Handling Difficulty in Translating English Business E-Mail From Chinese Companies At PT Mondave International.

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Maranatha Christian University

ABSTRACT

Tugas Akhir ini memaparkan analisis permasalahan yang saya hadapi ketika saya melakukan kegiatan magang di PT. Mondave International pada bulan Juli 2012 yaitu kesulitan dalam menerjemahkan e-mail bisnis dalam bahasa Inggris yang dikirim oleh perusahaan RRC (Republik Rakyat China). Objek yang diteliti adalah e-mail yang dikirim oleh

perusahaan asing, khususnya e-mail yang dikirim oleh perusahaan RRC (Republik Rakyat China).

Berdasarkan analisis, masalah ini terjadi karena kurangnya kosa kata bisnis yang saya miliki, kesulitan dalam memahami e-mail yang dikirim oleh perusahaan RRC (Republik Rakyat China) yang tidak menggunakan struktur bahasa Inggris yang benar, serta kurangnya pengalaman saya dalam menerjemahkan bisnis e-mail. Masalah ini berdampak negatif bagi hasil terjemahan yang dihasilkan. Selain itu, kesulitan saya dalam

menerjemahkan berdampak pada waktu yang dipergunakan untuk menyelesaikan pekerjaan, serta teguran yang saya dapatkan secara langsung dari pimpinan. Saya memaparkan tiga solusi yang berpotensi untuk menangani kesulitan saya dalam menerjemahkan e-mail bisnis dalam bahasa Inggris yang dikirim oleh perusahaan RRC (Republik Rakyat China), beserta dampak positif dan negatif yang mungkin terjadi ketika solusi tersebut diterapkan. Solusi pertama adalah meningkatkan pengetahuan kosa kata bisnis yang saya miliki dengan cara membaca buku tentang bisnis. Solusi kedua yaitu mengambil kursus bahasa Mandarin. Solusi yang ketiga adalah belajar dari orang yang ahli dalam bidang penerjemahan.

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Hidayat : Iya betul. Jadi walaupun kita sudah menerjemahkan sesuatu yang menurut ilmu linguistik itu benar, belum tentu dalam bidang seni atau art itu bisa dianggap benar. Jadi menerjemahkan itu tergantung dari segi apa kita menerjemahkannya. Seperti halnya menerjemahkan sebuah kitab, itu dibutuhkan ilmu khusus yang disebut ilmu tafsir. Terjemahan saya pun belum tentu bisa terpakai dalam menerjemahkan sebuah kitab, saya masih belum mampu untuk menerjemahkan sebuah kitab. selama ini saya hanya menerjemahkan berdasarkan sudut lingusitiknya.

Helena : Jadi seorang expert itu tergantung bidangnya ya pak?

Hidayat : Iya betul, jadi kita akan sulit menemukan seorang yang ahli untuk memberikan ilmunya, pandangan yang tepat dengan apa yang kita butuhkan.

Helena : Baik pak, saya mengerti. Terus, apa, Pak efek negatif lain selain yang Bapak sebutkan tadi?

Hidayat : Tidak ada ukuran yang pasti bagaimana seseorang itu dikatakan seorang yang expert dalam bidang tertentu. Seorang yang expert itu yang bagaimana sih?

Helena : Jadi tidak ada ukuran yang pasti yah, Pak seseorang itu bisa dikatakan expert.

Hidayat : Benar.

Helena : Lalu pak, apakah ada seorang expert yang tidak mudah untuk berbagi ilmunya?

Hidayat : Ya, sebagian begitu.

Helena : Ya, saya mengerti pak. Terima kasih atas waktunya pak.

Hidayat : Sama – sama.

Name of interviewer : Helena Griselda

Name of respondent : Hidayat Saleh

Day & date of interview : Wednesday, November 1, 2012

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APPENDIX : C

EXAMPLE OF BUSINESS E-MAILS

From: [email protected] To: mondave international

Sent: Monday, July 17, 2012 2:26 PM Subject: Re: process of nonwoven fabric

Dear Sir,

We like to follow-up our offer of our nonwoven fabric and give you explain regarding your

question about the process of our nonwoven material.

This information I convey you is from our technical departemen.

Please take notice to the following instruction of treating nonwoven fabric:

Since the fabric is not hairy so you don’t need to pass the fabric through Singing Machine for hair removal.

If you want to die the fabric it must not use exhaustion process in haspel or jigger with long

liquor ratio or vlot.

You may color the fabric with pigment dying system by padding method.

For finishing you can stiffen the fabric by using PVAC or coating with binder.

I hop you the above explain is understand by you.

If you have any more question please contact us

By the way if you ordered your order will arrive this next October. We shipping your order

early next month.

Thank you & best regards,

王阿曼达 Amanda Wang

Sales Department

Tel: +8610-69802775 ext 887 Fax: +8610-69802776

MSN: [email protected]

Website:_{<www.ddnchina.com>}

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Nowadays, most business companies have partnerships with foreign

companies. To communicate with foreign companies, they use English as

the language of instruction. As an article entitled “Business English

Communcation Skills” states,“Business English communication

undoubtedly is the global language of communication which has gained

importance especially in the commercial world” (par. 1). Along with the

growing use of information technology and the Internet, companies use

e-mails to communicate with foreign companies to facilitate cooperation

without having to meet each other.

Even though English is commonly used in business communication,

not everyone who works in the company can speak English well.

Therefore, to understand foreign language texts, such as e-mails, a

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translating is “the process of transferring written text from source language

into target language” (6). Translation is not mere transferring one

language into another language, but it should use the equivalent words,

approaching the original text, without changing the meaning of the text.

