Cause analysis of Chinglish and solutions to it

王颖

Recently， the cet4 and the cet6 have come to an end. This year's translation is about famous scenic mountains and rivers. Students exert their imagination. They translated the spring into boiling water， herb into medical grass， fresh water lake into light salt water， which was really dumbfounding. Nowadays this Chinglish has become a common problem.

Ⅰ.Cause analysis

1.The interference of mother tongue

There is an old saying goes： To learn a foreign language well， to learn the mother tongue first. This is because mother tongue can promote second language acquisition. Meanwhile， there may be interference of mother tongue. For instance， when translating“挥金如土”， we can't translate into spend money like dirt. Instead， we need to say spend money like water. As England is a island country connected to water while our China is in inland areas， many English idioms are connected to water while Chinese use soil. In this case， when we are translating we need to pay more attention. Additionally， there are many more English idioms related to water like “be all at sea”“hold water”， etc.

2.The spring up of Chinese words

In network age， many words with special Chinese meaning are springing up. Many words can't find the best possible translation. Usually， we would useliteral translation which can make the texts equivalent in form， content and functions， conveying Chinese culture at the same time. But this method may lead to misunderstanding of foreign people. For example， when translating “阴阳”， this word has Chinese classical implications and can't explain by any English words. So it needs to be translated into “Yinyang”. Other word like “Jiaozi餃子” is also in this way.

Ⅱ.Solutions to this problem

1. Deep understanding of western culture and customs

We need to understand western culture and customs. Only in this way can we communicate efficiently. For example， he is a green hand at doing this job. Green hand means he is new in this job instead of green color. We all know that England is an island country and boats are important vehicles. To keep boats new， they usually use green paint. An unskilled painter often soils his hands. If we don't know the background， we would translate incorrectly.

2.Appropriate language using

We need to use appropriate language in different situations. In western countries， doctors usually ask the patient “ what's wrong”“ how do you feel” instead of “ how are you” in China. This kind of statement is often used in greetings in western countries.

3. Suggestions not commands

When giving others suggestions， we need to use correct sentences especially not using commands. So that others can accept our advice. We can't use “you must”， instead， we can use euphemism like “why not...？”“you'd better...”， and so on.

4.Different thinking habits

We have to form a habit of thinking in a different way. When translating “今天天气闷”， some people may translate into “today is very close” which is wrong. In English， “it” is always used to represent climate， temperature and distance. So here the correct translation is “ it's very close today”.

5. Frequent practice

At last， we have to pay more attention to English sentences and translations in daily life. This can surely help us learn idiomatic usage and improve ourselves. What's more， no matter where we use these expressions， we can't ignore their context.

Reference：

[1]林绪肃.大学生中式英语的成因分析及其对大学英语教学的启示[D].武汉：华中师范大学，2008.

[2]王菲菲.从中式思维模式探究漢英口译中的中式英语[D].厦门：厦门大学，2014.