A Report On The Translation Of Character And Moral Education: A Reader

This thesis is a report of Character and Moral Education: A Reader (Joseph L DeVitisand Tianlong Yu,2011), an academic book on character education and moral education in theWest. The report includes the origin, preparation, process, and revision of the translation, withthe hope of sharing such an experience of translating with other translators who may havesimilar interests and would like to draw lessons from it.Nowadays, in the so-called market economy, business translation, science andtechnology translation and other pragmatic types of translation have been much more popularthan academic translation including the translation of academic works in education. In fact,aside from learning from the Western science and technology and doing business with foreigncountries, we should also get to know Western educational theories and practice throughtranslation. The source text mentioned above is about moral education, a central part ofeducation. The author of the report chooses to translate this book as it is viewed beneficial.The translating work is time-consuming and is a harsh job. Thus a translator should makeit clear that he/she is willing to do it. Love can make the journey easy and appealing. In fact,to get prepared psychologically is the first step before the translation. Secondly, the translatorshould prepare the necessary tools and devices for translation, such as dictionaries, an accessto the internet etc. Thirdly, the translator should have the sufficient knowledge of the sourcetext by reading relevant documents, tying to be an expert himself. Lastly, the translator shouldalso have the general ideas on what a good translation is.During the process of translation, the translator should note the importance of makingplans and schedules; otherwise, he/she cannot do a good job on time. Secondly, the translatorshould frequently refer to the parallel text so as to understand the essence of the source text.Lastly, the translator should use specific techniques and strategies while translating.After finishing the first-draft manuscript, the translator first needs to revise it byhimself/herself. Then he/she should have it polished by others who have better capabilities to look over his/her translation. Such a procedure can help guarantee the quality of thetranslation.