Translating into one’s mother tongue wherever possible
---Responsibilities of translators and journalists

On April 14, 2010, Translators Association of China and People’s Daily Overseas Edition jointly hosted a seminar of journalists and translators to discuss a popular phenomenon in China: English words are interwoven not only in conversations, but also in newspaper articles and other publications.

All participants agree that language is an important symbol of the culture of a nation, and every nation and its people should try to protect the purity of its own language. It’s against the law to insert English words and abbreviations directly in a Chinese publication without Chinese translation or explanation, since it will disadvantage those Chinese who don’t speak English.

Participants are aware of the information overflow as a result of globalization, and the difficulty in translating new words and ideas timely and accurately into one’s native tongue. Therefore, they call for the establishment of a national body to coordinate and publish translations of new terms in a timely manner. The participants also call for translators and journalists (many times the first translators of new terms) to respect our own language and take the responsibility to translate everything into Chinese wherever possible.