Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese translation services in the UK 5 Offices | 20+ Years | 98k Projects

Localising Culture

An effective localisation should take into account cultural preferences in colours, symbols, numbers, and societal norms and beliefs. For example, consider the phrase, “Stocks are in the red, is it time to sell?”. The colour red means danger in Western society, but it also represents luck in Chinese culture. A good translator will make it clear in the translation that the stocks are falling.

Localising Numbers

When it comes to large numbers, the Chinese count in units of ten thousand, called Wàn. For example, one hundred thousand is localised as ten Wàn, and one million is localised as one hundred Wàn. As you can imagine, it is easy to make errors when converting numbers from English to Chinese.

Localising Currency

When localising your documents into Chinese, it is important to convert the currency to RMB or CNY. China’s official currency is the Renminbi (RMB), and the Chinese Yuan (CNY) is the unit of measurement. Both the Renminbi and the Yuan are often used interchangeably.

One of the most common questions we receive from clients is whether they should translate their documents into Mandarin or Cantonese, which is technically incorrect because Mandarin and Cantonese are spoken languages. The written forms of Chinese are Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.

Between 1950 to 1960, the government of China promoted the use of a simplified version of Chinese characters to boost literacy. As the name implies, Simplified Chinese is written with fewer strokes, making it easier to write when compared to Traditional Chinese.

The introduction of Simplified Chinese characters faced strong resistance from the public and academics. Since then, Simplified Chinese has been officially used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan have continued to use Traditional Chinese characters.

Generally speaking, Chinese people can read both Simplified and Traditional Chinese. However, many expressions and terminologies are used differently, so selecting the correct variant when translating your documents into Chinese is important.

Contrary to popular belief, Chinese is not a single language but a group of languages spoken by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and other Chinese minority ethnic groups.

It is estimated that there are seven to thirteen significant groups of Chinese languages, each of which has its variations and dialects. Mandarin, as the official language of China, is the most widely spoken, with approximately 800 million speakers. This is followed by Min, Wu (Shanghainese), and Yue (Cantonese), with 75 million, 74 million, and 68 million speakers, respectively.

• Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world, with more than 1.3 billion speakers.
• Chinese is one of the oldest languages in the world. Oracle bone inscriptions dated to 1250 BC are the earliest records of written Chinese.
• Chinese became an official language of the United Nations in 1946. It is one of the six official languages, along with Arabic, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

Writing System

Unsurprisingly, the most significant and noticeable difference is the writing system. While English uses alphabets to help readers pronounce words, Chinese uses written symbols called Hànzì that cannot be sounded out. However, Chinese characters have components called radicals which can sometimes give advanced readers a rough idea of their meaning.

Tone

Chinese is a tonal language. This means that it uses pitch to distinguish word choice. In English, changes in pitch are used to emphasize or express emotion, but in Chinese, pitch represents meaning. Mandarin has four basic tones, and Cantonese has nine basic tones.

Sentence Structure

Using long sentences in English to express ideas is common since it adds flair, rhythm, and poetic power to writing. On the other hand, Chinese does not depend on sentence structure for expression. Instead, it divides long sentences into shorter phrases separated by commas, leaving the use of Chéngyǔ (four-character idiomatic expressions) to bring life to the language.

Below are some of the most commonly searched phrases in English and their Chinese translations.

Guanxi (Relationships)

A word you may often hear when doing business in China is “guanxi”. Many agree that this roughly means “relationships”, but a more literal translation is “to go through the back door”. It is an exchange of personal or business favour through relationships. Often misunderstood by Western counterparts as unethical behaviour or corruption, it is a core part of doing business in China which can often help open doors.

Politics

When it comes to doing business in China, it is important to understand the political views of the Chinese people. While it is acceptable in the UK and other parts of the world to openly challenge or criticise the government, the Chinese do not feel comfortable doing the same. In general, topics that are off-limits include China’s territorial borders, Tibet and the Dalai Lama, Xinjiang, Tiananmen Square, Taiwan, Chairman Mao, and the Cultural Revolution.

Mianzi (Face)

Mianzi in Chinese culture is a metaphorical expression of preventing a loss of face. The Chinese will go to great lengths to save face, even if it means telling an outright lie, denial, or feigning ignorance. In a business setting, both parties are expected to read between the lines instead of criticising or challenging the other party.