How to quickly translate sentences in English. How to translate English texts. Types of lexical transformations

Learning the basics of translation

Most modern techniques do not include translation exercises. Basically, all the tasks today are aimed at the development of colloquial speech, and not at how to translate into English. This is a very rational approach to learning a foreign language. Nevertheless, the good old text translation tasks have their undeniable advantages. It is especially important to be engaged in translation for those who plan to link their professional activities with English in the future.

In this article, we propose to see what benefits can be obtained from translating texts from one language to another, and how to translate them correctly.

Translation exercise options

1. Find a good textbook
   Find a quality manual in English in Russian. As a rule, such teaching materials are filled with different exercises for translation from Russian into English and vice versa. In such aids, tasks, for the most part, are provided for practicing various grammatical structures, and by practicing regularly, you can bring the use of most of them to automatism. You can find a paper textbook, or you can search for exercises online.
2. Interpretation and translation
   Practice both interpretation and writing. Both exercises have their benefits. So, by translating the text orally, you can practice your pronunciation and immediately practice speaking. While in translation, you will practice your spelling.
3. Translate under dictation
   We recommend that you try to do simultaneous translation. Ask someone to dictate the text to you in Russian, and immediately write down the English version of this text yourself. Such classes will allow you to learn how to find speech matches as quickly as possible, develop the speed of thinking, and also allow you to practice using the learned vocabulary and grammar. Thus, you will contribute to the withdrawal of words from a passive vocabulary into an active one, making it easier to remember them during communication.
4. Read and translate
   Find an article on the Internet in English that matches your level of knowledge. Try to translate it. Remember that when translating, the most important thing is to convey the meaning of what the author has said, therefore, if the text contains about 10% of unfamiliar vocabulary, do not rush to translate it, just try to understand the meaning of unfamiliar words from the context. It will be great if this article is already in a professional translation. Thus, you can compare your creation with her and check how well you feel in English.
5. From Russian to English
   Find a simple text in Russian and try to translate it into English. Children's stories or articles with simple vocabulary are ideal for this exercise. Write down your version of the translation, and after a while check it for errors. You can ask a friend who speaks good English or a teacher to check your text and compare it with the translation. Also, if among your friends there is a person who, like you, studies English, you can offer him to translate the same story separately, and then compare your translation options. You will be surprised how differently one text can be translated.
6. Compare yourself to a professional translator
   Take a book in English and try to translate a few paragraphs from it into Russian. Of course, you need to choose a book that suits your level. For example, at levels below the average - translate children's fairy tales and stories with simple vocabulary, at the intermediate level try to translate something from modern literature, however, pay attention that there is not a lot of slang in it. Those who improve their knowledge can try to dare to translate classics. After completing the exercise, compare your translation with a professional one. See which words you used to convey the meaning of what was written, and which ones the translator used. This is not only an excellent method to hone your knowledge, but also an opportunity to once again discover the wealth of both Russian and English.

The benefits of transfer exercises

The communicative methodology by which students are taught in most modern schools is rightfully considered the most effective. However, teachers do not advise giving up the practice of translating texts from Russian into English and vice versa. Let's find out why.

1. Practicing learned words in practice
   By translating the text, you will practice the learned words and grammatical constructions in practice. At the same time, you will practice using the new vocabulary in context. Plus, it's a great way to improve your vocabulary. So, not knowing how to translate this or that word, you will have to look into the dictionary, and then use it correctly when performing the exercise. While making a written translation, you will also remember how to spell a particular word correctly.
2. You will learn to choose the right words
   It would seem, why do you need to be able to translate if there are a huge number of online translators: you enter the desired phrase - and in a second the translation is ready. Nevertheless, an automatic program is just a program that does not understand the intricacies of the language, and often translates texts very clumsily. Almost every word in English has several meanings, and synonymous words are not always interchangeable, but how many stable phrases exist that cannot be literally translated ... By doing translation, you can develop your understanding of speech, and learn to choose the right words and use them in your own speech.
3. Working on grammar
   You will be able to better understand how different grammatical constructions are used in practice. Compare the grammar of Russian and English. For example, English has more tenses than Russian. However, often in Russian, in order to give what is said of this or that shade, which is transmitted in English, thanks to the use of tenses, we will use different prefixes and suffixes. Translation exercises will help you better understand the difference between the times of the English language, and you will definitely stop getting confused in them.
4. You will stop translating everything literally
   It is far from always possible to translate English phrases verbatim so that you get a coherent speech, and not a pun. By doing translations, you will be able to better understand the English language, and you will learn how to establish language correspondences, and not translate each word separately. You will understand that the main thing in translation is not every single word taken separately, but the meaning of what is said. By the way, this is a great exercise in developing thinking, which will teach you to think wider and broaden your horizons.
5. You learn to build sentences correctly
   Given the fact that there are no definite rules for the order of words in a sentence in Russian, sometimes the construction of sentences in English is difficult. During the translation exercises, you will learn to construct English sentences competently, thanks to which you will correctly express yourself during communication. And at the advanced levels, you can practice using stylistic inversion as well.
6. You will learn to think in English
   On the contrary, translation exercises might seem to encourage you to think in Russian. However, practicing translation, you will learn to mentally form sentences in English, that is, think in English phrases, not Russian.
   As you can see, translation exercises can help you learn English effectively. They allow you to better understand the language, understand its intricacies and work out the acquired knowledge in practice. Such classes will be especially useful for those who have just set foot on the path of learning English.

