Transcript for academic communication English

Name: Hu Shengwei (Hunter) Student Number: SA13216916

Slide 1 (Title):

Time: 45 seconds (0:00-0:45)

Say:

Mr. Sherk, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

My name is Hu Shengwei, from Juris Master Center, University of Science and Technology of China. I appreciate the opportunity to be here today to attend this important symposium and address you.

The title of my presentation is An Investigation and Analysis on the Translation of Public Signs in Wuhu. It is revealed in the investigation that the translation of public signs in Wuhu exists a lot of problems. I would like to give this talk in three parts. The first part deals with the basic concepts; the second part concerns the results and solutions; the last part goes to the conclusion.

Slide 2 (Introduction):

An Investigation and Analysis on the Translation of Public Signs in Wuhu

Time: 25 seconds (0:45-1:10)

Say:

So, what is a public sign? Public sign is “a piece of paper, metal in a public place with words or drawings on it that gives people information, warn them not to do something. For example, a road sign, a no-smoking sign.”

Slide 3 (Introduction):

Time: 50 seconds (1:10-2:00)

Say:

Although experts have called for more attention on the translation of public signs, the present situation in Wuhu is far from being satisfactory. Some mistranslated public signs, instead of promoting mutual understanding, have actually puzzled foreigners, or even given them wrong information. Some English expressions contain misspelled words, which maybe the fault of the translators or the negligence of the printers. Some expressions use English words improperly due to the different meanings or connotations between Chinese and English. Some are expressed in the way of Chinese sentence structure known as Chinglish. The worst are those obscure versions hard to comprehend, both for the Chinese and foreigners.

Slide 4 (Introduction):

Time: 40 seconds (2:00-2:40)

Say:

Specifically, according to the samples collected, seven kinds of errors were found. They were translations with Pinyin which took 16.46%, nonstandard 13.72%, expression errors 10.98%, grammatical errors 8.54%, incomprehensible 7.93%, spelling errors 5.49%, and others 7.92%.

Slide 5 (Body):

Time: 65 seconds (2:40-2:50)

Say:

In my research, I divided the translation problems of public signs into three types: hard problems, soft problems and hidden problems. I’d like to start with the hard problems.

Slide 6 (Body):

Chinese version:收费站

Original version:TOLL AGTE

TOLL GATE

Time: 65 seconds (2:50-3:45)

Say:

Hard problems are involving spelling mistakes, grammatical mistakes and letter disorders. Public signs with spelling mistakes or letter disorders may not cause severe misunderstanding, but leave negative impression on readers and discount the effectiveness that the public signs should achieve.

?Chinese version: 收费站

?Original version: TOLL AGTE

?Revised version: TOLL GATE

Look at this example, in the original version of the sign, the word “GATE”is wrongly written into “A-G-T-E” thus caused misunderstanding. That kind of mistake might be caused by the carelessness of translators or printers.

Slide 7 (Body):

Chinese version: 民族园

Original version: RACIST PARK

The Ethnic Minorities

Time: 35 seconds (3:45-4:20)

Say:

We’ll now move on to the next point, the soft problems. Soft problems involve language knowledge, culture differences and interpreting level.

?Chinese version: 民族园

?Original version: RACIST PARK

?Revised version: The Ethnic Minorities Park

Look at this sign, it is a road sign on the expressway. In the original version, we can easily find that “RACIST” means someone holds the belief that some people are inferior because they

belong to a particular race. It is offensive to the ethnic minorities with this translation. So, we

’d

better revise it into “The Ethnic Minorities Park”.

Slide 8 (Body):

Time: 50 seconds (4:20-5:10)

Say:

Now let’s turn to another question, the hidden problems. Hidden problems involve improper settings and harsh tone. Improper settings mean that some objects are easy to recognize, unnecessary for visitors to know or rarely use, and it is a waste of time and energy to do this unworthy things. For improper tone, it can affect communications. Chinese public signs are more direct towards what the readers are required to do. In western countries people tend to express in a

mild and tender way. Except some fixed si gns like “No Smoking”, “No Littering”, in most cases people prefers to adopt a mild sign than a sign with harsh tone.

Slide 9 (Body):

Time: 45 seconds (5:10-5:25)

Say:

Since we have discussed the problems existed, we have to find the solutions to solve them. Suggestions and requirements are given to the translators, government and society so as to help improving the translation of public signs.

Slide10 (Body):

Time: 45 seconds (5:25-5:55)

Say:

Translators, as a vital part in the process of translation of public signs, their English level and knowledge are greatly affecting the quality of translation. Thus, it is very important for translators to have particular skills and translation methods. These skills and methods are mainly including adopting international standard, applying basic translation methods and realizing differences between cultures.

Slide 11 (Body):

Time: 40 seconds (5:55-6:35)

Say:

The awkward translations of public signs in many places in Wuhu are partly due to the irresponsibility of some translators and partly due to the negligence and improper management of the supervision department. The government should attach more importance to it and make greater effort in related governance, such as setting up an authoritative institution for examining and approving translations and the English translations can not be published until they are confirmed.

Slide 12 (Body):

Time: 25 seconds (6:35-7:00)

Say:

Apart from establishing supervision organizations, citizens, especially those who have the knowledge of foreign languages, can also help to supervise the translation of public signs. With the citizens’ supervision the problems existing in the translation of public signs could be found in time and immediate measures could be taken to revise them.

Slide 13 (Conclusion):

Time: 20 seconds (7:00-7:20) Say:

Now, I would like to conclude with a few general remarks on this research.

As we have discussed that translation problems of

public signs can be divided into hard problems, soft problems and hidden problems. Suggestions were also giving to the translators, the government and citizens.

Slide 14 (Conclusion):

Time: 25 seconds (7:20-7:45) Say:

What I want to emphasize is that hidden problems should be paying much attention to. Since hard and soft problems already been discussed by other researchers, hidden problems are the researchers merely reaching. We should pay much attention to the settings and tones of the translation of public signs.

Slide 15 (Conclusion):

Time: 45 seconds (7:45-8:30)

Say:

This research can help the Wuhu city to reshape its image and leave a good impression on foreigners, thus, helping to enhance the international communications. In a word, great efforts should be made to overcome all the potential problems in the translation of public signs in Wuhu and to make Wuhu a splendid city for foreigners to visit, to work and to stay.

In closing, I wish to express my great appreciation once again to Mr. Sherk for giving me this opportunity to participate in this symposium. Thank you very much.

Are there any questions?