A study on some difficulties of translating business corespondence

Lecturer at the English Department for his valuable instructions and suggestions, careful corrections during the development of my graduation paper. Second, I also would like to thank all the teachers of the translation and intepreting devision, who have taught me during the past time. I would like to express my thanks to Mr. Nguyen Viet Thang, his lectures have great impact on me and help me so much in finishing this dissertation. Last but not least, we would also like to give my thank to friends for their constructive opinions so that I could finish this paper in time. Nguyen Thuy Van - FA10_99 - HUFS Abstract This dissertation is divided into 5 chapters. The first part – Introduction refers to the background to the study, organisation of the study. Chapter two –Literature review refers to basic theory about business letters: The importance of business letters in business communication, definition of a business letter; kinds of business letters and some features of a good business letter and definition which some then be adapted to translate Business correspondence mentioned in this dissertation. Also, this chapter is hoped to bring about an overview of Business correspondence. What is a Business correspondence and its characteristics are mentioned here so that you will have concrete understanding about a business correspondence. This makes you to find easier when reading the chapter three. As the main purpose of this dissertation is to point out some difficulties in translating Business correspondence, some regular concrete difficulties and their samples are specially mentioned here. Moreover, popular expressions equivalent translations, economic terms and international abbreviations are also referred to so that it is hoped to find out the way to overcome such metioned difficulties. Chapter Five – Implications, suggestions, and conclusion are some help for anyone who are interested in this field. The Conclusion will summarize all the dissertation and some of my personal experience drawn from this dissertation. It is desired that further research is necessary to find out best methods of translating of Business correspondence. Yet, it is hoped that this dissertation could only provide basic ideas of a Business correspondence and difficulties to avoid. During the dissertation, shortcomings and mistakes are unavoidable. Any correction and suggestion for further understanding from my teachers, my friends and my readers, therefore, will be highly appreciated. Statement of Authorship I hereby certify my authority of the thesis sunmitted today entitled: A study on difficulties in translating of business correspondence In terms of the statement of requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Signed………………………….. Nguyen Thuy Van June, 2003 Chapter I Introduction 1.1. Background to the Study If you know English, you can travel everywhere in the world. In fact, that is completely reasonable because there are over 300 million people speaking English as their first language, and the same people speak it as a second language. However, no one can know for sure how many people speak it as a foreign language. English is the language taught at lots of universities all over the world, the language of international communication, science, aviation. In particular, it is used as the language of international business. Nowadays, due to the internationalization trend of the world economy, companies not only trade in their countries but also expand their commerce to other countries. In order to keep in touch with their partners, the best way is to write business letters. Actually, each country has its language, and English is the mother tongue in many countries. Therefore, they usually use English in their letters. During the previous four years, my friends and I have had chances to study English thoroughly in terms of language practice (i.e. listening, speaking, etc.) as well as language theory (i.e. grammar, lexicology, discourse analysis and so on). I would say that English for Business is the subject we are interested in most since it teaches us some essential jobs such as writing memos, lists, reports, especially letters that are very helpful if we work for an import - export company in the future. Nevertheless, writing a business letter in English well is not easy. Realizing the importance of business letters and the difficulties writers usually meet, I have decided to choose business letters for graduation paper whose title is some difficulties in translating business correspondence. When doing my research, I would try my best suggestions for the fourth-year students and younger students in order that they would be able to write an effective business letter at work. 1.2. Organization of the study The basic structural format of the research study is organized into five chapters, a list of references, and appendices. Chapter I includes the background to the study and the organization of the study. Chapter II presents a review of the related literature. Chapter III details the methods and procedures used to conduct the study and to collect the data. Results and discussion appeared in chapter IV. Chapter V includes implications resulting from the study, suggestion for further research, and conclusion. Chapter II Literature Review 2.1. Introduction People must work to exist and develop. Each person is only able to produce one or some certain products. However, because of their demand for living, they need many kinds of products. That is the reason why producers have to exchange their products with each other. Manufacturing products for sale is called commodity economy. The commodity economy has promoted the development of labor force and pushed social labor capacity. In addition, it helps form economy relations, mutual dependence between producers and establishes domestic and international market. Certainly, to serve commercial activities, producers as well as traders need to keep in touch with each other. There are some ways to do that such as making a phone call, sending a telegram or telex, and meeting face to face, writing business letters. In face, many people find it difficult to meet or talk with customers, clients, suppliers or even their employee’s just three floors or one building away. They cannot express their opinion directly, especially tactful matters. Sometimes their bad behavior can cause troubles. Meanwhile, a business letter is a well - laid out document including every necessary information with a formal, polite language, which has been edited carefully before being sent. Moreover, although we use telephone, telex or have personal visits, they must be confirmed with a permanent record of what was said, to whom, by whom, and on what date. All of this can make the letter a powerful medium of communication. 2.2. Basic theory about business letters Business letter is a new field to me, but it is important for my future job. Therefore, I need to study it carefully in an attempt to master some points. These include basic theory about business letters, features of business letters including layout, content, language, grammar. Besides, I also want to point out some difficulties and common mistakes which writers usually cope with and then give suggestions to overcome difficulties and mistakes. In general, my aim of study is to provide some recommendations to avoid common mistakes and overcome some difficulties in translating business correspondence. I have read books on business such as The McGraw-Hill handbook of Business Letters by Poe (1993, p.54), How to Write Effective Business Letters by Coles (1993, p.69); grammar books like A University Grammar of English by Quirk & Green Baum (1996, p.110) and many other books relating to what I have mentioned in my paper. I have also collected a lot of business letters written by my friends and business letters in Vietnamese. All are the precious documents for my study. In commercial activities, people can communicate by meeting face-to-face, making phone calls or writing business letters. Of the three ways, the last seems to be the most effective because it is a record of what was said, to whom, by whom and on what date. There are two kinds of letters including informal and formal letters. Informal style is for personal letters; formal style is for business letters. Accordingly, within the restriction of my graduation paper, I choose business letters with formal style as the subject. 2.2.1. The importance of business letters in doing business Mill (1993, p.1) states that business letters are little ambassadors that go through every conner of the present day commercial world. They constitute the biggest source of active liaison that is necessary for producing business. In the very strict commercial world that often called “battle field” businesspersons must use many remedies to win the results while dealing. The remedies may vary due to the fields, the situations, and even the persons who apply them. They may be difficult or easy, take long or short time, require training process or not, and be expensive or cheap. There is a very effective way used by most companies and firms and can never be replaced, that is writing letter. Realistically, the dollars spent to compose and put a letter in the mail is fewer than any others are, so does the time. On the contrary, it brings bigger consideration fruits. So what a business letter can do is to sell the goods, create new customers, bring back the lost ones, bring good sales-representatives, give an incentive to the dealers, bring back confidence among suppliers, instill confidence of buyers, collect bad debts, settle disputes, bring more finance, open new markets, save time, dates with a VIP, build a favorable image for companies, and build the nation. It is right to say that the success of any modern business, largely, depends on the proper use of business letters. 