appearance and clothing, it is possible that we may
............ him/her. (JUDGE)
13. It is required that ..................show their ID or passport to the local police if they
wish to stay for a few days. (RESIDENT)
14. The man behaved ......................, acting against his own interest. (RATIONAL)
15. ........... in the society may breed terrorism or even evolution. (JUSTICE)
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Task 2: Improving your sentence skills: Expressing contrast
What are other ways of expressing contrasting ideas? Discuss the use of the following
groups of words/ phrases:
Though/ although/ even though
But/ yet
While/ whereas
Despite/ in spite of
However/ on the other hand
Practice 1: Rewrite the following sentences, beginning with the word(s) given.
1. Mặc dù có một số phụ nữ Nhật Bản rất thành đạt trong kinh doanh nhưng hầu hết
các công ty của Nhật đều do nam giới điều hành.
2. Mặc dù rất tận tâm với công ty nhưng vẫn có nhiều nhân viên Nhật muốn có nhiều
thời gian rảnh rỗi hơn.
3. Mặc dù có đôi nét tương đồng, song vẫn có nhiều điểm khác nhau cơ bản giữa
phong cách quản lý của người Nhật và người Mỹ.
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4. Hầu hết các công ty của Nhật đều có trụ sở tại Tokyo mặc dù giá thuê văn phòng ở
đây rất đắt đỏ.
5. Dù có một số thay đổi trong chính sách đầu tư của Ấn Độ nhưng chúng tôi vẫn quyết
định sẽ đầu tư vào thị trường này.
Vietnamese and British cultures are sharply different. One major area of difference
between the cultures relates to the showing of affection. In Vietnam, two men or two
women often show affection in public, but affection between the sexes is not considered
acceptable. On the contrary, in Britain as well as other Western countries, a couple kissing
each other in streets or public places is considered a common scene, but it would be
ridiculous or abnormal if two people of the same sex go hand in hand or show affection
towards each other. Another difference lies in the relationship between family members.
Vietnamese family relations are often a surprise to British people. Three or four
generations live together in one Vietnamese household, with elderly people cared for by
their children and grandchildren. In Britain, nuclear family is a popular model and hardly
any elderly people wish to live together with their offsprings. There is also a considerably
greater amount of equality among family members in a British family while Vietnamese
tend to think that grandparents and parents should have superiority over their children.
Task 2: Translate the following into English, paying attention to the underlined parts
1. Nằm ở Đông Nam Á, Việt Nam là một đất nước giầu tiềm năng du lịch và hấp dẫn
với du khách thế giới.
2. Đất nước Việt Nam có hình chữ S, trải dài dọc theo bờ biển phía Đông bán đảo
Đông Dương.
3. Về mặt địa lý và dân cư, Việt Nam được chia thành ba miền: Miền Bắc, Miền
Trung, và Miền Nam mà trung tâm lần lượt là các thành phố chính: Hà Nội, Đà Nẵng, và
thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. Mỗi vùng đều có những thắng cảnh và những đặc điểm về du lịch
riêng.
4. Dân số Việt Nam hiện nay đạt tới 86,5 triệu người, trong số đó khoảng 76% là
người Kinh, số còn lại là người Tày, Nùng, Khơ-me, Chàm và nhiều dân tộc anh em khác. .
5. Với chính sách mở cửa hiện nay, Việt Nam đang phát triển kinh tế rất nhanh và
đang là một đất nước đầy tiềm năng ở Đông Nam Á.
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Unit 3: GREAT DESTINATIONS
There are over 150 art galleries and museums in the city and an uncounted number
of cafés, brasseries and restaurants lining every street and boulevard. The variety of style
and decor is hard to beat, ranging from ultra-modern fashion temples to traditional palaces
and from tiny bistros where the emphasis is all on the cooking to bustling and luxurious
restaurants. After dark, the city's theatres and concert halls host inventive and world-
leading productions of theatre and dance, while many classical concerts take place in fine
architectural settings, particularly chapels and churches. Above all, Paris is a real cinema
capital, and the city's vibrant cultural mix puts it at the forefront of the world music scene.
