UNIT 5.

COLLOCATION

Vocabulary: Poverty reduction goals, Vietnamese achievements in poverty reduction

Background knowledge: Poverty reduction
Skills:
Identify the use of collocations in a text
Compare the use of collocations in English and Vietnamese
Select suitable and equivalent word combinations in the target language

The Rise of Vietnam: Poverty Reduction and Opportunities

When referencing the decline of poverty that has characterized the past three decades, it
is impossible to ignore the rise of Vietnam. In the past 30 years, the nation has
undergone a transformation and poverty reduction has played a fundamental role. As

20.7% in the past 2

This fall in poverty has not occurred in
isolation. Vietnam has also achieved several

Sustainable Development Goals. The nation

has expanded health insurance coverage to
over 80% of the population, increased access
to safe drinking water to over 90% of the
population and achieved nearly universal
access to electricity in Vietnamese
households.
The rise of Vietnam has not left the nation in perfect condition. As the economy has
expanded, new challenges have arisen, particularly in addressing high poverty levels that

an excellent example of one of the many countries that have played a part in global
poverty reduction through the decades.
As poverty rates declined in Vietnam, its economy transformed completely. Currently,
Vietnam is situated as one of the most rapidly growing economies in the world. Statistics
growth has been at least

ten times what it was in 1985.

The rise of Vietnam has made the nation an important global trading partner. It has
drawn foreign investment from large technological and apparel corporations and has
become a key exporter of technological equipment, sports footwear and textile products.

Translation 1 Page 1
With the fastest-growing middle class in Southeast Asia, Vietnam also offers a large

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consumer base for foreign pr
transformed from one of the poorest countries in the world to one with rapid economic
growth and vast potential.

COLLOCATION
By definition, collocation is a word or phrase that is often used with another word or
phrase, in a way that sounds correct to people who have spoken the language all their
lives. It can also be defined as the combination of words formed when two or more
words are used together in a way that sounds natural. (Cambridge dictionary)
Word combination:
ENGLISH VIETNAMESE
adjective + noun burning issue v ng
hot topic ch
noun + noun bus stop tr
train station
ga xe l a
verb + noun spread the news
loan tin
take medicine
u ng thu c
noun + verb the law prohibits/forbids
lu t c m (m t vi
(something)
adverb + adjective totally different
t
extremely similar ng
verbs + prepositional phrase look for m
turn into tr
verb + adverb dance wildly nh ng
sing beautifully

Exercise 1. Individual work

Fill in the blanks to complete the Vietnamese translation of the following sentences.
1. In the past 30 years, the nation has undergone a transformation and poverty reduction
has played a fundamental role.

gi
2. Vietnam has also achieved several milestones
Sustainable Development Goals.
Vi n B n
v p Qu ra.

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3. The nation has expanded health insurance coverage to over 80% of the population,
increased access to safe drinking water to over 90% of the population and achieved
nearly universal access to electricity in Vietnamese households.

Qu , ..........
ng tc c Vi t Nam.

4. As the economy has expanded, new challenges have arisen, particularly in addressing
inority population.

is n c a n n kinh t c bi t trong vi c gi i
quy t nh ng v c v n t n t i trong c c
thi u s Vi t Nam.

5. Despite this, Vietnam serves as an excellent example of one of the many countries
that have played a part in global poverty reduction through the decades.

y, Vi t nam.................................. m t trong nh ng qu
c gi i quy t v n n u trong
nh ng th a qua.

COLLOCATION REPLACEMENT
When combined with different partners, a word can be translated differently into the
target language.

Black

Ng

There is a fact that a word combination that sounds correct to speakers of one language
might not be natural to speakers of another language if all the component words are
translated singly and literally. In order to solve the problem, translators tend to replace
the original word combination with an equivalent combination in the target language.

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 Examples

g p ph i nhi trong cu c chi n ch ng Virus Corona:

X We are meeting many difficulties in the fight against Coronavirus.
having/ encountering/ experiencing /facing many difficulties in the fight
against Coronavirus.

2. Vi electricity supply is fairly reliable if compared with Myanmar and

Pakistan.
X N u so v ngu n cung c n c a Vi t
y.
N u so v ngu n cung c n c a Vi t
i nh.

Exercise 2. Individual work

Translate the following phrases into Vietnamese.

Source language Target language

to experience a significant breakthrough

to forge closer ties

to ease a longtime ban

the mythical medical qualities

to fight 17 wars with ...

to win independence

Exercise 3. Pairwork

Work in pairs and compare answers from exercise 2. Choose the best version to
translate the following sentences into Vietnamese.
1. Emerging as one of the key bilateral relationships in the Asia-Pacific, ties between
the United States and Vietnam have experienced a significant breakthrough in recent
times.
.........................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................

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2. Two decades after normalizing relations with Vietnam, the United States is seeking
to forge even closer ties as the two countries face a common challenge in China.
.........................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................
3. To that end, the Obama administration recently eased a longtime ban on providing
lethal weapons to Vietnam and approved the sale of technology for a civilian nuclear
energy program.
.........................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................
4. Various reports show that Vietnamese kill more rhinos for their horns than any other
nation. Chinese value those horns for their mythical medical qualities - like so many
exotic-animal body parts.
.........................................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................................
5. The country has fought 17 wars with China since winning independence more than
1,000 years ago.
.........................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................

Exercise 4. Group work

a. The class is set into 5 groups. Each group takes one part from A-E below and
discusses as many ways as possible to translate the phrases in bold.

1. To achieve goals of poverty eradication, it is important to think through

solutions that break the cycle of poverty that has encased families.
A
2. The case for tackling child poverty is to fulfill the right of every child to
achieve her or his potential.

3. Despite progress made in poverty reduction in the last decades, there

remain about 4 million children in Viet Nam who experience at least two
B
deprivations in the areas of education, health, nutrition, shelter, water and
sanitation, information, social inclusion and protection.

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 4. Evidence confirms that more than half of ethnic minority children
experience multidimensional poverty.

5. Children face multiple vulnerabilities due to the changing socio-economic

context: rapid urbanization, climate change and natural disasters.
C 6. Children are at higher risk of falling into poverty due to malnutrition, lack
of access to water and sanitation as well as to quality education and skills
development.

7. The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified child poverty, wherein the

multiple dimensions have been exacerbated.
D
8. Child poverty exerts a detrimental impact on human capital
development and consequently on economic growth.

9. Universal child benefits must be positioned within and supported by

broader social policies where cash and services
E wellbeing.
10. Due to the disruption to regular services, many parents experienced job
loss or reduced income, making them slide further into poverty.

b. Regroup so as to make new groups of 5. Each group should include at least one
student that translates part A-E. Discuss the translation of the phrases in bold,
then translate these 10 sentences into Vietnamese.

Exercise 5. Homework

Translate the following sentences into English. Pay attention to the underlined word
combinations.

1. i m i, Vi c nhi u to l n v kinh t
h gi
2. Th c ti m ts
th iv is n kinh t c c.
3. v
,v so v i th i h Nam.
4. h c v
t i Vi t Nam.
5. M mang l cm i

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cho Vi t

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6. Vi t t trong nh khu v
c ti p c u, bao g uc c s ch, v

ng, y t ch v n, t

n.
7. h b c,
c i thi ng, p b n v ng c kh i

8. S n nhanh c a t ng l trong nh im
t i thi u t ng l c ng l
m c s ng th l c ph i.
9. T ng l l m
h tr thi t th c cho t ng l b t c i thi n
m c s ng.
10. Y u t ng l c c iv i c hi n gi

n v ng, th hi n nhi n.

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