1. 翻译的定义
1) To render in another language. --American Heritage Dictionary
转换成另一种语言。 --《韦氏大词典》
2) “Translation is the expression in one language (or target language 译入语) of what has been expressed in another language (source language 原语), preserving semantic and stylistic equivalences.”– Dubois
3) “把一种语言的文字用另一种语言表达出来” --《辞海》、《现代汉语词典》 翻译是许多语言活动中的一种，它是用一种语言形式把另一种语言形式里的内容重新表现出来的语言实践活动。这一活动分为口头和书面两种形式，有时在不同的语言之间进行，有时在同一国家的不同民族和地区之间进行，这种实践活动更多的应用于前者。 2. 翻译的目的
翻译作为一门课程，其目的就是在掌握汉语和英语这两种语言的基础上，结合不断的翻译实践，学习翻译的各种技巧，提高翻译水平。翻译是较高层次的一门课程，其主要对象为英汉两种语言都达到了相当水平的学生和自学者。因此通过翻译，对已掌握的听说读写的能力可以进行一次全方位的检验，找出漏洞，弥补不足，并使这些能力在应用中得到巩固和提高。学习英语的主要目的是搞翻译，而翻译又可以反过来进一步促进学习。 3. 翻译的历史
1）Translation in Bible
On the history of translation there is a central paradigm in the western countries. That is the history of translation in the Bible, the most translated book in the world.
Now the whole earth had one language and few words. And as men migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there…
Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest (otherwise) we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”
And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
So the lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the earth.
上帝造人之后，赐福于人，人们安居乐业。然后，一群无聊人士希望后世记住这个时代，决心合力修建一座通天高塔，即Babel Tower。上帝恐慌，不希望这个奇观建成，于是让人们分化成不同的语言，令其不能交流。之后，因为沟通不畅，工程被迫放弃，而且人类从此不再团结，因为语言不通而分化成不同部落，并由于沟通问题，经常发生战乱，因此再无力撼动上帝的权威。巴别塔就是通天塔，比喻不可能完成的工程，也表示变乱（人类不再团结）。拜Lord所赐，我们今天要拼命学英语，外国人也要受汉语煎熬。而且，各种分歧，甚至战争，都或多或少由语言文化沟通不良引发。 2) Translation in China
Actually the earliest translation can be dated back to ancient time. Versions in two languages used in 3000 BC were found in Egypt, which indicates that translation began at least 5000 years ago. In China, according to a history book, there had been a special title for translators as early as in Zhou Dynasty. The book, 《周礼秋官大行人》, said that“属象胥，喻言语”, here, “象胥” is the title for translators while “喻” means understand. We all remember it was in 1st century that Buddhism was introduced to China by translation. And then in 2nd century, Buddhist books were formally translated into Chinese, which marked the beginning of translating industry in China.
In China, the history of translation can be mainly divided into four periods:
1) The translation of Buddhist scripture from the East Han Dynasty to Song Dynasty.
2) The translation of science works during the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty.
3) The translation of Western natural science and social science from the Opium War to the May 4th movement.
