What do you need to know when translating your documents for Chinese-speaking markets?
Chinese is the world's second most spoken language after English. It represents a huge potential market that could be very lucrative for your company.
As a global business, you likely have many documents that you could translate into Chinese. Brochures, user manuals, product catalogs, documentation, contracts, reports…
Each of these documents will likely require different treatment. But whatever documents you are looking to translate, there are some common tips to remember when you are translating from English to Chinese.
Here are 8 useful tips for your Chinese document translation…
English to Chinese translation doesn't have to be complex
People often have an oversimplistic idea of what document translation involves. For example, they might simply send us a PDF file and ask "Can you translate this into Chinese?"
You need to make some strategic decisions around your document content upfront. This ensures that you get the most from your translation budget. It helps improve your company's success in your Chinese-speaking markets.
There are various things you need to consider when translating a document, including:
- What is the purpose of that document?
- Who is the intended audience?
- What software was the document created in?
- How will the content be consumed?
- What graphics and other media are within the document?
This doesn't mean that Chinese translation needs to be complex. It just requires that you are clear, both with yourself and with your translation provider.
8 straightforward tips for Chinese document translation
A good translation provider will look at your English source document to help you to identify the ways that you can improve it to streamline the translation process.
Several sticking points can arise when translating from English to Chinese. You can overcome some of these by following these simple tips:
1. Aim for simplicity and clarity
In general, a good rule of thumb is to aim for sentences to be clear and simple. This is true when translating into any language, not just Chinese.
While it's certainly possible to translate more complex phrases and even highly technical documentation you will make your life easier if you keep the language simple and unambiguous.
2. Remember there are no spaces in written Chinese
Unlike in English, conventionally there are no spaces in written Chinese. This can make it challenging if your documents are created in a desktop publishing package, where spaces are usually used for word-wrapping.
A good translation provider will be able to help you to work around these conventions. This is why you should send them the source file in its original format.
3. Know which Chinese-speaking market you're targeting
There are several Chinese-speaking markets and each of them may require different treatment when translating your document. For example, in Taiwan, certain types of documents — including customs documents for importing your products — must be provided in Chinese.
Whatever market you are trying to reach, become familiar with the legalities and requirements that it has.
4. Assume there will be contraction
Many languages expand when you translate them from English. This means that they take up more space in the target language. This is important for document translation as your source document needs to have enough extra whitespace to account for this expansion.
With Chinese, the opposite usually happens: the words contract. The effect of this is that you may have extra whitespace in your document after translating, which you should take into account.
5. Use the right variant of written Chinese
There are two major variants of written Chinese, traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese. These are used in different markets so you need to make sure you're translating into the correct variant.
This also affects the fonts you choose for your document. Some fonts only support one variant while others support both.
6. Remember that Chinese is logographic
It's helpful to remember that Chinese is a logographic language — each character represents a word or unit of language. English, by contrast, is a phonographic language — each character represents a sound.
In practice, this means that written Chinese is understood by a lot of people so your document may have a wide reach. Even people who wouldn't be able to understand each other through speech can understand the same writing.
7. Avoid English idioms
Idioms and other figures of speech can add color and personality to your document content. We use idioms a lot in English. Chinese is also an extremely idiom-rich language.
The problem is that idioms are not equal across the two languages. For example, the English idiom "a drop in the ocean" — meaning a small amount that doesn't make an important difference — could be translated into Chinese as 九牛一毛 which literally means "9 cows and 1 strand of cow hair."
To avoid unnecessary confusion, we advise avoiding idioms in your documents unless absolutely necessary.
8. Beware of machine translation and literal translations
You might be tempted to use machine translation to automatically translate your document into Chinese. This might be acceptable in some cases, but often it isn't a good idea.
One thing to remember is that machine translation tools often come up with very literal translations of phrases. This is a problem as literal translations into Chinese can be very strange and unintelligible to the reader.
Only use machine translation if you have consulted with your translation provider beforehand and they agree it suits your needs.
Which Chinese translation tips are right for your global content?
There is a lot to remember when you are translating your content into Chinese. However, when you author your document content with translation in mind, you'll find the translation process much easier.
Fortunately, you don't need to remember everything yourself.
A good translation provider will help you to navigate these challenges. Together, you can create Chinese-language documents that really work in your markets.
In our guide 33 Content Translation Hacks to Simplify Your Life you will learn a selection of changes you can make to get more from your translation.
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