This is a presentation about Chinese language basics for translation outsourcing managers and project managers. It tells you the difference between various versions of Written Chinese (Simplified vs. Traditional) , versions of Spoken Chinese (Cantonese vs. Mandarin for example). It also tells you about Chinese Input & Coding and Chinese Translation Peculiarities.

1. What You Must Know
About Chinese
Translation
for project managers & vendor managers
By Frank Wei
frank@mts.cn

2. Content
1.
1 Chinese Language
2. Versions of Written Chinese
3. Versions of Spoken Chinese
4.
4 Simplified vs. Traditional
vs
5. Cantonese vs. Mandarin
6. Chinese Input & Coding
7.
7 DBCS E Encoding & F t
di Fonts
8. Chinese vs. Japanese & Korean
9. Chinese Translation Peculiarities
10. Certified Chinese Translation in
China
11. Accreditation Tests
12. How to find a qualified Chinese
Please note that this presentation translator
is not intended to teach you to
speak or write Chinese!
k it Chi !

3. Chinese Language
• Chinese is the most used language in
the world. Nearly one-fifth of the world
speaks Chinese as their native tongue.
• Over 1 Billion Speak a Chinese Language
• Written Chinese is not an alphabetic language. We call
Chinese characters as ''squared characters‘.
Chi h t d h t ‘
• The Chinese script is a logographic script structured so
that eac character represents a s g e co cep ;
a each c a ac e ep ese s single concept;
characters are then combined to form compound words.
Although there are several distinct languages (or
"dialects") spoken in China including Mandarin and
dialects )
Cantonese (Hong Kong), they can all read the same
"written words" because it is based on meaning, not on
sound.
sound

4. Evolution of Chinese Characters

5. Major
Characteristics
• 1. Basically monosyllabic characters
– Chinese characters are the written symbol of
the Chinese language.
• 2. Tonal language
– The meaning of a word changes according to its tone
tone.
• 3. Less Morphological Changes
– There is no grammatical distinction between singular or plural,
no declination of verbs according to tense mood and aspect
tense, aspect.
• 4. Subject-verb-object Order
– The basic order of modern Chinese language is “subject-verb-
object”.
bj t”
– .......
– Consult with frank@mts.cn if you are interested in this.

6. Versions of Written Chinese
• There are two variations of Chinese written languages: Simplified
Th i i f Chi i l Si lifi d
Chinese and Traditional Chinese.
• Chinese Traditional is the older form of the script and is used in
p
Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other locations outside of China, including
various "Chinatowns" in the West. Chinese Traditional characters
are more complex and more numerous
numerous.
• Simplified Chinese is the result of reducing some strokes from the
traditional characters to make it simpler to remember and write.
Simplified Chinese was d
Si lifi d Chi developed i M i l d Chi ( d adopted
l d in Mainland China (and d t d
in Singapore) as a way of simplifying the older system in order to
increase literacy. As part of the simplification, several Traditional
Characters were collapsed into one character in Simplified.

7. Traditional vs Simplified
vs.

8. Simplified Vs Traditional
Vs.
• Don't
D ' assume that Chi
h Chinese i a one-size-fits-all l
is i fi ll language. I i
It is
difficult to determine which version to use when requesting
translation
• If you're not sure which version of Chinese you need to use, please
check with frank@mts.cn.

9. Versions of Spoken Chinese
• Many dialects exist, but they can be
roughly classified into one of the seven
large groups, i.e., Putonghua (Mandarin),
groups i e (Mandarin)
Gan, Kejia (Hakka), Min, Wu, Xiang and
Yue (Cantonese).
( )
• Putonghua (Mandarin) is the most widely
used spoken language for all Chinese, a
“common” language.
• Most Chinese speak a local dialect and
Mandarin!
• Difficult to determine which version to use
when requesting t
h ti translation.
l ti

10. * Data source: David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, 1997

11. Cantonese vs Mandarin
vs.
• Mandarin and Cantonese are dialects of Chinese
language,
language not written languages and should not be
used when requesting written translation.
• It is quite correct to use them if you are looking for an
interpreter. You would also risk g
p getting the wrong
g g
version.
• For example, Mandarin is spoken both in China and
Taiwan, and increasingly in Hong Kong. Many people
in the
i th overseas Chi Chinese community also speak
it l k
Mandarin. When a client from Taiwan requests
Mandarin translation, she or he is actually asking for
Traditional Chinese
Chinese.
• If a project manager from a US agency asks for
Mandarin translation to be used in Mainland China,
what she or he wants is Simplified Chinese.
p
• Therefore, the best way is to verify the target region,
then offer the correct version from the above list and
ask the client to confirm. In this way, you will never end
up with a wrong version.
ith i

12. Chinese Input & Coding
• Pinyin and Wade-Giles
y
– Pinyin is the term used to refer to the system of writing
Chinese words in the Latin (English) alphabet. This was
developed in the 1950's in Mainland China to help increase
literacy.
– Wade-Giles is the older transliteration system for writing
Chinese words in the Latin alphabet. For instance, Peking and
Canton are Wade-Giles, but Beijing and Guangdong are the
pinyin versions. Most specialists use pinyin to transliterate
Mandarin Chinese.
M d i Chi
• In the computer realm, Simplified Chinese uses GB2312
encoding while Traditional Chinese uses Big5 encoding.
g g g
They have different Windows, operating systems,
application software and technical terminology.
– Translation departments of large corporations, therefore, treat
the two versions as different languages and have separate
teams to handle
• Chinese support on Microsoft Windows. Windows 2000
and XP both have an excellent level of built in Chinese
built-in
support.

