A Comparative Study of Tea Culture in Chinese English Translation: Pedagogical Translation in Second Language Acquisition

Abstract

Tea culture is very vital in the Chinese geographical and economic setting. Apart from being a high-selling brand, Chinese tea culture is inseparably associated with Chinese culture which is almost as old as tea cultivation history in China. As Chinese tea is sold all over the world, especially in western countries, the tea terminology becomes more significant in the age of globalization and international tea export. However, as the Chinese language is very much distinct from English including grammatical, syntactic, and semantic aspects, the translation of Chinese tea terminology into English has always been a challenge that hampers the tea export and consequentially, the Chinese tea culture. It has been found that with the use of some identified translation norms, translation strategies, and translation ethics, the Chinese tea culture may be globalized through the tea export from China. The paper has dealt with the inherent and external pedagogical issues found in the translation of Chinese-English translation of Chinese tea terminology and how these impact the tea culture and tea trade in China.