Annotations

Annotation

Students are strongly encouraged to annotate their translation. The purpose is to show their understanding of the original text. Annotations may take the form of footnotes, or discussion. Annotations typically deal with the cultural connotations and/or linguistic aspects of specific terms or expressions in the original text. Quite often, a term or expression can be translated into several ways in English, but the meaning may differ slightly depending on the contexts. You may suggest the options available to you, and you may also want to say why you translate the terms/expressions the way you do. Grammar, style, fluency of expression and contexts are the main factors you need to take into consideration in your translation.

A synopsis of between 100-200 words is required for the translation.

Some examples of good annotations and good translations are given below.

1. ‘不法’ means ‘illegal’, but can also mean ‘unprincipled’ in this context. I prefer the latter because the article emphasizes that the drainage of state-owned assets can occur by both illegal and legal means.

2. ‘发展’ literally means ‘develop’. However, ‘advance’ is probably more appropriate here.

3. ‘认为’ literally means ‘think’, ‘consider’ or ‘reckon’, ‘believe’. However I have chosen to use ‘perceive’ here because I think the author is trying to say that, no matter what the other reasons may actually be, people will perceive that the Government is the cause.

4. Any of ‘social values’, ‘social standards’ or ‘social morals’ are acceptable translations of ‘社会风气’. I have used these interchangeably in this part of the article, depending on the precise context. I have used ‘social standards’ here because it fits more easily with ‘declining’.

5. The dictionary translation for ‘小团体主义’ is ‘cliquism’ or ‘sectarianism’. However, this is a linguistic concoction with Chinese characteristics – I am doubtful as to whether such a word exists in English. A readable English...