1

PART I. INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale

In the process of worldwide industrialization, the needs for studying English become
more and more inevitable. Especially for the knowledge of the specific job, translators
must understand deeply all the skills of the job and must be ready for the translation into
second language if necessary.

In Vietnam, anyone coming into career, he or she must prepare all the knowledge of
job not only in Vietnamese but in English as well.

Deriving from translating technical documents of the paint company, the researcher
realizes the mistakes in translating paint documents which made by himself or by his
colleagues

Certainly, in order to get the skills of translation better, anyone who works as
translators should analyze thoroughly the mistakes and find out the solutions to correct and
avoid in the future.

2. Aims of study and research questions

Analysis on semantically terminological mistakes in the paint document translation

of specific purpose English is a very complicated matter for the researchers, especially for
the translators in the field of paint terminology in particular and in English in general. The
study aims at:

- Finding out the mistakes in translating paint terminology from English into
Vietnamese with the specific evidences.

- Suggesting the solutions to the problems to improve the current situation of

translating and avoid mistakes in the future.

Thanks to these ideas, the researcher will be aware of some suitable ways to avoid
the mistakes and correct themselves at work.

* Some research questions deducted from the study are as follows:

- What are the mistakes that the translators make when translating the documents?

- What are the solutions to these problems?

 2

3. Scope of study

In this study, it is impossible to cover all the mistakes - concerning matters. The
researcher just focuses on the documents that he has been translated from English into
Vietnamese – basing on his experience on the paint document translation. And from
comparison with another 15 translators in 5 sheets of technical documents, the researcher
takes the most popular examples that he has observed, he recognizes three of the most
common mistakes in the translated documents as follows:

- At word level:

Resin (chất tạo màng) is a kind of gelled solution to be the main component of paint
constitution. (Someone translates resin into “nhựa”.)

Vehicle (chất mang, dung môi dẫn) = solvent + binder resin (Someone translates
vehicle into “phương tiện”.)

- At sentence level:

“Technology of Haiphong Paint is under the license of Chugoku-Japan.”

Vietnamese sentence must be “Công nghệ Hải Phòng bản quyền của hãng Chugoku –
Nhật Bản”, but some translators take in Vietnamese as “Công nghệ của công ty Sơn Hải
Phòng là theo li xăng của hãng Sơn Chugoku – Nhật Bản”.

- At paragraph level

“Of the paint researches that are important not just to the quality of paint but to
water environment, free copper and tin antifouling technologies are improved more and
more, which is the best way of reducing the fouls which hold under the marine vessels,
which are releasing activated biocides that creates antifouling process through the stages
of hydrolysis”. The result should be “Trong số những nghiên cứu về sơn quan trọng không
chỉ đối chất lượng sơn mà còn với môi trường biển, công nghệ chống hà không chứa hợp
chất cơ thiếc và đồng được chú trọng cải tiến. Phương pháp tốt nhất này là để giải các
chất chống hà và tạo nên quá trình chống hà thông qua các giai đoạn thủy phân”

The investigated issues in relation to the research are as follows:

- A general view of paint technical and other documents

 3

- An analysis of the meanings of all the paint terminology and the mistakes created in
translation.

4. Methods of research

Initializing the study, the researcher take advantages of some methods which help
him do the research in the right direction. There are two methods the researcher uses are
survey coming from documents observation and statistics applied with analysis and
synthesis.

Encouraging two above methods, the researcher carries out the corresponding tasks
as

- Collecting and classifying examples and

- Comparing the usage of language between Vietnamese and English

5. Instruments for data collection, subjects

Deriving from the career, the researcher finds the subject of the study and makes an
effort to deal with. It is obvious that working as a translator of the paint documents, the
researcher has ever got the difficulties in the job. ”Mistakes and how to correct them in
translating”, which is the reason for the subject.

The two data collection instruments used in the study are Description of experience
and Description of observation.

* Description of experience

To fulfill this study, the researcher has worked at Haiphong Paint Join Stock
Company for over 3 years. The experience he can get is through such all the documents he
has done with in translation as Technical data sheets, paint specifications, catalogue, and
color collection cards, etc.

And some international documents which are related to the Paint Marketing and paint
checking are ASTM (American Standard for Testing Measurement), ISO (International
Standard Organization), and JIS (Japanese International Standard), TCVN (Vietnamese
Standard).
 4

Paint companies’ websites are also the resources for the researcher to do the study.
There are so many paint companies in the world. In the fact of worldwide economy, the
competition among companies is higher and more technological, and the information must
be updated regularly and immediately. That is the reason why website is a useful
instrument to get the information the most easily.

* Description of observation

The researcher is professional in the field of paint, especially paint document

translation. To help himself be able to understand all the phenomena of paint checking and
inspection, the researcher has ever been trained on paint production, checking and
inspection at Technical center in Japan (2 months), in the laboratory of Haiphong Paint
Joint Stock Company (1 year) and in Technical Service Department (over 2 years). All
these things can improve the knowledge of the researcher in both English and Vietnamese
deeply, which can help the researcher understand and translate paint documents into a
second language easily.

6. Methods of data analysis and presentation

The data or documents for this study are analyzed and shown in the methods of

- Overviewing of all the documents and finding out the general mistakes; after that,

- Basing on the research methodology and some kinds of analysis, the researcher shows the
document in the form of the assessment and classification of all the documents.

7. Structure of thesis

Apart from the acknowledgement, table of content and appendices, the thesis is
composed of three main parts:

Part 1. Introduction includes the rationale, aims of study and research questions,
scope of the study, method of research with instruments for data collection, the subject,
methods of data analysis, and presentation.
 5

Part 2. Development consists of three chapters:

Chapter 1. Literature review discusses the definition of translation, the functions of

translation, importance of developing translating skill and the main reasons for translating
mistakes.

Chapter 2. Description of selected documents basing on the analysis of

characteristics of paint terminology.

Chapter 3. Mistake analysis, recommendations for mistake correction

Part 3. Conclusion involves a brief summary of main points, some conclusions

induced from the results of the study, limitations of the study and some suggestions for
further study
 6

PART II. DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1. LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter focuses on the theoretical knowledge concerning semantically

terminological mistakes in the paint document translation of specific purpose English
including factors affecting the translation for the people who read and write the paint
technical documents.

