Abstract

This papers looks at which translation strategies and procedures can be used to solve difficulties in the translation of references to cultural phenomena and terminology in a text on Swedish education reform. The translation strategies used to deal with the translation of references to cultural phenomena are functional equivalence (Newmark), omission and addition (Ingo) and borrowing (Vinay and Darbelnet). The strategies used to solve difficulties concerning the second problem area terminology are the use of term banks, online corpora, Internet searches and parallel texts to cross-check and find specific vocabulary; and the use of compounding to form terms (Ingo). The conclusion of the study is that functional equivalence, omission and addition were the most common procedures used to find possible solutions to difficulties encountered in the translation of references to cultural phenomena. But that borrowing was not a suitable strategy since the text is aimed at a generic international English-speaking audience and the use of Swedish words could hinder the reader’s understanding of the text. The use of parallel texts and Internet searches proved the best strategies when dealing with difficulties concerning the translation of terminology.

Key words: functional equivalent, borrowing, addition and omission, parallel texts, bilingual corpora, terminology, references to cultural phenomena.