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English to Chinese - Standard rate: 0.05 GBP per word Chinese to English - Standard rate: 0.05 GBP per character Chinese - Standard rate: 0.02 GBP per character English - Standard rate: 0.02 GBP per word
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Sample translations submitted: 2
Chinese to English: 到底是上海人
Source text - Chinese 第二个印象是上海人之“通”。香港的大众文学可以用脍炙人口的公共汽车站牌“如要停车,乃可在此”为代表。上海就不然了。初到上海,我时常由心里惊叹出来:“到底是上海人!”
我去买肥皂,听见一个小学徒向他的同伴解释:“喏,就是‘张勋’的‘勋’,‘功勋’的 ‘勋’,不是‘薰风’的‘薰’。” 新闻报上登过一家百货公司的开幕广告,用骈散并行的阳湖派体裁写出切实动人的文字,关于选择礼品不当的危险,结论是:“友情所系,讵不大哉!”似乎是讽刺,然而完全是真话,并没有夸大性。
上海人之“通”并不限于文理清顺,世故练达。到处我们可以找到真正的性灵文字。去年的小报上有一首打油诗,作者是谁我已经忘了,可是那首诗我永远忘不了。两个女伶请作者吃了饭,于是他就做诗了:“樽前相对两头牌,张女云姑一样佳。塞饱肚皮连赞道:难觅任使踏穿鞋!”多么可爱的,曲折的自我讽嘲!这里面有无可奈何,有容忍与放任——由疲乏而产生的放任,看不起人,也不大看得起自己。然而对于人与己依旧保留着亲切感。更明显地表示那种态度的有一副对联,是我在电车上看见的,用指甲在车窗的黑漆上刮出字来:“公婆有理,男女平权”。一向是“公说公有理,婆说婆有理”。由他们去罢!各有各的理。“男女平等”,闹了这些年,平等就平等罢!——又是由疲乏而起的放任。那种满脸油汗的笑,是标准中国幽默的特征。
上海人是传统的中国人加上近代高压生活的磨练。新旧文化种种畸形产物的交流,结果也许是不甚健康的,但是这里有一种奇异的智慧。
谁都说上海人坏,可是坏得有分寸。上海人会奉承,会趋炎附势,会混水里摸鱼,然而,因为他们有处世艺术,他们演得不过火。关于“坏”,别的我不知道,只知道一切的小说都离不了坏人。好人爱听坏人的故事,坏人可不爱听好人的故事。因此我写的故事里没有一个主角是个“完人”。只有一个女孩子可以说是合乎理想的,善良、慈悲、正大,但是,如果她不是长得美的话,只怕她有三分讨人厌。美虽美,也许读者们还是要向她叱道:“回到童话里去!”在《白雪公主》与《玻璃鞋》里,她有她的地盘。上海人不那么幼稚。
Translation - English My second impression of Shanghainese is their sophisticated characteristic with true disposition. The popular literature in Hong Kong can be represented by the highly readable slogan printed on the bus stop board—“You can stop the bus here.” However, the situation in Shanghai is different. Upon my arrival, I often exclaimed, “They are Shanghainese, after all!”
I once heard a young apprentice explaining to another when I headed out to buy soaps. The young man said, “Here, the character should be the xun in Zhang Xun (a warlord in the early years of the Republic of China) and the xun in Gong Xun (meaning the meritorious deeds). It is not the xun in Xun Feng (meaning the warm wind).” On another occasion, the News published an advertisement for the opening ceremony of a department store and the journalist used an ancient prose called Yanghu School (combining parallel sentences with prosaic sentences together) to make the words practical and touching. As the author put it, the potential risk of choosing inappropriate gifts is “Isn’t it important when the friendship is on the edge of losing?”. This conclusion seems satirical, but it is completely true without any exaggeration.
The true disposition of Shanghainese is not only limited in logical articles and sophisticated people. We can find brilliant words with true disposition everywhere. There was an unforgettable doggerel in the tabloid last year and I forget the poet’s name, though. At that time, two actresses invited the poet to dinner and he improvised a poem:
“Two leading actresses are sitting in front of the wine vessels,
They are both beautiful.
