MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES f0WGii GRADUATION PAPER APPLICATION OF TRANSLATION APPROACHES TO ADVERTISING Advisor: Prof. NGUYEN VAN TRUONG Student: MAl THJ KHANH HAN Student's number: 0171241 TV D9i H9C Huflit Class: BA0102 II III 1111111111 1111 111111111 101000452 Ho Chi Minh City, July 2005 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES roWGli GRADUATION PAPER APPLICATION OF TRANSLATION APPROACHES TO ADVERTISING Advisor: Prof. NGUYEN VAN TRUONG Student: MAl THI KHANH HAN GOA~N - oC \'l. THUViEN IV-S- Class:BA0102 ~.
~-1J~6-r-Hi-~ Ho Chi Minh City, July 2005 Application a/translation approaches to advertising ADVISOR'S ASSESSMENT ---.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Mai Thi Khimh Han Advisor: Prof Nguyin Van Tn(cmg Application o/translation approaches to advertising EXAMINER'S ASSESSMENT --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Mai Thj KhCmh Han Advisor: Prof Nguyhz Van Tnrcmg Application a/translation approaches to advertising -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_.------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Mai Thi Khfmh Hall Advisor: Prof Nguy€n Van Tnrang Application of translation approaches to advertising At first, I would like to offer my thanks to the Department of Foreign Languages for giving me a precious opportunity to conduct this graduation paper and all teachers and professors who have helped me widen my knowledge over the last 4 years. I also take this favorable chance to express my appreciation to Ms. Bui Thi Thanh Truc and Mr. Vu Quoc Anh, Vice-Deans of the Foreign Languages Department for their instruction, supports and encouragement.
Above all the others, I send my heartfelt gratitude to Prof. Nguyen Van Truong, my trustworthy advisor. With his lucid ideas, invaluable guidance and corrections, I have more excitement and determination to accomplish my graduation paper. Last but not least, I sincerely thank HUFLIT's librarians and my family, who have offered me valuable materials and words of cheer, a stimulus for me to work harder.
By Mai Thj KhCmhHan Advisor: Prof Nguyin Van Tntcmg Application o/translation approaches to advertising ABSTBACT Advertising industry is growing faster and faster in Vietnam. To the accompaniment of foreign businesses in the Vietnamese market is their advertisements both in Vietnamese and English. These advertisements could be the original ones or the versions. To the same products, their advert translations are many a time different from the texts of advertisements in the source language.
Therefore, the study aims at finding out how to apply effectively translation approaches to slogans and bodies of advertisements. A large number of slogans are rendered successfully because they can create stopping-power at the readers. Although there are many ways to translate a text, communicative and semantic translation with the use of phrases and simple sentences are most preferred because they can convey naturally the sale message of the products. However, the limitation of time and relevant materials is in the way of my study.
Therefore, I suggest that further research on the application of translation approaches to advertising should be carried out. By Mai Thi Khimh Hem Advisor: Prof Nguyln Van Tn(cmg Application a/translation approaches to advertising TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ABSTRACT INTRO D U CTI 0 N 1 CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF ADVERTISING & TRANSLATION APPROACHES 1.2 DEFINITIONS OF ADVERTISING 5 1.3 CHARACTERISTICS OF ADVERTISING 6 2.2 DEFINITION OF TRANSLATION 8 2.3 USEFULNESS OF TRANSLATION 8 2.4 TRANSLATION THEORy 9 CHAPTER 2: KINDS OF TRANSLATION METHODS AND TECHNIQUES 1. WORD-FOR-WORD TRANSLATION 11 1. COMMUNICATIVE TRANSLATION 15 By Mai Thj Khimh Han Advisor: Prof Nguy€n Van Truong Application o/translation approaches to advertising INTRODUCTION In 1986, the open-door policy was first applied to Vietnam's economy.
After nearly 20 years now, the market economy of Vietnam has got more and more dynamic. It has brought more opportunities for investors as well as producers to develop and expand their businesses. At the same time, the people's standard of living has been rapidly improved; so they require a higher level for their needs of food, safe water, lodging, clothes, cosmetics, and vacation packages, etc. As a result, advertising, the most efficient way to help producers meet the customers' demands, prospers.
Advertisements basically use languages as means to draw customers' attention, and supply the audience with necessary information about the new products. Advertisements are written not only in Vietnamese (in Vietnamese newspapers) but also in English (in newspapers and magazines published in English). English language advertisements are mainly used for foreigners who live and work in Vietnam. Although the number of foreigners living and working in Vietnam are not many, the producers still have to give them much care.
And I realize that in many cases, there is incompatibility between English and Vietnamese adverts for the same kinds of products. That is because the advertisers have used different translation methods and techniques to render ideas and to catch customers' attention through the advertisements. In this study, I'm going to go through translation methods and techniques much involved in advert translating. Thanks to synthesizing, analyzing and evaluating both English and Vietnamese in advertisements, we can have a better understanding why the translating approaches are applied to deal with advertisements.
By Mai Thi Kh(mh Han 1 Advisor: Prof Nguyin Van Tnrimg Application o/translation approaches to ath!ertising The research aims at providing basic translation knowledge which is useful for students majoring in English Interpreting-Translating. Another purpose is to help under-graduates see how language is changed in advertisements, which is especially important for those who want to devote themselves to the advertising realm. The organization of this research is as follows. Chapter I introduces and states the overview known as basic hypothesizes of the research including the history, definitions, and characteristics of advertising.