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Language notes:
Find the Vietnamese equivalents for the following words and phrases
- paragon:
- glamourous:
- extraordinarily:
- magnificient:
- remain remarkably unchanged:
- be redeemed by:
- haven:
- grandeur:
- bistro:
- ultra-modern:
- inventive:
- chapel:
- vibrant:
Thủ đô Hà Nội tự hào với lịch sử ngàn năm văn hiến và biết bao dấu tích của mảnh
đất từng là kinh đô trong suốt ba thời kỳ phong kiến thịnh trị Lý, Trần, Lê vẫn được gìn
giữ. Nằm hai bên bờ sông Hồng, giữa vùng đồng bằng Bắc bộ trù phú, Hà Nội có được vị
thế thuận lợi để trở thành nơi giao lưu thương mại trong nước và quốc tế. Hà Nội có nhiều
di tích lịch sử và văn hóa hơn bất cứ một thành phố nào khác của Việt Nam. Mặc dù một
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số di tích bị mai một đi cùng với thời gian và do chiến tranh, Hà Nội vẫn còn giữ được
nhiều danh lam thắng cảnh hấp dẫn du khách thập phương.
Khu phố cổ gần hồ Hoàn Kiếm vẫn còn lưu giữ những nét kiến trúc cùng với cách quy
giới địa chính của thành phố Hà Nội cổ xưa. Vào đầu thế kỉ 20, Hà Nội chỉ có 36 phố
phường, nay đã trở thành một phần của khu phố cổ. Mỗi dãy phố là nơi buôn bán của các
gia đình chuyên kinh doanh về một mặt hàng nhất định như tơ lụa, đá quý, đồ thủ công mỹ
nghệ v.v.. Tên phố được đặt khá đặc biệt, bắt đầu bằng chữ Hàng và theo sau là tên ngành
nghề thủ công thời xa xưa, ví dụ như Hàng Bạc, Hàng Mã, Hàng Đường, vv. Ngay trong
khu phố cổ, có thể dễ dàng tìm thấy các nhà hàng đặc sản hay quán bar và những chợ đêm
tấp nập với nhiều mặt hàng thời trang, đồ lưu niệm và ẩm thực phong phú.
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Language notes:
Find the English equivalents for the following words and phrases
- Hán Việt:
- phong kiến:
- phồn thịnh:
- đặt tên cho… là…:
- di tích lịch sử:
- hàng bia tiến sĩ:
- di sản tư liệu thế giới:
- cách quy giới địa chính:
- đồ thủ công mỹ nghệ:
- lễ đốt pháo hoa:
- du thuyền:
- nhà hàng nổi:
What is a collocation?
Types of Collocation
There are several different types of collocation made from combinations of verb, noun,
adjective etc. Some of the most common types are:
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Adverb + Adjective: completely satisfied (NOT downright satisfied)
Adjective + Noun: excruciating pain (NOT excruciating joy)
Noun + Noun: a surge of anger (NOT a rush of anger)
Noun + Verb: lions roar (NOT lions shout)
Verb + Noun: commit suicide (NOT undertake suicide)
Verb + Expression With Preposition: burst into tears (NOT blow up in tears)
Verb + Adverb: wave frantically (NOT wave feverishly)
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Xây dựng đề án:
Xây dựng nền móng:
Xây dựng chỉ số:
Đặt hàng
Đặt phòng
Đặt niềm tin vào...
Đặt nền móng cho...
e.g1: Mỹ và Trung Quốc có thể hợp tác trong rất nhiều lĩnh vực.
There is a wide scope for mutual cooperation between China and the US.
e.g2: Số lượng thành viên tham gia câu lạc bộ đã tăng lên đáng kể trong vòng 6 tháng
vừa qua.
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There has been a considerable increase in the number of club members during the
last six months.
While Vietnamese tend to use more verbal structures, nominal structures seem
preferable in English, especially in written English.
Practice: Translate the following into English, using the nouns given in brackets.
1. Số người sử dụng séc đã giảm xuống chứng tỏ là thẻ tín dụng tiện lợi hơn trong
thanh toán.(reduction)
2. Trong cuộc họp cán bộ công nhân viên mới đây nhiều người đã tỏ ý phản đối việc
hút thuốc trong phòng làm việc. (objections)
3. Họ không mấy tin tưởng vào lời hứa của vị bộ trưởng. (trust)
4. Đã 18 năm nay, kinh tế Mỹ liên tục tăng trưởng. (expansion/growth)
5. Kèm theo thư này chúng tôi xin kính gửi ngài cuốn catalog và bản báo giá mới nhất.
Xin ngài lưu ý rằng chúng tôi đã sửa đổi một số điều khoản liên quan đến việc thanh
toán những đơn đặt hàng số lượng lớn. (changes)
MEXICO CITY
Mexico City is full of life, twenty-four hours a day. Even those who like small towns
cannot fail to fall in love with this bustling city packed with more than 17 million
inhabitants.