Translation exercise is actually a very creative activity that requires the ability to think broadly and creatively. Knowing how to translate into English is very important as it develops a sense of speech and helps to hone your knowledge of the language.

You will need

• In principle, the lack of a translator's diploma is not a problem. You can learn to translate by knowing the basic basics of translation and doing translations constantly, i.e. it takes practice.
• It's important to use good, proven dictionaries like Lingvo. For professional translations, it is worth using special vocabulary dictionaries.

Instructions

Some people mistakenly understand it as a simple substitution of words in the text of their translation from the dictionary. Usually, such a "translation" is similar to a not very coherent text produced by translation systems such as Prompt. The problem with translating from English or into English is that in English they are more polysemous than. Therefore, too much depends on the context and scope of the word.

Before translating, be sure to read it in full in order to understand the meaning. With consecutive translation of parts of a sentence, the meaning can be distorted. Longer sentences are best broken up when translated into shorter ones.

You should remember about the rule of theme and rema when translating. The topic is already known information, the rema is new. Therefore, as a rule, the topic is at the beginning of the sentence, and the rema at the end.

For a successful translation, you need to know the socio-cultural realities of the country in which the translated text is written. This applies to both translations on everyday life and on business and other topics. Of course, we cannot know well the socio-cultural realities of the country in which we do not live, however, points that seem controversial should be checked, for example, using English-English dictionaries (dictionaries with definitions of words).

A good translation should be recipient-oriented. Therefore, before translating, you should think about who you intend the translated text to - a person who is well acquainted with its subject matter, or an ordinary person? This is of great importance as the translation should be simpler and clearer for the general recipient, possibly with the translator's comments in the footnotes.

Every person who studies a foreign language, one way or another, is faced with the need for translation. Students learn to translate read or listened to texts, English books and dialogues from a foreign language, as well as translate simple sentences and, most importantly, their thoughts from their native language into a foreign language. So what is translation and what is its meaning? Let "s see ...

Talking about translation, many linguists distinguish between two concepts: translation, as the process of transmitting an oral or written text in one language by an equivalent text in another language, and translation, as a result of this process, that is, the written or oral text itself, conveying the same meaning or having the same content in another language. Thus, in essence, translation is a search for corresponding equivalents in another language, allowing one or another meaning to be conveyed.

For a long time, translation has been the main means of exchange of information and knowledge about the world. In the 21st century - the century of information - it is difficult to imagine a field of activity in which one or another type of translation would not be applied. In the modern world, international boundaries in business, science and other industries are blurring, therefore translation is becoming more necessary than ever as the basis for understanding and fruitful cooperation.

How to translate correctly from English

Translation from English into Russian, due to the use of the former as an international one, is more relevant than ever.

There are several types of translation: literal, automatic or machine translation, as well as professional.

Speaking of the latter. The first step is always working on the text and its structure, as well as carefully reading the source material. After that, work takes place on the words that require special attention. Next, a so-called translation sketch is performed with the designation of doubtful places in the text, which need to be worked on in the future. You may think that this kind of work is beyond your strength, but this is how a high-quality translation should be done. Deal with it.

Literal and machine translations are the least effective and can be used to understand the general meaning of the translated text.

Some tips:

• use modern dictionaries and do not forget about the existence of electronic dictionaries, for example multitran.ru, which contains vocabulary, as well as sayings, idioms and phrases that are used in professional fields;
• do not try to translate all unknown words, try to understand the essence of the text;
• pay attention to the different possible variants of one word (word morphs), remember also that there is a participle and a gerund;
• look at the endings of the verbs: this will help you not only to understand the tense of what is happening, but also to determine the character;
• be aware of language exceptions (swim - swam or die - dying), as well as phrasal verbs (put away, put across, put on, put down);
• do not forget that one word can be both a noun and a verb at the same time, for example, drin, answer, sleep, cook, shade, climb, cook, etc.

