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Translators should try to avoid Chinglish like the plague.
Chinglish is Chinese English, idiomatic Chinese forcibly rendered into
awkward English, often literally and word for word.
In translation, it's sometimes a good idea to forget about the words in
the original language in order to put across the meaning. The ideas to
convey are often more important than what particular words may have been
used in the original language.
"Did you eat?" （吃了嗎？）, for example, is a piece of Chinglish expression,
innocuous as it may look.
The purpose of someone asking you "Did you eat?" is just for them to
say "Hello" most of the time, rather than to seriously probe into your
dinner menu. Its English equivalent therefore will be "How are you doing?"
or simply "Hi!"
In these cases, don't bother to translate verbatim, unless you want to
achieve an extra effect. "Long time no see" （好久不見(jiàn)）is another piece of
Chinglish gem. This one, however, is simple, short and funny, and may yet
creep its way into accepted English on the strength of its peculiar
comical-sounding effect. English is flexible, you see, so don't be
surprised if one day "long time no see" becomes part of Standard English
as a Chinese import.
I'm kidding. Don't wait for that day. It may never come. At any rate,
you as a translator for the time being should try to ensure that your
English writing read fluent, natural and idiomatic.
Idiomatic?
Yeah, like, idioms. An idiom involves "a group of words with a meaning
of its own that is different from the meanings of each separate word put
together" (Longman). In the same way Chinese idioms lend color to Chinese
writing idiomatic phrases and expressions have the same effect in English.
This is an area where most Chinese translators are found wanting. I
often hear translators excuse themselves saying their English sounds
awkward because they have to "explain Chinese things" to the ignorant
foreigner. But that's just another lame excuse they give. I think
Chinglish scribes write the way they do due not to their overwhelming love
for the motherland, but to their very lack of skills in navigating the
muddy waters of English as a foreign language, plain and simple.
Plain and simple, indeed, translators should learn to write idiomatic
English. If they do that, they'll have put their best foot forward.
Keep clinging to Chinglish, on the other hand, they'll keep doing their
clients, as well as themselves, a disservice.
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