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English to Chinese Translation: Taking the Internet by Storm

When localizing your Web site, English to Chinese Translation seems a natural choice. While the percentage of Chinese using the Internet is still relatively small, the sheer number of Chinese speakers puts Chinese in second place overall for Internet use – only exceeded by English. And while the growth in Internet penetration for English speaking countries should be expected to cool off because of the level already reached, Chinese will likely be red hot for years to come and should eventually surpass English as the first language of Internet users. Forester Research Inc. predicts that by 2005, 220m Chinese will use the Internet, representing over 20% of world users. (English is predicted to have 295 m users, or 27%.) English to Chinese translation of your Web site will establish your presence in this language now to take advantage of this growth.

How do I get over 10,000 visitors a month to this site and earn a nice supplemental income? Read the story here...

Not only online, but in offline business as well, China presents great opportunities in its opening market due to its enormous population (over 1.2 billion). Having an English to Chinese translation of your product packaging, manuals, etc. available is of course a prerequisite to enter this market.

For English to Chinese translation, I recommend English to Chinese translation by Admcity China , a translation agency based in China. Working with a local agency has many benefits because they know the target market intimately. Even though I have to admit that their English Web site isn't too impressive for North American or European standards, they offer excellent service for English to Chinese translation.

You can also use my free Translation Quote Request Service . You can enter your project specifications, and your request for your English to Chinese translation services will be sent to to five pre-approved translation agencies at the same time. You will receive up to five competitive quotes from pre-selected quality agencies.

The main spoken languages of China are Mandarin and Cantonese, even though there are more than 200 altogether. The two main written languages of China are Traditional and Simplified Chinese.

In the 1950s, China carried out a reform of the Chinese script, simplifying many characters to create the Simplified Chinese script. Outside the Chinese mainland, however, the reform was rejected, and the Traditional Chinese characters continue to be used. Notably, this is the case in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and most overseas Chinese communities.

Mandarin and Cantonese only refer to the spoken language. Mandarin is the majority language and official language in China. Cantonese is spoken mainly in Guangdong and Hong Kong. Overseas, Cantonese is the majority language for Chinese emigrants as most Chinese immigrants tend to be from either Guangdong or Hong Kong.

The written and spoken forms of Chinese are not to be confused. Mandarin is not the same as Simplified Chinese and Cantonese is not the same as Traditional Chinese. For example, people in the Mainland and in Taiwan both speak Mandarin, but Taiwan uses the Traditional Script. Taiwan and Hong Kong, on the other hand, use the same writing system, but speak different languages.

Note that Traditional Chinese is intelligible for people from the Mainland (especially the older generation). However, it is better to have two versions of your documentation and Web site in the two different scripts. Think of it as reading medieval script. Yes, you can read it, but it is unfamiliar and difficult to read. You won't have to do two complete new translations, just have the translation converted to the respective other script and edited. The conversion can be done by software, but this is not entirely reliable. For this reason, post-editing of the converted text by a native speaker (or rather native writer/reader) of the target script is essential.

© Christian Erwig-Straughan for this and all other articles at www.translation-and-languages.com. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form strictly prohibited.