2.2.2. Definition of a business letter. No one can deny the fact that business letters are becoming more and more important in commercial world. Therefore, many economists, specialists in trade field have studied hard so that they can provide readers all over the world with the background of business letters as well as the ways to write them best. In The Language of Business Correspondence in English, Nguyen Trong Dan (1997, p.9) said: “The business letter is the principal means used by a business firm to keep in touch with customers; very often it is the only one and customers form their impression of the firm from the tone and quality of the letters it sends out”. Business letters may be addressed to a specific individual, but it is likely that many people within the company and possibly outside the company will read the letter. Business letters are written on standard - size paper with a matching envelope, they are typed or printed, and formatted and folded in a convenient way. Most importantly, the content of a business letter is not about personal matters. It conveys an important, necessary exchange of information between people in business. (Notes, 1997) 2.2.3. Kinds of business letters 2.2.3.1. Social business letters This kind of business letter is used at festival time and on such an occasion as the award of any honour, a promotion, a wedding or a death etc. The aim of the businesspersons is to send their invitations, good wishes, congratulations, sympathy, condolences or thanks. Social business letters do not push up their business immediately but they are able to build goodwill, which is regarded as an intangible asset in computing the worth of a business. That goodwill will clients’ belief as well as promote commercial activities of a firm. There are four kinds of social business letters. a. Letter of invitations While such events as openings, previews, and demonstrations may be advertised in newspapers or on handbills, guests may be more carefully selected if invitations are sent by letter. Formal events, such as a reception, open house, or formal social gathering, require formal invitations. These invitations can be engraved or printed, or they can be handwritten on note-size stationery. A general invitation should be cordial and sincere; a formal invitation should be less personal, written in the third person. Either kind of invitation, however, must do three things: 1) Invite the reader to the gathering 2) Give the date, time, and place of the gathering 3) Offer a reason for the gathering Invitations are sometimes issued in the indirect form. The writer and the person invited are both referred to in the third person throughout. (See sample letter 1 in Appendices) b. Letter of congratulations A letter of congratulations builds goodwill by stroking the reader’s ego: everyone likes to have accomplishments acknowledged. The occasions for congratulatory messages are numerous: promotions, appointments, and elections; achievements, awards, and honors; marriages and births; anniversaries and retirements. Whether written to a close friend or a distant business associate, any letter of congratulations must be sincere and enthusiastic. It may be short, but it should contain personal remark or references. A letter of congratulations should contain three essential ingredients; it should: 1) Begin with the expression of congratulation; 2) Mention the reason for the congratulation with a personal or informal tone; 3) End with an expression of goodwill (such as praise of confidence never say “good luck”, which implies chance rather than achievement). (See sample letter 2 in Appendices) c. Letter of thanks In business, as in the rest of life, it is important to say “thank you”. We have already seen that letters of appreciation should be sent to new customers upon the opening of an account or the making of a first purchase. But many other occasions call for a “thank you” as well; a note of appreciation should always be sent after receiving: gift 2) favors courtesies hospitality donations A not of thanks should also sent in response to a letter of congratulations. A thank-you note may be brief, but it must be prompt, for it must, like all social business letters, sound sincere. A proper letter of appreciation will contain three key elements: it will: 1) Begin by saying “thank you” 2) Make a sincere personal comment 3) End with a positive and genuine statement (See sample letter 3 in Appendices) d. Letter of sympathy When an acquaintance experiences the death of a loved one, it is proper, although difficult, to send a message of condolence. Many people in Western countries opt for commercially printed sympathy cards, but a specially written note is more personal and genuine. A message of condolence lets your reader know that you are aware of his personal grief and wish to lend sympathy and support. The message, therefore, should be simple, honest, and direct, and it should express sorrow with dignity and respect. The message of condolence should begin by referring to the situation and the people involved. This should be bland statement that avoids unpleasant reminders. The note may use the word death but should not describe the death. The rest of the note should be brief: an encouraging reference to the future or, if appropriate, a gesture of goodwill. Write your letter immediately when you learn the news. Say that you sincerely feel and express your sympathy in simple words that are warm and convincing.(See sample letter 4 in Appendices) 2.2.3.2. Inquiries If your job is a businessperson, request letters are always necessary because of your need for information or special favors, services or products. You write an inquiry since you need to get information of prices or technical data; to receive printed matter (such as booklets, catalogues etc.) or sample products; to order merchandise; to make reservations at hotel, restaurants, theaters and so on. Your inquiries should be specific, brief and reasonable and provide complete, accurate information so that your requests can be acted promptly. (See sample letter 5 in Appendices) 2.2.3.3. Quotations and offers a. Quotations After receiving enquiries for prices, you usually send quotations in which there is an expression of thank for the enquiry; details of prices, discounts and terms of payment; a statement of clear indication of what the prices cover (e.g. packing, F.O.B. etc.); an undertaking as to date of delivery; the period for which the quotation is valid; an expression of hope that the quotation will be accepted.(See sample letter 6 in Appendices) b. Offers An offer tells your customer whether you can provide the goods or services he has asked about. It should convey the name of the goods, quality and specification, quality, price, packing and marking, delivery time, items of payment.(See sample letter 7 in Appendices) 2.2.3.4. Orders When you accept a quotation or an order, you need to make orders. The orders must be complete and accurate in information as incomplete orders can lead to delayed deliveries, and inaccurate facts can result in the wrong delivery from the seller. Every order should full details of description, quantities, prices and catalogue number; your requirement as to delivery place and date, mode of transport; the terms of payment agreed in preliminary negotiations.(See sample letter 8 in Appendices) 2.2.3.5. Claims Sometimes the exchange of money, merchandise, or service will not occur as expected. In that case, the customer needs to inform the company or the organization of the problem by letter, which is called a complaint. The letter should be as follows: + Begin by regretting the need to complain. + Mention the number, the date of the order, the date of the delivery and the goods complained about. + State your reasons for being dissatisfied and ask for an explanation. + Refer to the inconvenience caused. + Suggest how the matter should be put right. + Complaint of inferior quality (See sample letter 9 in Appendices). 2.2.3.6. Letters of Application A letter of application is a sales letter in which you are both salesperson and product. Your purpose is to attract an employer’s attention and convince him/ her to give you an interview. Therefore, in the letter you should show what you could offer the employer instead of presenting what you want from the job. Your skills, personality, qualifications, experience; ambition and enthusiasm should be mentioned. An application for the post of junior clerk (See sample letter 10 in Appendices). 2.3. Features of a good business letters Business letter play an important part in commercial activities, and a good business letter is always necessary. However, many people raise a question what a good business letter is. “A good business letter is one that obtains the results the letter hoped for”. (Poe, 1994, p.4). The definition of a good business letter seems simple and easy to do. Please be careful! You can find it difficult to write a good business letter because that letter must gain the following standards: - Using the correct layout. - Containing necessary information. - Having no repetition or wordiness. - Using a formal and polite language. - Using correctly grammar, punctuation and spelling.(See sample letter 11 in Appendices). This letter of application is a good business letter. First, it is laid out correctly. Second, it has no repetition or wordiness, and its contents presents the good qualifications of the candidate, which are suitable for the position of Regional Manager. Finally, no grammar or punctuation errors can be found. People learn to write just as they learn how to read, to type and to use computers. However, just like learning to type, learning to write takes work and practice, Gerfner, (1991, p.11) confirms: “One gets better at it the more one write. In addition, at the progress you get business results that save money, make money, and help you build your organization to peak performance. These results may range from the very simple as a letter that wins as appointment with an important person, instructions on a major project, which are clearly understood. They can also collect bad debts, or win back a lost customer, all the way up to writing a winning proposal for a contract, or getting the financing you want”. A letter may be thought of as a substitute for a personal visit. Just about everybody finds it impossible to meet and talk with every person with whom he/ she wants to communicate, other friends or relatives in a distant town, fellow employees just three floors or one building away, or clients and suppliers scattered everywhere. This fact alone makes the letter a powerful medium of communication in all occupations. Being able to write effective business letters enhances your value to your company, which means faster progess up the promotion ladder, makes new friends and keep old ones for the company, thereby increasing sales and profits, saves a great deal of time and effort that saves money. The emphasis of this paper is on the positive task of how to write an effective business letter. It covers all parts of the letter from “letter head” to “printed name” under the signature. The results of this paper are kept nearby to help improve one’s business letter writing ability. 2.3.1. Giving the letters a professional look A business letter not only conveys the message that you want to inform your partner itself, but also stands for your company as a representative. It will tell the partner about your company, about your attitude. The person who receives the letter will highly appreciate your company with a professional looking letter that leads to an easy-going decision in doing business. The following factors that form the appearance of your letter as paper, envelope, margins, spacing, have something to say about your company. A weakness in any of these elements can detract from the effectiveness of your message, even though it is expertly written. 2.3.1.1. Paper The quality of the paper reflects the quality of the company and conveys the importance of the message. It should be plain and unreeled. The most popular color is white; there are also some firm prefers to use light grey, brown, or blue paper. The size of the paper is normally 21, 5 x 28 (8, 5 x 11 inches). 