1.1. What is translation?

Translation is the interpreting of the meaning of a text and the subsequent production
of an equivalent text, likewise called a "translation," that communicates the same message
in another language. The text to be translated is called the "source text," and the language
that it is to be translated into is called the "target language"; the final product is sometimes
called the "target text." (www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Translation). And, “Translation
consists of producing in the target language the closest natural equivalent of the source
language message, firstly with respect to meaning and secondly with respect to style.”
Nida (1959)

Often it is rendering meaning of signs, symbols (both verbal and non-verbal) by

means of other signs, symbols in the same language or in other languages. Common sense
tells us that this ought to be simple, as one ought to be able to say something as well in one
language as in another. On the other hand, it may be seen as complicated, artificial and
fraudulent, since by using another language, the language user may be pretending to be
someone he/she is not. Hence, working in translation has its own interests and its own
excitement. Since a translator works on a text, he/she is always trying to extent his/her
knowledge and improve his/her means of expression, he/she is always pursuing facts and
words, so a satisfactory translation is always possible, but a perfect or ideal translated
version may never be obtained.

1.2. Functions of translation

Translation functions as a means of communication and information transferring. It is

used for multilingual notices in public places, for instructions issued by companies, for
technical staffs where it is too often produced from the native into the foreign language by
 7

natives as a matter of nation pride, for official documents such as treaties and contracts, for
reports, papers, articles, correspondence, textbooks or for technical documents of for
advertisement, bidding folio, studying specific materials, etc. to convey information,
advice and recommendations for every branch of knowledge. Its volume has increased
with the rise of new technology, the increase in the number of new inventions in science
and the growth of the terminology. In the field of paint, sometimes we read a technical
document, it is really a meaningful word for the daily conversation but it can not be
applied for the technical matter. For example the word “Heavy duty”, may be understood
“Nhiệm vụ nặng nề”, but in all paint documents, we must understand like “Industrial
paint”. And this well-known example is repeatedly reminded by all translators as a
valuable experience of profession, especially when translating such “semi-technical”
terms.

Translation is greatly demanded for the need of common understanding among

companies and technicians. Millions of books and texts translated everyday help to transfer
ideas, notions, customs, and beliefs in the paint field to the others. These are absorbed and
considered in various directions and lead to the common agreement at different levels,
either fully or partly accepted.

HOW MANY FORCES PULL A TRANSLATION

According to Peter New mark, a text may be pulled in ten different directions:
 8

9. The truth (the facts

of the matter)
1. Source 5. Target language
language writer readership

2. Source 6. Target language

language norms text norms

3. Source 7. Target language

language culture culture

4. Source 8. Target language

language settings 10. Translator settings and
and tradition tradition

Matters discussed in this study are involved in directions 3 and 7 between English
and Vietnamese.

1.3. Importance of developing translating skill

Although translating skill has been cared by anyone who is related to the reading and
writing foreign language technical documents, there are still many problems in reading and
writing, especially in translating. These problems are the results of the translators’
unawareness of the translating skill. Therefore, this section is going to discuss the
importance of translating the paint document along with the analysis of the knowledge for
the translators of paint technical documents.

For the purpose of analysis, language has been divided into different skill areas.
These can be discussed in the framework of how we can understand our first language. A
child can first learn to practice language by speaking, combined with listening. Then, when
school begins, children learn the skills of reading and writing. As the child grows in their
language ability and use, the different skills are most often integrated with each other so
that they are being used in coordination with each other. Thanks to these skills
coordination, the understanding of a language will be developed and can be improved day
by day.
 9

In the same way, the understanding of a foreign language can be built up and
developed by learners. They can practice a foreign language day by day to create a new
habit an understanding of a foreign language. That is why the translating skill can be
improved when they read the technical documents daily. After reading and listening, the
translator responds and understands. Just think of all English documents you read in one
day and compare with the documents in Vietnamese. Which do you understand more of?
Of course, Vietnamese is the answer but if you can understand English as well as
Vietnamese, you must practice English translating in daily life.

In a company, while a staff is reading an English document, he may also understand

and translate it into Vietnamese immediately. A qualified translator must have good
background knowledge of the career in both languages - Vietnamese and English. The
meaning of technical terminology is conveyed and understood in contexts. Furthermore, it
is also a requirement that a qualified translator has capability or skills of translating so as to
transfer messages from Vietnamese into English and vice versa.

For the purpose of foreign language translating, some translators have memorized
hundreds of words and many grammar rules, but they still cannot translate well. Many
people can read and understand the English technical documents but when they translate
from Vietnamese into English, they cannot. It is true to say that being able to read all the
words in a sentence is quite different from being able to comprehend or understand and
analyze the technical terminologies and the English grammar with meanings. This is very
much like children, when they can read out all the words in the document but they cannot
understand what the meanings of the words are. Moreover, the translators who have not
much exposure to some rarely-used words, they may forget the meaning. They have no
solutions to remember these words, which are easy to understand for all the learners of
English as a second language. But how they can remember these words depends very much
on how often they practice using them or writing them down in the memory books.

In general, all the activities of the translator are aimed to how they can understand
technical terms and translate a technical document into another language. All they have to
do is to have both the knowledge of their specialism or career and the ability of the second
language understanding.
 10

1.4. Reasons for translating mistakes

There are, in fact, many things that contribute to the success of translators. The
followings are some typical factors affecting translating English documents.

1.4.1. Subjective causes

A translation of high quality must be the work of a skillful translator. To be able to

produce good translation, the translator must be competent in both the source and
target languages and have extensive background knowledge of different fields.

1.4.1.1. Insufficient language competence

First and foremost, the practice of translation belongs to the linguistic realm. Thus,
the primary reason of a poor translation must be the insufficiency of the translator’s
language competence. The incompetence may be of Vietnamese, the target language in
English – Vietnamese translation, and/or of English, the source language.

* Insufficient target language (Vietnamese) competence

Before becoming a translator, one must be a good writer. That is to say that he/she
is capable of using his mother tongue effectively to express the ideas. Translation,
hence, is most of the time direct consequence of a poor or insufficient target language
competence. In the English – Vietnamese translation, the target language is the Vietnamese
language.

