What is it about?
This paper presents a brief review of translation techniques and study the development of Vinay and Darbelnet’s initial proposal. For some people, the study of translation techniques is the cornerstone of translation methodology and translator training; for others it is a theoretical anacronysm. The problems posed by the proposal have been pointed out and discussed by numerous scholars, but that does not seem to have been enough, in many cases, to break the deadlock. The present situation offers us a host of names such as procedures, strategies, shifts, methods, replacements and operations that are synonymous to a greater or lesser degree with techniques, while polysemy is also a fact of many of these terms due to conceptual distinctions that are drawn by different authors, creating much confusion. If we can’t always be original let’s at least try to be clear and coherent in our use or terms and concepts to reduce the degreeof confusion. That is the basic aim of this paper. The conclusion for translator training is that the initial proposal, if used at all, should be presented with great caution. The purpose of grouping solutions into solution-types is to provide meaningful samples of options for the trainee and illustrations of translator behaviour. Ultimately, the future translator will have to deal with situations and contingencies that have not been presented in class or studied in the literature, and it is with this in mind that strategies and attitudes are to be worked on. Strategies and ‘solution-types’ are to be presented as mind-openers, not as a closed set of categories that act as blinkers in the search for optimal solutions and fully satisfactory translations. Publication Date: 2000 Research Interests: Translation Studies, Translation theory, Translation Strategies, Translation of Metaphor, Translation Shifts, Solution Types and Solutions to Translation Problems