2.3.1.2. Envelope The color, texture, and weight of the envelope should always match the paper that is normally folded in thirds (bottom up, top over). If the number of papers or enclosures make normal folding difficult, it is better to use a large one that accommodate the paper without folding. 2.3.1.3. Margins There should be at least a one-inch margin at both left and right sides of the letter. If the content message is short, you can increase the side’s margin to 2 inches or more. The margins at the top and bottom of the paper are usually at least one and one half times that so the side margins. 2.3.1.4. Spacing Most spaces in business letters are single. However, there is one blank line between the sender’s address and the date line, between the date line and the recipient’s address, between the recipient’s address and the salutation, between the salutation and the message, between the paragraphs of the message. The complimentary close is two spaces below the last lint of the message. Four spaces are left for the signature. 2.3.2. Parts of a business letter 2.3.2.1. Letterhead Most large firms have a custom-printed letterhead on the paper. The letterhead includes name, address, telephone number, and the logo of the company sending the letter. An attractive letterhead makes a considerable contribution to the effectiveness of the letter for its attractiveness that wins the goodwill of the reader. 2.3.2.2. Dateline The dateline is written below the letterhead or the sender’s address and separated by a space. The month in the date should not be written in numbers because they can cause a confusal; for example 11. 6. 2002 means 11th June 2002 in the UK but 6th November 2002 in USA, and the month should also not be abbreviated, as it simply looks untidy. It takes a moment to write the date in full form, but it can take a lot longer to find a misfield letter that was put in the wrong file because the date was confusing. “The abbreviations “th”, “nd”, and “st” can be left out and the date appears 11 June or June 11 instead of 11th June. These are the meter of preference, but whichever you choose you should keep consistent throughout your letter” (Ashley, 1992, p.14). The date tells you when the letter was written and in some case, this can be your useful reference. 2.3.2.3. Inside address Sender’s address If you compose your letter on a plain sheet of paper (without a letterhead), the sender’s address is required. The sender’s address is written of the top right hand side of the page and it does not include the sender’s name before the address because his/ her name is signed at the end of the letter. Recipient’s address The recipient’s address is written below the dateline and on the opposite side of the sender’s. If you know the surname and the position of the person you are writing to, you write it on the first line of the address, preceded by a courtesy title and either the person initial(s) or his/ her first name e.g. Mr. J. Smith, or Mr. John Smith. Courtesy titles used in the address include: Mr. (with or without a full stop, pronounced/ mist /) is usual courtesy title for a man. Mrs. (with or without a full stop, pronounced/ misses/) is used for a married woman. Miss (with or without a full stop, pronounced/ miss/) is used for an unmarried woman. Ms (with or without a full stop, pronounced/ miss/ or /m s/) is used for both married and unmarried woman. Many women prefer to be addressed by this title, and it is a useful form of address when you are not sure of the recipient’s marital status. There are also other titles that occasionally used: Messrs for two or more men. Dr and Prof are academic or medical titles. Cap, Maj, Col, or Gen is military titles. The second line is for his/ her position in the company. If you do not know the person, you are writing to, you may address it to his/ her position only in the company. If you do not know the name or the position, your letter may be addressed to a particular department of the company. In case you know nothing about the company and do not want to make any assumption about the person or department your letter should go to, you can address it to the company itself. 2.3.2.4. Order of inside address The addresses require a fix order in writing so they do not make the reader confused. The recipient’s address begins with the recipient’s name on the first line and his/ her position on the second line. After these, the order is the same foot both sender and recipient’s addresses and it are recommended as follows: Name of the house or building Number of building and name of the street, road, avenue, etc. Name of town, city, and postcode. Name of country. 2.3.2.5. Punctuation of address There are two types of punctuation, close punctuation and open punctuation. If the close one is used, a comma follows each line of the address, except for the last line. However, most firms now use the open punctuation, i.e. without any comma for the convenience of using computer. 2.3.2.6. Salutation The salutation opens your letter, so it can never be omitted. If you do not know the name of the person you are writing to you can use: Dear Sir for a letter written to a man. Dear Sirs for a letter written to a company. Dear Madam is used to address both single and married woman. Dear Sir or Madam is used to address a person of whom you know neither the name nor sex. If you know the name of the person, the salutation takes the form of “Dear” followed by courtesy title and the person’s initial or his / her first name e.g. Mr. J. Smith or Mr. John Smith. 2.3.2.7. Content This is the most important part of the letter because it brings the reader all the information you intend to make. Opening paragraph Opening paragraph sets the tone and gives the reader the first impression of you and your company. In this paragraph, you will thank your correspondence for his/ her letter, introduce yourself and your company, state the subject or set out the purpose pf the letter, etc. Main paragraphs There is probably more than one main paragraph. It depends on the subject of the letter. A simple subject needs one paragraph e.g. thanking a customer for a cheque, or a complicated one, e.g. explaining how a group of insurance policy works. The main paragraph concerns the points that need to be made as answers you wish to give or questions you want to ask. This cans cary widely with the type of letter that you are writing. In the paragraph, the points must make clear and in a logical sequence. Concluding paragraph When closing the letter, you should thank the person for his/ her writing if your letter is a reply and if you have not done so at the beginning. Encourage further inquiries or correspondence and mention that you look forward to hearing from your correspondence soon. You also may wish to restate, very briefly, one or two of the most important points that you have made in the main paragraph of your letter. 2.3.2.8. Complimentary close This part ends the letter in a polite, formal way. The popular form is “Your faithfully” for the letter begins with “Dear Sir; Dear Dies; Dear Madam; or Dear Sir or Madam” and “Your Sincerely” for the letter begins with a personal name as “Dear Mr. J. Smith; Dear Mrs. C. Turner; Mss. K. Bangor; or Ms. G. Crawford”. 2.3.2.9. Signature block The signature includes three items: The signature is hand-written just below the complimentary close. The writer’s typed name and position in the company follow it. The name can be typed with th._.e initial(s) or the given name (D. Jenkins or David Jenkins) and accompanied with a courtesy title (Ms, Mrs, Miss, and Ms). If you do not give the title, your correspondence will not be able to identify your sex and may give you a wrong title when replying. It is, therefore, safer to type your title. In fact, including the title in the signature block is more common among women than among men. It is partly because many women like to make it clear either they are married (Mrs.) or unmarried (Mss.), or that their marital status is not relevant (Ms.); and because there is still a tendency to believe that important positions in a company can only be held by men. 2.3.3. Other parts A business letter may contain other parts. However, these parts optional, they also contribute remarkably to the effectiveness of the letter and can be shown as follow: 2.3.3.1. Attention line This is an alternative to the recipient’s name and position in the address. When your letter is addressed to a company or an organization, as a whole, but you want it to be handled by a specific individual at the company or within the organization, you use the attention line. It should be underlined and written just below the recipient’s address. 2.3.3.2. References This item is divided into “Your ref” (Your reference), which is written before, to indicate what the letter refers to and “Our ref” (Our reference) to indicate the person who creates the letter and his/ her typist by giving their initial letters of their names separated by a slash. 2.3.3.3. P.p This term stands for “per pro” and means “for and on behalf of”. Secretaries use “p.p” when signing letters on behalf of their bosses. “P.p.” is placed before the boss’s name and separated by a dot. 2.3.3.4. Enclosures If there are any enclosures, e.g. leaflets, brochures, orders… with the letter the item “Enc.” or “Encl.” will be written at the bottom of the letter and followed by a list of mentioned documents. 2.3.4. Styles of business letter When tearing off the envelope, the reader is impressed by the structure of your letter first. There are two basic styles of business letter, which are called indented style and blocked style, and whichever style you choose is a matter of preference. It may depend on the decision of your firm and your correspondent’s firm if you want to please him with his familiar style. However, it is the fact that, most firms and companies prefer using the blocked style. 2.3.4.1. Indented style When performing your letter on this style, you must indent the beginning of each paragraph from three to five spaces and the signature block is on the same side with the recipient’s address and the dateline. 2.3.4.2. Common expression For the special features of business letter, we often see similar expression in the opening and concluding paragraphs in different letters. These expressions help the writers open their letters smoothly so they can keep continuous the rest easier, and end the letter in an impressive way. Opening paragraph Thank you for your letter (Date) concerning about; As requested in your letter of (Date) we are sending you; We are happy to supply you with; We are very concerned to hear that; I would like to know more about; I would be grateful if you could send me; We are writing to you concerning; Could you please give us a quotation for; Concluding paragraph If there is any thing else we can do, please; If you are interested I suggest we could; Thank you for taking the time to write; Thank you for giving us the chance to explain; Thank you for your patience during the delay; We appreciate all the help you have given us; I look forward to hearing from you. I hope to hear from you soon. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Assuring you of our best service at all time. 2.3.5. Useful hints for business letter writing It is a matter of certain that, to have the present appearance business letters have been changed and improved many times for conveniences of both reader and writer. Some one who may be very good at English but has never taken a Business English and has no knowledge or experience in the commercial world can never write a good business letter. Business letter writing requires certain qualifications. He/ she must know the form and the features of content of business letters. There are two main points in writing. 2.3.5.1. Outlining a business letter Choosing the style of the letter is the first step. You may be required to write in the style used within your firm or the one that pleases your partner. The next step is writing addresses. The two addresses must be written in as much detail as possible and in the correct order. Make sure you use the right recipient; s title in both address and salutation. Do not abbreviate the date and it is necessary to refer back to the salutation to choose the correct complementation close. If your letter includes reference, make sure they are correct. Finally, check the signature block to see whether it tells the reader about your name, sex, and position clearly. 2.3.5.2. Composing the content Your letter should have the right length. There is a question “What is the right length?” The answer is “as long as necessary” because this depends on the subject and the situation of the letter (see 2.5.2) you write it. The information should be put in a logical sequence but organizing your letter before writing. Note everything you want to inform, and then decide the most appropriate ones in a logical sequence. The language you use should be simple. The simplicity gives the reader a comfortable feeling and this may win his/ her attention to your expectation. However, it should be courteous. A too simple letter may sound rude. Be careful when you use abbreviation, figures and prepositions. These factors might affect the accuracy of your letter. 2.4. Summary In this chapter, the writer has mentioned the definitions of a business letter made by different author so far, the classification as well as the importance of business letters in the developing world. The overview of literature and the essentials in writing business letters in the next chapter will serve as a background to writing a formal letter successfully. This chapter gives the details of a business letter and the way to perform them from the letterhead to the signature block as well as the most popular styles of business letters. It also provides a number of common abbreviations, commercial terms, and expressions in writing a good business letter. Chapter III Methods and Procedures 3.1. Introduction In the last chapter, I have taken the very first theoretical background items into account, which may serve as the most important things for any business correspondence. However, it is impossible for a translator to perfect his/ her work without practices. Under the light of this statement, the survey questionnaire is designed in an effort to get information and viewpoints about the difficulties and necessities of the items occurred in the translation process. Besides, the certain most possible supposed solutions to each difficulty would be extracted as well. Lastly, this survey questionnaire will directly help support my graduation paper, namely “A study on the difficulties in translating business correspondence”. 3.2. Subjects There are 48 respondents taking part in this study. They include 15 professional translators, 25 non-professionals, and the rest (8 people) fall to the students who are studying in the field of Hanoi University of foreign studies, the Division of the Translation and Interpreting. With an aim of making the survey qualitative rather than quantitative, I have mainly attributed the questionnaire to the first two groups, which accounts for 83.33% of the total number of respondents. In which, 29 of them are males, and the females who are mostly working full time in the translation companies, relevant foreign-owned companies. 3.3. Instrumentation The survey is made up based on my own ideas, teacher’s guides and professional translators’ hints. Some seven questions involving the general information and specific difficulties as well as supposed solutions to each are raised and divided into three major components. The first component is aimed at finding out the comprehending information about the respondents by dealing with some main questions. The major contents of this part are to mention the translator’s gender (male or female); ages (between 20 and 30, 30 and 40, over 40); working status (professional, non – professional and field – students); duration of working in the field (under 2 years, from 2 to 5 years, from 6 to 10 years and over 10 years); current work (full time or part time); frequency of working in the field (frequently, not frequently); comparison between translation from English into Vietnamese and from Vietnamese into English (difficult level – which one is more difficult); habits when translating business correspondence; importance of clarifying the Source Language; Characteristics of business language. In the second part, the levels of difficulties expectedly mentioned in translation of the business correspondence range from the very difficult, difficult, rather difficult, not sure and not difficult at all. To have a more thorough understanding about this part, each item later in this chapter will be explained. Lastly, the survey questionnaire is devoted to an open question that expects the respondent to map out the most possible solution to each difficult item. This is also a rather important part since it could help the paper more objective and diversified in the source knowledge. 3.4. Procedures In order to complete my graduation paper, I have used some of the following methods. I go to the library to look for books relating to business letters, language in business letters and essential grammar books. After that, I paraphrase or summarize what I have read about my subject. Firstly, I collect business letters in English written by my friends and others to search for mistakes in terms of layout, language, grammar and give corrections. Secondly, I always ask my supervisor for advice and discuss what I find difficult with my friends. At last, after designing the survey, fifty-five people (55) were asked to fill my given questions. Because this is a field-survey that needs careful scrutiny, a conferring period was obviously given. This process lasted for 5 days, and I received 48 feedback copies, which accounted for 87.27% with full answers for each proposed item. For each question, the respondent is expected to tick no more than one choice at the place where he/ she considers it the most suitable. The concepts in this part will be presented from the angles of translation of English; therefore, some differences may occur here and there in the way of defining them. 3.4.1. Using correct grammar As far as many linguists are concerned, “English has no grammar, or that, if it has, there are no rules in it” (Close,1992, p.1). In fact, English has very few kinds of inflections, on the end of nouns and verbs that plays such a paramount important role in the grammar of many other languages. Theoretically, in Close’s (1992, p.1) the first page of his book mentioned above, “grammar of English is a system of syntax that decides the order and patterns in which words are arranged in sentences”. Under the light of this definition, to have a correct sentence in English, the writer must follow the strict rules of using word’s order and structures. As known, the English grammar is also used to imply the sentences’ meanings (the usage of tenses or structures expression, etc.) so that understanding correct grammar is very important for the translator. By mastering it, the translator’s power of thoroughly analyzing why and how such the structures and grammatical matters are used will be much better, and then he/ she can adopt the best translation method for his/ her work. However, these are actually hard problems retraining the translation results. Luckily, the more he/ she practices in the field, the less difficult the problems will be. 3.4.2. Power of Lexis As mentioned in the book “Basic English lexicology” by Hoang Tat Truong (1993, p.2), “vocabulary or Lexis is meant the sum total or the system of all the words that a language possesses”. When translating business correspondence, a powerful and wide – scaled Lexis will help the translator a lot. Besides, power of Lexis is also means that the translator could draw out the equivalent easier and more exactly. In other words, understanding the equivalent is the ability that the translator can find the most suitable words of equal meaning out of the many synonyms, homonyms and polysynaptic words when rendering a source text in English into another language. For this matter, the translator must actually find literal, figurative and contextual equivalent to make his/ her translation looks more Vietnamese. 3.4.3. Terminology in business correspondence Each field has its own terminology system, and so does the business correspondence. In business correspondence, there exist the very exact and specific terms including the monetary market styles, goods and commodities, currency movement, banks and etc. If a translator does not know business correspondence terminology and how to use them correctly, he/ she cannot be specialized to be translator in business correspondence. With its paramount importance, terminology becomes a vital element in the translation. 