Vietnamese is known for its sophisticated grammatical rules on which not all
Vietnamese people hold appropriate knowledge. In fact, only a few Vietnamese translators
excel at their own mother tongue, let alone students who are still learning to become
translators.

Language incompetence can be observed in the areas: the vocabulary and the
grammatical structures. Insufficient knowledge on either of the two areas may lead to
translations of poor quality.

Noticeably, many would-be translators learning at university nowadays do not know

a remarkably large number of specific Vietnamese words are often used in technical
documents. This causes limitations in their practice of translation when they work for a
company, especially when the text strictly requires proper writing style. “Finish” term
 11

likes these, as observed, in shipbuilding field, it means “hoàn thiện” (complete a ship). In
this case, it is very easy to translate into Vietnamese because it has the same meaning of
the daily life when we do something okay. But in paint field, it means “sơn phủ” (the last
paint layer in the painting system). Some unskilled translators tend to use one neutral word
to translate all words of similar meaning in English for they are unwilling to improve their
Vietnamese vocabulary. They do not have in mind that academic English should be
translated into academic Vietnamese and vice versa. This requires all translators to
ceaselessly enlarge their vocabulary, especially academic ones, which quite a few
Vietnamese people lack.

Vietnamese grammatical structures are just as diverse as that of any other

language, sometimes even more. Most Vietnamese people can intuitively use these
structures but fail to connect them with certain foreign language, hence cannot translate
naturally. Besides, Vietnamese language users are known for over-using commas instead of
conjunctions, and run-on sentences. Overcoming these weaknesses is crucial to the
improvement of English – Vietnamese translations.

* Insufficient source language (English) competence

It is easy to learn English but it is difficult to master it. The more you learn, the more
complicated you find English is. Almost all English – Vietnamese translators are native
Vietnamese or overseas Vietnamese; therefore, it is difficult for them to have an expert-like
English vocabulary as well as grammatical structures.

Some people think that lack of English language competence is justifiable for
Vietnamese translators because it is not their mother tongue. To my mind, this is a totally
erroneous opinion. To better the quality of translation, translators must master both the
source and the target languages. In other words, before becoming a translator, a person
must first and foremost be a bilingual.

Just like Vietnamese, English contains many word layers, formal or informal. Lack
of vocabulary in any of these layers may cause serious mistakes of a translated text.
Along with a considerable basic vocabulary that can be used in texts neutral in stylistics,
translators must “equip” themselves with terminology vocabulary so as to be as
flexible as possible in their translation. Most Vietnamese unskilled translators lack both
 12

the academic words in their English vocabulary. On the other hand, they tend to abuse the
words and phrases they know and risk making themselves sound improper in certain
contexts. For example, comparing between a sentence in English: “Technology of
Haiphong Paint is under the license of Chugoku-Japan.” and in Vietnamese “Công nghệ
của công ty Sơn Hải Phòng là theo li xăng của hãng Sơn Chugoku – Nhật Bản”. In the
process of translation, there are wrong habits of the translator. First is Haiphong Paint and
“Công ty sơn Hải Phòng” because the translator always considers Haiphong Paint
Company is unique. That is why, as anything about Haiphong Paint is about Haiphong
Paint Company. And the same thing in “License” and “li xăng”. Maybe, “Li xăng” is the
borrowing word which has been used so much by the translator that he forgets the original
meaning of “license” to be “bản quyền”. So Vietnamese sentence must be “Công nghệ Hải
Phòng bản quyền của hãng Chugoku – Nhật Bản”. “License” as you know, has some
meanings such as “giấy phép, cấp quyền, bản quyền, bằng cấp, chứng chỉ, đăng ký”. But
in this case, Haiphong Paint Company has been authorized from Chugoku Company to
produce and sell paint products. The meaning “giấy phép” seems to be used for the laws
documents and for registration. But this sentence has been used for advertisement to show
the power and authorization. So, we should understand the suitable meaning like “bản
quyền”.

Finally, it is critical to understand that the sufficiency in both languages is not enough
for a translator. He/she needs to flexibly compare and contrast, be aware of the differences
between the two languages so that he/she can easily find an equivalent whenever necessary
or at least know how to make himself/herself understood when encountering untranslatable
concepts. The art of translation requires a lot more than proficiency in languages. This
may explain why bilingual people are not always good translators. One of the other crucial
criteria is the terminology, without which the translation would be made with mistakes.

1.4.1.2. Inadequate terminology

In fact, this includes competent knowledge of almost all aspects, such as

religions, traditional customs, social norms, and historical awareness. In paint industry, we
must understand all kind of paints: paint for ships, for offshore projects, for industry, for
architecture, and so on. Or other fields related to the paint industry such as construction,
shipbuilding industry, traffic road, etc. This kind of combined knowledge can be gained
 13

along with the process of learning English and learning translation. Nevertheless, only a
few translators are aware of this. As a result, after graduating from universities, students
know just a little about the companies today and these companies are related to each other.
This is also the main cause of the so-called “disaster of the translation art”.

It is crucial that translators also pay much attention to their own language, the
Vietnamese language. Delving deeper into this colorful technology, we will see that it is
not easy to be an expert in various Vietnamese techniques. Vietnamese people know
about this but the knowledge they acquire, without their own efforts to explore new
things, is obviously inadequate. Recently, there is a great spreading of learning English
of the office staffs who are working at banks, hotels or companies. One of the big problems
here is that office staffs can do everything in Vietnamese but if there are any documents in
foreign language or even they must contact with foreigners, they get into so much
difficulty.

1.4.2. Objective causes

1.4.2.1. Linguistic differences between English and Vietnamese

The English language belongs to the Indo-European language family, and the
Vietnamese language belongs to the Austro-Asiatic family. Therefore the two languages
have various differences in terms of vocabulary and grammatical rules. However,
with a view to clarifying one important objective reason of mistakes in English –
Vietnamese translation, some prominent variances are mentioned below:

English grammar is very inflexible compared to other languages. English goes by

very strict structures while the Vietnamese language is much more flexible. For instance,
the Vietnamese language does not always use articles and the rules are not as clear as those
of the English language.