Filled with food and praise,
It is difficult to find such a beautiful couple!”
What a lovely and complicated self-irony! The doggerel expresses the poet’s helplessness, tolerance and indulgence from fatigue. The poet either despises others or himself, but he still retains an intimate feeling to people and self. In addition, a couplet which I saw on the tram can express the attitude of self-sarcasm more strongly: “Every man and woman has the equal rights to express their own opinion freely.” This is scratched on the black tram window by fingernails. However, the common view should be “People always think that their own opinion is right.” Leave it alone! Both of them are right and after all these years, people can surely deal with the equality between men and women now. This was another example of indulgence from fatigue. The oily smile characterizes the typical feature of standardized Chinese humor.
Shanghainese are born out of traditional Chinese people and the hardship from stressful modern life. The abnormal mixture of old culture and new culture may bring negative outcomes.
But in the process of fusion, there emerges an unusual wisdom.
It is well known that Shanghainese have a bad personality with a sense of propriety. They fawn on the rich and powerful people and they also fish in troubled waters. However, Shanghainese will not go too far as they know the philosophy of life. In terms of bad, all I know is that every novel cannot be completed without a villain. After all, good people love the stories about bad people, not vice versa. Therefore, not a single leading role in my story is perfect. There is only one ideal girl in my stories who is, kind, merciful and decent, but this character would be a bit of a nuisance if she were bad-looking. Although she is beautiful, readers may still think that she ought to go back to fairy tales like Snow White and Cinderella where the beauties belong. All in all, Shanghainese are not that childish.
English to Chinese: Why looking up at the stars is good for your mental health
Source text - English Stephen Hawking said many inspiring things, but one of the most memorable for me was what he once said during an address at Cambridge University in 2012. Talking there, he encouraged his rapt audience to ‘look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up.’
This, from a man who by 2012 had lost voluntary control of his body, so he could no longer choose to look upwards. But he could imagine—and he knew which direction of gaze, whether in imagination or reality, offers the greater inspiration, and which attitudes give the strongest impetus to keep going in adversity.
Todd Kashdan and Michael Steger at George Mason University in Virginia asked 97 undergraduates to fill in a series of personality questionnaires, then keep a diary for three weeks. They discovered that those among them who scored high on curiosity, who looked beyond themselves, enjoyed life more and felt their own existence had more meaning than those who were more inward looking.
The idea that Hawking’s advice really does lead to greater wellbeing, determination and sense of purpose is given further muster in a survey of over 1200 Swiss and American adults undertaken by Christopher Peterson at the University of Michigan. Willibald Ruch found the qualities more strongly linked to high levels of life satisfaction were love, gratitude, curiosity and perseverance.
Of course, Hawking was using his 'look up to the stars' as a metaphor, but our mindset is also affected by how we physically present ourselves. Our posture, whether we slump and look down, or hold ourselves upright— is related to mood.
A study by John Riskind at Texas A&M and Carolyn Gotay at the University of Calgary found those who slumped gave up more readily when challenged with difficult tasks, and reported higher stress levels than those who were upright.
Mood and fatigue levels were assessed, and everyone was given two standardised stress tests—to prepare and deliver a speech and complete a difficult arithmetic test. The upright group scored higher for positive mood and self-esteem and reported less fatigue. When delivering their speech, those who sat upright had more to say and used fewer self-referential terms, indicating less self-focus.
