Five basic skills that German translation needs to master

Five basic skills that German translators need to master

To do any kind of work or engage in any profession, you must have certain basic conditions, or basic skills, and translators must also have translation skills. Basic skills. For translators, translation is a job that requires great care and strong language skills. So what basic skills do German translators need?

　(1) Basic attitude skills

This needs to solve three problems, namely the direction problem (clearly what is the purpose of the translation work and for whom? Service), motivation issues (clear direction and purpose are not enough, you must also work hard and study hard to do a good job) and attitude issues (with direction and motivation, you must also have a scientific attitude, rigorous translation style and Only those who are good at learning and have the spirit of unremitting pursuit can make continuous progress and climb to the top). To get into the translation profession, it is impossible without hard work. Once you have achieved some results, don't be complacent and rest on your laurels, otherwise you will waste all your efforts and give up halfway. Only by not being afraid of hardships, working conscientiously, constantly setting new goals, working hard, and never slacking off can we continue to advance and achieve success in translation work.

(2) Basic foreign language skills

To engage in translation work, it goes without saying that you must have basic foreign language skills. I only emphasize two points here:

First, if the basic skills of foreign languages ??are not solid, translation will inevitably be difficult and half the result will be achieved with twice the effort. There is this idea and saying circulating among some translators: To do translation, all you need is good Chinese. The implication is that it doesn't matter if the foreign language is almost there, you can look it up in a dictionary anyway. This is a reflection of ignorance or little knowledge of translation work. Please look at an example: Original text (German): Sie (die Gro?en) werfen Schatten auf unsere Zeit und noch weit dar?berhinaus. Academic translation: They (referring to "great men") influence our era, and they go far beyond that. . Analysis: At a glance, the translation seems to be correct. The translator understood the original text and conveyed the meaning of the original text. However, after careful analysis, we feel that the translator did not understand the original text in depth, or that he only knew its surface but not its inside. He only translated the word meaning of the original text, but did not translate its deep meaning: it will affect future generations. generation. Translation: They (referring to "great men") not only influence our era, but will also be remembered for generations to come. Note: During the translation process, most of the literal meaning of the original text can be found and clarified with the help of reference books, but grasping the extralinguistic or deep-seated meaning of the original text often relies on the translator's reading comprehension ability, and this It can never be found in the dictionary.

Second, basic foreign language skills include vocabulary, grammatical accomplishment, reading ability, analytical comprehension ability, etc. The richer the translator's vocabulary, the more comprehensive the meaning of a word, and the more collocation and usage of a word, the faster and better the translation will be. If the translator does not have sufficient grammatical knowledge and does not have a good command of the subjunctive tense, the translation will be difficult and even full of errors. Reading ability can also be said to be the translator's ability to transform into the realm of the original work; analytical comprehension ability refers to the translator's dissection and analysis of the original text based on grammatical relationships, and an accurate understanding of the meanings of the original text's words and sentence components and their mutual relationships. relationship, and then the ability to translate wording accordingly.

(3) Basic Chinese skills

Everyone knows the importance of Chinese in translation work. This needs no elaboration. But it should be pointed out that our basic Chinese skills are often not enough, and sometimes they are even inferior to foreign languages. Some people may think this is alarmist: after studying Chinese for more than ten years, or even decades, is it still not enough for translation? Well, let’s take a look at a translation example: Original text (German): Puschkin war, wie Goethe, ein Nationaldichter seines Volkes, geh?rt wie Goethe der Weltliteratur an. Trial translation: Like Goethe, Pushkin is a national poet of the people, and like Goethe, he belongs to world literature. Analysis: After reading the translation, we can’t help but ask: What does it mean? A national poet of the people belongs to world literature? What does it mean? Obviously, there is a linguistic problem here and the expression is unclear. We think this is caused by insufficient Chinese proficiency. Translation: Pushkin, like Goethe, is not only a national poet of a country, but also a giant in the world of literature. It shows that lack of Chinese proficiency will cause difficulty in translation and poor expression. The specific manifestations are: ① difficulty in forming sentences and uneven placement of sentences; ② incomplete sentences and lack of appropriate components; ③ difficulty in wording and lack of appropriate wording; ④ The words do not convey the meaning, or even express the wrong meaning; ⑤ The sentences are long and cumbersome, and the writing is not concise. Tip: Basic Chinese skills generally include: vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, phrasing ability, sentence formation ability, rhetorical ability and literary accomplishment (including ancient Chinese literacy), etc.