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buildings. To the south-east, the famed floating gardens of Xochimilo are a reminder of the
ancient lake system. There are parks and squares throughout hundreds of neighborhoods, in
which indigenous and European traditions mix with contemporary culture.
Most of the city is built on a grid, with streets
running north-south or east-west. But house numbers and
street names may change as they go from one
neighborhood to the next. Getting around on buses and
the metro is cheap and efficient. Most taxis are yellow
Volkswagen Beetles, and there are also minibuses that
will pick you up and drop you off anywhere you want
along a fixed route. But be careful of pickpockets on
public transportation and in the streets.
Task 2: Translate the following into English, paying attention to the underlined parts
Mê hi cô
Các thành phố ở Mê hi cô hiện đại nhưng vẫn chịu ảnh hưởng của phong cách truyền
thống của Ấn Độ và Tây Ban Nha. Những tòa nhà quan trọng nhất tọa lạc xung quanh
quảng trường trung tâm nơi mà đồng thời là nơi gặp gỡ giao lưu với bạn bè. Bên cạnh các
hệ thống siêu thị còn có các khu chợ ngoài trời, nơi mà người dân có thể tìm mua hầu hết
những thứ mà họ cần. Vào các ngày chủ nhật, công viên là một địa điểm phổ biến cho các
cuộc du ngoạn của các gia đình. Thành phố rất sôi động nhưng đồng thời không khí cũng ô
nhiễm và giao thông thì đông đúc.
Nhật
Các thành phố ở Nhật cũng có sự pha trộn giữa những nét truyền thống và hiện đại.
Trong thành phố ta có thể bắt gặp những tòa văn phòng, khu chung cư cao chọc trời cũng
như những ngôi nhà gỗ truyền thống. Nhiều người dân ở Nhật thích sống ở gần trung tâm
thành phố nhưng nhà cửa ở trong thành phố vô cùng đắt đỏ vì vậy họ thường sống ở ngoại
ô và hàng ngày vào thành phố làm việc bằng các phương tiện công cộng. Một trong những
điểm hấp dẫn ở các thành phố này là tỉ lệ tội phạm thấp. Ngoài ra còn có rất nhiều công
viên và những khu vườn ngay cả ở những thành phố đông đúc nhất.
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Úc
Mặc dù có đến 80% người dân Úc sống ở gần các thành phố nhưng những thành phố ở
đây không lớn như ở nhiều nước khác. Đa số người dân sống trong các ngôi nhà riêng ở
ngoại ô chứ không sống trong các chung cư ở thành phố. Vùng ngoại ô thường có nhà thờ,
trường học, trung tâm mua sắm và cả các trung tâm giải trí riêng. Ở các thành phố lớn,
chẳng hạn như Sydney, vùng ngoại ô thường ở khá xa trung tâm. Do nhiều người thường
đi vào trung tâm thành phố làm việc nên giao thông ở đây khá bận rộn và nạn tắc đường
cũng tương đối phổ biến.
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Unit 4: DINING OUT
Much of the difficulty encountered in learning table manners derives from the
struggle to master the ritual handling of the various tools involved. In order to display the
right social veneer, it is necessary to sit at the table with elegant ease and wield the utensils
with confidence.
Holding a utensil
In general use, both spoon and fork are held horizontally by
balancing them between the first knuckle of the middle finger and
the tip of the index finger while the thumb steadies the handle. The
knife is used with the tip of the index finger gently pressing out over
the top of the blade to guide as you cut.
Placement in general
The positioning of knife and fork when not in use acts as a sort of signal, allowing the
diner to indicate the degree to which he intends to pause in eating. Flatware should always
be placed on the plate during pauses between bites. If this is to be a very short time, there
is no set pattern. For longer waits, perhaps caused by a diverting twist in the table
conversation, the diner places the fork on the left and knife on the right, so that they cross
over the center of the plate. The diner preparing to pass his plate for a second helping
places the fork and knife parallel to each other at the right side of the plate, so that there is
room for the food. When the diner has finished, he signals this by setting the fork and knife
parallel to each other, so they lie either horizontally across the center of the plate or are on
the diagonal, with the handles pointing to the right. The cutting edge of the knife blade
should face toward the diner (again, avoiding all possible aggressive implications), and the
fork may be placed with the tines either up or down.
