1．7. 3 Read More多读
It is last but not least．Some Chinese students of English，especially junior students，feel that their translation standards stagnate or develop very slowly．Although they have learned grammar，memorized thousands of words and phrases，and also spoken everyday English，they，after that，still have difficulty making further improvement in translation．And then they are wondering why the pace in this field comes to a standstill and how they make further progress and take a longer step．Even some of them give it up．This is a really common phenomenon and also an awkward situation for translation teachers because they cannot find the solutions that students are eager to know．The conditions that restrict the further and faster development are many-sided．They are possibly for lack of the knowledge between two cultures，of the grammatical rules，of English vocabulary，or of diligence; probably because of one＇s experience，age，sex，interest，motivation，etc．Such a lot of factors，which influence its improvement，could make many learners withdraw．It is unnecessary，we think，for Chinese learners of English to think much about these factors in order not to form a big barrier to their goal．
What，you may ask，is the way to better advance translation progress？Though it is hard to give a satisfactory answer to this question，let us elbow our way through the difficulties．
As soon as they are talking about translation，Chinese students of English always think over the language＇s focal points，words and phrases firstly．They then make efforts to translate them．But as some of them have grasped thousands of vocabulary and understood basic grammatical rules，they begin to realize that they can still not render it well．Just then they would complain that their teachers taught them little．Some of them could not translate the original well into the target language because they misunderstood some of the words and phrases，or context．Why？The root cause is nothing but lack of reading and，therefore lack of sensitivity to the language，lack of intellectual and cultural aspects．
Reading，that is，is one of the best ways to improve translation quality．The four major reasons are as follows．
Firstly，through reading a reader can be familiar with the types of writing，which refer to the way in which language is expressed．Generally speaking，there are 4 types of writing such as narration，description，exposition and argumentation，which are the most useful ones．The style，that is to say，is the linguistic characteristic of a specific text．Each type has its own style．Narration，which simply means storytelling，is a basic pattern of organizing our thoughts that we use almost daily．Description，different from the method of narration，emphasizes our sensory impressions instead．Exposition deals with processes and relationships and answers questions of how something works，how something happens，what the outcome of a certain event may be，or why a certain situation exists．Argumentation is to persuade the listener or the reader to embrace a viewpoint．If a reader wants to know more detailed information about the features of each type，reading is still an effective way．English fictional prose，for example，has the following features:
Lexis is plentiful，esp．adjectives and adverbs are more frequent，and at some time visual and auditory words are adequate; sentence structures are more involved and longer; metaphor，simile，personification，irony，parallelism，hyperbole，etc．are much rhetorically used．
Let us see a couple of sentences from Odour of Chrysanthemums by D．H．Lawrence．
“A woman，walking up the railway line to Unerwood，drew back into the hedge，held her basket aside，and watched the footplate of the engine advancing．The trucks thumped heavily past，one by one，with slow inevitable movement，as she stood insignificantly trapped between the jolting black wagons hedge; then they curved away towards the coppice where the withered oak leaves dropped noiselessly，while the birds，pulling at the scarlet hips beside the track，made off into dusk that had already crept into the spinney．”
The excerpt only has two sentences．But we can notice that the sentences are much longer and the structure is complex．Adjectives and adverbs are frequently used to bring visual imagery and emphasize movement and activity．As English prose has the traits above，an English reader can learn the way that the writer shows and the style of writing，through reading，therefore，the writing methods．Acquainted with the types of writing and writing methods，he or she can better comprehend reading materials，and increase his or her speed in reading．Simultaneously he or she，through more reading，can learn and get a lot．This is because reading a large number of materials，which cover such wide ranges as literature，art，history，popular science，biographical sketches，etc．，could broaden one＇s knowledge and horizons，increase one＇s interest in learning English．And then a reader will step by step improve his or her translation capacity and heighten his or her confidence in translation．
Secondly，a reader，through reading，can master all such aspects as idioms，expressions，grammatical rules and structures because all of them are involved in reading materials．If a reader reads much enough，and focuses his or her attention on them whenever necessary，he or she will automatically know what pronouns，adjectives，articles etc．are，how structures and forms are built up，and why tenses are used in this or that way．He or she does not need to make every effort to recite every word and phrase．Though he or she does it，this word or phrase is only an isolated one，and he or she can＇t use it naturally and flexibly because English learning needs practice．The more one reads，the better he or she comprehends English language．
Vocabulary is a headache for any English learner because English is a kind of language with a large vocabulary．Some learners try to find manifold ways to enlarge(enrich)their vocabulary，but most of them fail．The reason is that they simply learn words or phrases by rote，or even recite dictionaries．Gradually they lose interest in learning English because reciting from memory is a really dull and drab task．Reading，however，can solve the problem．The reader，on basis of his or her English level，should select reading materials which contain a certain number of new words that he or she can fully understand，memorize and know how to use．In this way，the reader can make much progress gradually．
Thirdly，a good reader，through reading，can not only pick up the useful idioms and expressions from the materials，but also learn and understand the different cultures between two languages，the knowledge a passage concerns and the background that relates to．The cultural differences between China and the West are frequently talked about in reading materials of the original．As you know，misunderstandings often occur between Chinese and Westerners not simply because of grammatical inaccuracy or incorrect usage of vocabulary items，but also because of differences in both customs and cultures．As a result，some of the common errors that Chinese make and the problems that may arise often occur in translation．In a sense，understanding customs and cultures of a country is the biggest barrier in translating．We should acquire a language while learning knowledge．Reading a lot is about to solve the problem．As a matter of fact，some Chinese students of English don＇t realize the importance of reading．As a learner reads enough English books，magazines and others，the language of English will be naturally acquired．
Fourthly，in our country although there are thousands of learners of English，few can just further study English abroad．Only those lucky birds have the good circumstance to practice English．Most of the learners of English in China can only stay at home，neither communicating with English-speaking people nor watching something good for listening practice．How can they improve their English？We are certain that reading is the best way because，through reading，each learner can touch upon the very real language，real foreign culture and real structures and forms，and create a moderate circumstance which he or she is suitable for．As a result，he or she may enlarge his or her vocabulary，widen his or her field of vision，and gradually improve his or her translation ability．After a translator，through reading，obtains a number of useful language expressions，helpful idioms and beautiful sentences，he or she can translate a passage with facility．The Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu(杜甫)said ，“读书破万卷，下笔如有神。”(After you have read over ten thousands books，you find yourself writing like magic．)In short，reading plays an important role in translation．Reading ability is one of the important symbols to measure whether English level is high or low．
In short，a translator＇s sensitiveness to the languages is one who is sensitive to the subtleties and nuances of words and expressions，and the elegance and strength of the syntactic structures．Newmark explains it this way ，“The translator＇s craft lies in his command of an exceptionally large vocabulary as well as all syntactic resources—his ability to use them elegantly，flexibly，succinctly．”(Newmark: 1988，Approaches to Translation)Either to develop a sensibility to the language，or to be able to appreciate the aesthetic value of the literary works，one thing the translator cannot do without is reading．As a rule，a good translator is a good writer，and a good writer is a good reader．Therefore，to be a good translator，he or she has to read more．