Đang tải... (xem toàn văn)
Translation, admitted as th¬e most difficult skill, has been launched into the curriculum of students from the faculty of foreign languages since the fifth semester. Accordingly, students learn how to translate an English exact and smooth passage into Vietnamese and vice versa. A good translation must be well-written, accurate and purpose-appropriate. Translation is not simply to encode words into the correct grammar and meaning but like putting some pieces into an unfinished puzzle. The existing in the puzzle is what the translator understands basically, the missing parts are what the translator needs to find out more because they adhere to some socio-economic aspects. However, translation courses at NEU still own some shortcomings. Despite inclining to business, those courses seem too general as not giving students specific skills and specialist words belonging to business applications like translating economic contracts, or translating news of business. When students start working in one of those, they must almost study from the beginning. Each business application has its own requirements for the translation skill while students’ knowledge seems quite vague and unspecific. In this study, the writer would like to instruct readers to approach an application of translation which needs both knowledge in business and translation skill. It is the business briefs compilation. To support this study, the writer will collect information from Vietnam news (VNS), the sole English press agency of Vietnam. Obviously, main rules and style mentioned in this study are also from this newspaper.
Nguyễn Tiến Hạnh– CQ503700– Business English 50B INTRODUCTION Background Translation, admitted as the most difficult skill, has been launched into the curriculum of students from the faculty of foreign languages since the fifth semester. Accordingly, students learn how to translate an English exact and smooth passage into Vietnamese and vice versa. A good translation must be well-written, accurate and purpose-appropriate. Translation is not simply to encode words into the correct grammar and meaning but like putting some pieces into an unfinished puzzle. The existing in the puzzle is what the translator understands basically, the missing parts are what the translator needs to find out more because they adhere to some socio-economic aspects. However, translation courses at NEU still own some shortcomings. Despite inclining to business, those courses seem too general as not giving students specific skills and specialist words belonging to business applications like translating economic contracts, or translating news of business. When students start working in one of those, they must almost study from the beginning. Each business application has its own requirements for the translation skill while students’ knowledge seems quite vague and unspecific. In this study, the writer would like to instruct readers to approach an application of translation which needs both knowledge in business and translation skill. It is the business briefs compilation. To support this study, the writer will collect information from Vietnam news (VNS), the sole English press agency of Vietnam. Obviously, main rules and style mentioned in this study are also from this newspaper. Business briefs are small pieces of business information placed at the left column of the business sector. They account for 10 per cent in the total area of Vietnam news. When Viet Nam News first hit the news-stands in 1991, it was a modest four-page newspaper whose stories were written, edited and proofed by hand. Since then, Viet Nam's major English language daily, published seven days a week, has kept pace with the rapid strides taken by the country in its economic renovation and its integration with the regional and world economies. 1 Nguyễn Tiến Hạnh– CQ503700– Business English 50B It has been upped its size from 28 to 32 pages a day, providing comprehensive coverage of the latest domestic and international developments in all areas including politics, economics, business, social affairs and sports. Special pages carry comment, analysis, and reports on the environment, science and technology, lifestyle and key social issues. Rationales Stepping in journalism, students from the faculty of foreign languages may meet some troubles. Firstly, their vocabulary is limited. In English courses, students have a chance to approach many areas of business like the international business management, banking and finance. However, specialist words in each area seem quite modest. The vocabulary which students gain is a mixture of new words belonging to different fields. They know every area of business, but then they do not deepen in any. This fact leads students to run into serious difficulties as translating difficult economic terms pertaining to specific areas. Secondly, a good translation in journalism is not simply a good change from source languages into target ones but a passage dealing with full questions like What? How? When? Where? Who? In source languages, there is not always information to answer above questions. If students are unaware of this, they can commit mistakes for not providing enough information and do not know how to find more information to compile qualified business briefs. Lastly, when