With over a billion speakers worldwide, the Chinese language stands as one of the most prevalent languages globally. It is actively used in China, Singapore, Malaysia, the United States, where over 1.3% of the population consists of Chinese speakers. All these people need to communicate with other cultures in various domains, including education, personal life, and business.

Areas Requiring Chinese-to-English Translation

China leads in technology and IT, necessitating the translation of technical documents, software manuals, technical specifications, and reports into English for international use. Other areas requiring Chinese-to-English translation include:

• Business. The Chinese economy ranks second globally in terms of nominal GDP and first in terms of GDP based on purchasing power parity. This particularly applies to the technological sector, where Chinese-to-English translation is essential for international deals, negotiations, and corporate communications. For instance, companies involved in importing and exporting goods from China often require translation of contracts, operation manuals, and commercial proposals. Before reaching any agreements, correspondence with potential clients needs translation as well.
• Education. China actively participates in student exchange programs worldwide, including with English-speaking countries. In this case, English serves as the medium of communication and acquiring new experiences abroad. For example, students, with the aid of translation, can attend lectures, study educational materials, and work with scientific articles. According to 2021 statistics, over 110,000 foreign students are studying in Beijing, with the majority enrolled at Peking University and Tsinghua University.
• Medicine. In recent years, China's healthcare system has been actively developing, with the construction of new, modern hospitals, enhanced medical education, and expanded patient treatment options. Consequently, China has become one of the leaders in hosting international medical conferences and plays an essential role in exchanging medical information between countries. All this requires the translation of various documents, from scientific reports to health certificates. Moreover, China ranks among the top three producers of medicines alongside Japan and the USA. The largest suppliers of antibiotics and active pharmaceutical ingredients (Sinopharm, Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical, and others) are located here, often necessitating the translation of usage instructions into English.
• Tourism. In 2017, global tourism contributed $8.3 trillion to the country's GDP, accounting for 10.4% of the world's GDP. With the development of tourism and international travel, Chinese-to-English translation becomes crucial for providing information and services in English to foreign tourists. Just imagine, in 2019, China was visited by 32 million people, many of whom often request menus in English at restaurants, informational brochures, tourist guides, and audio guides.

These examples illustrate the importance of Chinese-to-English translation in various fields and highlight the need for proficient translators to facilitate communication between cultures effectively.

Types of Translation from Chinese to English

Chinese language has been increasingly popular among translators in recent years. However, it is often studied as a second foreign language in universities. Therefore, those engaged in professional translation into English usually graduate from specialized departments of Eastern languages or even institutes of Sinology.

Professional Translation – Is it Worth the Money?

There are several certification programs, such as the China Accreditation Test for Translators and Interpreters (CATTI) and the American Translators Association (ATA) certification exam, which help translators validate their skills and qualifications. Hence, the number of specialists who have passed such certification and have the right to accompany notarial transactions is not that large. Professional translators are primarily needed in the following cases:

• Legal transactions - drafting contracts, agreements, licensing agreements
• Translation of personal documents - birth certificates, diplomas, certificates, transcripts
• Preparation of technical documentation - operating instructions, technical specifications, and user manuals.

So, when it comes to the need for document legalization, human translation is hardly avoidable. However, the main downside of such translation is its high cost – for example, translation from Arabic (which is no less complex) to English costs on average €0.14, while from Chinese to English – €0.16.

Machine Translation – It's Not All Bad?

This type of translation is carried out using specialized programs and machine learning algorithms. A vivid example of this is Google Translate. By the way, it has two translation modes - simplified and traditional.

This method is especially relevant in the following cases:

• Personal correspondence in real-time
• Travel of Chinese residents beyond their homeland
• Phone calls and video chats
• Some informal public speaking engagements.

In this case, the text is processed entirely automatically, so errors occur quite often. However, with the development of artificial intelligence, the quality of Chinese-to-English translation has significantly improved. For example, instead of hours of translation by a human, special services can accurately translate one page in 2-5 minutes.

Barriers in Chinese to English Translation

The Chinese language belongs to the Eastern group, and the main stumbling block here is a completely different culture. For example, it often uses forms of address and expressions of respect that may not have an exact equivalent in English. Misinterpreting this form can lead to misunderstanding or even offense to the person. For example, the Chinese expression "您好" (nín hǎo), used as a polite greeting, can be incorrectly translated as "hi", which does not convey the level of respect contained in the original. The Chinese language is rich in idiomatic expressions and cultural metaphors that are difficult to convey in English without losing their meaning. For example, the Chinese proverb "猴年马月" (hóu nián mǎ yuè), literally meaning "in the year of the monkey and the month of the horse", can mean "never", but such a translation may be incomprehensible to an English-speaking reader without explanation. However, no less important is the cardinal difference in alphabets. The Chinese language uses hieroglyphs, each of which has its own meaning, while English uses the Latin alphabet, where the context is perceived separately by words.

The Key to Success

For effective translation from Chinese to English, knowledge of both languages at a native level, i.e., not lower than C2, is necessary. The best results are achieved by translators who have experience living in China and are closely familiar with its culture, while also being part of an English-speaking environment. And, of course, different translations require different specialists who have experience in a specific field: law, business, medicine, education. All these factors together ensure the effectiveness of translation from Chinese to English, allowing information to be accurately and adequately conveyed from one language to another.