{"id":84235,"date":"2020-01-06T18:22:26","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T09:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/?post_type=resource&#038;p=84235"},"modified":"2020-01-09T08:31:50","modified_gmt":"2020-01-08T23:31:50","slug":"most-common-mistakes-zh","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/gengo.com\/translators\/resources\/most-common-mistakes-zh\/","title":{"rendered":"Most common mistakes: Chinese"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 class=\"h3\">Tips for translating from Chinese to English: Avoiding common mistakes<\/h1>\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/2017_04_19-header2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1368\" height=\"632\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-62518\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gengomarketing.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/2017_04_19-header2.png 1368w, https:\/\/gengomarketing.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/2017_04_19-header2-300x139.png 300w, https:\/\/gengomarketing.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/2017_04_19-header2-768x355.png 768w, https:\/\/gengomarketing.wpenginepowered.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/2017_04_19-header2-1024x473.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1368px) 100vw, 1368px\" \/><\/p>\r\n<p>Chinese and English are very different languages. Good Chinese to English translators must be able to understand the nuances of Chinese source texts as well as effectively express the meaning of these texts in English. If you are a native English speaker and Chinese is your second language, be sure to maintain your Chinese language skills through regular study and reading. If you are a native speaker of Chinese and English is your second language, Language Specialists expect you to write in English at a native level. This requires doing research to find the correct English term, brushing up on your English grammar, and being aware of cultural context.<\/p>\r\n<h2 class=\"h3 sub-title\">Common translation pitfalls<\/h2>\r\n<p>Here are some of the mistakes and traps that Chinese to English translators encounter:<\/p>\r\n<ol>\r\n\t<li>Less experienced translators may encounter <strong>parsing errors<\/strong> because they are unable to understand a sentence completely (or don\u2019t know how to write it in English) so they just translate each character individually. This may produce very unusual results \u2013 such as on the sign above, where \u5438\u70df (smoking) has become \u201cattracts the smoke.\u201d<\/li>\r\n\t<li><strong>Research<\/strong> is critical for producing accurate translations. In particular, check proper nouns carefully and avoid assuming that they should be simply written in pinyin. For example, \u5eb7\u662f\u7f8e is Cosmed, not \u201cKangshimei\u201d, and \u5c48\u81e3\u6c0f is Watsons, not \u201cQuchenshi.\u201d<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Be aware of differences in usage among Chinese speakers in <strong>different locations.<\/strong> For example, names for people from outside mainland China are normally not written using pinyin \u2013 \u8521\u82f1\u6587 is \u201cTsai Ing-wen\u201d, not \u201cCai Yingwen.\u201d Some words may even have different meanings: \u571f\u8c46 is \u201cpotato\u201d in mainland China but \u201cpeanut\u201d in Taiwan.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Be sure to use the right <strong>prepositions<\/strong>. For example, \u201c\u65b0\u8ab2\u7a0b\u5f37\u8abf\u7406\u8ad6\u8207\u61c9\u7528\u4e26\u91cd\u201d was translated as \u201cThe new course emphasizes on both theory and application.\u201d Here, the use of \u201con\u201d is incorrect and the correct translation should be, \u201cThe new course emphasizes both theory and application.\u201d<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Be careful when using the correct <strong>verb form<\/strong>. For example, \u201c\u672c\u4eba\u6301\u6559\u5e08\u8d44\u683c\u8bc1\u4e66\u201d should be \u201cI hold a teaching certificate.\u201d but it was translated as \u201cI am holding a teaching certificate\u201d, which means the individual is physically holding the certificate at the time of writing, and not in possession of the certificate.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Be aware of <strong>cultural context<\/strong> and consider your target audience. In Taiwan, people sometimes refer to the international airport as the \u201cnational gate\u201d (\u570b\u9580) because it is where people enter and leave the country. However, the literal translation is likely to only confuse foreigners who are unfamiliar with this usage. Use a more universally recognized term like \u201cairport\u201d instead.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<p>There are many resources available for translators to use. I particularly like the free app <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pleco.com\/\"><em>Pleco<\/em><\/a> which is available for both iOS and Android for checking vocabulary. There is also a wealth of resources online, like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.quickanddirtytips.com\/grammar-girl.\"><em>Grammar Girl<\/em><\/a> to ensure that your English grammar is accurate..<\/p>\r\n<p>Whatever your background, improving yourself as a translator takes time and patience. Being aware of these common pitfalls encountered by Chinese to English translators and checking your translations carefully can help ensure a high-quality job.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tips for translating from Chinese to English: Avoiding common mistakes Chinese and English are very different languages. Good Chinese to English translators must be able to understand the nuances of Chinese source texts as well as effectively express the meaning of these texts in English. If you are a native English speaker and Chinese is [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-84235","resource","type-resource","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Most common mistakes: Chinese - Gengo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gengo.com\/translators\/resources\/most-common-mistakes-zh\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Most common mistakes: Chinese - Gengo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tips for translating from Chinese to English: Avoiding common mistakes Chinese and English are very different languages. 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