students are assigned sources to condense into briefs, those could be launched already in the other part of the newspaper. If the translator is not careful, the repetition can occur in a newspaper. To avoid as well as to deal with above problems, the writer would like to supply you with full and enough knowledge about tools for looking up new words and information; format; content and tips of compiling qualified business briefs. Catching all ideas from the research, you can gain much improvement in this area. Research questions Deepening in writing, many unexpected problems may appear if you are not good at processing what you gain. To make the study debut smoothly, the writer also orients readers through three questions as follows: 2 Nguyễn Tiến Hạnh– CQ503700– Business English 50B a. What is an overview of business briefs? b. What are characteristics of business briefs and how to compile exact business briefs? c. How to offer smooth business briefs? Scope of the study Within the study, the writer aims to map out an overview in business briefs including definition; format of a business briefs; steps of compiling business briefs, tools used for seeking information and looking up news words and a deep analysis accommodating readers with requirements in briefs' content and some tips of compiling business briefs. To collect sources for this research, the writer decides to deepen in 100 sample briefs of Vietnam news. Notably, they are only business briefs but not life-style or sport ones. Methodology Interview Main rules for writing business briefs appear very little on internet and depend on the style of each newspaper. To get information for doing research about requirements in format and content of business briefs, the writer carries out interviewing 12 people who are reporters and chief editors majoring in business. Observation Clearly, the interview can not reveal totally information to support this study. Apart from interviewing reporters, the writer will observe 100 collected business briefs to give her conclusion in writing briefs’ content as well as her instructions in giving exact and smooth business briefs. Literature Review Small parts make up general things. Launching a newspaper to public requires efforts of many people from different sectors. Up to now, there have been no books or official studies working on small parts building up a complete newspaper like briefs. If had, there are only sources that indirectly help readers write briefs. They give 3 Nguyễn Tiến Hạnh– CQ503700– Business English 50B information introducing important things in journalism which definitely cover briefs because writing briefs has to comply with the journalism style. The information mentioned in the link: http://tamkyrt.vn/vi/news/KY-NANG-BAO-CHI/Mot-so-ky-nang- viet-bao-cho-cong-tac-vien-co-so-471/ equips you with features of news, techniques to write news and some examples. Before translating a Vietnamese source into English one, you need to follow these rules firstly. It indirectly supports you in compiling briefs. This link also provides readers with tips to write an attractive passage and reveals some orders of narrating. Firstly, it is the chronological order when you just state an event. Secondly, it is the reverse order in which you mention the latest news then turn back to the past to explain. Thirdly, it is the reverse pyramid one which appreciates human or event factor instead of time order. Also, when clicking in http://tailieu.vn/xem-tai-lieu/9-cach-viet- mao-dau-hap-dan.227623.html you are supported nine ways to offer an eye-catching title. Clearly, those rules can be applied in any area belonging to journalism. But they are not enough to be used in a specific part since each part of a newspaper needs some more requirement which facilitates the translators of that section. Compiling business briefs is an example. To be completed, a business brief must go through a process including four phases as the following diagram: Look at the diagram, readers may find out the stringent process for giving a qualified business brief. Firstly, translators (also the initial editors) need to collect information from reliable websites or newspapers to make sources for translating. Subsequently, they need to select, arrange and edit sources. After being translated from edited sources, their products are corrected for specialist words by Vietnamese editors 4 Sources Diagram 1.Process of launching a business brief Chief editors Foreign editosr Vietnamese editors Translators (initial editors) Nguyễn Tiến Hạnh– CQ503700– Business English 50B and continue to be transferred to foreign editors to check style. Lastly, the chief editors will check to find out whether there are any misunderstandings between Vietnamese and foreign editors or not. From the diagram, we can realize that the first phase connecting between sources and translators plays a key role in the process. When this phase is dealt well, it can reduce burden for the next steps. Within the extension of this study, the writer only extends to the first phase as instructing reporters to compile good business briefs from available sources. Her instructions focus on format, content and tips of writing business briefs which have not been mentioned comprehensively and specifically in any previous