A Report On The Translation Of Letters To A Law Student:A Guide To Studying Law At University(Excerpts)

This report is based on my experience of translating Letters to a Law Student: A Guide to Studying Law at University(Excerpts)by Nicholas J.McBride who is a professor at the Faculty of Law,University of Cambridge.The book comprises a series of letters in which Prof.McBride lectures on various issues such as what law is,why and how to study law.With its great popularity upon publication,Letters to a Law Student is voted one of the top six books that all prospective law students should read by the Guardian's studying law website.A speech and two letters from the book are selected as the translation material.After reading the source text several times,it is found that the predominant function of the speech is informative while that of the said letters are operative in spite of the fact that they more or less have informative,expressive and operative functions as well.In the light of Katharina Reiss' s text type theory,different translation methods are adopted in relation to the specific main functions assumed in particular sections of the text,so as to completely and accurately convey the author's ideas and intentions.It is hoped that this excellent and interesting legal book can be introduced to Chinese readers by such translation efforts and that the present report might provide some references for future translators when they encounter speeches or letters in the field of legal translation.