3.4.4. Conveying the writing style Being a part of the news writing styles, this power acts as the mediation to bring the news or message to the reader, so that the more correctly translators can do, the more academic versions of business correspondent will be. Chapter IV Results and Discussion 4.1. Introduction This chapter is to obtain valid data and analysis of the present level of business correspondence. When they are asked to write a business letter. It focuses on pointing out the common mistakes of the business letter translating. The findings in this chapter, together with the theoretical overview of English business letters in the previous ones will provide a basis for the suggestions toward English business letters translating improvement. The analysis was also based on the official sources that internationally acknowledged. It was to discover the common mistakes, which were found in the content with misusing of words and grammar, or inappropriate style, etc. 4.2. The Findings After receiving the feedback, I have worked on the raw data, analyzed, and summarized them in terms of number of options and the respective percentage for each of them. In addition, following is the table of the survey questionnaire’s results: Based on the summarized results in the above table, we could have some overviews about the difficulties as well as their necessities in translation of business correspondence. However, to make them readily understood, I will draw out the most fundamental result for each item based on the calculated figures in the Table 1. Items Very difficult Difficult Rather difficult Not sure Not difficult Opt % Opt % Opt % Opt % Opt % Using correct grammar 0 0 6 12.5 12 25 7 14.5 23 47.9 Power of lexis 6 12.5 13 27.1 25 52.1 4 8.3 0 0 Terminology in business correspondence 6 12.5 12 25 24 50 6 12.5 0 0 Power of set expression and using words 0 0 0 0 26 54.2 18 37.5 4 8.3 Difficulties in conveying the original writing styles 14 29.2 10 20.8 22 45.8 2 4.2 0 0 Table 1: Difficult items in translating of business correspondence from English into Vietnamese 4.3. Discussion Some difficulties and common mistakes in translating business correspondence 4.3.1. Some difficulties and common mistakes in using correct grammar Chart 1: Difficulty levels of using grammar in translating business correspondence Using correct grammar is very important for anyone who wishes to become a translator. However, the English itself is not too difficult to overcome, and this is well proved through the survey’s result. Out of 48 respondents, there are only six students, to 12.5% who think it is difficult. Luckily, no one considers it a very or too hard problem. Meanwhile, 47.9% of the requested people asserted that grammar is of no difficulty at all. The rest is shared between 12 respondents (25%) who regard it as “rather difficult”, and 7 other people (14.58%) who cannot decide its level. Writing is using grammar, and grammar often puzzles the writers with its vast number of rules. Working out all the grammatical errors is impossible, on this survey the author found the most popular one lies in using parallel structure. Keeping ideas parallel causes many students a great deal of troubles because it also requires the grammar to be parallel. By using parallelism you can say to your readers, “Here are some ideas which have something in common and which I have arranged in the same grammatical form so that you can understand them easily”. When you use parallel structure for your ideas you will see hoe clear and direct they are expressed. For example, The mailroom receives incoming mail, which is then sorted and an employee then delivers it. (2) The mailroom receives, sorts, and delivers all incoming mail. Sentence (2), expressing the same ideas as the sentence (1), has put them into parallel structure: receives, sorts, and delivers. All the words are verbs using the grammatical structure of the third person singular. By using parallelism, sentence (2) expresses the ideas much more neatly than the sentence (1). The word “parallel” means “comparable” or “marching”. Parallel grammatical structure math, they are the same. The following sentence, for example, lacks parallel grammatical structure although it has parallel ideas. Our company has reputation for high quality work, for progressive management, and for being reliable… There are three prepositional phrases in the sentence: for high quality work, for progressive management, and for being reliable. The first two phrases end with a noun. The last one ends with an adjective. With the parallelism broken in the last phrase the entire sentence is weakened. It should be changed: Our company has a reputation for high quality work, for progressive management, and for reliability. You might ask, “What is so important about one word?” and “Why worry whether one word is an adjective or not?” You should think of your readers. A sentence like the first one above sounds “wrong” because it is so weak. Even one word can ruin the tone that you wish to set for your letter. Good parallel grammatical structure goes hand in hand with professionalism. Consider the following sentence. We are looking for a person who are responsible, hardworking and integrity. The parallel ideas are responsible, hardworking and integrity. The writer has tried to use these words, each describing the person that the company wishes to employ. It follows parallel structure but it is not correct. The writer wants to use three adjectives but integrity is a noun, and it does not have an adjective form in English. Parallel structures work only when all the structures are grammatical correct. Otherwise, you have merely written an incorrect sentence. For the above sentence, it is better to get rid of parallel structure because it does not work. We are looking for a responsible hardworking person with integrity. The problems occur even more seriously when phrases and clauses have to be kept parallel. Many students find difficult when they use the correlatives: both/ and, either/ or, neither/ nor, not only/ but also, etc. For one thing, you actually have to count when you use these idea – joiners. For example, I have seen neither John nor Jinn nor Jane. Is using the wrong structure. Neither/ nor requires two element - no more, no less. The above sentence has three. If you want to keep the three elements, get rid of neither/ nor. I have not seen John, Jinn or Jane. At the same time that you are counting elements, you should make sure that the elements contain the same structure. We hope not only to obtain production estimates but also a summary of production goals. The grammatical forms following each of the correlatives are not equal. After “not only” we have an infinitive phrase. After “but also” we have a sentence. The result is a very weak sentence that requires the reader to read it again, simply because the structure lacks balance, it is better: We hope to obtain not only production estimates but also a summary of production goals. As far as many linguists and translators are concerned on of the first and foremost requirements for any translators when rendering a text of any fields into another language is the ability to understand the text. This matter could only be solved once the transmitter could manage to analyze and comprehend the grammar. According to Newmark (1995, p.75), grammar is the skeleton of a text; vocabulary, or, in a restricted sense, lexis, is flesh; and collocations, the tendons that connect the one to the other”. Additionally, grammar not only brings along with it the major facts about a text, for instance the time, place, statements, questions, feelings, etc., but also provides an effective instrument to link such these things into a logical sentence and a text. When eyeing up a text, the first eyesight caught is at the words, however, what actually more important is the structure expressions adopted within the sentences. Therefore, a sensitive proficiency in the case grammar is obviously concerned. This is an undoubtedly indispensable requirement for the translator. Clearly, grammar in English plays an important role in the meaning of sentence, rather than the words’ meaning alone. To some extent, it can be accepted that grammar decides the sentences’ implication. This is rather different from Vietnamese where the words’ meaning is, in general, the sentence’s intentions. Vietnamese pronouns convey many different peculiarities. However, in business correspondence, this is not the very problematic feature for translator. Therefore, I will not take this master into account the next time. Luckily, since the main characteristic of the translator is to use simple methods of conveying information to readership, the grammar will therefore be less obstructive. In fact, when I sparked out the idea of mentioning the difficulties in understanding and using grammar in translation of business correspondence from English into Vietnamese, some of my fellow students asserted that this is not necessary. Their reasons were so simple that when one wishes to become a translator, he/ she must be good at grammar and its usage. This is proved in the survey’s result when the number of respondents (47.9%) who considered it not difficult overwhelmed that of the people who regarded it as either difficult or rather difficult (12.5% and 25%). Out of the group who chose this item to be hard for them, I found that all of them are students and non-professional translator whose working duration is not long enough, just 1 or 2 years. Additionally, no professionals expected it to be their obstacles. These firmly prove that the longer the working duration is, the less difficult they will find when facing the grammatical aspects. In addition, this could be viewed as in the following chart: 4.3.2. Power of lexis and Terminology, set expression and using words in translating business correspondence As a branch of linguistics, vocabulary or lexis has long been one of the hard problems facing the translators. It is true. When asked, 25 respondents, accounting for some 52.08% mostly choose the “rather difficult” option. In addition, this number is nearly twice as much as that of the neighboring choice, “difficult”, with a proportion mentioned the first selection of “very difficult”. In addition, the remained 8.33% fall in those who are not quite sure about the lexis’ difficulty. No one selects the last option “not difficult”. 4.3.2.1. Lexis and Terminology Chart 2: Difficulty levels of using Lexis in translating business correspondence All respondents reached an agreement that this item must, by all means, fall into some levels of obstruction, rather than merely “not difficult”. A same rate, 6 options (12.5%), is what the respondents chose for the “very difficult” and “not sure”. In the mean time, the percentage of those who though it “rather difficult” turned out to be twice as much as that of the option who expect it to be “not difficult”, 25% and 50% accordingly. According to Peter Newmark, “to translate a text, you do not have to be an expert in its technology of its topic; but you have to understand that text and temporarily know the vocabulary it uses” ( Newmark, 1995, p.155). Under the light of this statement, whenever ones come up with the translation of business correspondence, translators need not master all the precise items, however, the more he/ she can understand, and the better his/ her work will be. Practically, it seems that the lexis and terminology involving in commodities, money and so on will simultaneously come to mind when the translator rest his/ her eyes on a letter. As far as many assertions have been taken, these are very important and difficult items for all translators and students. The fact has it that, Lexis in translation of business correspondence is not restricted in the field only, instead, it refers to all activities in the world, from politics to economic and the like. It is true because everything happening in a country can affect its financial system. Chart 3: Difficulty levels of Terminology in translating business correspondence The second problem in this part is the role of terminology or specific terms used in this field. Theoretically, the translation that deals with terminology in specific areas such as commerce, politics, finance, etc. is general considered technical translation. On the main, the differences of