A Report On E-C Translation Of Operator Manual For Portable Compressor

With the booming development of China’s economy and trade and the rising international status,under the situation of "bringing in and going out",a large number of imported machines and equipment have been introduced into the Chinese market,so it is an increasing demand for the translation of technical texts such as operator manuals and installation instructions.Skopos Theory,as an important reference theory in the technical text,regards translation as a purposeful communicative act to meet the needs of target readers.Under the guidance of Skopos Theory,more attention should be paid to the target readers’reception level in translation so as to meet their needs.The ultimate goal of translation is to select reasonable and effective translation strategies to accomplish translation tasksThis report is a translation practice report.The translation materials are provided by Atlas Copco Company,Guangzhou Lujie Economic and Trade Development Co.,Ltd.,an agent of Guangdong Province,China.It is one of the translation tasks assigned by the company during the author’s internship.Mechanical equipment operator manual,as an accessory text material of commercial products,belongs to technical text,and its main readers are product users or related operators.Therefore,its translation is purposeful and directional.The main contents of the translation materials include ten chapters,which are clearly explained in terms of safety precautions,operating instructions,maintenance,solutions to common problems and technical specifications.Guided by the"Three Rules" of Skopos Theory,before formal translation,the author reads the source text and refers to related parallel texts,and analyses the characteristics of the source text and target readers;In the process of translation,the author tries to learn professional knowledge from the relevant technicians and to understand the needs of the owner accurately,then according to the actual situation to choose the relatively reasonable translation methods such as the change of the voices,readjustment of word order,amplification and so on.After the translation task is completed,the author revised the translation several times,which including self-proofreading,peers revise and experts review,and finally the final version was submitted to the owner for acceptance.With this translation practice,the author proves that Skopos Theory has practical guiding significance for the translation of the technical texts,and it can effectively make the translation concise,objective,understandable and practical.Through this translation practice,the author deeply realizes that translation is not a simple language conversion activity.To become a qualified translator,we need not only good bilingual skills,but also knowledge reserve beyond our major.Meanwhile,scientific translation theory is also necessary as a support.The author hopes that this report can provide some reference for the research on translation of technical texts in product operator manuals.