(4) Basic knowledge skills

Some people say that translators are miscellaneous. This is true. A writer can specialize in a certain aspect of creation, and the vocabulary he uses can also have a certain degree of "speciality". A translator cannot only translate the works of one author in his life, let alone only translate works in a certain professional field. Therefore, the characteristic of translation work requires the translator to be a generalist, that is, to master as much basic knowledge as possible in various fields.

Let’s take a look at an example: Original text (German): Als Kreuz f?r den Park hatte auch die ?Schutzgemeinschaft Gro?erTiergarten? die Love-Parade gesehen und versucht, die Veranstaltung zu verhindern. Analysis: This sentence is taken from the 17th issue of 2002 Star magazine introduced a French photographer who photographed Europe from the air and then held a "bird's eye view of Europe, amazing" photography exhibition. Let’s not talk about anything else, just look at the translation expression of Love-Parade. It turns out that this word refers to the "Love Parade" held in Germany in the summer in Berlin in recent years, with more than one million people participating. Each year has a theme: "Animal Protection" in 2001, and "Peace" in 2002. Because the parade finally reached the green trees of the Berlin Zoo, some German media called it the "Crusade in Green." Without understanding this "behind the scenes knowledge", the word may not translate well, or even not know how to translate it at all. Germans have mixed reactions to this "love parade". Some people think that such large-scale demonstrations are also destroying the ecology, and it is difficult to say how much actual effect they will bring. From this original sentence, we can already see some clues. Trial translation: The Association for the Protection of Large Zoos (Germany) also saw this "love parade" like a "crusade in the zoo" and wanted to stop this event. Note that it must be noted that translation requires the translator to master various basic knowledge, especially basic knowledge in politics, economy, culture, history, geography, literature, music, customs, daily life, etc. Among them, the more basic knowledge about Germany (including the past Federal Republic of Germany and the Democratic Republic of Germany) and our own country, the more the better. There are many difficulties caused by narrow knowledge, such as: ① Difficulty in understanding? Even if you know the literal meaning of the original text, it is difficult to deeply understand the original meaning; ② Difficulty in wording? You don’t know the standard expressions in Chinese, so you have to "hard translation", "rigid translation" or? Random translation?; ③ Difficulty in forming sentences? The sentence structure of the translated text is difficult to straighten, and there are many pidgins; ④ Difficulty in writing? The original meaning can be understood and grasped, but it is difficult to express it. It is like having difficulty in speaking.

(5) Basic Skills

Translation requires skills, and there are skills in translation. This is a fact that no one can deny. But what are translation skills? What are the skills of translation? There are different views. Our view is that translation skills are the refinement, summary and theoretical sublimation of translation experience and methods, and are the general rules for translators to deal with certain difficult problems that arise in the translation process. If there is a "know-how" or a "secret" in successful translation, then translation skills are an important part of it. Translation is impossible without skills, and translation without the study of skills has no future. To give a simple example: Original text: Aus ganz Europa kamen die Menschen... ① Translation: People come from all over Europe? ② Translation: People come from all over Europe? Analysis: The original sentence is extremely simple, but it is not easy to translate it well. At a glance, the ① translation accurately translates the meaning of each word in the original text, and the Chinese expression is also smooth and standardized, and seems to be error-free. But upon closer analysis, there are still problems: ?From the whole of Europe? The expression is not clear enough and does not conform to Chinese expression habits. ②The translation only changes two words and adopts the technique of free translation. The meaning is clear, the structure is standardized, the reading is smooth, the effect is bright and clear, and the intention of the original work is better conveyed. What are the techniques for explaining German translation? Please see Q&A 15. We will further introduce the specific content of various translation techniques in the following Q&A. As a metaphor for the above five basic skills of translation, let’s compare them: riding a bicycle. The translator is a cyclist;? Basic attitude skills? Refers to a clear mind, a clear destination, and not being confused and causing a car accident;? Basic German and Chinese skills? It is equivalent to the front and rear wheels of a bicycle, both are indispensable;? Basic knowledge skills? For example Familiar with the traffic conditions so that you can reach your destination quickly and safely; Basic skills? Just like the technology of riding a bicycle: it is difficult to master it, but it is not difficult to master it; it is not easy to master it, but it can be done.

The above 5 points are the basic skills for German translation. As long as you have these basic skills said by Nanjing German training experts, you can be an excellent German translator. I hope you want to become an excellent German translator. Members of the Communist Party of China must work hard in accordance with these five requirements.

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