13. DBCS Encoding & Fonts
• On English windows systems all the symbols found on the standard English
systems,
keyboard are represented internally as one-byte ASCII codes. In comparison, each
Chinese character has to be represented internally using two bytes. Such a
difference implies that in order to use Chinese within a Win32 application, that
p
particular application should be designed to handle two-byte encoded texts p p y
pp g y properly.
It is not the case that all the Windows applications come readily with such a capability.
• Correct font settings to display Chinese characters in your computers:
– Traditional Chinese Fonts by Platform
• Windows - MingLiU, PMingLiU
• Mac OS X - AppleLiGothiic Medium, Li Hei Pro, Apple LiSung, BiauKai, LiSongPro
• Mac System 9 - Taipei, others
– Simplified Chinese Fonts by Platform
• Windows - SimSun, NSimSun, SimHei, others
• Mac OS X - Hei, STHeiti Light and Regular, STFangsong, STKaiti, STSong, Kai
• Mac System 9 - Beijing, others

14. Chinese vs.
Japanese and Korean
• While Chinese is treated equally with
Japanese and Korean as an Asian
language in the US translation market,
the translation of Chinese is in reality
much more demanding than that
of Japanese and Korean. The main
difference is in the translation of
technical terminology.
• In Japanese and Korean, all technical terms are transliterated using Katakana
and H
d Hangul. F example, "
l For l "computer" will b phonetically spelled out as ''con''
" ill be h i ll ll d
'pu' 'ta' using Katakana (not conceptually translated) and it takes only seconds.
• In Chinese, each term is conceptually translated into a specific word To make
Chinese word.
things more complicated, for the same English term, different translations are
used in different scientific and engineering disciplines. You need to either
know the particular translation used in that particular field, or know where to
look it up if you are lucky enough to be able to get your hands on the right
specialty dictionary.

15. Chinese Translation Peculiarities
• Professional Chinese translators usually work with only
one of the two Chinese versions, Simplified Chinese or
, p
Traditional Chinese.
• Simplified Chinese was developed in Mainland China
(and adopted in Singapore) as a way of simplifying the
older system i order t i
ld t in d to increase lit literacy.
– As part of the simplification, several Traditional Characters were
collapsed into one character in Simplified.
– Although it is relatively easy to convert from Chinese Traditional
g y y
to Chinese Simplified, the reverse is not always true.
• Traditional Chinese used in Taiwan is different from that
in Hong Kong and also from that in Chinese
communities in Europe and America.
• Many companies treat them as two separate languages
and have separate teams.
• Always check with clients the target market to determine
the correct version to use.

16. Certified Chinese Translation
• A certified Chinese translation in China needs to be
p o ded
provided by a t a s at o co pa y, not by a ce t ed
translation company, ot certified
translator. The translation company is required to have
credentials.
• The requirements are: (1) valid business license
showing the translation company is in the translation
business; (2) a declaration that the translation is a
faithful translation of the original document and stamped
with company seal (likely with a director’s signature). (3)
sometimes the translator is also required to include a
duplicate copy of his certificate and signature as well
well.
• Documents to be used in Court and Immigration
processes require certification by a translation company.
• Translators are required to pass accreditation tests to
obtain translation certificates. Certificates are not
required for translators to work in a translation company.

17. Accreditation Tests
• Translators Association of China (CTA) is a national
association of translators Its members includes
translators.
individuals, educational organizations, translations
companies and provincial translators association.
Unlike ATA, CTA does have a accreditation
program.
• There are several accreditation tests in China, some
run b l
by local authorities, such as Sh
l th iti h Shanghai
h i
Interpreting Accreditation Test and Fujian
Translators Accreditation Test.
• China Accreditation Test for Translators and
Interpreters (CATTI) is the most authoritative
translation and interpretation proficiency qualification
accreditation test which is implemented throughout
the country according to uniform standards and in
compliance with the national system of professional
qualification certificates. M
lifi ti tifi t More and more t
d translators
l t
take this test now.

18. How to find a qualified
Chinese Translator
• Alth
Although there is a huge number of Chinese
h th i h b f Chi
translators in the market, translation as a
profession is still in its very earlier step.
– Many part-time translators and language students, but
very few freelancing and soho professionals
– Translation is a new program in China’s universities,
although every student is required to study a foreign
language.
– Most Chinese translators have never been trained to use
CAT tools.
– Most translators claim they can translate from Chinese
into foreign languages, as it is not required in China that
g g g , q
only native speakers of target language can translate into
his language.

19. Frank Wei
• Professional English-Chinese translator with 20 years of
experience
i
• Holds a MA degree in English-Chinese comparative studies
• Founder and General Manager of Master Translation Services
• Founder of Translation as Love (“ ”
translation forum (http://www.translators.com.cn ), which is the
most popular t
t l translation f
l ti forum in Chi
i Chinese l language.
• Visiting professor of Xiamen University of Technology
• Member of China Translators Association (CTA)
• Executive Director of CTA Fujian Province Division
Please feel free to contact frank@mts.cn for any
Chinese related questions.
is