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Cultural Awareness in Chinese-English Translation Jinhong Yu Foreign Languages Department, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China Abstract―There are very important cultural factors in translation practice, especially in Chinese-English translation.

The learners'

cultural awareness is of utmost importance in Chinese-English translation. Translation refers to the interaction between two languages, and also the communication between two cultures. However, owing to the differences between Chinese and western cultures, it is not easy for translators to convey the exact meaning of the languages without good understanding of the cultures. So, it is both important and necessary to have cultural awareness while doing Chinese-English translation. Index Terms―cultural factors, cultural awareness, translation, consideration I. INTRODUCTION Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving (Dai weidong, He zhaoxiong, 2002). Culture has many different meanings. Culture is a powerful human tool for survival and communication. Cultural awareness includes awareness of our own culture and other cultures. The awareness is gained from experiencing the culture, and according to Tomlinson (2001), it is Da gradually developing inner sense of the equality of the cultures, an increased understanding of one'

s own and other people'

s cultures, and a positive interest in how cultures both connect and differ. Such awareness can broaden the mind, increase tolerance and facilitate international communications. ‖(cited in Tomlinson &

Masuhara, 2004, p. 3). Increased cultural awareness can give us increased credibility and expertise. It can also help us to achieve cultural empathy and sensitivity (Tomlinson &

Masuhara, 2004). Doing translation is not simply to translate the meaning of a passage from one language into another. It is really a complicated task that requires very good understanding of the cultures of both the source language and the target language. Eugene A. Nida (2001) states, Dthe role of language within a culture and the influence of the culture on the meanings of words and idioms are so pervasive that can scarcely any text be adequately understood without careful consideration of its cultural background.‖ (Nida, Eugene A. 2001, P13) Richard E. Porter and Larry A. Samovar also explain: Intercultural communication occurs whenever a message producer is a member of one culture and a message receiver is a member of another.‖ (Porter &

Samovar, 1998:15) Therefore, translation, as a cross-lingual communication, is both the transformation from one language to another and from one culture to another. Language is a part of culture, and when people do translation from one language into another, they should pay attention to the necessary knowledge of the two cultures involved. II. CULTURE, LANGUAGE AND TRANSLATION Culture and Language are two indispensable conceptions in the discussion of Translation. Language is the human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication. Language is also a social phenomenon, and people from different cultures use different languages to communicate in daily life. Translation works make it easier for people from different cultures to understand each other more and better. Culture, in a broad sense, is a total way of life of a people, including the patterns of people'