Your reaction to this phrase

[gxnn]

A magazine in China has its name translated into English as "Minority Translator Journal". I like to know what is your reaction to or impression on it because it might not be a good translation. Thanks.

 

[eric_erosfan]

A magazine in China has its name translated into English as "Minority Translator Journal". I like to know what is your reaction to or impression on it because it might not be a good translation. Thanks.

Do minorities need translation?

 

[Britva415]

A magazine in China has its name translated into English as "Minority Translator Journal". I like to know what is your reaction to or impression on it because it might not be a good translation. Thanks.

If you don't have the untranslated name to show us, there's no possible way anyone could know how good or bad the translation is.

 

[gxnn]

If you don't have the untranslated name to show us, there's no possible way anyone could know how good or bad the translation is.

Later on I will tell you the original name, but now I want to get the real first impression you have. To speakers of a target language, what the original is doesn't matter because they don't know it and that is why they need a translation.

 

[Michael682]

My first impression is “wtf even is that?”

 

[Goldenfinger]

What’s the context? what do you think of a magazine called ”life”

少数民族翻译杂志》杂志

 

[Britva415]

Later on I will tell you the original name, but now I want to get the real first impression you have. To speakers of a target language, what the original is doesn't matter because they don't know it and that is why they need a translation.

I think I see what you mean.

"Minority translator journal" doesn't sound like the name of a journal/magazine. It sounds like nonsense in English.

 

[ZfrkS62]

I see that and think back to the old website Engrish.com which made fun of poor translations from Asian dialects to English. If it wasn't unintentional sexual innuendo, it was just nonsense.

 

[jehoram]

A magazine in China has its name translated into English as "Minority Translator Journal". I like to know what is your reaction to or impression on it because it might not be a good translation. Thanks.

My guess is that it would cater to interpreters in less well-known languages.

 

[gxnn]

What’s the context? what do you think of a magazine called ”life”

少数民族翻译杂志》杂志

Do you know Chinese? Surprising and amazing. Yes, the name you give here is almost exactly the original, which is 《民族翻译》.

"Minority" here means "ethnic groups of small population in China"or simply "minority ethnic group", the magazine collects and publishes articles on translation theories on minority ethnic groups or by writers of minority ethnic groups.That is the intention of the translator only because the word could be interpreted by native speakers otherwise.

As the magazine "Life", I think it is about what one can do to lead a good life. Is it correct?

 

[Britva415]

A better title would be Journal of Chinese Ethnic Minority Translation.

Or maybe Translators, depending on the intended focus.

This at least sounds "normal" in English and conveys what the thing in fact is.

 

[Goldenfinger]

Do you know Chinese? Surprising and amazing. Yes, the name you give here is almost exactly the original, which is 《民族翻译》.

"Minority" here means "ethnic groups of small population in China"or simply "minority ethnic group", the magazine collects and publishes articles on translation theories on minority ethnic groups or by writers of minority ethnic groups.That is the intention of the translator only because the word could be interpreted by native speakers otherwise.

As the magazine "Life", I think it is about what one can do to lead a good life. Is it correct?

I know very little. I’m also very surprised that you can acces this web site from china. I have been told that china has really cracked down on vpn apps.

as someone who speaks 2 languages I understand translating something cant Always mean the same in the language your translating too.

 

[gxnn]

@Goldenfinger
Most of good websites of English words cannot be accessed directly from China, it is very true.
They contain contents that are against the traditional culture or ideology and are strictly banned, it is understandable from the perspective of the rulers, who do not like other people to sleep by his bedside.
But some sites which are only about culture and book reading are also banned, it is beyond my understanding.
VPN is another option for crafty Chinese web users. In China, people are very clever at fighting the witchcraft with another witchcraft, haha. It is due mainly to the many loopholes in the implementation of relevant policies.
But for this site, it doesn't call for any VPN service to give extra help, that is unbelivable but is true, I don't know why, perhaps the key words of our site has outdone the censorship in a way we do not know, or maybe there are sympathizers or fans among the supervisors, haha. The closest-knit bamboo fence could not absolutely stop the flow of water, as the Chinese saying goes.

 

[Johnjones22]

so chinese is not an language.Mandarin is. And it all depends on you. Not all translations are what you think they are.

 

[gxnn]

so chinese is not an language.Mandarin is. And it all depends on you. Not all translations are what you think they are.

Could you provide some evidence to prove that Chinese is not a language? Thank you.

Mandarin is literally a dialect used by the Manchurian officials of the Qing Dynasty of China that existed from about 1600 to 1911. The ethnic group of Manchu is a minority group living in the northeast part of the country, which later conquered and replaced the Ming Dynasty that ruled the whole China.

I think the translation provided here is not a good one, because the original Chinese means this magazine is intended for contents in connection with translation works or theories done or proposed by writers of minority ethnic groups. But the English version "Minority Translation Journal" could be interpreted in many ways and the target readers (those who do not know about Chinese language) will be confused. That is why I post this question here for approval or critique.

 

[Johnjones22]

Thata fine mandarin is the main language that the ccp is trying to teach everyone but every local area has their own local
Dialect.

 

[SmokingFap]

I see that and think back to the old website Engrish.com which made fun of poor translations from Asian dialects to English. If it wasn't unintentional sexual innuendo, it was just nonsense.

Like "All your base are belong to us"? This was a real video game that was very poorly translated.

 

[SmokingFap]

And what was the point of this thread?

 

[Johnjones22]

I honestly don’t know. All this confusing

 

[gxnn]

And what was the point of this thread?

Thank you for the asking. It is my bad not to have made clarification before posting. It is a thread started by a Chinese visitor (that is myself) of this "How To" forum that is intended to get some real help from native speakers of English in America or elsewhere who wish to offer his hand or lips.

 

[ZfrkS62]

Like "All your base are belong to us"? This was a real video game that was very poorly translated.

No, this was a lot worse.

Like literal translations and misspellings that either turned mundane things into unintentional innuendo or sounded like something on Hannibal Lecter's shopping list.

who wish to offer his hand or lips.

Careful how you phrase that around here. You'll get private messages literally offering hands and lips in detail so graphic it might just get censored by your isp.

 

[ZfrkS62]

@SmokingFap the site is surprisingly still up

 

[Johnjones22]

Suprised the ccp hasn’t taken it down

 

[curioustxn]

A magazine in China has its name translated into English as "Minority Translator Journal". I like to know what is your reaction to or impression on it because it might not be a good translation. Thanks.

Anything referring to race or social status can be a sensitive subject in the US. You might want to select a different name.

 

[curioustxn]

A magazine in China has its name translated into English as "Minority Translator Journal". I like to know what is your reaction to or impression on it because it might not be a good translation. Thanks.

How about something like "Translations of Colloquial Languages"? Or perhaps "Translations of Colloquial Writings?" It's ambiguous and doesn't refer to any specific ethnic or social group.