Some English vocabulary is peculiar. A word in English may mean a lot of other
words in Vietnamese. For example, you may translate the word “primer” as “sơn lót”,
“sơn chống rỉ”, “sơn lót phân xưởng”, “sơn lớp 1”, “sơn lớp nền”, …depending on the
context.
 14

On the contrary, a Vietnamese word “sơn” has many meanings in translated English
case such as “film”, “coating”, “paint”, “varnish”, “bitumen”, “lacquer”, ”layer” …;
or “mẫu sơn” is the same as “specimen”, “sample”, “panel”… depending on the context.

English, especially American English, has a tendency to convert nouns to

verbs. This is problematic for speakers of the Vietnamese language who cannot as easily
convert nouns to verbs. For examples: a word “weather” you write down in the form of
gerund “weathering” in the sentence “Testing method for coating weathering”. It can be
said for sure that if anyone who knows little about paint field, he/she is more likely to
translate into Vietnamese like this: “Kiểm tra thử quá trình phong hóa của màng sơn”.
This problem comes from inexperienced translators. It is completely correct if it is
translated into Vietnamese “Phương pháp thử độ bền thời tiết của sơn”. The word “phong
hóa” is only inferred from the translator who does not know the method and the properties
of paint. They think “Weathering is the decomposition of Earth rocks, soils and their
minerals through direct contact with the planet's atmosphere”, in Vietnamese: “Phong
hóa là quá trình phá hủy đá, đất và các khoáng vật chứa trong đó khi tiếp xúc trực tiếp với
môi trường không khí” (http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phong_h%C3%B3a). Paint is also test
under the condition of weather influence, but for the qualified translator, he/she must take
in that “weathering” is a testing method for the paint under all the natural and human
factors influence happening in the environment.

All of these peculiarities of English grammar often make it difficult for non- native
English speakers to get a full command of the language. It is also difficult when it comes to
translating English writing into other languages.

1.4.2.2. Career differences

For a translator, the understanding of the terminology in the job he/she translate is
very important. He/she can translate everything but sometimes correctly or incorrectly. The
technicians cannot fully understand it until they look at the translated handouts. Therefore,
only by understanding which career he is in, and which terminology he uses can a
translator make the technician understand the handouts. Translation is not simply a
linguistic transformation of texts, but it is also a rendering of career concepts from
one language to another. Some careers are in the same row such as Marine time,
 15

Shipbuilding, Construction or Banking, Inspecting, Stock Exchange. Unless a translator is

capable of breaking through “decayed barriers” of his own career competence and opening
his mind to new and sometimes alien concepts, his translation cannot be considered
successful.

To conclude this chapter, it is noteworthy that despite many challenges when

translating from English to Vietnamese and despite the actual untranslatability, be it
linguistic or cultural, skilled translators still can, and must, find their own ways to
overcome them to produce a high quality re-creation, not merely a rough
combination of words, “for the sake of pure language” (Venuti, 2000). In other
words, there are always strategies for certain mistakes correction. More details will be
discussed in Chapter 3 about translation strategies and how to avoid mistakes.

CHAPTER 2. DESCRIPTION OF SELECTED DOCUMENTS

This chapter presents the necessary understandings of the paint terminology and its
characteristics, and the documents as well as three types of mistakes will also be described.

2.1. Main characteristics of language of paints

2.1.1. Terminology

According to Wikipedia (http://wikipedia.com/terminology), terminology is defined

as the study of terms and their use. Terms are words and compound words that are used in
specific contexts. Not to be confused with "terms" in colloquial usages, the shortened form
of technical terms (or terms of art) which are defined within a discipline or specialized
field. The discipline Terminology studies among other things how such terms of art come
to be and their interrelationships within a culture.

Terminology; therefore, denotes a more formal discipline which systematically

studies the labeling or designating of concepts particular to one or more subject fields or
domains of human activities, through research and analysis of terms in context, for the
purposes of documenting and promoting correct usage. This study can be limited to one
language or can cover more than one language at the same time (multilingual terminology,
bilingual terminology, and so forth) or may focus on studies of terms across fields.
 16

Terminology is not connected to information retrieval in any way but focused on the
meaning and conveyance of concepts. "Terms" (i.e. index terms) used in an information
retrieval context are not the same as "terms" used in the context of terminology, as they are
not always technical terms of art.

2.1.2. Characteristics of paint terminology

2.1.2.1. Origin of terminology

Terminology of paint lies in the area of science and technology. The system of
terminology of science and technology is often Latin words such as: otorhinolaryngology,
electro-encephalography, Homo sapiens, biocide, acrylic, epoxy, alkyd, etc or comes from
Latin: “to assert”, “to state”, “to declare” instead of the verbs “to say”, “to contaminate”
instead of the verbs “to soil”, “to purify” instead of the verb “to clean”.

2.1.2.2. Variants of terminology

* Dialects

Dialect is commonly used in a community, a group of people or a specific field. One

of the most characterized variants in English technical documents is geographical dialect
between English language of British English and of American English. Take these
examples relating to the dialect of British English and American English:

British English American English

Depot Terminal
Flammable Inflammable
Gear level Stick shift
Mobile phone Cell phone
Polystyrene Styrofoam
* Register

Register is one kind of language variants used for one specific situation, especially in
the field of paint. In three parameters of register which are Field, Tenor and Mode, Field is
a variant used for reflective language to emphasize terminology. In the field of paint
translation, it is very difficult to translate from English into Vietnamese because English in
technical documents has been developed for a long time in the developed countries with
high technology. The challenges in Vietnamese here must be finding out the field of
 17

meaning which has the same one with the long development history of English technical
documents. The most typical examples are words "user-friendly", "environment-friendly",
"family-friendly", “long-live performance” which have different meanings and are
translated generally into Vietnamese "thân thiện với người dùng", thân thiện với môi
trường”, "thân thiện với gia đình", “Bền mãi với thời gian”. Besides, some terms are rarely
used and cannot be found out in the dictionary of Oxford such as “polymer ester silyl”,
“silance", “cellosovle”, “solvesso”.

