翻译小学堂：原文+参考译文（逐段解析）
形式：先思考，后动笔，再对比，分析总结，内化吸收
翻译学堂【虎妈】
【句段1】Even before Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Chua's proudly politically incorrect account of raising her children "the Chinese way", arrived in bookstores Jan 11, her parenting methods were the incredulous, indignant talk of every playground, supermarket and coffee shop.
【句段2】A prepublication excerpt in the Wall Street Journal (titled Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior) started the ferocious buzz; the online version has been read more than 1 million times and attracted more than 7, 000 comments so far.
【句段3】When Chua appeared Jan l1 on the Today Show, the usually sunny host Meredith Vieira could hardly contain her contempt as she read aloud a sample of viewer comments: “She's a monster"; "The way she raised her kids is outrageous"; "Where is the love, the acceptance?
【句段4】Chua, a petite 48-year-old who carries off a short-skirted wardrobe that could easily be worn by her daughters (now 15 and 18), gave as good as she got.
【句段5】“To be perfectly honest, I know that a lot of Asian parents are secretly shocked and horrified by many aspects of Western parenting,” including "how much time Westerners allow their kids to waste —hours on Facebook and computer games—and in some ways, how poorly they prepare them for the future," she told Vieira with a toss of her long hair. "It's a tough world out there.”
【句段6】Chua's reports from the trenches of authoritarian parenthood are indeed disconcerting, even shocking, in their candid admission of maternal ruthlessness. Her book is a Mommie Dearest for the age of the memoir, when we tell tales on ourselves instead of our relatives.
【句段7】But there's something else behind the intense reaction to Tiger Mother, which has shot to the top of best-seller lists even as it’s been denounced on the airwaves and the Internet.
参考译文（逐段解析）
原文：
Even before Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Chua's proudly politically incorrect account of raising her children "the Chinese way", arrived in bookstores Jan 11, her parenting methods were the incredulous, indignant talk of every playground, supermarket and coffee shop.
参考译文：
在《虎妈战歌》1 月 11 日在书店公开发售之前，人们对蔡美儿引以为傲但又政治不正确的“中国式”育儿方法的议论声就已经充斥于运动场、超市和咖啡店。有人深表怀疑，有人义愤填膺。
重点词汇：
hymn 为…唱赞歌；赞美诗
account 叙述；说明
do xxx the Chinese way 中国式的 xxx 做事方法
parenting method 为人父母的的方法；养育孩子的方法
incredulous 表示怀疑的；难以置信的
翻译要点：
1. 这句话相对较长，而且句子的主体结构被插入语 Chua's proudly politically incorrect account of raising her children "the Chinese way"给隔开了，因此对于理解造成了一定障碍。
2. 插入语 Chua's proudly politically incorrect account of raising her children "the Chinese way"是对 Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother 的进一步解释，两者加起来构成了 arrived 的主语。如果按照英语原文的结构来翻译的话，会导致译文结构臃肿。可以考虑将这部分信息作为一个单独的句子处理，如下：在《虎妈战歌》一书中，蔡美儿引以为傲但又政治不正确地描述了她如何以中国式的方法养育了她的孩子。但是，还在该书于 1 月 11 日在书店公开发售之前，人们就…
断句：
Even before /Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Chua's proudly politically incorrect account of raising her children "the Chinese way", /arrived in bookstores Jan 11, /her parenting methods were the incredulous, indignant talk of every playground, supermarket and coffee shop.
句段二
原文：
A prepublication excerpt in the Wall Street Journal (titled Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior) started the ferocious buzz; the online version has been read more than 1 million times and attracted more than 7, 000 comments so far.
参考译文：
《华尔街日报》一篇名为《中国母亲为什么更了不起》的文章的预印摘要激起了强烈反响。截止目前，该文的在线版点击量已超过一百万人次,评论超过七千条。
重点词汇：
prepublication excerpt 预印摘要
Wall Street Journal 华尔街日报
superior（在品质上）更好的；占优势的；更胜一筹的
ferocious 凶猛的；残暴的；猛烈的
buzz 蜂鸣声；唧唧喳喳的谈话声
翻译要点：
1. ferocious buzz 字面意思是 “针对 xxx 猛烈的议论”，可以转译为“强烈的反响”
2. 网络上的文章，阅读一次就相当于一个人次的点击量，而 comment 则是评论或者留言的意思。
3. attracted more than 7, 000 comments 可以按照字面翻译成“吸引了超过 7000条评论”。不过中文往往可以省略动词，而且可以让句子更简练生动。因此，也可以翻译成“评论超过七千条”。
断句：
A prepublication excerpt in the Wall Street Journal (titled Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior) started the ferocious buzz; /the online version has been read more than 1 million times and attracted more than 7, 000 comments so far.
句段三
原文：
When Chua appeared Jan l1 on the Today Show, the usually sunny host Meredith Vieira could hardly contain her contempt as she read aloud a sample of viewer comments: “She's a monster"; "The way she raised her kids is outrageous"; "Where is the love, the acceptance?
参考译文：
1 月 11 日,在蔡美儿参加《今日秀》节目时,一贯欢快的主持人梅雷迪思·维埃尔（Meredith Vieira）在选读读者评论时几乎无法掩饰其轻蔑之情,评论包括“她是个恶魔”；“她的育儿方法骇人听闻”；“哪里有爱？哪里有宽容？”
重点词汇：
Today Show 今日秀
sunny 阳光灿烂的；欢乐的；快乐的
host （电视台）主持人
can hardly do xxx 几乎无法 xxx
翻译要点：
读者的网络留言使用了典型的口语语体，翻译的时候需要采用对等的中文语 体。在确保意思准确的基础上，翻译人员有比较大的发挥空间。大家可以想象自己是读者，会使用什么样的用词表达同样的感情。
断句：
When Chua appeared Jan l1 on the Today Show,/ the usually sunny host Meredith Vieira could hardly contain her contempt as she read aloud a sample of viewer comments: /“She's a monster"; "The way she raised her kids is outrageous"; "Where is the love, the acceptance?
