By John Tozzi
In his welcome address Feb. 15 to QCC faculty and administrators, visiting Fulbright Scholar, Professor Cheng Zeng, said understanding the fundamental differences between the Chinese and English languages is the first step toward bridging the gap between the two tongues.QCC last week welcomed Zeng, a university professor from Beijing who teaches at the School of English and International Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University and has translated literary works by authors such as Eudora Welty and Margaret Atwood into Chinese. Zeng is teaching a course on Chinese culture and society at the college on a Fulbright Scholar grant for the spring semester.”If the language you are learning is very different from your native language, you will definitely find it very difficult to learn,” Zeng said.The Chinese language, he said, has no tenses and no clear breaks between sentences, giving it a more diffused structure than compact English sentences.As an example, Zeng cited the common English expression “long time, no see” as a literal translation of a Chinese saying. The sentence structure has no subject and uses incorrect tenses.”It's just word placed beside word. [There are] no structural things,” he said.Because of the structure of the language, Chinese is far more dependent on context than English is, he said. If translators and people trying to communicate across linguistic lines realize this difference, he said, they will be able to understand each other better.Zeng also said translation was essential to the formation of the modern Chinese state. Communist texts translated from English, German and Russian formed the basis of the ideology of Mao Zedong.”Without translation, there would be no today's China,” he said.As one of about 850 Fulbright Scholars selected to teach abroad this year, Zeng will teach an interdisciplinary course on China examining the country's mass media. He said both Chinese and Americans highly value education.”In China, teachers are compared to engineers. Both are responsible for shaping the human spirit,” Zeng said.In addition to teaching, Zeng will participate in events for Asian Heritage Month in April.Reach reporter John Tozzi by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300 Ext. 188.
