Strategies and Guidelines for Strategies and Guidelines for Translating Tourism TextsTranslating Tourism Texts

Strategije in napotki za prevajanje Strategije in napotki za prevajanje turističnih besedilturističnih besedil

Mentor: Dr. Michelle GadpailleMentor: Dr. Michelle Gadpaille

Co-mentor: Dr. Tomaž OničCo-mentor: Dr. Tomaž Onič

Nika Plevnik

Research Motifs

Often disregarded and neglected properties of tourism language by Slovene brochure writers or their translators.

English translations of tourist brochures generated by Slovene translators are often published without English native speaker revision > various mistakes & unnaturalness.

Research Methodology

5 sample texts 5 native speakers of English > tape-recorded

unstructured interview

two linguists (university professors) >Canadian,

two English course instructors > British,

one Slovene real-estate agent > Australian Slovene.

Description of a destination Description of a destination

on the back of the mapon the back of the map

Introductory to the serviceIntroductory to the service Table/packagesTable/packages

Paragraph in a thicker bookletParagraph in a thicker booklet

Throwaway advertisementThrowaway advertisement

AimsAims

1.1. Carry out a detailed analysis of a selection of tourism texts using Carry out a detailed analysis of a selection of tourism texts using Leech and Short’s model and show the Leech and Short’s model and show the properties of TL.properties of TL.

2.2. Research into the level of understanding of the English speaking Research into the level of understanding of the English speaking tourist reading the Slovene–English translations in tourist tourist reading the Slovene–English translations in tourist brochures (ambiguities, misunderstandings, cultural gaps).brochures (ambiguities, misunderstandings, cultural gaps).

3.3. Present the Present the range of mistakesrange of mistakes in tourist brochures, their in tourist brochures, their effect effect on on the English native speaking tourist and, consequently, the overall the English native speaking tourist and, consequently, the overall attractivenessattractiveness of the text. of the text.

4.4. Provide useful Provide useful guidelinesguidelines for achieving greater naturalness in the for achieving greater naturalness in the translation, saving translators research time and thus simplifying translation, saving translators research time and thus simplifying the whole process of translating tourism texts. the whole process of translating tourism texts.

5.5. Check several Check several dictionariesdictionaries and outline the circumstances in which and outline the circumstances in which Slovene translators work, and comment on dictionaries they Slovene translators work, and comment on dictionaries they presumably use when translating. presumably use when translating.

Results & CommentsResults & Comments General:

Translators have not picked up the complex advertising properties of the tourism language.

Literal translation > unnatural.Literal translation > unnatural.

Slovenes promote sights many foreign tourists might not be Slovenes promote sights many foreign tourists might not be interested in.interested in.

Slovene translations Slovene translations do notdo not include and address the reader include and address the reader ((imperatives, rhetorical questions etc.imperatives, rhetorical questions etc. instead of descriptive monologueinstead of descriptive monologue). ).

DDeficient in terms of “languaging”, egoeficient in terms of “languaging”, ego--targeting and humour.targeting and humour.

Layout sometimes difficult to comprehend.Layout sometimes difficult to comprehend.

List of List of MMost ost CCommon ommon EErrors of Slovene rrors of Slovene TTranslators ranslators WhenWhen Encoding in EnglishEncoding in English

Spelling mistakes and typing errorsSpelling mistakes and typing errors Inappropriate diction Inappropriate diction (register and style)(register and style) Grammatical and syntactic mistakesGrammatical and syntactic mistakes Misuse of punctuationMisuse of punctuation Misuse of adjectivesMisuse of adjectives Misuse of articlesMisuse of articles Misuse of prepositionsMisuse of prepositions Disregard ofDisregard of cultural gaps cultural gaps Composition logic Composition logic (cohesion and coherence)(cohesion and coherence) Word orderWord order Incorrect collocations/idioms Incorrect collocations/idioms (inappropriate word choices)(inappropriate word choices) Various translation mistakesVarious translation mistakes Interference with understanding Interference with understanding (ambiguity and unclearness)(ambiguity and unclearness) Inaccuracy of the translation Inaccuracy of the translation (semantic shifts)(semantic shifts)

Practical Practical GGuidelines for uidelines for TTranslators ranslators

How to How to TTranslate ranslate TTourism ourism TTextsexts Pre-translation activities:Pre-translation activities:

1. 1. GGlobal comprehensionlobal comprehension 2. 2. AnalysisAnalysis3. 3. ReflectionReflection

a) a) TType of the tourism text,ype of the tourism text, as well as the as well as the intention – intention – functionfunction

b) b) RReadershipeadership c) c) QQuality of writinguality of writingd) d) Cultural aspectCultural aspect of the SL text. of the SL text.

Translation:Translation:4. 4. SynthesisSynthesis >> communicative translation methodcommunicative translation method..

Post-translation activities:Post-translation activities:5. 5. Control/revisionControl/revision

- c- check heck for naturalness (rfor naturalness (read the translation aloudead the translation aloud))- - cut down redundanciescut down redundancies, , - check for translation shifts - check for translation shifts (be accurate: do not change (be accurate: do not change

words). words). - - nnative speaker revisionative speaker revision

Remarks on DictionariesRemarks on Dictionaries1. COLLOCATIONS 1. COLLOCATIONS

GGeneral monolingual dictionareneral monolingual dictionariesies

Specialized monolingual dictionaries Specialized monolingual dictionaries

SSpecialized dictionary of collocationspecialized dictionary of collocations BBI Dictionary of English Word Combinations, BBI Dictionary of English Word Combinations, Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English, Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English, LTP Dictionary of Selected CollocationsLTP Dictionary of Selected Collocations..

WWebeb & & online corporaonline corpora && concordancesconcordances Collins, Corpus Concordance Sampler & Collocation SamplerCollins, Corpus Concordance Sampler & Collocation Sampler The Advanced Reader´s Collocation SearcherThe Advanced Reader´s Collocation Searcher ©©

2. DICTION2. DICTION IIndicator of the level of language (register)ndicator of the level of language (register)..

NNative English speaker(s) revisionative English speaker(s) revision..

RReduce educe mistakesmistakes, , incorrect incorrect

collocation collocation usageusagessin the in the

encoding encoding process.process.

NATURALNESSNATURALNESS