2.2. Description of documents

2.2.1. Classifying the documents

In this study, Paint technical documents can take from many places which can be
either the paint specific documents or other documents such as projects, chemistry
subjects, international standard books, construction documents in which there are the
components of paint requirements.

Apart from the ordinary documents used for daily conversation such as letters,
contracts, etc. which are used not only in the field of paint but in other industries as well,
there are many types of technical documents.

- Advertisement: Catalogues, color cards

- Technical documents: painting specifications, technical data sheets, safety data

sheets, guidance of paint application, painting maintenance….

- Certificates: product certificates, quality certificates…

- Bidding documents: painting systems applied for the projects, turnover reports…

- Documents for coating testing methods: coming form ASTM, JIS-K (Japan), ISO,
TCVN.

2.2.2. Results from data collection

 18

This section presents the results collected from the survey and from observation of 15
translators who work with 5 types of documents. Of course, in each type of document,
there are many sheets of documents which the translators work with everyday. In the limit
of time and area of presentation, the researcher has worked with 75 sheets of technical
documents.

From the observation, three most common mistakes are found out; they are mistakes
at three levels of word, sentence and paragraph. All of them are going to be discussed in
the Chapter 3 after the analysis of the results in this chapter. So, study the below:

Mistake level
Word Sentence Paragraph
Document
Advertisement R R R
Technical documents A U U
Certificates R N N
Bidding documents S S S
Testing methods A O O

Table 2.2
(Note: N-never, R-rarely, O-often, S-sometimes, U-usually, A-always is frequency of mistakes)

In the tables 2.2, N explains for mistakes of 0 translators

O explains for mistakes of 0 - 2 translators

S explains for mistakes of 2 – 4 translators

U explains for mistakes of 4 – 8 translators

A explains for mistakes of > 8 translators

From the result of the survey, the some main points will be discussed as follows.

* It is very important that the documents of advertisement and certificates get the
lowest level of mistakes. This can be explained that these types of documents need to be
shown in the world, especially to the customers who buy the paints products. The
correctness must be highest, which helps the manufacturer get the belief from the
customers.
 19

On the other hands, these types of documents are quite common and contain a few of
technical words, or they are always in the specific form. That is why they are easy to be
translated with so few mistakes.

* The same explanation for the bidding documents. However, bidding documents are
often longer than certificates and advertisement. They often include at least 5 pages, even
100 pages. It is the reason why the frequency of mistakes in all levels is the problem for
the translators.

* The differences in the documents of technology and testing methods are easily
recognized. Most of these documents are only used for the technicians. They can
understand all the documents, and they apply the knowledge to their experiments.
However, in the translation between English and Vietnamese, the researcher discovers that
these documents contain so many terms (technical words) that make the translators feel
dizzy. If there is no practice in the field of paint, they cannot translate these types of
documents. That is why the mistakes are unavoidable at all levels of word, sentence and
paragraph.

In general, this chapter reviews the mistakes levels basing on the characteristics of
paint terminology. All types of document have been scanned by researcher in the appendix
of this thesis. From the researcher’s survey, it has been revealed that the most common
mistakes are at word level. Besides, the mistakes at sentence level and paragraph level are
the important things that need taking care of and avoiding. Coming from these matters,
chapter 3 will be discussed the way how to correct mistakes.
 20

CHAPTER 3. MISTAKE ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR

MISTAKE CORRECTION

3.1. Mistake analysis

Take a look at these documents:

 21

This is the document coming from Japan. It supplies the information of one kind of
paint.

And this is Vietnamese version from an unskilled translator

 22

Comparing with the translated version of a skilled one:

 23

And now, I will analyze all the mistakes in the way of basing on the collected
documents characteristics. In my opinion, there are three kinds of mistakes that the
translators are more likely to make:

3.1.1. Incompetence in properties of paint

For the best translators, the most important thing is terminology. However,
terminology is used fluently or not, easy to be remembered or not, the translators must
analyze deeply each related word to the field of paint in both English and Vietnamese
languages.

Study these examples:

a. Some words can be translated

Solvent (dung môi) A solvent is a liquid or gas that dissolves a solid, liquid, or
gaseous solute, resulting in a solution. The most common solvent in everyday life is water.
Most other commonly-used solvents are organic (carbon-containing) chemicals. These are
called organic solvents. Solvents usually have a low boiling point and evaporate easily or
can be removed by distillation, leaving the dissolved substance behind.

Resin (chất tạo màng) is a kind of gelled solution to be the main component of paint
constitution.

Vehicle (chất mang, dung môi dẫn) = solvent + resin

When looking at the word ”vehicle”, we think it is like ”car”, “truck”, or something
relates to the moving machine. In fact in the field of paint, vehicle is a kind of chemical
substance. The same as the word resin, in Vietnamese, we often consider it “nhựa”, which
leads to wrong translation.

Here are some other examples:

Wall-paint (sơn nước): is the same meaning with emulsion paint

 24

Hardener (đóng rắn): used to make the paint film be created in chemical reaction.
(Someone that does not work in paint will translate “chất làm cứng”)

Silicon Coating: sơn chịu nhiệt

Touch-up: Sơn dặm

Striped coat: Sơn lưng

b. Some words have no Vietnamese equivalent, therefore, cannot be translated into

Vietnamese. Therefore, borrowing is very much likely a solution.

In the technical documents, there are many new words which must be used in
English original sound or word. For example:

Base: the basing substance to constitute a coating

Paste: a kind of coating substance is ready to replace coating with some added
powders.

Etching: is the coating of primer

3.1.2. Context matters

Study these examples:

“Sơn Hải Phòng, niềm tự hào cùng mọi công trình bền mãi với thời gian”

In English: “Haiphong paint, the proud with every project long live performance”

“Công trình”

In English: “Experience”

“Đầu tư”

In English: “Member”

It is clear to see that “Công trình” and “Experience”, as well as “Đầu tư” and
“Member” is not correct translation. But in the context of advertising the experience of the
paint projects which Haiphong paint has supplied. In this case, experience means all the
projects in which paint product are used.
 25

In the case of member, in fact, they are the members of Haiphong Paint Joint Stock
Company, they are subsidiary companies. But up to now, they have been running
independently from Haiphong Paint JS Company. That’s why, the capital which is invested
from Haiphong Paint JC Company, is like shareholder.

