HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY N02 FOREIGN LANGUAGES FACULTY - SÁI THỊ HUYỀN TRANG CULTURAL WORDS IN ENGLISH AND WAYS TO TRANSLATE THEM INTO VIETNAMESE (TỪ VĂN HÓA TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ CÁCH DỊCH SANG TIẾNG VIỆT) (SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ART OF ENGLISH) BA THESIS IN ENGLISH HANOI, 2017 HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY N02 FOREIGN LANGUAGES FACULTY - SÁI THỊ HUYỀN TRANG CULTURAL WORDS IN ENGLISH AND WAYS TO TRANSLATE THEM INTO VIETNAMESE (TỪ VĂN HÓA TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ CÁCH DỊCH SANG TIẾNG VIỆT) (SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ART OF ENGLISH) BA THESIS IN ENGLISH SUPERVISOR: ĐỖ TIẾN ĐỨC, MA HANOI, 2017 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS On the completion of this study, I am greatly indebted to many people First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Mr Do Tien Duc for his valuable and prompt advice and help, without which this paper could be completed My thanks also go to all the lecturers of English from Foreign Languages Faculty, Ha Noi Pedagogical University N02 who has facilitated me with the best possible conditions during the time I did the study Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to my family and friends whose encouragement and assistance are of extreme importance during my course at the university i TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP iv ABSTRACT v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study Aims of the study 3 Scope of the study Methods of the study Design of the study PART II DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER CULTURE AND TRANSLATION 1.1 Definition of culture 1.2 Culture and language 1.3 Definition of cultural words 10 1.4 Classification of cultural words in English 12 1.4.1 Geographically cultural words 12 1.4.2 Materially cultural words 13 1.4.3 Socially cultural words 15 1.5 Definition of translation 17 1.6 What translation theory is about 18 1.7 Translation as a process 22 1.8 Translation as a product 26 1.9 Culture and translation-Some considerations of Anglicist and Vietnamese cultural differences 28 1.9.1 Linguistic factors 34 ii 1.9.2 Geographical factors 35 TRANSLATION METHODS AND TECHNIQUES FOR TRANSLATING ENGLISH CULTURAL WORDS INTO VIETNAMESE 37 2.1 Translation methods 37 2.1.2 Literal translation 38 2.1.3 Faithful translation 38 2.1.4 Semantic translation 38 2.1.5 Adaptation 38 2.1.6 Free translation 38 2.1.7 Idiomatic translation 39 2.1.8 Communicative translation 39 2.2 Techniques for translating ECWs into Vietnamese 39 2.2.1 Transference and Naturalisation 40 2.2.2 Cultural equivalent 47 2.2.3 Componential analysis 50 2.2.4 Recognized translation 52 2.2.5 Couplets 53 2.2.6 Notes, additions and glosses 55 2.3 Limits of translatability 59 CONCLUSION 64 Review of the study 64 Suggestions for further studies 65 REFERENCES 66 iii STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby certify that no part of the thesis entitled: CULTURAL WORDS IN ENGLISH AND SOME WAYS TO TRANSLATE THEM INTO VIETNAMESE has been copied and reproduced from any person‟s work without acknowledgement and that the study is originally done by me under the serious guidance from my supervisor Date submitted: April, 2017 Student Supervisor Sai Thi Huyen Trang Do Tien Duc, MA iv ABSTRACT This thesis focused on translation methods and techniques suggested by Newmark for translating English cultural words into Vietnamese The classification of cultural words in English mentioned in the thesis is based on what has been theoretically and critically discussed by the supervisor and the thesis author The thesis also presents the limits of translatability in translating linguistic difficulty and cultural untranslatability As far as the study is concerned, the later will be focused on Last but not least, the thesis makes some suggestions for further studies on cross-cultural translation It is taken for granted that there should be more and more practical and specific studies concerning English-Vietnamese and Vietnamese-English translations of cultural issues to facilitate the friendship and cooperation between the two nations in the process of globalization v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BC: Before Christ CA: Componential Analysis ECWs: English Cultural Words FN: Footnote SL: Source Language ST: Source Language Text TL: Target Language TT: Target Language Text OSCE: Organization for Security and Cooperation of Europe vi PART I INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Nowadays, the world is confronted with challenges of development, with organic, intertwined relations of social, technological, and scientific revolutions Consequently, everywhere people are talking about open-door, integration and cooperation to develop and deal with global issues Even the most powerful and wealthy