Problems Face Students in Translating Idioms Related to Health from English into Arabic

Abstract

Since Idioms are used to describe different aspects of everyday life, it is worthy for translators and translation students to develop their strategies how to translate idioms properly. In fact, translators face many problems when translating idiomatic expressions. These difficulties come as a result of the difference between languages and cultures. Furthermore, any language has a particular meaning which is used to qualify a specific area of the social life. Because every language is associated with its culture and its form; scholars stress that translators should be bicultural as well as bilingual. Translation theorists dealt with problems of translating idioms from various attitudes according to different points of view. In addition, idioms are used in order to increase the mutual understanding among people in the same society as well as to make the communication easier. Moreover, they are used to live the past, present and future. Idioms also are used because the circumstances of everyday life impose them as a way that helps in expressing the intended meaning briefly. Besides, they are used to talk about many aspects of the daily life; such as, food, colour, social status and health. This research is devoted to identify the problems of translating idioms that are related to health area as well as to identify the strategies applied by Libyan English language students to translate health idioms. Further, it investigates the difficulties faced students while translating the test and it attempts to find out whether students are able to render the indented meanings of health idioms or not.

Since Idioms are used to describe different aspects of everyday life, it is worthy for translators and translation students to develop their strategies how to translate idioms properly. In fact, translators face many problems when translating idiomatic expressions. These difficulties come as a result of the difference between languages and cultures. Furthermore, any language has a particular meaning which is used to qualify a specific area of the social life. Because every language is associated with its culture and its form; scholars stress that translators should be bicultural as well as bilingual. Translation theorists dealt with problems of translating idioms from various attitudes according to different points of view. In addition, idioms are used in order to increase the mutual understanding among people in the same society as well as to make the communication easier. Moreover, they are used to live the past, present and future. Idioms also are used because the circumstances of everyday life impose them as a way that helps in expressing the intended meaning briefly. Besides, they are used to talk about many aspects of the daily life; such as, food, colour, social status and health. This research is devoted to identify the problems of translating idioms that are related to health area as well as to identify the strategies applied by Libyan English language students to translate health idioms. Further, it investigates the difficulties faced students while translating the test and it attempts to find out whether students are able to render the indented meanings of health idioms or not.