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2. How to use a napkin
Using the napkin at formal occasions, as with much else associated with etiquette,
should be a delicate affair. As soon as you are seated, remove the napkin from your place
setting, unfold it, and put it in your lap. At some very formal restaurants, the waiter may do
this for the diners, but it is not inappropriate to place your own napkin in your lap, even
when this is the case. If your napkin falls on the floor during a very formal event, do not
retrieve it. You should be able to signal a member of the serving staff that you need a fresh
one. When you leave the table at the end of the meal, place your napkin loosely next to
your plate. It should not be crumpled or twisted, which would reveal untidiness or
nervousness, respectively; nor should it be folded, which might be seen as an implication
that you think your hosts might reuse it without washing. The napkin must also not be left
on the chair.
3. Posture
Proper posture at the table is very important. Sit up straight, with your arms held near
your body. You should neither lean on the back of the chair nor bend forward to place the
elbows on the table.
4. Eating soup
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Dip the spoon into the soup, moving it away from the body, until it is about two-thirds
full, then sip the liquid (without slurping) from the side of the spoon (without inserting the
whole bowl of the spoon into the mouth). It is perfectly fine to tilt the bowl slightly --
again away from the body -- to get the last spoonful or two of soup.
Language notes:
Find the Vietnamese equivalents for the following words and phrases
- veneer:
- wield:
- horizontally:
- flatware:
- delicate:
- crumpled:
- proper posture:
- slurp:
- tilt:
Các nguyên liệu chế biến ở Việt Nam phản ánh rõ đặc điểm địa hình, khí hậu của đất
nước này. Gạo là một thành phần không thể thiếu được trong mỗi bữa ăn và có thể được
chế biến thành nhiều loại bánh, mỳ khác nhau. Bên cạnh một số món ăn chay, phần lớn các
món ăn được kết hợp giữa các loại rau khác nhau và các loại thịt cùng với các loại rau
thơm.
Ngoài ra, một trong những đặc điểm nổi bật của nghệ thuật chế biến các món ăn của
Việt Nam là sự sử dụng một cách phổ biến các loại nước chấm như nước mắm, tương,
mắm tôm, vv. Chúng có thể được dùng để nêm vào các món ăn hoặc dùng làm nước chấm
cho phần lớn các món ăn khác. Những người ăn kiêng hoặc hay bị dị ứng nên cẩn thận
trước khi thưởng thức món ăn Việt.
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Phong cách chế biến
Người Việt Nam chế biến món ăn theo nhiều cách khác nhau như luộc, hấp, rán,
xào… Không giống như người Trung Quốc, người Việt Nam thường sử dụng rất ít dầu ăn,
mỡ và khi chế biến thường hướng tới việc gìn giữ độ tươi ngon, hương vị tự nhiên của thực
phẩm. Do đó cách thức chế biến món ăn của người Việt Nam được coi là một trong những
cách chế biến tốt cho sức khỏe nhất trên thế giới.
Cách chế biến thức ăn cũng biến đổi khá đa dạng theo vùng
miền. Nghệ thuật nấu ăn ở miền Bắc thường mang tính truyền thống
hơn và yêu cầu chặt chẽ hơn trong việc lựa chọn nguyên liệu và gia
vị. Các món ăn nổi tiếng ở miền Bắc bao gồm: phở, bánh cuốn, chả
cá và nem rán.
Ở miền Nam, cách thức chế biến lại có phần chịu ảnh hưởng bởi
cách chế biến của những Hoa kiều cũng như của người Thái, Cam-pu-chia.
Người miền Nam thích ăn ngọt và thường sử dụng nhiều loại rau thơm, gia
vị khác nhau khi chế biến thức ăn. Miền Nam Việt Nam nổi tiếng với các
món như hủ tiếu, lẩu mắm và canh chua.
Cách thức chế biến món ăn ở miền Trung lại khác biệt với sự đa dạng về gia vị cũng
như màu sắc. Điển hình là cách chế biến món ăn Huế, với sự ảnh hưởng của nghệ thuật nấu
ăn cung đình, nhấn mạnh cả chất cũng như lượng. Thông thường một bữa ăn gồm rất nhiều
món khác nhau và thường được phục vụ với lượng rất ít.