3.1.3. Habit of English translator

In this part, I would like to mention the bad habit of the translators which is
repeatedly and unconsciously used. Take a look at the following examples:

“Công ty cổ phần Sơn Hải Phòng thành lập ngày 25 tháng 01 năm 1960.
Trên cơ sở kinh nghiệm, công nghệ truyền thống đặc biệt được chuyển giao công nghệ sản
xuất sơn theo Lixăng của hãng Chugoku Marine Paints”

In English: “Haiphong Paint Joint Stock Company was established in 25 th January

1960. Basing on the long-timed experience, special technology licensed from Lixang
Technology of Chugoku Marine Paints of Japan”

We can see the bold words. Lixăng is used very naturally because the translators
always hear about the lixăng from Vietnamese people who are not professional in English.
These people often see the word “license” and they understand what it means. In fact,
whenever they want to use it, they use the word “lixăng As a result, what is heard (the
sound) becomes the word in writings.

Moreover, when we look at the above paragraph, it appears that the grammar applied
is something wrong. In English version, there is no Subject for the second sentence. The
matter here is mistake in grammar.

In general, there are many mistakes and misunderstanding in the process of

translation. However, if the translators can not correct them immediately, it will become
the big problems in the future. Basing the experience from the colleagues who work as
qualified translators, the would-be translator must make an effort to correct the mistake
basing on the basic grammar and career experience. Some suggested ways to correct the
mistakes will be discussed in section 3.2. below.
 26

3.2. Recommendations for mistake correction

It is highly recommended that translators and translation learners equip themselves

with as many translation techniques as possible. They may be the strategies to overcome
linguistic difficulties, or the tactics to make your translation widely accepted by target
language readers in specific English terms.

3.2.1. Overcoming linguistic problems

3.2.1.1. Choose the right word

At the level of words, problems can only be solved if the translator works hard to
accumulate both his English and Vietnamese vocabulary to a level that he is
capable of choosing the right word in any case to produce a natural translation.

It is crucial for a translator to fully understand all the denotations and

connotations of a word so that he can avoid making any loss of connotational
meanings. To do that, he also needs flexibility in the use of words and does not
translate mechanically basing on an English – Vietnamese dictionary.

Besides, the translator must avoid the rigid use of parts of speech with the
following techniques:

a. Translate English nouns with Vietnamese verbs or adjectives

- Paint is a long-live performance product: Sơn bền mãi với thời gian

- It is a coating of cutting and weldability: Đó là lớp sơn bền hàn cắt.

- It is the shop with the red and green sign: Đó là cửa hàng có biển hiệu xanh đỏ.

b. Plural form to singular form and vice versa

Translation at word level includes the ability to proper switch between the
plural form and singular form so that the translation best suits the mindset of
Vietnamese readers. This is particularly noticeable as we deal with English uncountable
nouns. The following examples are extracted from some paint translators. They have a
relatively good sense of plural and singular form in English – Vietnamese translation.
 27

English Suggested Vietnamese version

Resins, in pre-mixing with solvent and
color pigment, are mixed in additives to
produce paint.
Coating is created on the steel
surface, ensuring the properties
coverage, thickness as well as chemical and
physical.
Vietnam ink and paint Association is
in the process pursuing solutions of a
number of technology improvement and
market achievement.
Table 3.1. Switch between plural and singular form
Chất tạo màng được trộn với các loại
dung môi và bột màu, sau đó nghiền với các
phụ gia để tạo nên sản phẩm sơn.
Lớp sơn được hình thành trên bề mặt
of thép và đảm bảo được các chỉ tiêu về độ
phủ, độ dày cũng như các chỉ tiêu cơ lý và
hóa học.
Hiệp hội sơn mực Việt Nam vẫn đang
tìm kiếm giải pháp cho những cải cách công
nghệ và tìm mở rộng thị trường.

3.2.1.2. Choose the right structure

By structure, it is meant both the structure of the phrase and the sentence. At phrase
level, translators should choose the best word order possible so that their translation
would sound more Vietnamese. At sentence level, it is necessary not only to
switch the positions of certain parts of the sentence but also to replace some structures
unfamiliar to Vietnamese readers.

a. Transpositions

Transposition is a translation technique in which the translator reverses the

order or place of certain words or phrases when necessary to improve the
naturalness of the sentence. For example, when translating this English sentence into
Vietnamese, you should make a transposition.

Original version:

Allow the proper drying time between coat for multiple paint systems and before
exposure as required by the coatings manufacturer and include in the test. (ASTM D1014,
5.1)

Suggested Vietnamese version:

 28

Trước khi thi công các lớp sơn theo đúng yêu cầu của nhà sản xuất hoặc theo hệ
thống sơn nhiều lớp cũng như tiến hành thử nghiệm, cần xác định thời gian khô cụ thể.

b. Replacements

Replace passive voice with active voice: Needless to say, most of the times, passive
voice in the original English text should be replaced with active voice in Vietnamese.
Observe the replacements in these sentences:

Original version:

After surface preparation, if the panels are stored prior to coating, precautions must
be taken to preserve the clean surface.

Suggested Vietnamese version:

Sau khi chuẩn bị bề mặt xong, trước khi sơn lên tấm mẫu, chúng ta cần chú ý giữ
sạch bề mặt mẫu.

Replace a complex sentence with two or more simple sentences (Splitting technique,
or ‘salami’ technique): It would be unnatural to try to translate an English long complex
sentence to a Vietnamese sentence of the same structure. The excessive use of markers like
“mà”, “nơi mà”, etc. can make the sentence too complicated for an average Vietnamese
reader to fully understand.