So Hawking was right in so many ways and about so many things. He understood if we work steadfastly to solve the problems we face; if we focus outwards rather than inwards and if we think about our surroundings and the ways we can help others more than about ourselves, we’ll feel more fulfilled, purposeful and happier
Translation - Chinese 为什么仰望星空有助于你的心理健康
斯蒂芬·霍金发表过很多鼓舞人心的讲话,但最令我难以忘怀的讲话之一,来自其2012年在剑桥大学的一次演讲。当时,霍金对台下凝神细听的听众们鼓励道:“仰望星空,而不要注目于脚下。试图理解所见之物,并思考宇宙存在之源。要保持好奇。无论生活如何艰难,你总会找到自己的路并取得成功。重要的是不要轻易放弃。”
2012年时,霍金已经失去了身体的自主控制能力,他再也不能仰望了。但是霍金可以想象,他还知道要凝视的方向——无论是在幻想还是现实中,这都会为人们带来更大的鼓励。霍金还了解,何种态度最能激励逆境中的人们前行。
弗吉尼亚州乔治梅森大学的托德·卡士丹和迈克尔·斯戴格要求97名本科生填写一系列的性格调查问卷,并坚持写三个星期的日记。托德和迈克尔发现,在这些学生中,“好奇心”得分高的以及关注周遭环境更多的大学生们,比内向型的学生更能享受生活,他们也会觉得自己的生活更有意义。
密歇根大学的克里斯托弗·彼得森在1200多名瑞士人和美国成年人中发起了一项调查,结果进一步说明了霍金的建议的确能使人们更加幸福,更加坚定并拥有更强的使命感。威利鲍德·鲁赫发现与高水平的生活满意度联系更加紧密的特质就是:爱,感激,好奇心和毅力。
当然,霍金以“仰望星空”作比,但我们的精神状态的确会受身体动作的影响。无论我们的姿势如何,垂头丧气或是笔直站立,都与我们的情绪息息相关。由美国德州农工大学的约翰·里斯金德和加拿大卡尔加里大学的卡洛琳·戈泰共同发起的一项调查显示,在面对困难任务时,那些垂头丧气的人会更容易放弃,而且与那些昂首挺胸的人相比,他们测试出的压力水平更高。为了评估人们的情绪和疲劳程度,研究人员要求这些人们完成两项标准化压力测试。这两项标准化测试的内容包括让每个人准备并发表一篇演讲,以及完成一项高难度的算术测验。据研究报告表明,笔直站立组的积极情绪和自尊心得分更高,他们也不会感到很疲惫。当这些人在做演讲时,他们表现得更为健谈,同时也更少使用“我”和“我们”等自我指涉的词汇,他们的中心感更弱。
因此,霍金在很多方面和很多事情上都是正确的。他知道,如果我们能通过脚踏实地工作来解决我们面对的问题,如果我们能去更多地关注外部世界,而不是只关注自我,如果我们能去关注周围的环境,并更多地想着帮助别人,那我们会更有满足感,更有决心,也会更加幸福。
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Translation education
Graduate diploma - University of Essex (Graduate with Distinction and will continue with MA programme)
Experience
Years of experience: 6. Registered at ProZ.com: Jun 2022. Became a member: Jun 2022.
Amara, DeepL, Google Translator Toolkit, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Trados Studio
Professional objectives
Meet new translation company clients
Work for non-profits or pro-bono clients
Stay up to date on what is happening in the language industry
Meet new end/direct clients
Network with other language professionals
Learn more about translation / improve my skills
Learn more about interpreting / improve my skills
Get help on technical issues / improve my technical skills
Learn more about additional services I can provide my clients
Learn more about the business side of freelancing
Improve my productivity
Bio
With my passion for language, I can always study and work with enthusiasm. I am currently a freelance (English<>Mandarin) interpreter and translator based in Beijing/Tianjin, China, looking for a stage to gain practical experience in both Interpreting and Translation.
Education: · Solid training in interpreting (SI and CI) and translation. (English<>Simplified Chinese) · Specialized in automobile, UAV, IT, software, renewable energy, sports, arts, socioeconomic, and other general fields · Versed in translation aid technologies, including CAT tool (Trados and MemoQ) and subtitling tool (Amara)
Work experiences: · Provided SI/CI interpretation for Avoice Chinese Women Global Development Conference, Dealers’ meeting at Aston Martin, AWDPI International Forum, CETC Training etc.
· Lead Organizer of the 2023 Multilingual Conference
· Visitor Experience Volunteer with Royal Opera House · Previously worked as a part-time interpreter and translator in a professional Chinese ballet company with abundant knowledge an expertise in Dance and Art.
· Member of Subtitling Group of Amplifying Voices and Translation without Borders
· Former work experiences also include: professional ballerina, bilingual ballet teacher and Oral-English teacher (For more details, please see below job experiences)