Contemporary Arabic and English Idioms: Translating Difficulties and Strategies

Abstract

Translation is prospering in Iraq in general and people have become more interested in translation due to the fact that Translation is a primary way of communication. Also, Translation has been a good business recently. Idioms are culturally specific and contain several cultural characteristics, translating idioms is difficult. The goal of this study is to have better understand the challenges faced by Translation Iraqi undergraduates while translating idioms. The researchers conducted a test to determine the problems and difficulties. 60 senior students from University of Mosul and Cihan University-Erbil in Iraq participated in the test most of them were females. The study concludes that incorrect translation resulted from lack of understanding the culture, the misuse of idioms dictionaries, and the lack of equivalence.