nations cannot stand in isolation In such a context, the vital role of culture is better seen than ever before The whole world is showing their concern about culture and cultural cooperation for peaceful and harmonious co-existence Presumably, almost all countries, in their development strategies, see the must to include cultural factors and characteristics to ensure that their social progress is the best connected to the past and best prepared for the future In the light of this spirit, the World Summit on Culture, held in Copenhagen (Denmark) in March, 1995, with the attendance of 100 heads of the states, came to the declaration that “Cultural factors are vital to sustainable development serving as an unseparable part of progress strategies All economic, political and social policies must be made from a humane background which upholds man as the centre of development” Vietnam is not an exception from this global trend Since the implementation of renovation process and the open-door policies, while inheriting and promoting traditional cultural values, the country has also been quite active in absorbing new elements from foreign cultures to enrich its own Cultural exchange activities are taking place on an unprecedented scale And among the nations with whom Vietnam has cultural contacts, we cannot help mentioning Britain For the past several decades, given the role of English as an international language, along with the trend of English language study everywhere, Vietnamese people have been quite familiar to, and interested in, discovering aspects of Anglicist culture This enthusiasm was first brought about through the literacy works of famous English authors like C Dickens, G Byron, Sir C Doyle, Sir W Scott, W.M Thackeray…being translated and introduced to Vietnamese readers And today, in the era of global information booming, Vietnamese people are listening to English music, watching Premier League, reading English newspapers and other cultural publications The appearance of British Council in Vietnam also signals a significant step in the two countries‟ cultural exchanges This situation has given rise to an increasing demand for English- Vietnamese translation, given the role of translation in transmitting cultures The activities of English- Vietnamese translation may take place in various settings of cultural contacts such as books, newspapers, songs, films, mass media…etc Among translation problems reported by both amateur and professional translators, the matter of dealing with English cultural words emerges as a huge source of obstacles to comprehension; and a careless handling of those words may result in misunderstanding, embarrassment, discontent or even conflict among the involved parties, between the reader and the author because of the stark differences between Vietnamese and Anglicist cultures This context has inspired me to write this paper as an attempt to help students of English at Ha Noi Pedagogical University No.2 with some useful techniques when tackling English Cultural Words (ECWs) I ultimately wish the readers to find something of relevant and practical use to their study and work with English The translator normally uses the official or the generally accepted translation of any cultural (or institutional) term If appropriate, he can gloss it and, in doing so, indirectly, shows his disagreement with this official version Thus, when transference would not be accepted by the readership, „poker‟ has to be translated as „bài xì dách‟; „squash‟ as „bóng quần‟; „House of Lords‟ as „Thượng nghị viện‟; „House of Commons‟ as „Viện dân biểu‟ or „Hạ nghị viện‟; „British Council‟ as „Hội đồng Anh‟; „Her Majesty‟ as „Nữ hoàng‟; „folklore‟ as „Văn học dân gian‟; „paparazzi‟ as „tay săn ảnh‟; „playboy‟ as „công tử‟ or „tay chơi‟; „hooligan‟ as „bọn du côn‟; „gangster‟ as „kẻ cướp‟; „tennis‟ as „quần vợt‟; „bar‟ as „quán rượu‟; „boxing‟ as „quyền anh‟; „knockout‟ as „đo ván, hạ gục‟; „bowling‟ as „mơn thể thao ném bóng‟; „disco‟ as „phòng khiêu vũ nhạc đĩa nhạc‟; „shopping‟ as „mua sắm‟; „picnic‟ as „dã ngoại‟; „scooter‟ as „xe tay ga‟; „visa‟ as „thị thực‟, „MC‟ as „người dẫn chương trình‟; „DJ‟ as „người giới thiệu đĩa hát‟; „scandal‟ as „vụ bê bối‟ Of course, a translator may find some of the accepted translations unsatisfactory, but it is too late to change the terms now And if he did so in any official or serious text, he would cause confusion Similarly, when translating the religious term „Protestantism‟ it is no good giving your own title or even a brief explanation; nothing but the accepted term „Đạo Tin Lành‟ will 2.2.5 Couplets As I have pointed out earlier, in fact, any single translation technique rarely goes alone Usually, due to the requirement of the readership, or the importance of the cultural words in the text, one technique may be accompanied by the others So couplets, triplets, quadruplets combine two, three, or four of the above-mentioned