Miscellaneous about computer book translation

Miscellaneous about computer book translation

Pan aimin

January 2005

 

In the past 10 years, due to the rapid development of computer technology, the computer book publishing market has been booming for a while and has basically gone through a process from disorder to order. Over the past few years, I have had the opportunity to translate many foreign computer books. Since these books are among the best in their kind of books, they were not only recognized by readers, but also won the market for publishers. In the translation process, I realized that translation is not easy and readers and publishers are looking forward to a good book.

Because the Internet provides a fast and efficient communication platform, after a book is published, its advantages and disadvantages will soon be known to readers, thus deciding whether to win the expected market. For books imported from abroad, the merits and demerits of the original works play a key role, but the quality of translation and post-production cannot be ignored. Translation does not simply express the English expression in the original article as a Chinese expression. Instead, it must be expressed by the translator's digestion (or even absorption) according to the Chinese habits. This process is easy to say, it is not easy to do. In this article, I will talk about how to do a good job in translation.

The introduction of a book by a publishing house has a certain purpose, or for profit, or to expand the scale or improve the image, and so on. For whatever purpose, we hope to publish high-quality Chinese versions. Driven by such a goal, the first important step is to find a good translator. In China, there are many computer practitioners and many people engaged in translation work. However, the enthusiasm of translators seems to be limited. The current publishing industry lacks a Reward and Punishment System for translation work. Although it has made progress over the past few years, it is far from enough. The translation work is boring and requires patience. The translator has nothing but fame and profit to ask. If it is named, high-quality translation work will bring a good name, otherwise it will not achieve what you want; if it is profitable, translation work is less than the upper limit: it should not be worse than purely transactional text or technical work, however, compared with creative or commercial text or technical work, the corresponding income is still much lower. In fact, name can drive profit. This is not only the rule of the entertainment circle, but also applicable to the translation industry. Therefore, if the good and bad names of translation books can be revealed through some widely recognized means, it will inevitably promote the orderliness of the translation industry.

In terms of the translation process, technical translation requires a technical background, and the text skills are far from enough. I have seen that people with excellent basic English skills are also very confused, because they do not know what the book is about. There are many branches in the computer field, and there are great differences in depth and depth. Therefore, the translator's background is a factor that cannot be ignored. Some people say that he translates a book for the purpose of learning. If the book is not very deep, and the individual is also very hard to learn, it can basically guarantee the quality. Otherwise, this book is unfortunate. In addition, the translation attitude is crucial. The simplest question is, what do you think of your translation? If you trust your understanding and text expression, and do spend enough time, this translation must be good. To do this, first, we must fully understand the content in the book, and second, we must spend enough time to polish the text. At the very least, we must ensure smooth. My habit is to do this first time. If there is something unclear or marked out, or I should check it clearly or ask it right away. The second time I checked it comprehensively to ensure consistency, the sentence is fluent. For the third time, you can read your own translations. if the sentence is not fluent or there are errors, you can read it. When you read it, you should not expect the readers to read it easily. Three times, it is really a great deal, but it is worthwhile to make a good book. In the past two years, I have omitted the first (if someone helps translate) or the second (if the first translation is very careful), but the third one will definitely do it, I feel like I have read it again, and I am very clear about the quality of the translation, so I dare to say "responsible for the quality of translation" in the translation Order (not a joke !).

A prominent problem in the translation process of computer books is how to deal with terms. Due to the frequent updates of computer technology, new terms are emerging one after another, this also determines that only people in the industry can freely grasp the translation of terms. My practice is to try to find a common saying about every term. Imagine how the two engineers express this term when speaking in Chinese? If you are familiar with such a technical exchange environment, you can easily choose the appropriate terms that are widely accepted by readers. But sometimes the conventions have not yet been formed. What should I do? My suggestion is to first understand the exact meaning of the term in this book or technology, including its connotation and extension, and then determine its dictionary meaning, that is, the meaning in the non-computer field. Then, you can use Internet searches or other books to find out what others say and whether it is desirable. Finally, you can combine these factors, according to the Chinese expression habits, select the appropriate statement, and even construct a new term. In short, you must be cautious about terms and maintain consistency throughout the entire book. There is a tendency to keep the English term as much as possible. I think this can be done for advanced books, but it is best to express it in Chinese for popular books.

My translation work is just my consideration. I spend most of my time and energy on scientific research and learning. So I am also a reader. From the perspective of a researcher, the translation of many high-level books is not satisfactory, but it does not have much harm, there will be no serious impact (the reader will tell the difference ). In my opinion, many such books do not need to be translated. These books are suitable for photoprinting and publishing or the introduction of the original version. However, for some popular books or teaching materials, the publisher should take care of them and concentrate on making some high-quality books. It is not appropriate to blindly introduce or repeatedly choose questions because of the large market, this results in scattered resources and a decline in the quality of books. While publishing translation books and original books, it also works with some photocopies or original books to provide readers with a variety of choices. In addition, if possible, we should introduce some non-technical computer books, such as books such as biographies and comments as you like. This will enrich the variety of computer books, at the same time, it also allows Chinese readers to understand things outside of foreign technology.

Computer books have their own characteristics. For example, compared with literature and art books, the life cycle of computer books is much shorter and the readers are much narrower. However, computer books are closely related to the industry, strong predictability (more effective timeliness ). Therefore, while facing challenges and competition, the computer Book Publishing House also faces more opportunities. Of course, the brilliant achievements of the computer book publishing industry are inseparable from the support of the majority of readers. Therefore, the final winner will surely win with high quality and low price. I look forward to seeing more excellent books in 2005.