A Translation of Habit Stacking: 97 Small Life Changes That Take 5 Minutes or Less by S.J. Scott

Abstract

The book chosen for this applied thesis is Habit Stacking: 97 Small Life Changes That Take 5 Minutes or Less, by S. J. Scott. The book explains 97 small changes that can be built into a single routine that people can follow on a daily basis. These changes can be made on different life aspects such as productivity, relationships, finances, organization, spirituality and mental well-being, health and physical fitness, and leisure. This book belongs to the genre of Self-help which is considered to be one of the most popular book genres in America and other parts of the world. People turn to these books to change and improve their lives without seeking the help of a professional. In many cases, these books truly help readers to think and act differently. Here, translation presents problems as it is made between languages belonging to different language families such as English and Arabic, where linguistic and cultural mismatches are sometimes inevitable. In this work, the source language may contain words or expressions that do not correspond entirely to the target language. The introductory part discusses two problems encountered in the translation of the chosen book: idioms and proper nouns. A literature review of both is presented along with the strategies employed to solve these problems. Some examples from both texts are provided to illustrate these strategies.