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hoansa

hoansa

Viet Nam

November 4, 2012

Topic: “Interpreters are like travelers with backpacks full of cultural features who cross borders.”

Nowadays, interpretation is one of the “hot” careers on the jobs market with a high salary. In the context of an integrating society, the need for closing the distance between Viet Nam and other countries has made the using of interpretation more popular, especially in English interpretation. However, this is not a simple and easy job for all people because its high requires. One of the requires of interpreting job is a great cultural knowledge. Similar to travelers, it is very necessary for interpreters to equip the knowledge about culture. Therefore, there is an interesting definition comparing the cultural knowledge of interpreters as important as travelers. “Interpreters are like travelers with backpacks full of cultural features who cross borders.”

We have heard many definitions of interpretation. This word may have a wide range of meanings for people based on their background, training, or experience in the
interpretive profession. “
Interpreters are like travelers with backpacks full of cultural features who cross borders”. With the definition, the interpreters not only simply present information by using specific communication strategies to translate that information for people but also accumulate abundant cultural knowledge to interpret exactly and properly with each culture of each country.

What is the most necessary for a traveler who wants to explore the world in his trip? The best answer is extensively cutural knowlege. When a traveler is equipped with the full of cutural knowlede, the basic understanings of the land where he is going to visist, it is very easy and exciting for him to take this trip. Are you embarrassed, in the first time visting India, if you do not know that eating by hands is very popular in Indian's eating cuture? Or in another situation, how do you feel if you enter Japanese's house forgetting to take off your shoes? Clearly that, knowlege about the cultures will help you so much in such situations. Therefore, travelers should never stop learning and expanding the cutural knowlege so that they can access to any nation and always feel comfortable, interesting in their trips.

In intepretataion, in addition to language fluency, good memory, flexibility, patience, diligence etc. to be a successful interpreter, you need a wide range of general knowledge about the cultures and society in all aspects of relating to the speakers of those languages. Cultural knowledge is one of the vital factors which the interpreters cannot ignore in the field of interpretation. A good way to acquire this knowledge is through travel to come different countries in which those languages are spoken. By traveling to the countries, you will learn the customs, habits in their countries as well as the way to use the language correctly, accurately and perfectly. Besides that, we can also accumulate the variety of cultural knowledge through books, audio and video electronics multimedia in both languages and use of modern information technologies to support for interpretation in many other relevant subjects about cultures. One you have a good knowledge about their cultures, it is convenient for you to interpret from their nation's language to your nation’s language. Experience and cultural knowledge can assist you in working effectively.

There are some confuses happening between native people and foreigners that related to the differences about culture in communication. For example, a patient [in Cantonese] said: “I took the whole bottle of 60 po chia pills last night.” The interpreter used word – for – word format to repeat the statement without giving a cultural explanation that this pill is a popular Chinese medicine that usually requires the user to take the whole bottle. After his assistant's interpretation, Doctor said: “Mrs. D, were you trying to kill yourself last night?”. One more example, a foreign tourist look at Vietnamese woman who is wearing with long dress and also wearing a leaf hat on her head. Then, he tries to translate what he is seeing into Vietnamese' language: “Người phụ nữ đó đang mặc áo dài và mặc nón lá”. In English language, “wear” means to have clothing, jewellery, etc. on your body. However, Vietnamese people do not say “ mặc nón lá” though they use the same word “wear” but we should interpret “ đội nón lá”.

Every society and culture has different ways of interpreting that depends on their own culture or society. The rituals, customs, ethics and morals that are attributed to the cultures have caused many misunderstandings. Therefore, the interpreters have to always learn and promote cultural knowledge for themselves to understand cultural features of each country to interpret for every situations and events.

More entries: Vietnam's specilal sauces (1), PUBLIC SPEAKING , assay (2)

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07:20 PM Nov 05 2012

hoansa

hoansa
Viet Nam

thanks for your reading

I am happy as becomingCool one of your friends here

please accept my require

11:34 AM Nov 05 2012

Mr. Learner
Peru

Amazing essay. I like it.
You've many cool points in this essay. Also, you've had a great English in this essay.

Looking forward to read more essays written by you.

Good luck