document yet. 5 Nguyễn Tiến Hạnh– CQ503700– Business English 50B CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF BUSINESS BRIEFS Like other newspapers, Vietnam news encompasses really diversified columns like politics, economics, business, social affairs and sports. Each column accounts for two to four pages. Business sector is taken priority to spread on maximum limited space. In this sector, there are two main parts including economy and market. The first one reports about general economic events domestically and internationally while the second one specializes in stock market as well as real-estate one. In business sector, there are often four or five large passages oscillating around 400 words analyzing business problems deeply. They are event giving strong influences on the economy and need to be considered at many aspects. However, there is business information having no need for further analysis. It is offered simply to inform readers. It is not wordy and written in short paragraphs. This short information is called a business brief. Although compiling briefs is a common task of business reporters, it is an extremely difficult task for people who start stepping in this area as requiring so many rules to ensure its characteristics as well as the style of the newspaper. Fixed rules are revealed by predecessors but tips for giving a smooth business brief with evaluable information and coherent format must be gained through experiences. If not having those, business briefs can become rigid and less appreciated. Before presenting rules of compiling business briefs, the writer would like to introduce the general overview in business briefs to readers, as the answer for the question” what are they?” This is the basic step to answer questions in two next chapters including How to compile exact business briefs? and How to offer smooth business briefs? 1.1. Definition. There have been definitions ridden sources on the internet. Some define a business brief as “a summary of facts, findings, and objectives, prepared to give its readers a quick, overall view of an investigation, plan, situation, etc. related to business”(businessdictionary.com). Others define it as an abstract; summary; concise 6 Nguyễn Tiến Hạnh– CQ503700– Business English 50B report (dictionarist.com); and instructions or small blurbs of information relating to current events in the business world (en.wikinews.org). Each definition regards readers to an aim of business briefs in a specific field. For the first one, readers can understand the business brief as a summary of business results of a company which requires the exactness and has legal value. It can be used in an important contract, at the court where a company wants to carry out its liquidation or adheres to some lawsuits. In the second definition, business briefs are understood as a tool helping enterprises promote, approach new investors and customers as well as expand their reputations. The business brief is used for a specific goal of trade promotion. In the third one, business briefs are understood as pieces of information with the value of reporting business events. Clearly, two first mentioned definitions are acceptable but they are business briefs in “business field”. They bring benefits to enterprises composing them. Business briefs mentioned in this study belong to the third one which brings benefits to readers who wish to find more information about business. A brief, from general view, is a short passage. Nevertheless, which standards for being called a short passage depend on each field. Briefs mentioned within this study sum up economic events domestically and internationally. They can be any aspects related to business but not be limited within the business of enterprises. Business briefs are pieces of news which spread on one column of one page. A short passage is called a brief as its length oscillates around 150 words. Because business briefs are parts of a newspaper, they also take the role of giving information. However, business briefs only inform and do not to promote or criticize. They do not offer the unilateral evaluation for an event either. Their only role is to give exact information in business. Business briefs in Vietnam news have to pass a severe process of being censored. Unlike briefs in other newspaper, those briefs must always ensure enough information despite being short without advertising for any one. They must meet demands as being righteous, exact and neutral. 7 Nguyễn Tiến Hạnh– CQ503700– Business English 50B 1.2. Format of business briefs. Referring to the format, the writer does not mention about the space between lines and margins because Vietnam news has a design team taking responsibility for this duty. The space between lines or margins depends on the amount of news and ads each day. However, translators need to comply the following rules of a business brief to facilitate the design team as well as ensure features of a business brief, which often: • Includes two main parts: headline and content. • Starts with caps-lock name of the place where a business event takes place. • Is written in the standard font of Times New Roman with size 13. • Hovers around 1-4 paragraphs in no more than 150 words. • Mentions important information directly in the first paragraph. Here is an example following the standard format of a business brief Extract 1: “Oil refinery eyes $2 billion upgrade, production boost QUANG NGAI — It would cost the Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co Ltd US$2 billion to expand production at the Dung Quat Oil Refinery by 43,000 oil barrels per day, according to a feasibility study conducted by Japanese consultant JGC. Under the study, the refinery could raise its capacity to 192,000 oil barrels per day, equivalent to 9.5 million tonnes of crude oil per year, instead of the current 149,000-barrel production scale. The company also plans to invest in an input crude oil processing workshop to diversify input oil sources such as oil imported from the Middle East and Venezuela.”