techniques respectively for dealing with a single problem 53 The most common form of translation couplet consists of the transference of a cultural word followed by its translation (which may be a literal translationfor institutional words, a cultural equivalent or a functional equivalent) in brackets; here the translator would assume that the SL term would be retained for the remainder of the text and in the relevant TL literature For example: * Transference + literal translation: + British Council = British Council (Hội đồng Anh) + knock-out = nốc-ao (đo ván, hạ gục) + snack bar = snack bar (quán rượu nhỏ) + paparazzi = paparazzi (tay săn ảnh) + playboy = playboy (công tử, tay chơi) + massage = mát-xa (xoa bóp) * Transference + cultural equivalent: + folklore = phôn-cơ-lo (văn học dân gian) + Christmas = Christmas (Lễ Giáng sinh) + festival = festival (lễ hội) + tower = tower (tòa tháp) + Budha = Budha (Đức Phật tổ) + symphony = symphony (nhạc giao hưởng) * Transference + functional equivalent (or descriptive equivalent) + smoking jacket = áo smoking (áo rọng mặc nam giới) + oxford = giầy oxford (một kiểu giầy cổ thấp, buộc dây) + wellington = ủng wellington (kiểu dệt da, cao đầu gối) + café = café (tiệm cà phê, quán ăn nhỏ) + container = công-te-nơ (thùng rộng dung để chứa hang hóa) + showroom = showroom (phịng trưng bày) 54 Occasionally the translation has precedence, followed by the original in brackets- the procedure may be referred to as a TL translation couplet Here the translator assumes that the TL term is important for the TL literature, both now and in the future, but may not be sufficiently well-known; for example: „người dẫn trẻ qua đường‟ (lollipop lady); Bộ trưởng không thuộc nội các‟ (Non-cabinet Minister) In addition, translation couplet is specially useful in academic texts in translating names of species of British fauna and flora that not exist in Vietnam The most popular form if translation couplet here is the combination of transference and a culturally-free neutral equivalent, usually a Latin biological term This way is called transference + neutralization Thus, + thristle becomes „thristle‟ or „onorpordum acanthium‟ + snowdrop becomes „snowdrop‟ or „galanthus nivalis‟ 2.2.6 Notes, additions and glosses Following are some suggestions about „notes‟ (when and when not to use them) or supplying additional information in a translation The additional information a translator may have to add to his version is normally cultural (accounting for difference between SL and TL cultures), technical (relating to the topic) or linguistic (explaining the wayward use of words) and is dependent on the requirement of his, as opposed to the original, readership In expressive texts, such information can normally be given outside the version, although brief „concessions‟ for minor cultural details can be made to the reader In vocative texts, TL information tends to replace rather than supplement SL information, thus „credit purchase scheme‟ may be „translated‟ by more precise „hình thức tốn trả góp‟ Additional information in the translation may take various forms (1) Within the text 55 (a) As an alternative to translated word: e.g, bar becomes „bar‟ or „quầy rượu‟, café becomes „café‟ or „tiệm cà phê‟, „quán ăn nhỏ‟ (b) As an adjectival clause: e.g, yard becomes „yard, đơn vị đo chiều dài Anh tương đương 0,9m‟; gallon becomes „ga lông, đơn vị đo lường chất lỏng, 4,56 lít Anh 3,78 lít Mỹ‟; pint becomes „path, đơn vị đo lường chất lỏng, 0,57 lít Anh 0,47 lít Mỹ‟ (c) As a noun in apposition: e.g, poll tax becomes „poll tax, thuế cử tri‟, VAT becomes „VAT, thuế giá trị gia tăng‟ (d) As a participial group: e.g, moor becomes „moor, vùng đồng hoang cao nguyên Anh có nhiều hoa thạch quả‟; kangaroo becomes „căng-gu-ru, loại chuột túi sống Australia, trở thành biểu tượng nước này‟; kiwi beomes „kiwi, loại chim không bay sống Newzealand, trở thành biểu tượng nước này‟ (e) In brackets: e.g, constituency becomes „constituency, khu vực bầu cử‟; pound becomes „pao, đơn vị trọng lượng Anh xấp xỉ 450 gram‟; ounce becomes „aoxơ, đơn vị đo lường, 28 gram‟ (f) In parentheses, the longest form of addition: e.g, surrey becomes „surrey, loại xe ngựa kéo có mái che, phổ biến Anh kỉ 19‟ Round brackets should include material that is part of the translation Use square brackets to make corrections of material or moral fact where appreciate within the text Where possible, the additional information should be inserted within the text, since this does not interrupt the reader‟s flow of attention-translators tend to neglect this method too often However, its advantage is that it blurs the distinction between the text and the translator‟s contribution, and it cannot be used for lengthy additions (2) Notes at the bottom of the page (footnotes) 56 (3) Notes at the end of the chapter (4) Notes or glossary at the end of the book The remaining methods (2-4) are placed in order of preference, but footnotes (at the bottom of the page) become a nuisance when they are too lengthy and numerous; notes at the back of the book should be referenced with the book page numbers at the top-too often a reader finds himself reading a note belonging to the wrong chapter Notes at the end of the chapter are often irritating if the chapters are long since they take too long to find Despite their disadvantages footnotes are preferred in a lot of translations, especially literary texts The following examples are taken from „Vanity Fair‟ by Thackeray (1847-48)- Vietnamese version „Hội chợ phù hoa‟ by Tran Kiem (1978) a, Footnotes in historical terms: * SL: May fair TL: Mêfe FN: Mêfe, khu vực phía Tây thành Ln Đơn phạm vi khu Wextơ En, nơi tập trung gia đình thược lưu nước Anh, thuộc tầng lớp quý tộc đại tư sản (N.D) (p.189) * SL: the three kingdoms TL: vương quốc FN: nước: Anh thuộc địa Ailen Ấn Độ (N.D) (p.451) * SL: I invite all Newgate or all Bedham here TL: Tôi mời Niughết Bếtlam chơi FN: Niu ghết tên nhà lao thành phố Luân Đôn, xây dựng từ kỉ 19, nơi giam giữ tất loại tù nhân, cách đối đãi vô nhân đạo Đầu kỉ 20 bị phá hủy Ở có nghĩa „một tên tù‟(N.D) (p.603) 57 Bếtlam: tên bệnh viện xây dựng Anh, sau trở thành tên chung an dưỡng đường cho người tâm thần Đây có nghĩa „một người điên‟ (N.D) (p.603) b, Footnotes in material culture: * SL: Red book TL: thư hồng FN: Cuốn niêm giám giới quý tộc Anh (N.D) (p.583) * SL: strait-waistcoat TL: hiệp sĩ dòng áo bó FN: thứ áo đặc biệt dùng để trùm vào người điên bắt họ mang vào nhà thương điên (N.D) (p.586) * SL: hookah TL: Tẩu thuốc hu-ka FN: loại điếu hút thuốc phổ biến Anh (N.D) (p.542) * SL: lozenge TL: hình sơn trám FN: Ở nước Anh, gia đình q tộc có lệ sơn hình trám lên vách xe ngựa riêng kèm theo huy hiệu dòng họ (N.D) (p.125) * SL: Blue-blood TL: máu xanh FN: Bọn quý tộc Anh tự cho có máu xanh để tỏ thuộc loại người khác hẳn tầng lớp bình dân (N.D) (p.13) c, Footnotes in word-play: * SL: Miss-ah-Miss Blunt TL: Cơ…à…Cơ Blăn FN: Chỗ Pít muốn chơi chữ: Sacpơ (sharp) tiếng Anh “sắc”, Pít giả vờ quên gọi cô cô Blăn, (Blunt) nghĩa “cùn” (N.D) (p.114) 58 Summarizing the translation of cultural words (and institutional terms), I suggest that here, more than in any other translation problems, the most appropriate solution depends not so much on the locations or the linguistic or situational context (though these have their place) as on the readership (of whom the three types-experts, educated generalist, and uniformed- will usually require three different translations) and the setting And certainly, apart from those above discussed translation techniques, a translator may seek help from other ones flexibly to improve his translation, on the prerequisite that he has keep knowledge of the SL culture 2.3 Limits of translatability This section is written as a development of the section “culture and translation” Here, the matter of translation loss is discussed through the term translatability It is difficult to state the limits of translatability in total translation In principle, translation fails or untranslatability occurs when it is impossible to build the functionally relevant features of the situation into the contextual meaning of the TL text Broadly speaking, the untranslatability falls into two categories They are linguistic difficulty and cultural untranslatability As far as the study is concerned, cultural untranslatability will be focused on Consider the following examples: The translator of a Finnish novel rendered the sentence “Menen Saunaan” into English as: “I am going to the sauna” Bath, bathroom may be adequate translation equivalents of sauna However, the Finnish and the English institutions are certainly different and sauna is not always a separate building It may be room in a hotel, house, or a ship for instance Therefore, the obvious English equivalent bathroom would probably be evaluated by any translator as inappropriate 59 Japanese has a lexical item: huro which seems to be more easily translatable as bath or bathroom than the Finnish sauna Yet the Japanese bathroom is in some respects as different from an English bathroom as in sauna The Finnish and Japanese “bathroom” are, each in their own way, quite differently constructed and furnished from an English bathroom The sauna, however, differs still more or has more non-English situation features, from the English bath and bathroom It involves neither immersion in hot water nor washing the body (which is done outside the sauna and is not integral part of “taking sauna”) The Japanese institution, like the English one, does involve immersion in hot water and washing the body is an integral part of the bath-taking and is performed inside the bathroom Thus, it looks as if the equivalence of material aspects of the institution are less important than the equivalence in its major personal or social function (washing the body and soaking in hot water) in producing translatability It suggests