我曾尝试阅读一本《红楼梦》的英译本。该译本竟把林黛玉直译成“Black Jade”（即黑色的玉）。翻了几页关于“Black Jade”小姐的事迹之后，我实在读不下去，不得不把译本放下。像“Black Jade”这样的名字，岂能与羞花闭月的孱弱女子相提并论！

　　Not only are there differences between Chinese and English, there are differences within each of the two languages as well.

　　不仅中英文之间存有差异，同一个语文之中也存在着不同之处。

　　Within the Chinese language, there are already discernible differences in the Chinese used in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.

　　以中文而言，中国大陆、台湾、香港、马来西亚和新加坡等地方所用的“中文”，彼此间已经有很明显的差距。

　　"Thank you for your cooperation" is still often renderedas "Xiexie peihe" (“谢谢配合”) in mainland China. To most Chinese Singaporeans, this means: "Thank you for your co-ordination"!

　　在中国大陆，还是有不少地方用“谢谢配合”，不用我们较熟悉的“谢谢合作”。

　　Recently, I came across this Chinese word, tongli xin (同理心), which was not found in any of my dictionaries. It seemed to be a Taiwanese word which means empathy.

　　最近我偶然看到“同理心”这个词，找遍了词典都找不到这个词。它似乎是出自台湾的新词，有因处于他人处境而对他人产生同情、怜悯之义。

　　As for English, the same language is used very differently in different places like Great Britain, the United States, Singapore, the Philippines, India and so on. Talk to a non-Singaporean English-speaker about void decks and he or she would probably not know what you are talking about.

　　至于英文，同一个字在不同的地方有不同的用法。英文盛行于英国、美国、新加坡、菲律宾、印度等国家，但各国之间却用法不一。倘若我们对一名非新加坡人谈起“void deck”（即组屋底层）的话，他将不知所云。

　　In the Philippines, to salvage someone means to execute that person. And the word, evacuate, is not uttered in polite society. It means to move one's bowels.

　　在菲律宾，“salvage”一个人并不是抢救那个人，而是将他处决，而“evacuate”（即疏散）一字在上流社会中是不便启齿的，因为它有如厕之义。

　　These examples show how differences in culture exist among and within languages. The challenge for translators and interpreters is to be aware of these differences.

　　这些例子说明无论是在不同语文之间，或者同一个语文之中，文化差异都是存在的。翻译员和通译员所面对的挑战就是要了解这些差异。

　　However, besides being aware of differences, they must also keep abreast of changes. As we enter the next Century and millennium, we must be adept at knowing or even coming out with

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