Common Translation Errors

Common Translation Errors is a collection of translation-analysis essays by Professor Chen Dezhang of the School of English and International Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University, compiled from his column of the same name in Global Times. The book contains 259 short essays in total and was published by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press; it runs to about 380 pages. The author has long taught translation at undergraduate and graduate levels and has also hosted the translation contest on the China Daily website; most cases in the book come from student assignments, newspaper translations, slips by famous translators, and even problems in dictionary definitions. The book uses short, individually focused analyses, each discussing one easily mistranslated example—such as chengjia versus having a child, that and is not always to be rendered as he, that Day does not necessarily equal one day, and that different kinds of slowness require different renderings—dissecting mistranslations, errors, and translations that could still be improved. Beyond correcting errors, the author constantly brings in theoretical topics such as translation standards, common translation methods, word selection and usage, differences between English and Chinese, language and culture, and the use of reference works, so that the scattered examples rest on transferable criteria for judgment. The essays are short and lively, rich in examples, and highlight typical errors made by Chinese students while being targeted, informative, and engaging. A sentence index at the end of the book facilitates lookup by example and repeated consultation.