Chinese Translation Service

Chinese translation services are generally in demand despite the downward pressure on China’s economy. In addition, Chinese translation services continue to grow due to the fact that more Chinese companies are venturing to other countries, which results in less dependency on its domestic market.

With many native Chinese attempting to be Chinese translation services providers, we need to be aware of the possible common errors that may arise in translating from Chinese to English. By understanding these errors, a customer who wishes to engage a Chinese translation services provider may also appreciate why proofreading and editing is sometimes required for the final English version. In addition, a Chinese translation services provider who understands these errors may avoid them and deliver better quality translations as well.

For a start, common errors do occur when nouns are being translated by junior Chinese translation services provider. Most Chinese translation services providers are aware that Chinese nouns do not have the singular or plural forms. However, Chinese translation services providers have to bear in mind that certain nouns referring to people have corresponding collective nouns. For example, the singular 朋友 (which means “a friend”) has the corresponding collective noun 朋友们 (which means “a group of friends”). Very often, the word朋友们 is translated by inexperienced Chinese translation services providers to just “friends” instead of the more appropriate phrase “group of friends” or “my friends”. Depending on the context of the document, a Chinese translation services provider may even translate it into “my dear friends”.

Another common error that can be made by some Chinese translation services providers is the inappropriate use of “of” particle and possessive case in the English translation. For example, the sentence 这是李太太朋友的书。which means “This book belongs to Mrs Li’s friend.”  is sometimes awkwardly written by Chinese translation services providers as “This is Mrs Li’s friend’s book.” Or “This is the book of friend of Mrs Li.” Although some Chinese translation services providers may argue that the poor translations are accurate, the latter two phrases can be quite painful to read.

Having shown some common errors, I need to stress that knowing all these common errors doesn’t make us expert Chinese translation services provider. We are still dependent on Chinese translation services providers to deliver good quality translations.

The issue is how do we ensure these Chinese translation services providers deliver good quality translations? The answer is to hire established translation company with companies, based in well inculcated English and Chinese environments, as Chinese translation services providers. An example of such translation company is the Singaporean global translation companies. The globally based Singaporean Chinese translation services providers have internationally accepted English and Chinese standards with experts in various fields.

Why is it better to choose the more established Singaporean translation companies as Chinese translation services providers? It’s better to choose the established Singaporean translation companies as they are likely to have more resources for proofreading and editing, and internal quality checks and control for Chinese translation services.

For now, I shall leave you with the above two points on common errors that are usually made by Chinese translation services providers. For the next article, I hope to share with you more on these common errors.