On Public Signs Translation In Light Of Parallel Texts

With the development of the international economic cooperation and culture exchange, more and more foreigners come and will come to China, especially for some significant meetings or conventions in the following years. English, the global language, becomes more and more important. As public signs are regarded as the cards of China that can give the foreigners the first impression about China, translation of public signs from Chinese into English gets more and more necessary and urgent. The aim of this translating work is to provide the direction, the guidance, the proper warning and to help foreign friends to deal with their study, travel and work better during their stay in China. Public signs in English facilitate the development of international tourism in China. They are important means and channels for governmental institutions as well as non-governmental institutions to speak to the public and the visitors. The present paper aims to analyze translation of public signs from the angle of Functional Equivalence Theory, Skopos Theory, Contextual Translation and the use of Parallel Text. The results of the paper will show that parallel texts can be used in the study of English translation of public signs. On the basis of the examination, the paper offers some suggestions to translators concerned for English translation of China's public signs.