Language notes:
Find the English equivalents for the following words and phrases
- Món ăn chay:
- rau thơm
- nước chấm
- nước mắm:
- mắm tôm:
- người ăn kiêng:
- hay bị dị ứng:
- phở:
- bánh cuốn:
- chả cá:
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- nem rán:
- hủ tiếu:
- lẩu mắm:
- canh chua
Look at the following sentence and see how the underlined is translated.
Phải mất 5-7 năm nữa, Việt Nam mới trở thành một thị trường ổn định và vững chắc.
It may take Vietnam 5 to 7 years to become a safe and sound place.
The words “safe” and “sound” often go together to make an idiomatic pair. There are
many idiomatic pairs like these usually with the linking word of and in English. There are
pairs of adverbs, pairs of nouns and identical/prepositional pairs like the following:
1. It's impossible to get any peace and quiet in this house with you two arguing all
the time.
2. She puts body and soul into her work with the girl guides. She is an inspired
leader.
3. I could see a number of houses scattered here and there over the hillside.
4. How often do you see her now? ~ Every now and again. Not as regularly as I
used to.
5. Why don't you get a job that pays more? ~ First and foremost because I really
enjoy the job I'm doing.
6. You needn't go on and on about needing a holiday. I know we haven't had a
break for over a year now.
7. I've told you again and again to stop swearing in front of the children, but you
take no notice.
Fill in the gaps in the following sentences with an appropriate word to make good
word pairs.
1. It is our policy to put customers first. We move heaven and ……….to meet their
demands.
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2. With more open policy, the tourist subsector is developing by leaps and ……….
3. Carefully tendered from dawn to………… the rice paddies promise a high-yield
harvest.
4. This book is really practical because it gives readers brief suggestions about all the
dos and ……. in business professionalism.
5. I like shopping but I hate all the hustle and ……….of shopping for food and
presents just before the Tet holiday.
6. E-culture is the heart and ………of the new economy where we human are able to
so much more with so much less.
7. This ambitious reform program aims to revitalize the SOEs from top to……….
8. Likes everyone else, she has her ups and ……. of course, but on the whole, she’s
quite satisfied with life.
9. I just keep various odds and ………in that drawer, nothing special.
10. She’s very house-proud. Her kitchen is always spick and……..
In the bold parts, the question form takes the place of the standard positive sentence
structure (e.g: the boss has seldom been so upset). This inversion of the verb and subject
usually takes place when some certain words/ phrases are placed at the beginning of the
sentence.
Now discuss the cases in which inversion is used.
Practice1: Rewrite the following sentences, beginning with the words given
1. The hurricane winds were so strong that no building in the town escaped damage.
So strong .......................................................................................................................
2. It was only when I heard the full story that I realized I had been taken in.
Only when .....................................................................................................................
3. I never suspected that she was a witch.
At no time .....................................................................................................................
4. It was only when the office phoned me that I found out about the meeting.
Not until ........................................................................................................................
5. The way so much money has been spent to so little purpose must been a record.
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Never before ................................................................................................................
6. Just after the play started, there was a power failure.
Hardly ...........................................................................................................................
7. If the government raised interest rates, they would lose the election.
Were ..............................................................................................................................
8. If you happen to see Helen, could you ask her to call me?
Should ............................................................................................................................
9. The police didn’t at all suspect that the judge was the murderer.
Little ..............................................................................................................................
10. The money is not to be paid under any circumstances.
Under no circumstances ...............................................................................................
11. You won’t find fossils like this anywhere else.
Nowhere else .................................................................................................................
12. It was only when I stopped that I realized that something was wrong.
Only when .....................................................................................................................
13. We had only just arrived home when the police called.
No sooner ......................................................................................................................
14. He started to address the audience and the protesters began shouting immediately.
No sooner ......................................................................................................................
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bread, mushrooms and baked beans all washed down with a cup of coffee. Now-a-days,
however, a typical English breakfast is more likely to be a bowl of cereals, a slice of toast,
orange juice and a cup of coffee. Many people, especially children, in England will eat a
bowl of cereal. They are made with different grains such as corn, wheat, oats etc. In the
winter many people will eat "porridge" or boiled oats.