History and definitions of translation are also described in this chapter. Chapter 2 shows definitions and examples of 8 translation methods and 2 translation techniques. Then their application to various advertisements comes in chapter 3. Chapter 4 deals with some good as well as bad translations of advertisements, and some factors needed to be taken into consideration when translating advertisements.
The final part is the conclusion of the study. By Mai Thj Khimh Hem 2 Advisor: Prof Nguyhz Van Tnrang Application a/translation approaches to advertising CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW OF ADVERTISING AND TRANSLATION APPROACHES 1.1 I" the world According to Richard Taflinger ( An Introduction to Advertising ), advertising has been around for thousands of years. The author cites a typical example, a book on the Roman games of Daniel Mannix, "Those about to die" with an advertisement drawing the fight of 2 famous gladiators. "Word-of-mouth advertising appeared when a prehistoric man had a bearskin he no longer needed, he went out to see what he could get in exchange for it and shouted aloud.
The merchants once put over their doors symbols or pictures to inform the public what was for sale inside. For example, shoemakers would hang a shoe-shaped sign in front of their shops. These signs told consumers where to buy shoes. The appearance of newspaper pushed advertising to a quick development.
The first newspaper appeared in England in the 1ih century. By the middle of the 1ih century, weekly newspapers began to appear in England, and soon the British became the world leaders in this realm. Advertising soon became a part of these newspapers as well as of magazines that appeared in the early 19th century. In the early years of the 20th century, advertising became an industry in America, and the U.S ranked the first in the advertising industry instead of Britain.
By Mai Thj Khimh Hem 3 Advisor: Prof Nguyhz Van TnrrJng Application a/translation approaches to advertising The first law on advertising was enacted in England in 1907.S government began imposing taxes in this industry in 1912. "Radio advertising began in 1922 and television advertising in 1939." ( Compton's Encyclopedia, 1995 ) Radio and television brought the advertisers' message to millions instantly. Even those who couldn't read could be reached through these new mass media. At the end of the 20th century, with the advancement of the World Wide Web, advertising has continued to prosper and provide new and exciting ways to inform people about products and services.
In Vietnam It's hard for anyone to state the beginning of Vietnam's advertising history because there is no legal document of this new industry. However, in my opinion, Vietnam has many interesting, tactful and romantic folk verses spreading the information from mouth to mouth, which can be considered as a kind of popular advertising. • To introduce the beauty sites of each region: "In Dong Dang there are Ky Lua street Lady To Thi and Tam Thanh pagoda" ( D6ng Dang co ph6 Ky Ura Co nang To Thj, co chUa Tam Thanh) • To introduce the specialties and people in the region: "Bac Thai tea, Tuyen Quang lasses" ( Tra B~c Thai, gai Tuyen Quang) The kind of present advertising was introduced into South Vietnam in the early' 1940s. The earliest advertisement was that of Co Ba Soap of Truang Van B@n By Mai Thi Khanh Han 4 Advisor: Prof Nguy€n Van Tnrang Application of translation approaches to advertising company.
The first advertisement companies which came into being in Vietnam were the Saigon Advertisement Company ( Cong ty Quang cao Sai Gon ) and Youth Advertising Company ( Cong ty Quang cao Tn:: ). In 1993, first foreign advertisements appeared in Vietnam such as Tiger Beer, P&G, and Unilever. In 1994, the first two foreign advertisement companies set up branches in Vietnam, those were Bates and Optel Media. On May 22nd, 2001, the Advertising Association of Hochiminh city was officially established.
It is known that up to now, the advertising industry in Hochiminh city has reached the revenue of nearly 2,000 billion VND, accounting for 70% of that of the whole country.2 Definitions of advertising The Oxford Dictionary of Business English (1993) defines advertising as " an act of making a product, a service, a job vacancy, an event, etc. publicly known" Lamb (1992) states: " Advertising is any form of impersonal, one way, mass communication that is paid by the sponsor." In the book of "How do medium and small-sized enterprises deal with advertisements?", Nguy@n Kh~c Khoai (1997) cites a definition from the American National Consumption Association that "advertising is a type of behavior that transmits information to the public and makes them spend money. Its objective is to transmit information and attract consumers' attention through advertising. " According to Ly Tung Hi~u (General vIew on advertising and language of advertising in the present era, 2004), advertising is an act of individuals or service- product organizations, using means and kinds of communication to inform the By Mai Thi Kluinh Han 5 Advisor: Prof Nguyin Van Tn((yng Application of translation approaches to advertising public about their demands and abilities or the benefits of certain products and services; as a result, more consumers use their products and services.3 Characteristics of advertising language 1.1 Legality and facts of the language Advertising messages must be suitable to laws.
And the language must be persuasive, attractive, short, easy to remember and eloquent or soothing enough to win people's hearts. Most advertisements overstate or even tell lies about their products because the producers know the fact that all customers care most about the quality of products and their reasonable prices. But only honest and reliable ones can sell large quantities of their products and become famous.2 The nationality and culture The language must be in the mother tongue of the advert readers, both in the lexical and grammatical structures.3 The publicity Advertisements must be expressed in language styles suitable and close to the public. The language and their styles must be well chosen so as not to either hurt the public or give an ambiguous message.4 Flexibility There should be flexibility in sounds, tones and vocabulary of the advertisements to arouse the readers' enthusiasm about the products or services.