For example, with sentences like “Of the paint researches that are important not just
to the quality of paint but to water environment, free copper and tin antifouling
technologies are improved more and more, which is the best way of reducing the fouls
which hold under the marine vessels, which are releasing activated biocides that creates
antifouling process through the stages of hydrolysis”, the solution is breaking it into
smaller ones to translate. The result should be “Trong số những nghiên cứu về sơn quan
trọng không chỉ đối chất lượng sơn mà còn với môi trường biển, công nghệ chống hà
không chứa hợp chất cơ thiếc và đồng được chú trọng cải tiến. Phương pháp tốt nhất này
 29

là để giải các chất chống hà và tạo nên quá trình chống hà thông qua các giai đoạn thủy
phân”

3.2.1.3. Dealing with linguistic untranslatability

It is never easy to deal with linguistic challenges in translation, such as

specific English words in documents. However, there are techniques that translators
can apply when necessary for the untranslatability to some extent. This kind is very
difficult unless you have a copious linguistic and even terminology. Consider the following
short paragraph:

Nowadays, customers prefer inorganic shop primer to epoxy shop primer because
they have high weldabilily, heat resistant performance. Cerabond 2000 is the most
effective shop primer coating. It is necessary to distinguish between Cerabond and
Cerabest. Both are inorganic coating but Cerabond is shop primer type and Cerabest is
looked as an anti-corrosive one. We visited 2 shipyards at Hiroshima where one kind of
shop primer (Cerabond 2000) is applied only whereas other coatings are supplied by
Hempel, KCC, NMK…

It would be rather unwise to translate it as:

Ngày nay, khách hàng ưa chuộng các loại sơn lót vô cơ hơn là sơn lót gốc epoxy bởi
chúng có khả năng chịu hàn cắt, chịu nhiệt. Cerabond 2000 là loại sơn lót hiệu quả nhất.
Chúng ta cần phải phân biệt hai loại sơn Cerabond và Cerabest. Cả hai loại đều là sơn lót
và Cera best có đặc tính chống rỉ nhiều hơn. Chúng tôi đã thăm 2 nhà máy đóng tàu tại
Hiroshima nơi mà Cerabond 2000 đã được thi công trong khi các sơn phủ khác là của
hãng Hempel, KCC, NMK…

Shop primer and anti corrosive are the same, but in above case, we must understand
the properties of paint which can only help to translate.

3.2.2. Overcoming terminology problems

3.2.2.1. Terminology competence

To avoid mistakes over issues of terminology, translators should keep in mind that
sometimes an effort to translate correctly is not as valuable as a suitable
substitution. In any areas of a job, people get many difficulties to get acquainted with the
 30

terminology, even in Vietnamese. When we gets the Vietnamese words, we can not
understand what it means, and we can not explain it in Vietnamese. For example, in
construction, we say “tâm tuyến” in Vietnamese. At first we hear it, we find it difficult to
know how to use it. But when we say it in English “center-line”, easy to notice and can
remember. In paint field, we often get the terms such as “hàm rắn, hàm không bay hơi –
Nonvolatile content”, “hàm ẩm - humidity”, “bền uốn – bending”, “bền thời tiết –
weathering”, “chống rỉ - antirust, anticorrosive”, “chống hà – antifouling”. Some
unskilled translators tend to use one neutral word to translate all words of similar meaning
in English for they are unwilling to improve their Vietnamese vocabulary. They do not
have in mind that academic English should be translated into academic Vietnamese and
vice versa. This requires all translators to ceaselessly enrich their vocabulary, especially
academic ones, which quite a few Vietnamese people lack.

Consider the meaning of the terminology, we find it easy to look for some English
specific word has the meaning similar to the major use. For example, “finish”,
“undercoat”, “humidity”, “anti rust”…

3.2.2.2. Dealing with terminology untranslatability

Untranslatability is unavoidable due to the numerous differences between the two

languages. A translator, however, can resort to a number of translation
procedures to compensate.

a. Free translation

In some studies, free translation is also called adaptation. According to Wikipedia, an

adaptation is a translation procedure whereby the translator replaces the terms reality in the
source text with a corresponding reality in the target text; this new reality would be more
usual to the audience of the target text.

For example, in the Vietnamese chemical documents, many proper names are
modified so that it would at least sound familiar to Vietnamese readers. The names
are presented in the following table:

No. English Vietnamese

1. Chrome Cờ rôm
 31

2. Polyurethane Pô li u rê than
3. Epoxy Ê pốc xi
4. Alkyd An kít
5. Rubber Chlorided Cao su clo hóa
Table 3.2. Free translation of proper names

All the above names are also the same as the original English because Vietnamese
readers can immediately relate them to some image on their mind. It can be said that these
names have been made Vietnamese.

b. Borrowing

Borrowing is not a new method. It has been discussed in many books on lexicology
and translation. What the thesis wants to emphasize is the translation- loan, special kind
of borrowings. Translation-loans “are not taken into the vocabulary of another
language more or less in the same phonemic shape in which they have been functioning
in their own language, but undergo the process of translation.” (Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng
& Lê Quốc Hạnh, 2003)

Translation-loans do not only resolve problems of terminology untranslatability but

also help increase one language’s vocabulary. For instance, Vietnamese people are now
familiar with terms like “người chơi” (indicating a player in a gameshow), “thân thiện với
môi trường” (environmental friendly), and “định hướng khách hàng” (client- oriented).

In fact, in paint constitution, many words must come from the English specific terms
which makes the translators and readers be able to understand. For example, the words “tỷ
lệ base và đóng rắn”, “sơn lưng”… In these examples, it is very difficult to take in if we
translate “base/harderner rate – tỷ lệ chất nền/đóng rắn” or some time of the use of “sơn
lưng” makes it more difficult for the readers to understand instead of “stripe coat”.

c. Paraphrase and translator’s note

We can see that the translators sometimes should employ the technique of
paraphrasing (also known as periphrasis). Otherwise, it would be almost impossible for
target language readers to comprehend the concepts unprecedented in their culture.
 32

On the other hand, the translator may keep the original word or phrase without
paraphrasing, but then add a footnote or endnote to the target text providing
additional information, pertaining to the limits of the translation, the terminology or
any further explanation. This translator’s note helps readers better understand the text;
nevertheless, it is generally considered a failure in translation attempt by many
professional translators.

The above-mentioned techniques are useful for translators when trying to compensate
the untranslatability. Besides, translators can also use techniques like paraphrase or calque.
However, these techniques cannot be used successfully without the translator’s
willingness to diligently study with a view to gaining his terminology along with his
linguistic competence.
 33

PART 3. CONCLUSION

This chapter provides a conclusion for this thesis. Firstly, a brief overview and a
summary of the main chapters are provided. Secondly, the strengths and weaknesses of the
thesis are discussed. Finally, suggestion for further research and a final comment are made.

