Cross-cultural Barriers In Interpretation And Coping Strategies

With the international interaction around the globe, economic and cultural activities among countries are becoming more frequent than ever before. Every year, many exhibitions are held in China, attracting numerous foreign guests. However, owing to the barriers in terms of languages and cultures, these foreign representatives may have difficulties in communicating with their Chinese clients. In such cases, exhibition interpreters are needed to take the task of transmitting language and cultural knowledge.This article is written in the form of project report. During the interpreting project from September2013to March2014in IDP Australia Education LTD., the author finds that huge difference lies in the way foreign and domestic representatives speak, think and express their ideas. Foreign and domestic representatives also have different educational background and cultural patterns. All of these bring about some challenges to the interpreting job.Interpretation is a cross-cultural activity. In addition to the linguistic barriers, interpreters also need to overcome barriers caused by cross-cultural factors. This report gives a brief analysis of the differences between Chinese and western cultures, namely differences in the origin of culture; differences in value systems; differences in thinking patterns and differences in social customs. Examples of interpreting barriers caused by these cultural differences are given and some suggested coping strategies are put forward. Among these strategies, domestication and foreignization are the basic principle guidance and annotation, omission, generalization and analogy are some practical approaches. To better solve problems brought by cross-cultural factors, interpreters are supposed to develop their culture-awareness. More time and energy should be devoted into the study and comparison of Chinese and western culture.