Chinese Language Translation FAQ

What is the Difference Between Simplified and Traditional Chinese?

Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese are different variations of the written Chinese language. They are basically the same language with the same basic grammatical structure. But for various cultural and historical reasons, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese use different writing systems and are not interchangeable. Therefore, you may need to prepare translations in both Simplified and Traditional.

Simplified Chinese is used and is the official writing system in mainland China (PRC) and in Singapore. Traditional Chinese is used and is the official writing system in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

Traditional Chinese uses about 13,000 characters; some of the characters are highly complex. The complexity of this written system was one of the causes of widespread illiteracy in China for many years. The Simplified Chinese writing system, which has about 8,000 characters, was introduced as an official writing language in 1949 in order to combat illiteracy.

Global Translations provides translation, localization and DTP services in most Asian languages, including Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese. Clients who have ordered Chinese language translation and localization include Christie Digital Systems, Clicksoftware, Comverse Technologies and XMPie.

What is Mandarin Chinese?

The terms ‘Mandarin’ and ‘Mandarin Chinese’ refer to the official spoken language in China, and the one spoken by over 800 million people. The northern Mandarin dialect of Beijing is the basis for standard Chinese, although there are other Mandarin dialects. There are also other dialects of Chinese, notably Cantonese and Wu (spoken in Shanghai).

Global Translations often receives inquiries and orders for Mandarin translation. This kind of request can bring about adverse results, as indicating the spoken dialect does not provide the translation company with the information they need about how to translate your texts, and you may end up with a translation that is useless.

Before you order a Chinese translation, find out as much as you can about which country the document is to be used and who is it intended for. For example, if a document is being prepared for a tradeshow in Taiwan, convey that information to the translation company and be as specific as possible.