When you’re translating from Chinese to English Translation, the language barrier will be obvious to most casual readers, but it may be hard to pin down exactly what’s wrong with your translation. It may even seem like there’s nothing wrong with it at all! But in fact, there are many common mistakes that translators make when translating from Chinese to English and there’s one you might be making already without realizing it. Let’s take a look at five common ones and their implications.
1) Not knowing the target audience
Translating is a tough process. You have to be able to grasp the meaning of what’s being said, and then convey that in a way that makes sense in the target language. Plus, you need your grammar and vocabulary to be up-to-par in order for your message to come across clearly. However, there are some mistakes that translators commonly make when it comes to translating from one language into another. It’s important that you know these mistakes so as not fall victim to them yourself.
2) Not taking into account the context
Chinese is a language with great depth and breadth, and it has a long history spanning more than 3,000 years. It is the most widely-spoken language in Asia, with 1.2 billion native speakers and another 300 million people who speak it as a second or third language. As such, there are many different dialects of the language which are spoken by people living in different regions of China. There is also a different written form of the language (called Mandarin) which is used in the mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
A mistake that many non-Chinese speakers make when translating from Chinese to English is not taking into account the context of what they are translating.
3) Not using the right tone
Translation can be tricky, especially if the two languages share no relation. One way to avoid mistakes is by using the right tone for your target audience. If you are translating from Japanese to English, then you would want to use a more formal tone. This would sound different than translating from Japanese into Mandarin because there is a cultural difference between these two cultures as well as their written languages that needs to be considered when translating. You also need to think about whether or not you are translating a work of fiction or non-fiction and how that impacts the style of writing used. For example, if you were translating a science textbook, then it’s best not to use slang terms.
4) Not paying attention to detail
The two most commonly made mistakes when Japanese to English Translation is not paying attention to detail and not knowing the nuances of the language.
5) Not proofreading
The first mistake is not taking the time to read the translation over for mistakes. The second mistake is being too literal with translations. Third, sometimes there are words in one language that don’t exist in another and translators need to decide what word best matches the meaning of the original text. Fourth, sometimes there are two words with similar meanings but different connotations and translators need to pick which word best conveys their intent. Fifth, sometimes it’s difficult for a translator to know the exact meaning of certain phrases and they need to guess what an author meant when writing them. Finally, mistranslation can happen when translating idioms or proverbs because they often have multiple meanings depending on how they’re used in a sentence.