(VNS_ April 16, 2012). In the example above, there are three paragraphs. The first one reflects the information adhering to the title directly. It also starts with QUANG NGAI where the Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co Ltd offers its investment. Two following paragraphs give more information to the first one by supporting the aim of this investment and the plan of this company in the future. 8 Nguyễn Tiến Hạnh– CQ503700– Business English 50B 1.3. Steps of compiling business briefs. The first phase of writing business briefs, which the writer calls as the process of compiling briefs includes two separate steps. The first one is to collect and edit information. Whenever there is update information, reporters need to worm it from everywhere to gain ample sources for translating. However, different sources may not give the same information. Therefore, it is compulsory for reporters to verify all of them. In case of not being able to check important pieces of information, reporters must cross them out, or even eliminate their intention of writing briefs. After checking information, reporters must filter the valuable parts and ignore the superfluous ones which give benefits to individuals or organizations. All useful information will be arranged according to the structure at which the first paragraph mentions the main idea and is supported by the next ones. The second step follows the first one is to translate the edited sources into business briefs. This is also a difficult step as reporters must be flexible in choosing words and grasp rules in statement of issues. It can be said that the first phase of writing business briefs is the hardest one. Reporters taking responsibility for this phase are both initial editors and translators who need really a good skill of analyzing and processing information as well as good translation skill. 1.4. Range of tools. For the step of editing, reporters need to check whether the information they intend to report has been publicized in their newspaper or not. By accessing website of the newspaper and type some key words, they can easily check information. It can be said that the internet is one of useful tools for reporters to compile business briefs. For the step of translating, reporters cannot grasp all specialist words in every aspect of business. As a result, it is essential for them to use some tools supporting the process of translating economic terms, names of companies or organizations exactly. In general, they are called translation tools. 9 Nguyễn Tiến Hạnh– CQ503700– Business English 50B There have currently been some automatic machine translation systems. Although their output must still be edited by human to correct errors and improve phrasing, their support sounds really important. Computer-assisted translation incorporates that manual editing stage into the software, making translation an interactive process between human and computer. “Computer-assisted translation is a broad and imprecise term covering a range of tools, from the fairly simple to the complicated. These can include: • Spell checkers, either built into word processing software, or add-on programs. • Grammar checkers, again either built into word processing software, or add-on programs. • Electronic dictionaries, either unilingual or bilingual. • Translation memory tools (TM tools), consisting of a database of text segments in a source language and their translations in one or more target languages.” (enwikipedia.org). As interviewing 12 reporters in Vietnam news, the writer finds out that most of them use the third and the fourth tool. Online dictionaries include tratu.vn, Vdict.com and translate.google.com.vn while the offline dictionary is only Lac Viet dictionary. Sometimes, there have some specialist words which require the deep knowledge and reporters have to refer to foreigner editors. As a result, foreigners are also implied as a live “tool” for translating business briefs from edited sources. By guiding readers to approach the definition and format of a business brief, the writer hopes them to understand that business briefs are not tools to make profit. They give no benefit to any individuals or organizations except for readers. Briefs are written to inform and report true events or problems taking place around the country and the world. They are written to provide information but not to raise controversy. In Vietnam News, the standard font for a brief is Times New Roman 13 with length ranging from 1 to 4 paragraphs supporting the topic mentioned in the headline. All 10