句段四
原文：
Chua, a petite 48-year-old who carries off a short-skirted wardrobe that could easily be worn by her daughters (now 15 and 18), gave as good as she got.
参考译文：
蔡美儿对批评给予了针锋相对的回击。48 岁的她身材娇小,穿着短裙,她的两个女儿（现在分别是 15 岁和 18 岁）都可以穿下她的裙子了。
重点词汇：
petite 纤弱的；娇小的
carry off 夺走；拿走；轻松完成 （If you carry something off, you do it successfully.）
give as good as one gets 以其人之道，还治其人之身；以牙还牙；一报还一报
翻译要点：
1. carries off a short-skirted wardrobe 的意思很不好理解；根据后半句的“that could easily be worn by her daughters”，可以判断 short-skirted wardrobe 是短裙子的意思，而不是衣柜。
2. gave as good as she got 的意思是说蔡美儿对她从读者（也有可能包括主持人以及现场观众）那里得到的反应（she got）做出了对等的回击（gave as good as…）
断句：
Chua,/ a petite 48-year-old who carries off a short-skirted wardrobe that could easily be worn by her daughters (now 15 and 18), / gave as good as she got.
句段五
原文：
“To be perfectly honest, I know that a lot of Asian parents are secretly shocked and horrified by many aspects of Western parenting,” including "how much time Westerners allow their kids to waste —hours on Facebook and computer games—and in some ways, how poorly they prepare them for the future," she told Vieira with a toss of her long hair. "It's a tough world out there.”
参考译文：
“非常坦率地说,我知道很多亚洲父母私下里对西方育儿的很多方面深感震惊和恐惧,”比如“西方父母允许孩子浪费大量的时间上‘脸谱’网站以及玩游戏—以及从某些方面说,西方父母在帮助孩子做好准备面对未来这个事情上表现非常糟糕,”她拨弄了一下长发,告诉维埃尔,“外面的世界很残酷。”
重点词汇：
to be honest 坦率地说
prepare sb for the future 帮助某人做好准备面对未来
翻译要点：
"and in some ways, how poorly they prepare them for the future"这部分，也是including 所涵盖的范围，也就是说，亚洲父母对于这种情况，也是“深感震惊和恐惧”的
断句：
“To be perfectly honest,/ I know that / a lot of Asian parents are secretly shocked and horrified by / many aspects of Western parenting,” including / "how much time Westerners allow their kids to waste —hours on Facebook and computer games—and in some ways, how poorly they prepare them for the future," / she told Vieira with a toss of her long hair. / "It's a tough world out there.”
句段六
原文：
Chua's reports from the trenches of authoritarian parenthood are indeed disconcerting, even shocking, in their candid admission of maternal ruthlessness. Her book is a Mommie Dearest for the age of the memoir, when we tell tales on ourselves instead of our relatives.
参考译文：
蔡美儿的书中所记录的挟专制父母之威施行严母酷行的做法确实让人不快,甚至令人震惊。她的书是电影《亲爱的妈咪》回忆录形式的翻版,只不过讲述的是自己而不是亲戚的故事。
重点词汇：
trench 沟；海沟；渠；战壕
authoritarian 威权主义的；专制的
disconcerting 令人不安的
admission（尤指对过错、罪行的）承认，招认，招供
Mommie Dearest 《亲爱的妈咪》
翻译要点：
1. 第一句话 Chua's reports from the trenches of authoritarian parenthood are indeed disconcerting, even shocking, in their candid admission of maternal ruthlessness.在理解以及翻译上，都有比较高的难度。我们可以先对英语原文进行结构上的拆分，在准确吃透原文意思的基础上，再组织译文的语言。如下：1) Chua's reports were written from the trenches of authoritarian parenthood.2) The reports are indeed disconcerting and even shocking.3) In her reports, she candidly admitted her maternal ruthlessness.
2. Mommie Dearest 是 1981 年上映的一部电影，改编自琼·克劳馥收养的孩子之一的克里斯蒂娜的“回忆录”，这本书对作者自己从克劳馥那里受到的待遇进行了描述。了解了这个背景之后，我们才能更好地理解 for the age of the memoir 以及 when we tell tales on ourselves instead of our relatives 的含义。
断句：
Chua's reports from the trenches of authoritarian parenthood are indeed disconcerting, even shocking, in their candid admission of maternal ruthlessness. /Her book is a Mommie Dearest for the age of the memoir, when we tell tales on ourselves instead of our relatives.
句段七
原文：
But there's something else behind the intense reaction to Tiger Mother, which has shot to the top of best-seller lists even as it’s been denounced on the airwaves and the Internet.
参考译文：
尽管在电台和网络上饱受非议，《虎妈战歌》依然荣登畅销书排行榜，但是这后面公众的激烈反应令人寻味。
重点词汇：
intense 严肃紧张的；激烈的；热情的
best-seller list 畅销书排行榜
denounce 谴责；指责；
airwave 空中电波；无线电波（引申为电台）
翻译要点：
本句的结构比较复杂，包含了一个 which 引导的非限定性的定语从句，而且这个定语从句里面又包含了一个从句。因此，需要打破原文的语序，才能让译文更通顺，符合中文的表达逻辑。
断句：
But there's something else behind the intense reaction to Tiger Mother, /which has shot to the top of best-seller lists /even as it’s been denounced on the airwaves and the Internet.