On July 2, 2012 - 31 July 2012, I had the opportunity to do an

internship as a secretary in PT. Mondave International, which is located in

Jalan Cisurung KM 2.2 Desa Cangkuang Kulon, Bandung. I chose to do

my internship in the business field because there are many opportunities

to apply the knowledge that I have acquired during my study in the D3

English Programme.

During the internship, my duty was to make reports of the incoming

business e-mails from Chinese companies to my supervisor. I had to

translate the e-mails because all of the reports that I had to give to my

supervisor should be in Indonesian. I got many experiences and lessons

from the internship. I learned the lesson from the problems that I faced

when doing my duties. One of the most problematic things that I faced is

my difficulty in translating English business e-mails sent by people of

non-English speaking countries especially China.

In this term paper, I analyze my problem in translating English business

e-mails. The analysis will be written systematically and critically to define

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B. Identification of the Problem

In this term paper, the problem will be analyzed to find out the answers

to the following questions :

1. Why do I have problem in translating English business e-mails?

2. How does the problem affect my working performance during my

internship?

3. What is the best solution to resolve my problem in translating

English business e-mails from Chinese companies?

C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study

The aim of this study is to explain the causes and the effects of the

difficulty in translating English business e-mails from Chinese companies.

This study also aims to find some effective ways of translating English

business e-mails.

This term paper is useful for the new employees who do not have any

previous working experience in a company before because it can give

them the information about translating English business e-mails problem in

the working situation and its solution. For the institution, PT. Mondave

International, this term paper will be useful for the employees who have

the same problem as I do. For the readers, it is expected that this term

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Maranatha Christian University Chinese companies. For me, this term paper will be useful to overcome

my problems in the company next time I have to work.

D. Description of the Institution

Based on the company profile, PT. Mondave International was

established in 2006 and located in Bandung, one of the centers of the

textile industry. The company was founded by Mr. David Kurniadi who

served as the head and assisted by Mr. Andreas Tjitrabudi as the director.

The company is a manufacturer and distributor of medical disposable

textile products which are made from non-woven materials.

The company produces a range of products, which are: wet cleaning

towels, bedding, surgical garments, sterile dry towels, and non-woven

bandages. All products are intended for medical use and can only be used

once. The products have been patented under the trademark

GOODHEALTH.

PT. Mondave International is concerned about customer satisfaction.

Thus, they pay attention to the quality of the products and good service.

The products offered have normal prices and are delivered on time.

PT. Mondave International is an export import company. It imports the

raw material from China. Besides the domestic market, PT. Mondave

International is also doing a comissioning job for a company in New

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E. Method of the Study

In doing this term paper, I used library research. Data collection was

done by finding information from books, articles, and Internet resources.

Data contained in this thesis was also based on my journal during the

internship at PT Mondave International.

The other method that I used is interview. I did an interview to gain

information about the effects of the solution. The interview data are

accompanied by the transcript of interview in appendix B.

F. Limitation of the Study

In this term paper, the study will focus on my difficulty of translating

English business e-mails from Chinese companies that I experienced

during my internship in PT. Mondave International in July 2012. I become

the subject of the research as the term paper is based on my personal

experience.

G. Organization of the Term Paper

This term paper consists of four chapters. Chapter One contains the

Background of the Study, Identification of the Problem, Obejctives and

Benefits of the Study, Description of the Instituion, Method of the Study,

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Maranatha Christian University contains the Problem Analysis, which consists of causes and effects of the

problem. Chapter Three contains Potential Solutions of the problem. The

last chapter is Chapter Four, which contains the Conclusion of the

problem. The next part is Bibliography which contains publication

information from all the sources cited in the term paper. The last part

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CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

Based on the analysis on the previous chapters, I find out that my

difficulties in translating English business e-mails from Chinese companies

is caused by my having a lack of business vocabulary, not being able to

fully comprehend some e-mails from Chinese companies that used

non-standard English grammar, and having a lack of practical experiences.

Realizing the causes, I try to find some potential solutions such as

developing my ability in business vocabulary by reading business books,

take a Mandarin course, and learning from the expert to deal with the

problem. In order to eliminate the causes, having analyzed the potential

solutions in the previous chapter, in this chapter, I am going to state and

explain the chosen solution from the three potential solutions mentioned

above.

In my opinion, the best potential solution to overcome my difficulty in

translating English business e-mails from foreign companies is the

combination of the three potential solutions. By doing these, it will be easy

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Maranatha Christian University knowledge about business and I can translate English business e-mails

well. Therefore, I have to read many books about business, take a

Mandarin course, and learn from the experiences of an expert.

I need to combine all of the three solutions that I have described in the

previous chapter because nowadays, most business companies have

partnership with foreign companies. One of the most common is Chinese

companies, as, at the moment, China dominates the business world.

Therefore, having a good command of Chinese will be an advantage.

Even when the Chinese communicate in English, they use non-standard

English grammar. They often use English with the influennce of their first

language. Learning Mandarin grammar will make it easy to understand

their aims and objectives when communicating, especially through

e-mails.

Then, the business world also has its own terms that not everyone

understands. Based on the results of my research, in order that

communication with foreign companies can run well, first I need to read

books about business so that my business vocabularies can evolve.

Reading is an effective way to increase our vocabulary. Learning from an

expert is also helpful in the business field. I can learn from their mistakes

and success to reduce my mistakes.

I suggest to those who want to work at a companies which do business

with foreign companies as a translator of business e-mails, to read many

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Maranatha Christian University business field, and take a Mandarin course in order to have enough

provision to work in a company. Moreover, it is also important to have

more pratices to become familiar with business terms which are often

found in business e-mails to reduce time in translating business e-mails

and avoid misunderstanding. By applying the solutions given, it is

expected that the difficulty in translating English business e-mails from

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Interview