The evening meal is usually called 'tea', 'dinner' or 'supper'. A traditional British
meal for dinner is "meat and two veg". People put hot brown gravy, (traditionally made
from the juices of the roast meat, but more often today from a packet!) on the meat and
usually the vegetables. One of the vegetables is almost always potatoes. The traditional
meal is rarely eaten nowadays, apart from on Sundays. A recent survey found that most
people in Britain eat curry! Rice or pasta dishes are now favoured as the 'British Dinner'.
Vegetables grown in England, like potatoes, carrots, peas, cabbages and onions, are still
very popular.
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Được biết đến một cách rộng rãi không kém gì thơ ca
hay nghệ thuật của Pháp, nghệ thuật chế biến món ăn của
quốc gia này ở thế kỷ 21 này có thể được coi như “haute
cuisine”. Một bữa ăn ở nhà hàng Pháp có thể được ví như
một loại hình nghệ thuật. Bánh ngọt, rượu và pho mát là
thành phần quan trọng và có lẽ là nổi tiếng nhất trong nghệ
thuật ẩm thực Pháp. Nhà hàng ở Pháp vô cùng đa dạng về cả
chủng loại và số lượng. Tính riêng ở Paris có đến hơn 5000
địa điểm ẩm thực, với các mức giá cả và thực đơn phù hợp
với thị hiếu và túi tiền của thực khách.
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món ăn Ấn được phục vụ trong các nhà hàng trên thế giới
thực ra mới chỉ là của Bắc Ấn. Ngoài ra còn có 3 loại khác là
Nam, Đông, và Tây Ấn. Phần lớn các món ăn là món chay
nhưng cũng rất nhiều món được chế biến từ thịt cừu, dê, gà
và thậm chí cả cá. Các món ăn Ấn thường khá cay nên phải
mất khoảng vài tuần du khách nước ngoài mới có thể làm
quen được với vị cay này. Người Ấn thường ngồi ăn dưới sàn
nhà và không dùng các dụng cụ ăn. Tuy nhiên những phong
tục này cũng đang dần thay đổi bởi ngày càng có nhiều nhà hàng Âu mọc lên ở Ấn Độ.
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Unit 5: CROSS-CULTURAL AWARENESS
NATIONAL STEREOTYPES
Heaven is where the cooks are French, the police are British, the mechanics are
German, the lovers are Italian and everything is organized by the Swiss.
Hell is where the cooks are British, the police are German, the mechanics are
French, the lovers are Swiss, and everything is organized by the Italians.
This is an old popular joke that never fails to make those who hear it cringe or laugh.
National stereotypes have been the subject of many jokes for centuries. To some, national
stereotypes may provoke racism but to others, they are harmless jokes based on the identity
that a certain nation or people has established or projected towards other countries through
the years. But is there a sliver of truth in these national stereotypes? Or are they just
inaccurate preconceived notions, which can be pretty offensive to many people? Whatever
your views are, here are five of the most common national stereotypes and why they are
somehow false.
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In many movies, we have seen the Irish being
portrayed as those ill-tempered drunkards who love
to have some cheerful bantering in their spare time,
which is every time. In fact, many of us think of
Ireland when we hear the word “pub.”
However, if they were so addicted to alcohol,
how come Ireland is the best performing economy in
Europe with a fast-paced 7.7% growth rate? Not to
mention that, its highly educated population attracts
massive numbers of pharmaceutical, hi-tech and
financial services companies, despite fierce
competition for jobs within the EU.
And how come Ireland ranks only third in a 2004
survey by World Drink Trends, behind Luxembourg
and Hungary?
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some are Buddhist vegetarians. Some find cheese distasteful, but you’ll find cheese shops
in some streets of Beijing and Shanghai. Besides, if people really don’t trust the taste of the
Chinese people, how come Chinese food is so popular all around the world?
…
Perhaps it’s about time that we stop perpetrating unfounded myths about other people
and accept that mankind is a mixture of fine, unique individuals with different ways of
living life. We should avoid branding a certain nationality with a negative notion for it can
be offensive and dangerous. But maybe for some of us, they are stereotypes for a reason.
Maybe there’s some truth in it. Maybe it applies to some people. But the problem with
stereotypes is that they tend to generalize.
And remember that a person is judged not according to his race and definitely not his
nationality. Humanity is defined by how good we have been to ourselves and other
people, not by the country we live in.