Online translation services

Various online services are widely used for the above types of transfers. The most famous and frequently used translation service at the moment is the online translator from English to Russian - Google translate. Its distinctive feature is the presence of a large number of supported languages ​​- 103, as well as the ability to automatically translate web pages and large texts. However, the main disadvantage of this service is not always the correct choice of vocabulary and incorrect construction of sentences. An excellent option for understanding the general meaning, but not comparable to a professional translation.

How to translate from English into Russian, you can use online dictionaries that contain a large number of meanings of words, transcription, several pronunciation options, as well as examples of use in authentic texts. Noteworthy is the online translator Lingvo Live from ABBYY. Fewer languages ​​are represented in it - 20, and it is able to translate individual words and phrases. Nevertheless, the translation is presented in various headings: medicine, jurisprudence, etc., as well as with many examples from the original texts. It is also encouraging to have the opportunity to ask translators for help absolutely free of charge if the translation was not found.

You can also translate from English into Russian using the translate.ru (prompt) service from Runet. A small number of languages ​​- 7, and the ability to translate large texts. It differs in the function of choosing the subject of the translated text, for example, travel, sports, health, which narrows the choice of the necessary vocabulary.

Professional translation

Professional translation from English is distinguished by its accuracy and complete transfer of the meaning and form of the translated text. So, if, for example, the original test is of a technical nature, then embellishment of the test is unacceptable - the accuracy of terms and the use of stamps and cliches are important.

direct current- direct current
sectional area- cross-sectional area

If the source text is a dialogue on an everyday topic, the main task of the translator is to find the most natural version for translation.

Here you are!- Here you go!
Help yourself.- Help yourself.

If the source text is a literary text, then it is important to use synonyms, change the order of words, as well as figures of speech: epithets, metaphors, hyperbole.

sharp eyes- piercing gaze
I'll move heaven and earth to reach it.- I will move mountains to achieve this.

Lost in translation

Setting the goal to translate from English, each translator faces some difficulties caused by both the peculiarities of the English language and the specifics of the target one.

Lexical difficulties

Most words in English are ambiguous. Thus, the main lexical difficulty of translation is the choice of the desired and most appropriate meaning. For example, the verb run can be used to mean "to run" and to mean "to manage": so run a marathon - to run a marathon, run a restaurant - to run a restaurant. In addition, it also translates as "work", in terms of "function": Is your refrigerator running? - Is your refrigerator working?

Also, an important point in translation is the definition of the part of speech that the word is represented with. Quite a lot of words in the English language have the same form in different parts of speech, therefore, how to translate a word from English into Russian directly depends on the part of speech that it is represented by.

I read an interesting book (noun).- I am reading an interesting book
I called to book (verb) a table.- I called to get the table.
He's like (adverb) me... - He's the same as me.
He likes (verb) me.- He likes me.

Some difficulties also arise with how to translate the well-known false friends of translators - words that are similar in form to existing words in the target language, but differ from them in meaning.

baptism- baptism, not baptism (Baptist faith)
expertise- experience, competence, knowledge, but not expertise (expert examination)
intelligent- reasonable, quick-witted, but not intelligent (cultured)
clay- clay, but not glue

When translating, it is necessary not to forget about the compatibility of words, especially the verb + noun in English: take a photo - take a photo, have a party - throw a party, and the adjective + noun in Russian: brown eyes - brown eyes, gray hair - gray hair.

Grammatical difficulties

The grammatical structure of the English and Russian languages ​​is significantly different. An important point in translation is the choice of the most appropriate time, or words indicating the required time. So, Present Perfect, depending on the context, can be translated using the present or the past tense:

I have already been there.- I've already been here.
I have been in Paris since Monday.- I've been in Paris since Monday.

Another interesting point is related to the use of pronouns. In English, there is a clear sentence structure - subject and predicate. Therefore, most sentences are built using the pronouns it, they, we, you. In the Russian language, there is a tendency to use impersonal forms of the verb, or the pronouns are simply omitted.

They say he is a good man.- They say he is a good man.
It rains.- It's raining.

