Why you should always hire a local Chinese translation agency?
Chinese is one of the ancient languages, with billions of speakers living in China alone. Millions of them are spread across the globe for work, studies, and businesses. The number of speakers indicates the need for the translation of this language. Mandarin is the traditional language of the country; however, many companies and even Chinese individuals prefer using a simplified Chinese variant. Other than a whopping number of speakers, the Chinese economy is a leading Asian economy. You find Chinese products in every country. Many companies from different regions consider China an ideal market to tap for which they have to seek Chinese translation services. Hence, businesses must understand why they should only hire local Chinese translation agencies to avoid the complications and ambiguities in the translated text.
A few reasons that indicate why you should only prefer a local Chinese translation company are covered in this article.
Chinese has a diverse variety of dialects
China is the third largest country in terms of land area. It is also one of the most populated countries, sharing borders with around 14 countries. The country also has a diverse variety of local dialects and variations in the Chinese languages. Also, the vocabulary and writing system are different for every dialect. Therefore, it is extremely crucial for you as a business to only prefer a local Chinese translation agency to work with. Once you are sorted with the region that you are targeting, you should be hunting out a translation agency in a similar region to have translators who are native speakers, and have a clear understanding and in-depth knowledge of the different variants and dialects. It also helps bring accuracy to the translation.
Chinese has no defined alphabet
The Chinese language works without any alphabet, which is quite unlikely as compared to other languages such as English. The speakers of the English language and others who speak alphabetical languages find it complex to understand and work within a language that functions without an alphabet. However, the fact is that the Chinese language works with a logographic writing system. It indicates that it has numerous symbols, which work as characters. According to experts, you have to learn at least 3500 Chinese characters to understand and be a little proficient in the language. This is an important factor to be mindful of while translating Chinese into other languages that makes it difficult for LSPs to provide culturally nuanced Chinese to English translation services.
It is a tonal language
Chinese is undoubtedly a complex language in many aspects. It is a tonal language, and four tones mainly rule it.
These are
- Flat
- Rising
- One that flats and rises
- Falling
There is a fifth tone, which is not an official one though, but they consider it for the possibility of a syllable to be uttered without any particular tone. With the tones arises the difficulty and problems in understanding the language and its speakers. The tonal language refers to a higher or lower pitch along with intonation that affects and decides the meaning. This further adds complexity to the language, which is why it is important to hire a local translation vendor only for Chinese language translation. Native speakers understand the language more than outsiders who have learned it as a second language. A team of a local Chinese translation agency, however, understands the tones, pitches, meanings, and how to use the right tone in the right place during the process of translation.
There are no direct equivalents
Although this goes with every language pair, however, things can’t get more multiplexed as in the Chinese language. A lot of Chinese phrases do not have a direct equivalent in English and other Indo-European languages.
A popular and most spoken question such as How are you in English has its translation as 你吃饭了吗？ in the Chinese language, and it means if you have eaten.
Likewise, the popular French phrase bon appetite, which indicates enjoying the meal, comes as 慢慢吃 in the Chinese language, which means eat slowly.
It often complicates the matter for inexperienced and amateur translators to deal with such content and phrases inviting inaccuracies and discrepancies in the translated text. However, if you rely on native speakers and local Chinese translation companies, you could get a better and more accurate translation of the Chinese language.
Translators understand market norms
Last but not least, the Chinese native speakers and local translation agencies understand their market, and user preferences and are aware of consumer behavior. It helps them integrate those practices into the translation. A translation that they curate based on the marketing trends and practices can save you from many hassles and can help you with a better marketing plan that resonates well with the targeted audiences. Their contributions can make you prepared in advance before you officially tap the market. Hence, it is always best and favorable to only consider a local Chinese translation vendor with a team of native speakers for culturally coherent and accurate translations.
Conclusion
Chinese translation is a tough and complicated task. Translating to and from the Chinese language has a lot of challenges involved. This is why it is important to always hire local Chinese translation vendors, as they have native speakers who not only understand the language and market trends but are also well-versed in the cultural behavior and its implications.