1. Summary of main points

Since its very beginning, translation has not ceased to play its indispensable role
of transferring messages across languages and cultural barriers. Although the practice
of translation is honored for its noble task, huge efforts are needed to improve the
quality of translations. Thus, the study on translation as the transformation of a
written text in one language to that in another language has been carried out long before
the formation of this thesis and undoubtedly will be continued ever after. What I
attempt to do in this thesis is to contribute my humble study to that great research work
by pointing out the mistakes in Paint technical documents to clarify English terminology
and Vietnamese terminology that may trouble whom working in translation which is very
close to my everyday work. This is to show translators, especially would-be translators
who are still studying in various universities in Vietnam to become translation
professionals, the potential traps they may get caught in when rendering English texts into
Vietnamese in terms of technical documents.

Peter Newmark wrote in 1988 about the three basic translation processes:
a. the interpretation and analysis of the source language text;
b. the translation procedure (choosing equivalents for words and sentences in the
target language), and
c. the reformulation of the text according to the writer's intention, the reader's
expectation, the appropriate norms of the target language, etc.
 34

This thesis is concerned with only the third process, the reformulation of the text. In
the course of this thesis, I have examined the previous literature on the theory of
translation, especially ones on English – Vietnamese translation. Then I looked at the
semantically terminologies mistakes in the paint document translation of specific purpose
English in detail. I outlined the analysis of this issue in three main parts on mistakes in
translation, the causes and corrections.
The causes of terminology mistakes in the paint document translation as discussed
in Part 2 can be considered a classification of common mistakes that may make the
translations get in trouble. Specific examples are taken from technical documents and
bidding documents and from previously published books. By the classification and
examples cited as well as the description of selected documents, I attempted to help
readers of this thesis, especially would-be translators and inexperienced ones to be
fully aware of what mistakes they may easily make before seeking ways to avoid
them.
Especially chapter 3, Part II of this thesis discusses the mistakes analysis and
translation recommendations a translator may employ when encountering a difficult
situation in which he may risk turning his translation into an wrong combination of
words. Some of recommendations are emphasized for they are likely to help
translators much in their professional practice; however, the others are briefly
mentioned as they may have appeared frequently here and there in other publications.

2. Some conclusions induced from the results of the study

Though there have been many books on English –Vietnamese translation so

far, few of them emphasize the mistakes occurring during the process of translation.
This thesis, however, discusses in detail this phenomenon with relevant examples. It is
organized in a way that helps readers find it easy to get the general ideas about the issue.
In this thesis, people can find clear definitions and constructive suggestions for mistakes
corrections. These are factors that may make the thesis stand out from other studies also
touching on the issue. Furthermore, the author limited the types of mistakes mentioned to
ensure they are popular ones that translators should pay the most attention to. Finally, the
aims and scope of the thesis is consistent from the beginning to the end.
 35

3. Limitations of the study

Although the thesis has been completed, there are some limitations in this study.
Due to the limited time of research and the broad scope it is concerned with, issues
mentioned are still somewhat general.
Moreover, examples cited are limited due to the short-time exploration from the
author and some books and articles sparsely collected. This does not cause any bias
because the classification was carried out independently. But to some extent it may not be
very diverse.
4. Suggestions for further study
In the time to come, Vietnam will further integrate into the world economy
and the opening economic policies will need the demand for communication in English,
especially for the specifically technical companies. This progress requires translations of
high quality, mainly from English to Vietnamese and vice versa. Thus, more studies
should be carried out to identify and how to cope with common mistakes in these
translations. Besides, studies on what can be called a pure Vietnamese language and how
to maintain it through the processes of translation should be implemented. These studies
are supposed to bring readers an overview of the contemporary situation of Vietnamese
translated works, its strengths and limitations, and how to improve it. Digging into current
publications to find common pitfalls that may harm the quality of translations is
recommended.
In conclusion, I want to significantly contribute to the study of English –
Vietnamese translations in universities and on the media through this thesis. In my
opinion, it can be considered a companion of all people who are seeking to improve their
English – Vietnamese translation skills as well as the quality of their translations.
Hopefully, readers of this thesis can find it useful in their work and study or at least see it
as a reference worth looking at.
 36

REFERENCES

1. Bassnett, S. 2002. Translation studies. Rout ledge Taylor and Francis group.

2. Bùi Tiến Bảo, & Đặng Xuân Thu (1999). Interpreting and Translation Course
Book. Hanoi: Education Publishing House.

3. Catchword (n.d.). Glossary of Naming Techniques and Linguistic Concepts.

Retrieved May 10, 2006, from http://www.catch-word.com/glossary.html

4. Huỳnh Trung Tín, & Nguyễn Ngọc Tuyền (n.d.) Theory of Translation.
Retrieved May 17, 2006, from

http://www.ctu.edu.vn/coursewares/supham/ltdich/index.htm

5. Lê Huy Trường, Đặng Đình Thiện, & Trần Huy Phương (1998). A Grammar of
the English Language. Hanoi: Education Publishing House.

6. Lê Văn Sự (2003). Translation and Grammar. Hanoi: Culture and Information

Publishing House.

7. Newmark, P. (October, 1988). A Textbook of Translation. New York: Prentice

Hall.

8. Nguyễn Quốc Hùng (2005). Hướng dẫn kỹ thuật dịch Anh - Việt. Hanoi: Social
Sciences Publishing House.

9. Shei, C. (2002). Combining Translation into the Second Language and Second
Language Learning: An Integrated Computational Approach.

Doctoral dissertation, the University of Edinburgh, UK. Retrieved May 9, 2006,

 37

from http://www.swan.ac.uk/cals/staff/shei/phd2/thesis_revised2.htm

10. Venuti, L. (2000). The Translation Studies Reader. London: Routledge.

11. Wright, D. (2001). Yan Fu and the Tasks of the Translators (p. 4). Retrieved
April 28, 2006, from www.wsc.uni-erlangen.de/pdf/wright.pdf