Also provided below for your reading convenience is an important extract from the Translator's Preface of "Giving up 1" book, setting out some translation remarks. 

‘Revered–’

In the Sinhala text, the venerable Thera (the Author) compassionately refers to people/readers as “pinvat–”, which means meritorious, blessed, fortunate ones. Translation uses the term ‘revered’ to depict this meaning (e.g. revered-you, revered-benefactors, revered-folks).

Pāli terms

In the translation, many terms in the Pāli language are included in order to preserve the original meaning of the term. Pāli terms are generally italicized except in a few cases―such as proper nouns, or when used in connection with proper nouns, or when readability demands it. In the case of some peripheral Pāli terms, only their first appearance is italicized, whereas the subsequent appearances are unemphasised. (Note: occasionally, English words too are italicized to stress). For ease of readability, for pluralisation of some of the Pāli nouns an “-s” is added at the end of the noun, as in English form.

The underpinning principle in including Pāli terms is that it is better for the reader to not understand (- inaccurately) rather than misunderstand a forced translation. Still, the Glossary at the back explains some important terms more comprehensively.i Until the reader is thought to have become familiar with a term, a commonly used English meaning is provided in parentheses ( ) next to the Pāli term, or vice versa, so as to maintain flow of reading. This in no way suggests the reader need not refer to the Glossary for a more comprehensive understanding of the term as some Pāli terms can have broader meanings. A Pāli pronunciation key is set out below:

a is sounded as in ‘cut’ (but never as in ‘cat’ nor as in ‘cake’). When a word ends with a, the sound falls―as ‘or’ in ‘doctor’. ā is sounded long as in ‘father’. i as in ‘pin’. ī long as in ‘machine’ (never as in ‘fine’). u as in ‘put’ or ‘foot’. ū long as in ‘boot’ (but never as in ‘refuse’). e is pronounced long as ‘a’ in ‘cake’. o is sounded long as in ‘hope’. e and o, however, are pronounced short before a double consonant.

ṅ is the nasaliser, pronounced as ‘ng’ in ‘sing’; it is spoken with the help of the throat (Guttural). ŋ (printed as ṁ or ṃ in some books) is also the nasaliser, also pronounced as ‘ng’ in ‘sing’; it is, however, sounded with a resonance in the nose. The difference between the pronunciation of ŋ and ṅ is hardly noticeable. Note: Readers should be careful not to mispronounce ŋ as simply m. (This translation deliberately avoids using characters ṁ or ṃ so as to avert the tendency to mispronounce them as simply m).

c as in ‘church’ (but never as in ‘cat’, nor as in ‘centre’). g as in ‘get’ (never as in ‘general’). ñ as ‘gn’ in (Italian:) ‘signor’ or as ‘ñ’ in (Spanish:) ‘señor’ or ‘cañon’. ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, ḍh are pronounced retroflex―with the tip of the tongue curled back and pressed against the roof of the mouth, the palate. For instance, ṭ as in ‘tea’ or ‘trout’; ḍ as in ‘duck’ or ‘death’. t, th, d, dh are dentals. Pronounced with the tongue on the upper teeth. For instance, t as ‘th’ in ‘death’ or ‘thin’; d as ‘th’ in ‘though’ or ‘the’. Double consonants are always enunciated separately by pronouncing each of them―e.g. bb as in ‘scrub-board’, tt as in ‘cat-tail’. h should always be sounded even when immediately following consonants or doubled consonants. That is, when a consonant is followed by h (―bh, ch, ḍh, dh, gh, jh, kh, ph, ṭh, th) they are regarded as a single consonant with a release of breath (as aspirates)―e.g. bh as in ‘cab-horse’, ch as in ‘ranch-house’, ḍh as in ‘handhold’, jh as ‘dgeh’ in ‘sledgehammer’ and so on. ph is sounded as in ‘haphazard’ (never as in ‘photograph’). ṭh as in ‘hot-house’ (never as in ‘thin’ nor as in ‘than’).

Note: Although not a character from the Pāli alphabet, ä is used in limited instances when incorporating Sinhala words. ä is sounded as in ‘apple’ or ‘cat’.