technical translation primarily lie on the terminology of each kind it relates to. It has been calculated by Newmark (1995) that terminology only makes up its proportion of a mere 5-10% out of the words used in a text. However, it is impossible for a translator to perfectly perform his/ her work without owning a good knowledge of the specific terms of such field at his/ her fingertips. It is easy to understand that each domain has its own system of terms and so does the business. As such, terminology should be, by all means, of first- hand concern when the translators are bound to embark on another field. In addition, it is one actuality derived from the fact that many technical terms are built from commonly used ones, or from peculiar groupings of familiar language items. In addition, below is the chart including results of both lexis and terminology: A hard matter for the translators is how to understand these terms in its correct meanings. Certainly, it is firstly advisable for the translators to apply a set of conventional terminology that has been well rendered and accepted by the professional predecessors. Secondly, another problem is how to tackle with the new terms, and even that of the old ones. In facts, many debates have been aroused when rendering a terminology into Vietnamese. Therefore, the first and foremost requirement for translator is to own a huge store of vocabulary. However, this aim can only be obtained once the translator practices with high concentration and pressure, if possible. One of many difficulties facing all translators and interpreters is “Terminology”. Each domain like politics, culture, and economics has its own terminology. Many people said that they always face to terms and these terms create many difficulties for them when reading translating. Like any other domains, economics has its own complex system of terms. It is difficult for you to guess then to understand the meaning of a term. In order to understand a term, you have to look for it in the dictionary and learn by heart the meaning of it. In economics, each sub-domain also has its own terms. Contract has terms of Contract and Business Correspondence has its terms, too. In terms of law, for example, there are such terms like Ordinance (Pháp lệnh), Jurisdiction (Pháp quyền), Stipulation (Quy định), etc. Or in terms of diplomatic, there are Envoy (Đặc phái viên), Charge’ d’ Affaires adinterim (Đại diện lâm thời), Nuncio (Đại sứ của Giáo Hoàng), etc. In terms of economics, there are Abandonment (Sự uỷ thác), Account Payable (Tiêu trái), Advance Bill (Hối phiếu trả trước), etc. All these terms make it difficult for both translators and interpreters. They surely will be embarrassed when facing to these terms, which they do not understand profoundly the essential meaning of the term; you cannot use it exactly. In addition, the misuse of any term in any domain is considered taboo. It actually creates misunderstanding between two economics counterparts when transforming business letter. Moreover, you cannot transfer the exact content of business letter from the source language to the target language (See sample letter 12 in Appendices). In general, the language in this letter is simple, easy to understand and translate. It is only one economic term that can make you embarrassed. How can you translate “Tin dụng thư không huỷ ngang” if you do not know what it means? You can transfer it into English equivalent, but you are surely not confident in translating the letter. And this creates difficulty too many translators and interpreters. It is quite easy for people who study Economics but it appears to be a considerable problem for people who study foreign language only. It is not enough to find the equivalents. Understanding profoundly the meaning of terms helps you._.uch a way that the reader will feel pleased and will be willing for further business transactions. The translator sometimes faces difficulty when trying to meet this requirement. You have to understand clearly about the business relation between two counterparts. And the information about the business relation in which such business letters is very useful for your translator. With the English version above, because it is the first order so that you should make it as polite as possible like this: “Chúng tôi sẽ rất vui mừng nếu quý Ngài gửi cho chúng tôi catalô và bảng giá mới nhất của quý Ngài”. However, if it requires a reply for an outstanding debt or late delivery, it can be put like this: “Yêu cầu quý Ngài gửi cho chúng tôi…” So that the right style of translation of business correspondence is very important. It is better for the translators to distinguish between such business correspondence like first request letter or letter of reply for outstanding debt or late delivery, etc. then to put the right version. a) Letter of inquiry (See sample letter 15 in Appendices). b) Letter of reply (See sample letter 16 in Appendices) In the above two types of letters, the language used is formal and mainly, in the form of question and answer. Although the former is not written down with question mark, we understand that it indicates the request for information. For it is very polite, it is mainly written down like a request. For example “We would be very glad if you could send us your latest catalogue and price list” should be “Chúng tôi sẽ rất vui mừng nếu như quý Ngài gửi cho chúng tôi catalô và bảng giá mới nhất của quý Ngài” not “Yêu cầu quý Ngài gửi cho chúng tôi…” Because as mentioned above, this version is the first request, not a reply for late delivery. For the first order, we never use the “Strong language”. Usually, the inquiry is very short and to the point, like the former letter above. If that is for your regular partner, you don’t need to indicate where you get the information. However, if that is for a new supplier you should tell him where you get the news. For the inquiry, what the translator takes into consideration is the use of language. You should use the polite language and although it is a form of a question, it is preferable to be written in the form of a request. For the reply, the language should also be polite enough, and still, provide the necessary information. It is also preferable if the reply is short and to the point. The translator then needs to keep in mind these characteristics to have the correct translation, both in style and in language. So for the sentences such as: “We would like to draw your attention to our…” we should make it in Vietnamese like this: “Chúng tôi cũng muốn quý Ngài dành sự quan tâm đặc biệt cho sản phẩm … của chúng tôi” and not like this: “Chúng tôi muốn lôi cuốn sự chú ý của quý Ngài tới sản phẩm … của chúng tôi”. This is not the style of business writing. Other sentences such as: “We shall be obliged if you send us your new quotation for the goods” in Vietnamese should not be: “Chúng tôi sẽ rất cảm kích nếu quý Ngài gửi cho chúng tôi bảng báo giá mới nhất cho các loại hàng này”, but it will be like this: “Chúng tôi sẽ rất biết ơn nếu quý Ngài gửi cho chúng tôi bản báo giá mới nhất của loại hàng này”. And it is the same for this sentence: “We should be glad if you could send us the pattern for ladies’ woodens” should be “Chúng tôi sẽ rất vui mừng nếu các Ngài gửi cho chúng tôi mẫu áo len phụ nữ” or “Chúng tôi lấy làm tiếc báo cho quý Ngài rằng hiện nay chúng tôi không có khả năng cung cấp loại hàng mà quý Ngài cần” will be “It is our regret to inform you that we are not in position to meet your requirement for the time being for the goods you need”. It is the right style put into the translation of business correspondence helps to improve the business relation between counterparts. This style of translation should be in business language as we are translating business correspondence. Others may not be grammatically wrong but it does not sound like a business letter. Translator sometimes encounters difficulty when trying to put the right style in their translation and one of the reasons for this difficulty is that the right style is partly similar to the set expression. Therefore, the best way to over come this is to learn by heart as many translations of right style as possible. Some business versions and equivalent translations. - We are very much interested in your … and hope you will send us a copy of the newest catalogue together with the price. - Chúng tôi rất quan tâm tới sản phẩm … của quý Ngài và hi vọng quý Ngài gửi cho chúng tôi catalô mới nhất cùng bảng giá. - We would like to have samples of yours … with its quotation. - Chúng tôi mong muốn có mẫu sản phẩm … cùng với bảng giá. - I would be appreciated if you would send us at your earliest convenience your quotation of the new … - Chúng tôi sẽ rất biết ơn nếu các Ngài gửi cho chúng tôi các bảng giá của sản phẩm … mới của các Ngài. - Please quotes us the supply of the following items, giving your best C.I.F Haiphong. - Đề nghị cho chúng tôi biết điều kiện cung cấp những mặt hàng sau đây cùng với bảng giá thấp nhất theo phương thức C.I.F Hải Phòng. - We would like to know if you could guarantee delivery within one month after the receipt of order. - Chúng tôi muốn được biết liệu các Ngài có thể đảm bảo giao hàng trong 01 tháng sau khi nhận được đơn đặt hàng? - We would appreciate you letting us know what discount you can grant us if we order in large quantity. - Chúng tôi sẽ rất vui mừng nếu được các Ngài cho biết sẽ dành chiết khấu bao nhiêu nếu chúng tôi đặt hàng với số lượng lớn. - Your inquiry dated … regarding the … has been received. - Chúng tôi đã nhận được thư yêu cầu của các Ngài về … đề ngày … - We received with thanks your inquiry of September 23 and are pleased to reply as follow … - Chân thành cảm ơn về thư yêu cầu đề ngày 23 tháng 9 mà chúng tôi nhận được và hân hạnh hồi đáp như sau … - As requested, we have today sent you … - Thể theo yêu cầu của quý Ngài, hôm nay chúng tôi gửi … - Our revised price list will be ready by the end of this month and we will send you it as soon as it is ready. - Biểu giá điều chỉnh của chúng tôi sẽ hoàn tất vào cuối tháng này và chúng tôi sẽ gửi tới quý Ngài ngay sau khi hoàn chỉnh. - We are very sorry for the delay in sending you the revised specifications. - Chúng tôi rất tiếc về sự chậm trễ gửi đến quý Ngài bản chỉ dẫn thông số kỹ thuật đã duyệt lại. - Please is good enough to study the catalogue we send you and inform us of your requirements. - Xin quý Ngài nghiên cứu kỹ catalô mà chúng tôi gửi tới và xin thông báo cho chúng tôi mọi yêu cầu của quý Ngài. - All the items listed are now in stock and ready for shipment. - Tất cả các mặt hàng liệt kê hiện chúng tôi đã có trong kho và sẵn sàng gửi đi. - At the moment, we regret to inform you that we are not in a position to offer you any … for any immediate shipment. - Chúng tôi lấy làm tiếc báo cho Ngài biết hiện nay chúng tôi không có khả năng đáp ứng … giao hàng ngay. - The goods you required are not available at the price you specified. - Các mặt hàng quý Ngài yêu cầu không thể tính theo giá quý Ngài đề xuất. - The enclosed price list carries our lowest quotation F.O.B Hong Kong. - Biểu giá gửi tới