that human or socio-geographical status of a SL dialect might be essential situational features determining the selection of an equivalent TL dialect rather than its geographical location Articles of clothing provide many examples of features of material culture which differ from one culture to another and may lead to translation difficulties The contextual meaning of the Japanese lexical item “yukata” for example, includes some features such as “loose robe bound by a sash, worn by either men or women, supplied to guests in a Japanese inn or hotel, worn in the evening indoor or outdoor, in streets, or in cafes, worn in bed” In English, there are several equivalents lexical items such as dressing-gown, bath-robe, house-coat, pyjamas, night-gown and in some the relevant situational features might be those common to both dressing-gown and yukata on particular occasion But no English item is relatable to the full range of 60 situational features and no possible English translation equivalent exits There is no English garment, for example, is worn both in bed and in the street (except in emergencies) and certainly no garment is supplied by English hotels to their guests The solution adopted by most translators here would be to transfer the SL item yukata into the TL text leaving its contextual meaning to emerge from the co-text (or explain it in a footnote) Another possibility would be to use the item kimono as translation equivalent since this originally Japanese lexical item is already “naturalized” as a loan-word in English, through yukata and kimono not mean the same in English The following examples are translations form Finnish and Japanese respectively: They lay on the hot upper benches of the bathroom inhaling the aromatic scent of the birch twigs After his bath, he enveloped his still-glowing body in the simple hotel bath-robe and went out to joint his friends in the café down the street Two words „bathroom‟, „bath-robe‟ in these contexts sound strange to an English reader who is unacquainted with Finnish or Japanese institutions This strangeness can be attributed to awkwardness of the situation “Culture shock” is created by the imagine of (1) people lying about on the benches in a birch-scented bathroom and (2) of a hotel‟s bath-robe, which moreover, is worn in the street Here, bathroom and bath-robe are bad and inappropriate translations The SL sauna, yukata are translatable for cultural reasons Let us now consider the translation of some Vietnamese material cultural words into English The translation here is taken from some textbooks: + = mosquito net + nón= conical hat 61 + bánh chưng= square cake + bánh dày= round cake + bánh trung thu= moon cake Personally, I think that these translations are not exact equivalents and they may lead speakers of English to confusion because the objects and the sorts of food here are not available in their culture For example, they may think that „mosquito net‟ is a kind of net which can be used to catch the mosquitoes, meanwhile the corresponding word in Vietnamese means a thing that is often hanged over and around a sleeping person on the four corners of the bed to prevent the mosquitoes from coming into and biting him But native speakers cannot understand this because they usually go to bed without using it or they merely have the concept of „sleeping bag‟ (a thing that they often bring with when they go for a picnic or on a camping trip) Especially some Vietnamese words for traditional costumes in the old time and some national special kinds of food like: áo the, khan xếp, guốc mộc, nón quai thao, khan mỏ quạ, áo bà ba, áo tứ than, quần lĩnh, phở, thắng cố…are all untranslatable for cultural reasons They can only be purely transferred into an English text, e.g „áo dài‟ becomes „ao dai‟, „phở‟ becomes „pho‟ Also the translation of some Vietnamese social cultural words into English is usually problematic Some words indicating worship places like „phủ‟, „đền‟; „miếu‟ are all translated into „temple‟ even though the sizes and the functions of these places are different from each other, therefore they should be taken into consideration by the translator in a way that can show differences in their meanings to the readership In the same way, „Midautumn festival‟ cannot be considered a cultural equivalent of „Tết trung thu‟ because it does not reflect the cultural identifies of the later (normally the word “Tết” is naturalized to “Tet” like „the Tet holiday‟ in an English text), or 62 „renovation‟ for „đổi mới‟ (many translators prefer to use doi moi because this word presents a peculiar process taking place in our country to reach to integration and development) Above all, the words that are concerned with some kinds of traditional folk music: hò, hát dặm, hát đối, hát xoan, hát trống quân, hát ả đào, ca trù some kinds of literary works of old Vietnamese literature: vè, cáo, hịch, chiếu (as in „Chiếu dời đô‟), văn tế and some