‘Giving Up’

The term nekkhamma means ‘renunciation’. It means both (1) ‘to forgo the desire for sensuous pleasures’ (i.e. freedom from sense-desire) and (2) ‘to go forth (into the homeless state of monkhood having left the household life)’. When contextualized, it can be understood to comprise both meanings―i.e. to release one’s grip on something, to stop holding on to something or somebody, to willingly stop having or doing something that you would like to have or do. To denote such meaning, ‘let go (of)’ and ‘forgo’ are considered to be the more adequate renderings (because, ‘give up’ and ‘relinquish’ may sometimes imply to stop having or doing something, when this happens unwillingly). That said, to convey this meaning, the translation interchangeably uses the following terms without a preference: ‘letting go (of)’, ‘giving up’ and ‘relinquish’ (or their derivatives as appropriate).

‘Suffering’

The translation uses the term ‘suffering’ (dukkha) to denote a much broader meaning encompassing the suffering of birth, decay, sickness and death; of bodily pain and mental pain; of having to associate with (come into contact with) what one dislikes, of having to disassociate from (part with) what one likes, of not getting what one wants; and in general, the unsatisfactory nature of all conditioned phenomena (including pleasurable experiences), which, due to their impermanence, are all liable to suffering. Hence ‘unsatisfactoriness’ or ‘liability to suffering’ are more adequate renderings. ‘The noble truth of suffering’ does not deny the existence of pleasurable experience, as is sometimes wrongly assumed. (also see dukkha).

‘Nibbāna’

Nibbāna literally means ‘extinction’, ‘to cease blowing’, ‘to be extinguished’. Put another way, it means to once and for all put out the fire (of suffering) that eternally burns throughout the round of rebirths. This would mean absolute deliverance from all future rebirth (and thereby, all of its associated suffering and misery) as well as from all mental suffering of the current birth. The means by which one could do this is by enlightenment―specifically, to become enlightened to the four truths and thereby extirpate ignorance that causes tanhā that causes rebirth.

To refer to nibbāna, occasionally, the venerable Author has used a Sinhala term that may translate as ‘putting out a fire’. On such occasions, the translation uses the term ‘extinguishment’ (or such other derivative as appropriate). On other instances, the translation interchangeably uses the terms ‘nibbāna’, ‘enlightenment’, or ‘emancipation’ (or their derivatives as appropriate) without a preference.

‘Dhamma’

When referring to the Buddha’s teaching, the translation retains the Pāli term “Dhamma” for it points to the fundamental truth or reality as to how things actually are, which is rediscovered by a Buddha and taught to the world (rather than a mere teaching of a philosophy, a system of thought, as sometimes wrongly understood).

On account of the fact that Dhamma is the ultimate truth of the way things actually are, the translator consciously avoids using the term ‘doctrine’ as it is incorrect to regard Dhamma as referring to a mere principle or body of principles presented for acceptance or belief.

‘Māra’

The term “Māra” denotes several meanings (see Māra). Primarily, ‘Māra’ is the title-name of the ill-willed, evil deity ruling over the highest heaven of the sensuous sphere, who is forever opposed to the Buddha and the spreading of the Dhamma due to his sensual adhesion. He is one taken with sensuality, forever bent on distracting aspirants from the path to emancipation in order to keep them trapped in the continuous round of rebirths. He does not want to let anyone get freed from suffering and uses shrewd ways to drive people away from the Dhamma.

However, often in the Sinhala text the venerable Author uses the terminology “Māra, the evil one” in a metaphorical sense to denote one or more of the following: material form (rūpa), one's own mind or consciousness (viññāna), or the five aggregates in its entirety (khandha-māra)―i.e. mind and matter (nāma-rūpa), or defilements (kilesa-māra), or one's past karma (kamma-māra), rather than to denote Māra the evil deity. Thus, readers should understand in context. Such metaphorical usage represents the material and psychological causes of bondage, all of whom are hindering phenomena that prevent or detract one from practising the path to enlightenment and keep one bound to the round of rebirths.

‘Mind’

The word ‘mind’ is used to denote both (a) the mind―as in mental faculty or consciousness (also referred to as ‘heart’ in some books); and (b) thoughts or mental concomitants (i.e. the mind-objects). Readers should understand the respective meaning in context. Pāli terms mano (mind), citta (state of consciousness, mind) and viññāna (consciousness) are described as synonyms.

i The Glossary of Key Terms is compiled predominantly based on selected text (modified) from the work of Ven. Nyanatiloka―“Buddhist Dictionary: Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines”. BPS, 1980 ed.