Language notes:
Find the Vietnamese equivalents for the following words and phrases
- stereotypes:
- overgeneralization:
- to cringe:
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- to project:
- preconceived:
- gigantic:
- to be portrayed as…:
- ill-tepered:
- be addicted to:
- virtually:
- mightiness:
- be drowned in…:
- humble:
- to perpetrate:
TÌM HIỂU MỘT VÀI NÉT KHÁC BIỆT VỀ VĂN HÓA TRONG KINH DOANH
Người Anh thích ăn trưa cùng đối tác và luôn sẵn sàng
thảo luận về chuyện làm ăn trong bữa ăn. Tuy nhiên người
Nhật thường không thích đề cập đến công việc trong khi ăn
uống vì với họ bữa trưa là thời gian để thư giãn và tìm hiểu rõ
hơn về nhau. Họ cũng không có thói quen uống bia rượu khi
ăn trưa. Người Đức thích nói chuyện làm ăn trước bữa tối còn
người Pháp lại muốn ăn uống trước, sau đó mới bàn bạc
chuyện làm ăn.
Ở Anh và Hà Lan, cởi áo khoác ngoài và xắn tay áo lên là biểu thị việc bắt đầu ngồi
xuống làm việc, nhưng người Đức lại coi đó là dấu hiệu của việc nghỉ ngơi. Ở Anh, các
“sếp” đôi khi thể hiện sự thoải mái trong công việc bằng hành động gác chân lên bàn khi
nói chuyện điện thoại. Người Nhật lại cảm thấy sốc khi chứng kiến cảnh tương tự vì theo
họ việc giơ gót chân của mình ra như thế là một hành vi cực kỳ xấu.
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Có lẽ người Nhật có những quy ước về hành vi
ngoài xã hội và ở nơi làm việc hà khắc nhất. Trong
công việc, thâm niên công tác vô cùng quan trọng,
những người lớn tuổi trong công ty luôn được kính nể.
Ngay cả việc trao đổi danh thiếp cũng đòi hỏi những
quy tắc nhất định. Danh thiếp phải được trao ngay khi
gặp gỡ bởi vì việc này đóng vai trò quan trọng trong
việc thiết lập địa vị, vị trí của mọi người. Đồng thời
danh thiếp phải được trao và nhận bằng hai tay và người nhận phải đọc kỹ lưỡng chứ
không đơn thuần là đút vào túi áo. Người Nhật thường không bắt tay mà cử chỉ cúi chào
của người Nhật là một phần thiết yếu trong nghi thức chào hỏi. Cúi đầu chào thể hiện sự
kính trọng và lần cúi chào đầu tiên trong ngày phải thấp hơn những lần sau đó.
Người Mỹ thường cảm thấy khó có thể chấp nhận phong cách quá trịnh trọng như
thế của người Nhật. Họ thích thoải mái và thân mật hơn, thể hiện rõ nét ở câu nói đã trở
nên phổ biến khắp nơi của mình “chúc một ngày tốt lành”. Người Anh, trái lại, thường tỏ
ra lạnh lùng và e dè trong giao tiếp. Một chủ đề phổ biến trong các cuộc trò chuyện giữa
những người lạ ở Anh là thời tiết, một chủ đề không liên quan đến ai và cũng không mang
sắc thái tình cảm.
Language notes:
Find the English equivalents for the following words and phrases
- đối tác:
- có thói quen…:
- bàn bạc chuyện làm ăn:
- xắn tay áo lên:
- quy ước về hành vi ngoài xã hội và ở nơi làm việc:
- thâm niên công tác:
- danh thiếp:
- cúi đầu chào:
- e dè trong giao tiếp:
- không liên quan đến ai:
- không mang sắc thái tình cảm:
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Part C: Improving Translation Skills
The most common prefixes to form new verbs in academic English are “re”, “dis”,
“un”, “over”, “under”, “mis”, “out”, and “co”.
Practice 1: Complete the sentences by using a verb from the table with appropriate
prefixes.
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sleep charge (x 2) come pack treat
take behave cover lock fasten
do hear agree judge
1. We _________ as soon as we got to the hotel, then went out for a walk.
2. We usually have similar opinion but I totally ________ with him on this subject.
3. My homework was so bad that I had to __________ it.
4. Her alarm clock didn’t go off and she __________.
5. She finally managed to ________ the door, and we were able to go inside.
6. I don’t think I’ll pass the exam, but I can ________ it in September.
7. You can only _________ your seatbelt when the car stops.
8. I think I ________ Laura. She's actually really nice.
9. My mobile phone's dead. I need to ________ the battery.
10. It can take several weeks to _________ from flu.
11. I always hated it when my classmates __________.
12. Our dog was _________ by its previous owner.
13. This bill can’t be right. I think they _________ me.
14. It's easier to __________ problems if you share them.
15. I ____________ an interesting conversation on the bus today.
Practice 2: Translate the following into Vietnamese, paying attention to the italicized
words.