kinds of old poetry: lục bát, thất ngôn tứ tuyệt, thất ngô bát cú (song thất lục bát), Đường luật seem to be great challenges to translators In fact, there is no way to translate them because they are all the peculiar spiritual products of Vietnamese culture in particular and Oriental culture in general The translation of the proper names of some historical places and beauty spots in our country appears to be very complicated, too I would like to give some examples extracted from some available widely-distributed documents currently: + Văn Miếu= The Temple of Literature + Chùa Hương = The Perfume Pagoda + Chùa Một Cột = The One Pillar Pagoda + Chùa Thày = The Master‟s Pagoda + Sông Hồng = The Red River + Hồ Tây = The West lake + Hồ Hoàn Kiếm = The lake of the Restored Sword (Huu Ngoc et al, 2005) All of them are word-for-word translations They look very „mechanical‟, again they may make English readers confused and misled Furthermore, they are all the cultural heritages of our country, hence there should no translation here or they should all be purely transferred into the TL text to show our respectability to Vietnamese culture 63 PART III CONCLUSION Review of the study English cultural words translation is always a task of great interests and difficulties as well A thorough study on this field requires not only a good command of English and Vietnamese, translation knowledge and experience, but also deep understanding of Anglicist and Vietnamese culture Thus, given the author‟s limited ability and experience, this study is just intended to go over the variety of English cultural words and ways to translate them into Vietnamese Writing this paper, the thesis author attempts to categorize cultural words in English-a work which is clearly beyond my ability-and them to suggest some practical techniques to translate them In chapter two the most popular ones have been discussed And among these ways, componential analysis, footnotes, and particularly transference should be recommended as the most useful and frequently-used techniques Yet, there is nothing such as a „perfect‟ translation technique that can fix all the translation problems, given the disadvantages and shortcomings of each one, as well as the wide varieties of cultural words created by them Thus, it is advisable to flexibly and creatively combine the use of all the named translation techniques in order to produce the most acceptable translation product In short, this thesis is expected to be relatively comprehensive and useful, that is, to discuss most of the issues and problems that may come up in translating English cultural words In spite of the controversial and arbitrary nature of its chapter, it is therefore designed to be a kind of reference for translation learners of English at Hanoi Pedagogical University N 02 The 64 author‟s ignorance and inexperience are the best excuses for the inevitable mistakes and errors in the study and all the suggestions for its improvement are always highly appreciated Suggestions for further studies The translation of ECWs is interesting as much as it is challenging enough for translators Being limited in time and lacking practical experience, I cannot ensure that I have satisfactory and thoroughly discussed the field within this small study, a study on word-level translation However, the translation of ECWs is just an aspect of cross-cultural translation and there are still many other important issues open for further studies, such as: + Cultural words in Vietnamese and ways to translate them into English + English idioms and proverbs and their translation into Vietnamese, and vice versa + Cultural factors‟ impact on English-Vietnamese and VietnameseEnglish translation In summary, there should be more specific and practical studied concerning English-Vietnamese cross-cultural translation and vice versa to facilitate mutual understanding between the two nations in a world of interdependence and co-operation today 65 REFERENCES Đặng Xuân Thu, Bùi Tiến Bảo (1999), Interpreting and Translating Fernando coursebook, Hanoi: Hanoi foreign studies P (1997), Nonverbal Communication and Translation, Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Bnejamins Garwood C, Gardani G, Peris E (1997), Aspects of Britain and the USA, Oxford University Press Hervey S, Higgins I 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WORDS IN ENGLISH AND WAYS TO TRANSLATE THEM INTO VIETNAMESE (TỪ VĂN HÓA TRONG TIẾNG ANH VÀ CÁCH DỊCH SANG TIẾNG VIỆT) (SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR. .. or by making the appropriate reply, but by first interpreting her mother‟s words (including to read skillfully between lines) and then reporting the gist of her mother‟s intend message in her own... of the readers of the original ‟foreign‟ communities have their own language structures and their own cultures, „foreign‟ individuals have their own way of thinking, and therefore of expressing