quý Ngài là giá thấp nhất theo phương thức F.O.B Hồng Kông. - We would be pleased to grant you a discount of 3% from our price list for an order of 100 sets. - Chúng tôi hân hạnh dành 3% chiết khấu từ biểu giá của chúng tôi cho hợp đồng đặt hàng 100 bộ. - You will be certain that the quality of this article will give you full satisfaction. - Chúng tôi chắc chắn chất lượng mặt hàng này sẽ làm vừa lòng quý Ngài. - The export price of … is going up, it is almost certain that we will not be able to quote the same price next month. - Giá xuất khẩu của … đang tăng, vì vậy chúng tôi chắc chắn sẽ không thể chào hàng theo giá cũ vào tháng sau. - As we want to expand our sales to you, we have quoted you very low price this time. - Vì muốn tăng số lượng bán cho quý Ngài nên lần này chúng tôi bán giá rất thấp. - We thank you for your interest in our product and wait for your early reply. - Xin cảm ơn quý Ngài đã dành sự quan tâm tới sản phẩm của chúng tôi và mong sớm nhận được hồi âm từ quý Ngài. - We are looking forward to your first order. - Chúng tôi chờ đợi đơn đặt hàng của quý Ngài. - Any order you will give us will receive our careful attention. - Mọi đơn đặt hàng quý Ngài gửi tới đều sẽ được chúng tôi đặc biệt quan tâm. Translation of business correspondence must satisfy all the characteristics of business correspondence that were presented in Chapter II. Generally, translation of business correspondence requires the accuracy in meaning of the words and sentences. For that fact, the translator cannot apply the preferred methods used for literature translation where the metaphors are commonly used. The accuracy here can be found as the ability to convey the terminology and terms employed in the business correspondence from English into Vietnamese. Additionally, time is always limited for the “timely” feature of the information, so this is not easy for translators at all. Moreover, to be a good translator of business correspondence, he/ she must have some background knowledge in this field since this can help him / her more profoundly understand the importance and requirements of that. These are not easy. True, as a result, the translator must find the way to tackle his/ her own difficulties. To solve these problems, it is initially important for the translator to be hardworking and patient in gradually improving his/ her own abilities in business correspondence. There, reading as much books, magazines, presses and relevant documents is always a good suggestion. The translator must try his/ her best to create his/ her own opportunities to get in touch with the business correspondence world, to translate the business correspondence and evaluate it as often as possible. Additionally, it would be a good way if he can manage to be severed with this job, to find interest in running the translation and so on. 5.2. Suggestions for future research As seen, this graduation paper has mentioned the difficulties in translation of business correspondence, but I think many aspects remain for discussing in. Firstly, it is possible to analyze the difficulties in translation of business correspondence from Vietnamese into English rather than English-Vietnamese in this paper. Secondly, reseach should attempt to futher investigate professional translators. The questions concerning proficiency in Vietnamese should be paid attention to. Because it is a very decisive factor that directly affects the translation. Thirdly, the data generated in this study is not enough, it is necessary to conduct further research to have better understanding of finding out more difficulties in translating of business correspondence and solutions to these problems. 5.3. Conclusion After graduation, we, students of English, will go out to earn for a living as English teacher, translators, interpreters or staff in companies. Nowadays, commercial activities are not limited within our country but expand to countries in the region and in the world. Therefore, the ability to communicate in English especially the ability to write English business letters may be indispensable in our luggage when applying for a job in a company as well as when working for companies in the future. With all of my efforts, in this graduation paper, I have tried to find out some difficulties and solutions to translating business letters in by giving basic theory about English business letters: their features including the layout, contents, language and grammar; some common mistakes in translating them and some suggestions to overcome mistakes. By devoting a lot of time, effort and dedication and especially thanks to the invaluable help and instructions from my supervisor, Mr. Hoang Van Hoat, M.A, senior Lecturer of the Interpreter and Translator Training Division of the English Department, Hanoi University of foreign Studies. I hope my graduation paper will contribute to your success in life although what I have mentioned is only what is the most typical, and I cannot cover every aspect relating to business letters because of the limited time. Here and there, there is still some weakness in the paper; I would like my teachers and my friends to forgive me. People all over the world study English for different purposes. My friend studies English to exploit news on the Internet because she is a journalist. Your friend studies to be a teacher because he /she, probably, love children. Jonh takes an English course for construction because he is an architect. Jinn follows an evening class for a course of Medicine English because she is a doctor. In addition, you who may be a businessperson, a manager, a secretary learn English for business. Business English, as its name suggests, deals with the use of English in doing business under different remedies known as memos, reports, letters, etc. On the limitation of this study, the author mentions letters only. She tries to present the units and the way to perform them in a business letters. The objectives to be achieved are analyzed when translating by pointing out some common mistakes and primary suggestions to overcome. The work is not one that you need read with the thought that you must retain items of advice in your active memory. Many points of the study can be skimmed and returned when you are actually confronted with a specific problem. On the completion of this study the author, expect it should be kept close at your hand to help improve the ability of translating business letters. Due to the time is short as well as the limited knowledge of the author on this matter, mistakes and errors are inevitable and the work has doubtlessly left much room for further discussion, criticism and improvement .Therefore, all remarks, comments and suggestions are well-received and highly- appreciated. References Alexander. L. G. (1998, p.13). Longman English Grammar. London: Longman Group Ltd. Can, L.M. (1997, p.27). Contemporary Commercial Correspondence in English & Vietnamese. Dong Nai: NXB Đồng Nai. Coles Notes, How to write Effective Business Letters (1993, p.69). Dan, N. T. (1997 – 1998, p.9). The Language of Business Correspondence in English. Hanoi: NXB Giáo Dục. Dan, N. T. (1999, p.35). International Business Correspondence. Hanoi: NXB Thống Kê. Gerfner, A. B. (1991, p.11). Business Letters the Easy Way. New York: Barron Educational Series, Inc. Hoit, R. & Sampson, N. (1999, p.84). International Business Correspondence. HCM city: NXB TPHCM. Mc Comas, D. C. (1995, p. 51). Modern Business Correspondence. HCM city: NXB Thống Kê. Mill, B. A. (1995, p.1). Complete Business Letters. Da Nang: NXB Đà Nẵng. Newmark, P. (1995, p.155; p.75). A Textbook of Translation. Quirk & Green Baum, A University Grammar of English (1996, p.110). R.A. Close, (1992, p.1). A Teachers Grammar. Poe, W. (1993, p.54). Handbook of business correspondence in English. Truong Hoang Tat, (1993, p.2). Basic English Lexicology. Appendices Appendix A QUESTIONNAIRE This questionnaire is composed in order to function as a study for my graduation assignment “Research on difficulties encountered in translating business correspondence”. You are kindly expected to spare time to answer the following questions. Your comments and ideas will surely be helpful and make a significant contribution to the success of my graduation assignment. Thank you very much for your assistance. Please mark a stick (n) in the appropriate boxes for your choices and write down your answers to these following open questions. 1. The translator’s ages Between 20 & 30  30 & 40  40 & 50  over 50  2. The translator’s gender Male  female  3. Working status Professional  Non-professional  Field-students  4. Duration of working in the field Under 2 years  from 2 to 5 years  From 6 to 10 years  over 10 years  5. Frequency of working in the field Frequently  not frequently  6. The levels of difficulties expectedly mentioned in translation of the business correspondence. Please tick (n) in the appropriate boxes The levels of difficulties Very difficult Difficult Rather difficult Not sure Not difficult Opt % Opt % Opt % Opt % Opt % 1.Using correct grammar 2.Power of lexis + Terminology in business correspondence + Difficulties in using words +Set expression 3. Difficulties in conveying the original writing style Other difficulties 1 2 3 4 5 ….. 7. Could you please write down the solutions to these difficulties? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Thank you for your cooperation! Appendix B Letter 1 Dear Mr. Dan, We would like to invite you to the reception held in the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Hotel. 1 Le Thanh Tong Street, Hanoi, from 6.30 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. on Friday 11 June 2000 on the occasion of the Birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Please let us know if you plan to attend. I look forward to meeting you. Yours sincerely, Letter 2 Dear Mr. Robert, I am writing to convey my warm congratulations on your appointment as Managing Director of your firm. My fellow directors and I are delighted that the many years of your service you have given to your firm should at last have been rewarded in this way and we therefore, join in sending you our best wishes for the future. Yours sincerely, Letter 3 Dear Sirs, We thank you for your letter enclosing an account of the organization and handling of Dan & Son’ Co Ltd. I am very grateful for the interest you have shown in your proposal to include details of the company in the next issue of the Trade Association Yearbook and for your trouble in providing such an interesting account of its activities. Your account is sure to be of great help to us in your business. Yours sincerely, Letter 4 Dear Mr. Fraser, I was very sorry to learn that you had been unwell on your way home from Hanoi, but relieved to learn that you are now making progress and likely to be back at work in a few weeks’ time. I expect to be in London in a month’s time when I shall call on you. Meanwhile, I hope you will continue to make good progress. Yours sincerely, Letter 5 Dear Sir or Madam, I recently saw some samples of your White Heather tweed cloth, which could be made into woman skirts. I would be grateful if you would send me full details of this material. We have a large tailoring department and would like to stock a new type of material. I would like to know the price for a meter and how soon the material will arrive. If your terms are favorable, I shall probably order about 100,000 meters and more in the future. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Yours faithfully, Letter 6 Dear Sirs, Thank you very much for your inquiry of 18th March for a further supply of ceramics and in replying we are pleased to quote as follows: No. 112TD, Gilt Rims Tea cups $ 150 per thousand Tea saucers $ 110 per thousand Tea plates $ 110 per thousand Tea pots, 2 pint $ 50 per hundred These prices are C.I.F. London including packing. We can deliver from stock and will allow you a discount of 5% but only on items ordered in quantities of 50,000 or more. We hope you will find these items satisfactory and look forward to the pleasure of your order. Yours faithfully, Letter 7 Dear Mr. Okykia, We would like to thank you very much for your inquiry of 6th May 2000 and are happy to offer you the goods you are interested in on the following terms and conditions. Commodity: sweaters for all age groups. Specifications: As per enclosed catalogue, No. 259/ LT and sample sent to you by post today. Quantity: as required and specified in your order. Price: as per attached price, list and all the prices should be understood to be C.I.F. Kobe including packing. Packing: in seaworthy cartons. Delivery: in one lot in Mid October 2000. Payment: in USD by an irrevocable L/C to be opened through Tokyo Commercial Bank. 15 days prior to the shipment valid for 45 days to the A/C of the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam in your favor for the total amount of the goods to be shipped; Transshipment and re-export are not allowed. We assure you that our sweater is good in quality, attractive in design and comparative in prices. If your order is for 4,000 pieces or more, we will give you a discount of 0.3% of the total value of the order. In the meantime, we are looking forward to hearing from you soon. Yours sincerely, Letter 8 Dear Sirs, We thank you for your offer of 25th May 2000 for Diesel engine, Model $238-200 PS and confirm our today’s cable reading as follows: YR 7678 AGREED MD 4238-200 PS $ 15,690 LCASTSIGHT NOVSHIPMENT In addition, we should like to make clear the following terms and conditions: Description: Diesel Engine, Model 4238-200 PS completes with spares parts as stated in your catalogue No 24/ 5189 attached to your said order. Price: $ 15,690, F.O.B. Kobe, Japan including packing in seaworthy wooden cases. Shipment: In one lot in November, 2000 Payment: By irrevocable letter of credit as sight to be opened with the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam to the account of Misuit Bank Tokyo in your favor 15 days prior to the date of shipment, valid for 90 days, amounting to the whole value of the goods to be shipped. Technical documents: You are required to send us all necessary technical documents concerning operation, assembling or maintainance of the machine. Guarantee: Within 6 months after commencements of operation or 12 months after dispatch. We are looking forward to your kind confirmation of sales. Yours faithfully, Letter 9 Dear Sirs, It is great regret that we have to inform you that your last delivery is not up to your usual standard. The material seems to be too loosely woven and is inclined to pull out of shape. By separate mail, we have sent you a cutting from an earlier consignment so that you can compare the two and see difference in texture. We have always been able to rely on the high quality of the material you sent us and we are even more disappointed in this case as we supplied the cloth to new customers. As we shall have to take it back: therefore, ask you let us know, as soon as possible, what you can do to help us getting over this difficulty. Yours faithfully, Letter 10 23 Main Road Mandai Singapore 3 June 1997 The Manager Southeast Traders 25-A Serangoon Road Singapore Dear Sir, In answer to your advertisement in the New Strait Times, I wish to apply for the post of junior clerk in your office. I have passed the Primary 6 examination and am at the moment looking for work to help my poor parents. In my school, I took prizes in English and Arithmetic and was considered a good scholar, as the certificate of my Headmaster, which I enclose, shows. I am young, active, and willing to work hard. I can assure you that, if I am selected for the post, I shall do my best to give satisfaction. I enclose copies of my testimonials. Yours faithfully, Samir Mandy Letter 11 12 Mill Street Taunton Somerset SS 12 3 BQ England 10 September, 1990 Mr. Ettore Galli Marco Gardini (UK) Ltd, 73 Brook Street London W2B 3CD Dear Mr. Galli, I am writing to apply for the post of Regional Sales Manager (Southwest) with Marco Gardini UK advertised in the Daily Telegraph on 6 September 1990. As requested, I am enclosing a brief resume. I believe that my experience and contacts in the furniture industry would contribute considerably to the future success of Marco Gardini in this country. I also feel that my success in previous and current posts have prepared me for a career move involving greater responsibility. I would be happy to supply the names of referees on request. In the meantime, I hope that you will be able to consider my application. Yours sincerely, Maria Glover (Ms.) Letter 12 Thưa quý Ngài, Thể Theo yêu cầu của quý Ngài gửi đến ngày 23 tháng 6, chúng tôi hân hạnh được báo với quý Ngài như sau: Mặt hàng : Gạo Chất lượng : Loại 1 Theo tiêu chuẩn Việt Nam Số lượng : 5000 tấn Giá đơn vị : US$…. / 1 tấn C.I.F Hồng Kông Thời gian gửi hàng : Tháng 9 – tháng 10 Điều kiện : Hối phiếu kí phát thanh toán sau 30 Theo điều kiện trong tín dụng, thư không huỷ ngang. Chúng tôi tin chắc rằng đây là điều kiện chào hàng tốt nhất của công ty chúng tôi mà không có hãng nào có thể đưa ra những điều kiện tốt hơn được. Hiện nay, chúng tôi đang nhận được nhiều đơn đặt hàng từ khắp nơi trên thế giới và có khả năng chúng tôi sẽ hết hàng dự trữ trong những ngày tới. Vì vậy, để bảo vệ quyền lợi của quý Ngài, xin quý Ngài đặt hàng ngay. Chúng tôi mong đợi đơn đặt hàng sớm của quý Ngài. Kính thư, (Bui Viet Nguyen, P. 53, 1999) Sample translation: Gentlement, We are please to quote your firm subject to your reply reading here by June 23 as follows: Aricle : Rice Quality : Grade number 1 Vietnam standard Quantity : 5000 tons Prices : US$ … per ton C.I.F Haiphong Shipment : September – November Terms : Draft at 30d/s under irrevocable Letter of Credit We are sure that this is the best offer we can make and no other firm can offer you better terms like this. At present we are receiving a lot of orders from all over the world and there is an opportunity of our running out of stock one of these days. Therefore, we think it will be to your interest to place an order at once. Your early order is looked forward to. Yours very truly, Letter 13 Dear Sirs, We have learned from the “Yellow Pages Directory” that you are on importer of computer and its accessories. We are one of the leading producers and exporters of these products for 10 years now and we would like to have a business relation with you. Our products are well received all over the world because of its reliability and durability. Enclosed is our illustrated catalogue and price list covering all the products we are handling? Prices in the list are all C.I.F. Haiphong in British pound sterling. As for our financial standing, please refer to the Vietnam Commercial Bank, Hanoi Head Office. We look forward to receiving your reply. You’re faithfully, (Bui Viet Nguyen – Trinh Quang Dung, P 18, 1991) Sample translation: Thưa quý Ngài Thông qua niên giám điện thoại “Những trang vàng”, chúng tôi được biết rằng quý Ngài có nhập khẩu máy Vi tính và phụ tùng máy Vi tính. Công ty chúng tôi là một trong những nhà sản xuất và xuất khẩu hàng đầu về mặt hàng này trong 10 năm nay và chúng tôi muốn đặt quan hệ giao dịch với quý Ngài. Sản phẩm của chúng tôi được cả thế giới ưa chuộng vì độ bền và độ tin cậy cao. Kèm theo đây chúng tôi xin gửi tới quý Ngài catalô và bảng giá của tất cả mọi sản phẩm hiện có của chúng tôi. Giá này được tính bằng đồng Bảng Anh theo cách thức giao hàng C.I.F Hải Phòng. Về tình hình tài chính của chúng tôi, xin mời quý Ngài liên hệ với Ngân hàng Thương Mại Việt Nam, Văn phòng chính tại Hà Nội. Chúng tôi mong nhận được sự hồi âm của Quý Ngài. Kính thư, Letter 14 Dear Mrs. R. Morley, We have your request for a copy of “Cook with the Experts”, which we recently published. We regret to say that this book is temporary out of stock. A copy will, however, go forward promptly when a new supply is available. This should be approximately 10th April. Personal, Dear Mrs R. Morley, Thank you for your request in “Cook with the Experts”. It seems that this book is attracting more attention than we predicted, and at the moment there is not a single copy left. Naturally, we ordered a new priting before we ran out and we expect to receive copies by 10th April. To speed up delivery, I am having your book sent directly from the printer, so you should have it by the time we get ours. Letter 15 Dear Sirs, We have seen your advertisement in the “PC world” and would be glad if you could send us the Latest catalogue and price list for your latest servers. We are waiting your early reply. Yours faithfully, Letter 16 Dear Sirs, Thank you for your inquiry dated 1st April for our servers’ catalogue and price list. We have much pleasure in sending you here with the latest catalogue of our best selling servers and hope they will be of your interest. We would also like to draw your special attention to our newly NH9000 server for it is an outstanding success. We believe that it presents the best value of this type of goods and we are sure that you will find it sells well indeed. If you have any further inquiry, please do not hesitate to let us know. We look forward to your order, which will have our best attention. Yours faithfully, Sample Translation a) Thư hỏi hàng Thưa quý Ngài, Chúng tôi đã đọc quảng cáo của quý Ngài trên tạp chí “Thế giới vi tính” và chúng tôi sẽ rất vui mừng nếu quý Ngài gửi cho chúng tôi catalô cũng như bảng giá mới nhất của các loại máy chủ của quý Ngài. Kính thư, b) Thư trả lời Thưa quý Ngài, Chúng tôi xin cảm ơn lá thư đề ngày 01 tháng 4 của quý Ngài về catalô và biểu giá cho các máy chủ của chúng tôi. Chúng tôi rất vui mừng gửi kèm theo đây catalô và biểu giá mới nhất của các máy chủ của chúng tôi và hi vọng Ngài sẽ quan tâm. Tôi cũng muốn quý Ngài dành sự chú ý đặc biệt cho sản phẩm máy chủ của chúng tôi bởi vì đó là một thành công lớn của chúng tôi. Chúng tôi tin tưởng rằng đây là sản phẩm tốt nhất thuộc loại này và chúng tôi chắc chắn rằng quý Ngài sẽ thấy nó bán chạy thật sự. Nếu có gì quan tâm thêm, xin quý Ngài đừng ngại báo cho chúng tôi biết. Chúng tôi hi vọng sẽ nhận được đơn đặt hàng của quý Ngài mà chúng tôi sẽ dành cho nó một sự quan tâm đặc biệt. Kính thư, ._.