Chinese Translation

There are many spoken dialects of Chinese throughout the world; the most common include Mandarin, Wu, and Cantonese. There are estimated to be 1,213 million speakers in 31 countries, making Chinese the most widely spoken language in the world. Although most native speakers live in China, there are considerable populations living in many other Asian countries, and in the U.S. and Europe. The 2000 U.S. Census recorded 2,022,143 Chinese speakers living in the United States. Chinese is the second most spoken foreign language in America, making the need for Chinese translation services increasingly important.

Chinese is part of the Sino-Tibetan language family and has had significant influence on other languages in the vicinity, including Japanese and Korean. The written Chinese language uses a logo-syllabic system, which consists of thousands of characters representing either one-syllable words, or a single syllable that is part of a larger word. There are two forms of the written language, traditional and simplified Chinese. Simplified Chinese was developed in order to make the characters easier to write and memorize. An educated Chinese speaker or anyone experienced in Chinese translation is expected to know about 4,000 Chinese characters.

China has the third highest GDP in the world, following the United States and Japan. They have the third largest export market for U.S. goods and were the United States’ second largest trading partner with $430.5 billion ($83.9 billion exported, $346.6 billion imported) in two-way goods and services in 2007. U.S. foreign direct investment in China was $28.3 billion in 2007, primarily in the manufacturing sector. Due to the extensive use of the language throughout the U.S., Chinese translation services are crucial to emerging global markets. English to Chinese translation services are often critical services that enable the unity of partnered cultures and business transactions, and require significant education and experience.

Most English to Chinese translation requests are for legal contracts, intellectual property and patent information. Other requests are for Chinese translations of marketing material aimed at the Chinese-speaking consumers in the United States. Chinese ranks second as one of the most requested language for translators in the United States, making the importance of an educated English / Chinese translator critical to ensure accuracy and clearly communicated information. Visit us at www.akorbi.com/chinese-translation/ to learn more about our Chinese translation services and how we can service your translation needs.