4) The mass translation since the policy of reform and opening up to the outside world. 4. 翻译的标准
In 1791, a British theorist Alexander Fraser Tytler wrote a book entitled “Essays on the Principles of Translation” on which he proposed three principles for translation:
1) The translation should give a complete transcript of the idea of the original work.译文应完全复写出原作的思想（相当于“信”）
2) The style and manner of writing should be of the same character with that of the original.译文的风格和笔调应与原文的性质相同（相当于“雅”）
3) The translation should have all the ease of the original composition.译文应当和原文同样流畅（相当于“达”）
In fact, these principles coincide with the criteria proposed by a famous Chinese translator Yanfu, which are faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance（信达雅：即忠实于原著，译文流畅，文字典雅）。
张培基《英汉翻译教程》提出了翻译的标准是“忠实、通顺”。“忠实”就是正确的理解和表达原文的思想，“通顺”就是译文文字地道流畅。对初学者来说做到这两点已属不易，随着学习者翻译水平的不断提高可以有更高的要求。 5. 翻译的过程
西方翻译界常将翻译前的各种准备工作，甚至包括与出版商打交道也视为翻译过程的组成部分。在我们看来，翻译过程主要包括理解、表达和校核这三个方面。 （一）理解
理解（comprehension）可分为广义理解和狭义理解。广义理解指对原文作者的个人、原文产生的时代背景、作品的内容以及原文读者对该作品的反应。狭义的理解仅指对原作本文的理解。这种理解主要包括语法分析、语义分析、语体分析和语篇分析（grammatical analysis, semantic analysis, stylistic analysis and text analysis）。理解是翻译成功与否的先决条件和重要步骤，务必正确可靠，杜绝谬误。 1) 语义理解
He has badly wounded in the head. 他头部受了重伤。 He has a good head for mathematics. 他的数学能力很强。
The dinner cost us five dollars a head. 这顿饭花去我们每人5元钱。 Go and ask the head of our department. 问我们系上的头去。
Where is the head? 厕所在哪？（船上用语） 2) 语境理解
e.g. “You have left the door open.” has different utterance meanings: (1). Report a fact that you forgot to close the door. (2). That is why the room is so cold. (3). Close the door, please. 3) 文化理解 大家见面招呼声：“吃了吗”？ “菜不好，请将就吃了吧!”
American dancer: Your husband is very handsome.
Deng （thinking herself to be clever）那我们换一下吧。(a failure of cross- cultural communication)
(二) 表达
表达是理解后能否保证译文成功的又一重要关键步骤，是理解的深化和体现。在这一过程中，译者要注意恰到好处地再现原文的思想内容和语体色彩，使译文既忠实于原作又符合译入语的语法和表达习惯。要做到这一点，译者就必须在选词用字、组词成句、组句成篇上下功夫，在技巧运用上下功夫。能直译则直译，不能直译则可考虑意译，灵活运用翻译技巧。例如： My dear girls, I ambitious for you, but not to have you make a dash in the world-marry rich men merely because they are rich, or have splendid houses, which are not homes because love is wanting. 亲爱的姑娘们，我对你们的期望很高，可并不是叫你们在世上出人头地的—要你们嫁给富人，仅仅因为他们有钱，有奢华的住房，缺少爱情的话，豪华的住房算不得上家。（在词意选择上，英语ambitious 既可表示“雄心壮志”也可表示“野心勃勃”的意思，这里选用褒义词“期望很高”翻译比较妥当。）
It was morning, and the new sun sparkled gold across the ripples of gentle sea. 清晨，初升的太阳照着平静的海面，微波荡漾，闪着金色的光芒。（英语the ripples of the gentle sea译成汉语时在结构上作了调整，这样译文念起来意思清楚，行文漂亮。）
同时，在表达时还应当注意避免翻译腔、过分表达和欠表达。所谓翻译腔，就是指译文不符合汉语语法表达习惯，晦涩难懂。例如：
To appease (安抚；抚慰) their thirst its readers drank deeper than before, until they were seized with a kind of delirium(神志昏迷，说胡话). “为了解渴，读者比以前越饮越深，直至陷入了昏迷状态。”这个句子死抠原文形式死抠字典释义，翻译腔严重，让人难以明白其意思，可改译为：“读者为了满足自己的渴望，越读越想读，直到进入了如痴如醉的状态。
所谓过分表达，就是指译文画蛇添足，增加了原文没有的东西；而欠表达则是省略或删节原文的内容。翻译时均应避免这类错误。 （三）校核
校核是对理解和表达质量的全面检查，是纠正错误、改进译文的极好时机，切不可认为是多余之举。优秀的译者总是十分重视校核的作用，总利用这一良机来克服自己可能犯下的错误，初学翻译的人就更应该如此了。 6. 翻译课的任务与译者的素质 （一）翻译课的任务
翻译的任务就是把一种文字的意义用另一种文字表达出来。而本课程的任务就是通过本书的学习，了解翻译理论、明确翻译方法，从而提高翻译水平。 （二）译者应具备的能力
1、精通两种语言：英汉语言基础和表达能力必须扎实。