An important aspect is the translation of the passive voice, which is quite often used in English and has several translation options:

• Using the verb to be:
  This text was written on the blackboard.- The text was written on the board.
• With the help of reflexive verbs ending in -ся / -сь:
  The window was suddenly opened.- The window opened unexpectedly.
• Using 3rd person plural active verbs:
  The books are given on the first floor.- Books are given out on the first floor.

Conclusion

From the foregoing, it follows that translation is not an easy job, affecting many aspects of language learning, the correct choice of vocabulary, knowledge of the many meanings of words and their compatibility with other words in a sentence. Also important is the knowledge of all grammatical formulas and rules of grammatical construction of sentences.

It should also be noted the importance of knowledge of English punctuation and spelling for translation. Like any skill, fast and accurate translation needs constant practice and improvement. But patience and work will grind everything!

We wish you good luck!

Big and friendly family EnglishDom

An article on how best to translate texts and sentences.

Hello, friends! How often do you translate something into English? Or from English to Russian? What do you think is the best option? In this article, I would like to tell you about this from my point of view.

Well, first of all, if you are not doing translation exercises, then I recommend starting. These exercises are very useful and great for developing thinking. In the article I already said that it is very important to learn to think in English in order to start speaking without difficulty. So, translating texts or just incoherent sentences, you develop the ability to think in English. I will tell you about some important points about effective translation. I stuck with them at the beginning of my study and noticed improvements very quickly.

What language is better to translate from.

If you do not plan to link your life with the English-Russian translation in the future, then I do not advise you to spend too much time on it. While this is useful, translation exercises from English are only great for developing your vocabulary. Or they can be useful if you've just learned a grammar rule and want to reinforce it. As for the ability to think in English, they don't develop it very much. After all, you immediately see the finished sentence in English and just try to translate it into your native language.

But when we speak English, thoughts come to us first in Russian, right? Therefore, I believe that it is more efficient to translate from Russian into English correctly. It has three advantages:

1) You learn to think in English because you have to translate a sentence into that language.

2) You are looking for the most suitable words and phrases, thereby refreshing your memory or even learning new words, if required. As a result, you develop your vocabulary.

3) Sometimes you come across very cool sentences that you can remember as a template and later use them in your speech.

Of course, all this is inherent in the translation of the text from English into Russian. But I still think that translation from Russian is more useful. At least, I really noticed this at the beginning of the study. Of course, such a translation is more difficult, but more effective. Please bear this in mind.

But in any case, no matter what language you translate into, there are some general rules to do it more efficiently:

1) Try to translate texts that match your level. Don't waste your time and nerves on complicated translations.

2) Do exercises to consolidate the rules that you recently passed. This tutorial has some great translation exercises at the end for each section of the grammar. I strongly advise you to work out on it. Anyway, I have said more than once that I consider this book to be the best textbook on English grammar.

3) It would be nice to find texts of the topic that interests you.

4) Before using the dictionary, try to remember the desired word yourself. If you have learned a new word or phrase, then make up two or three more sentences yourself using them.

5) Try to memorize sentences and phrases useful for conversation as templates. And further use them in your speech.

In conclusion, translation exercises are very helpful. Don't forget about them and do it regularly. Don't translate too much from English into Russian. For one English-Russian translation exercise, do two or three Russian-English translation exercises.

Keep learning English and take care of yourself!

1. 1. If you do not know English well, then you need to improve your level of knowledge. This is done by repetition of the main grammatical forms and structures of the language.
2. 2. For consultation you need to select the appropriate literature. You can buy textbooks on translation practice and theory either from a bookstore or from a library. When choosing, you should pay attention to the orientation of the textbook - practical or theoretical. In general, they complement each other, but if later you need to translate not complex texts, then a guide on practical translation is sufficient.
3. 3. If you can enroll in translation courses, then do it! This will allow you to immediately understand what to do for what, because you will have the opportunity to ask questions and submit your translations for review. Such courses are taught in almost all language schools. Before paying for the course, you should find out if you can attend such classes for free. In this case, you will be able to understand the specifics of the course and the level of teaching and figure out whether this is right for you or not.
4. 4. If you do not have the money or time for such courses, it is worth starting independent studies. Practice translating the types of texts that you need. These can be technical, journalistic, literary texts. If you need to learn how to translate scientific articles on a specific topic into Russian, you should first read a couple of similar materials that are written in Russian. You will understand their stylistic features and will not transfer "tracing-paper" into them from the English language. For example, not everyone knows that Russian scientific articles are not encouraged to speak in the first person. Therefore, the translation of the phrase “I received the money” in Russian should sound like “The money was received”, in extreme cases, “We received the money”.