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1. Taking off our shoes, we creep cautiously along the passage.
2. Being unemployed, he led a miserable life.
3. Taking everything into consideration, they decided to inject more capital into the
project.
4. Rejected by all her friends, she decided to become a Buddhist nun.
Discuss the use of present participle and past participle phrases in these sentences. Can
you rewrite these sentences using full clauses?
Practice 1: Rewrite the following sentences, using a present/ past participle phrase
Practice 2: Now translate the following sentences into Vietnamese, paying attention to the
italicized parts.
1. Not wishing to continue her study, she decided to become a fashion designer.
2. Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to buy food on his journey, he took large
supplies with him.
3. Not knowing the language and having no friends in the town, he found it hard to
get work.
4. The Golden Dragon Prize is awarded to foreign invested enterprises contributing
to Vietnam’s development.
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5. Taking advantage of the darkness, the prisoners slipped quietlt through the gate
and made off across the field.
6. Weakened by successive storms, the suspension bridge is no longer safe.
7. Angered by the new policies of the board of Management, the pilots decided to go
on a one-week strike.
8. Treated equally and offered more investment incentives, foreign investors feel
that they are now full members of a level playing field for all.
CULTURE CLASH
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of understanding and built up anxiety. Therefore, it is very important to try to understand
the culture and people of the country that you are travelling to.
Task 2: Translate the following into English, paying attention to the underlined
parts
Người Việt Nam thường rất nhạy cảm khi sử dụng hình thức giao tiếp
phi ngôn ngữ. Trong khi người phương Tây thường sử dụng thanh điệu để
diễn tả cảm xúc, tình cảm, thái độ ẩn chứa sau ngôn từ mà họ sử dụng thì
người Việt Nam lại sử dụng chúng để tạo ra những từ khác nhau, do đó
phải dựa vào những yếu tố khác để biểu đạt tình cảm của mình. Những
biến đổi trên nét mặt là một trong những kỹ thuật rõ ràng và được sử dụng
phổ biến nhất.
Giao tiếp bằng ánh mắt: những người lạ thường tránh nhìn thẳng vào mắt nhau khi nói
chuyện. Tuy nhiên khi đi trên đường phố người Việt Nam lại thường có thói quen nhìn
chòng chọc vào những người có vẻ ngoài khác thường như cách ăn mặc, trang điểm chẳng
hạn.
Cử chỉ, điệu bộ: Dùng ngón tay chỉ vào ai đó hoặc khi ngồi bắt
chéo chân lại hướng gót chân vào người khác thì bị coi là thô lỗ.
Ngoài ra một điểm khác biệt khá lớn giữa văn hóa Việt Nam và văn
hóa phương Tây thể hiện ở động tác gọi người khác lại gần chỗ
mình. Trong khi người phương Tây thường ngửa lòng bàn tay lên
và dùng ngón trỏ để ra hiệu thì người Việt Nam lại coi đó là một cử
chỉ rất mất lịch sự vì theo họ động tác này chỉ dùng đối với loài vật.
Thay vào đó, người Việt Nam gọi nhau bằng cách úp lòng bàn tay xuống và vẫy đồng thời
cả bốn ngón tay.
Sự va chạm cơ thể: cử chỉ động chạm vào người khác giới bị coi là bất lịch sự. Mặc dù
một số thanh niên bị “Tây hóa” có thể bỏ qua những quy ước xã hội đó nhưng phần lớn
người Việt Nam khá bảo thủ. Trong một xã hội truyền
thống thì ngay cả vợ chồng cũng không dám nắm tay nhau
khi đi trên phố. Tuy nhiên những tiếp xúc, va chạm cơ thể
giữa những người cùng giới lại là sự biểu hiện của tình
bạn. Những người bạn hay người thân lâu ngày không gặp
nhau khi gặp lại nơi công cộng thường không ôm nhau hay
hôn lên má, trong khi với người phương Tây thì đó chỉ là
một hình thức chào hỏi.
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