I wrote this article for Capital Linguists. Check out the original article here: https://capitallinguists.com/chinese-english-translation/
Chinese translators face unique challenges and difficulties as they perform English to Chinese and Chinese to English translations. Some of the best English to Chinese translators have complete mastery of English, a level of Chinese equivalent to that of a polished writer in China or Taiwan, and/or a Master’s degree in Chinese from one of the most renowned academic institutions with Chinese departments in the world. It is hard to reach the level of Shakespeare in English and Lu Xun (鲁迅) in Chinese. However, a great translator strives for more vocabulary and expressions daily. The closer a translator gets to these seemingly unreachable limits, the better the translation. Reaching this level of success takes years of hard work and perseverance. Likewise, Chinese interpreters face similar struggles in interpreting.
First, let’s focus on the English to Chinese direction of translation. Some English phrases and expressions, such as Medicare and Medicaid, are quite specific to English and the United States. The standard Chinese translation of Medicare is 医疗照顾, which literally means “medical care subsidy.” The Chinese term for Medicaid is 医疗补助, which literally means “imports medical treatment care.” In this case, the listener needs to know the context of the US healthcare system to fully understand.
Chinese translators face unique challenges and difficulties as they perform English to Chinese and Chinese to English translations. Some of the best English to Chinese translators have complete mastery of English, a level of Chinese equivalent to that of a polished writer in China or Taiwan, and/or a Master’s degree in Chinese from one of the most renowned academic institutions with Chinese departments in the world. It is hard to reach the level of Shakespeare in English and Lu Xun (鲁迅) in Chinese. However, a great translator strives for more vocabulary and expressions daily. The closer a translator gets to these seemingly unreachable limits, the better the translation. Reaching this level of success takes years of hard work and perseverance. Likewise, Chinese interpreters face similar struggles in interpreting.
First, let’s focus on the English to Chinese direction of translation. Some English phrases and expressions, such as Medicare and Medicaid, are quite specific to English and the United States. The standard Chinese translation of Medicare is 医疗照顾, which literally means “medical care subsidy.” The Chinese term for Medicaid is 医疗补助, which literally means “imports medical treatment care.” In this case, the listener needs to know the context of the US healthcare system to fully understand.
Another English phrase that is difficult to translate is “high maintenance.” For example, consider the common phrase of “a high maintenance girlfriend.” Google Translate awkwardly renders this as the literal “高维修的女朋友.” In Chinese this sounds like a girlfriend can be maintained like a car or piece of equipment. There are several options, such as “一个难伺候的女朋友” and “一个难缠得要命的女朋友.” However, these are only close approximations of the meaning, not 100% equivalents. Translation is not perfect.
Idioms pose another challenge for both Chinese translators and interpreters. In the English to Chinese direction, many idioms bring a cultural context. For instance, English uses the metaphorical idiom “the elephant in the room” to refer to an obvious truth that goes ignored. The literal translation “房间里的大象” fails to convey the meaning that the phrase does in an English context. A few Chinese options basically explain the idiom as something that is inevitably seen by everyone but that is hard to deal with or that nobody wants to deal with:
- 指显而易见而又被忽略的事实.
- 一个明明存在的问题，却被人刻意的回避及无视的情形.
- 已经明显意识到却又十分棘手的问题.
Turning to sentence structure, it’s common to see long and relatively convoluted sentences in English. In contrast, Chinese has shorter and more fragmented sentences, often replete with four character or short nebulous phrases. While it is possible to translate the English into just one sentence, it comes across as awkward, unnatural, and difficult to comprehend. That lowers readability, too.
When navigating from an English source text to a Chinese target one, the translator often breaks long English sentences into two or more Chinese sentences to enhance readability. For example, the English sentence “This questionnaire is part of our proactive approach to providing our members with excellent service.” splits into two Chinese sentences as “ 我们为提高服务水平特推出此项问卷调查，以便更好地为会员服务.” This enhances readability. Therefore, it fulfills the goal to improve communication between parties from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
Translators constantly make choices between accuracy and readability and between translationese and more natural-sounding target language usage. The translator aims to arrive at the closest approximation of meaning in the translation of idioms and proverbs.
Speaking of idioms and proverbs, a translator’s best course of action is to use an existing idiom or proverb in the target language that is equivalent to the one in the source. Take, for example, the phrase “seeing is believing.” In this instance, there are already few Chinese equivalents, including “百闻不如一见.” This literally means, “seeing once is better that hearing about one hundred times.” It clearly suffices. Another choice is “眼见为实“ or “耳听为虚眼见为实.” This choice is even better than the first. This is an easy situation because there are multiple equivalents to choose from. The translator can judge which equivalent is best for the context.
During the tedious yet exciting process of translation, the translator must think long and hard about which equivalent is the best choice to use in the source text so that the reader will understand and the text makes sense.
Another topic to broach is the register. Formal source texts such as legal contracts should have a formal translation, too. An English to Chinese translator masters formal, official, and polite Chinese. Likewise, the translator fully adapts the low register. Slang and informal language in English most appropriately renders into a low register in Chinese. Well-educated English writers and speakers often produce a higher register in their writing. When a person with a PhD writes a statement in English, the language often reflects their high-level of education and sophistication. The register of the translation should reflect this and not oversimplify.
Next, let’s consider the Chinese to English direction of translation. Chinese to English translation presents its own unique set of conundrums and intricacies. There are many similarities, including ensuring readability, seeking a similar register and tone, and conveying precise and accurate meaning. The translator continuously seeks equivalents and then selects the best option for the target text.
The most precise way to call a translator or interpreter is to refer to the language pair. This avoids confusion because a “Chinese translator” in English-speaking countries is considered an “English translator” in Chinese-speaking ones. For example, a Chinese translator may be a translator in the Chinese to English or English to Chinese language pair. Address the interpreter as an interpreter in the English and Chinese language pair. This helps to distinguish among interpreters of discrete language pairs, such as Chinese and Japanese, and Chinese and Korean.
Organizations often struggle to find high quality, accurate, and precise in person interpreting and translation. For example, an organization may need a source operation manual to clearly guide the user on how to use the product in Chinese. A company may wish to send potential Chinese investors the same information about an investment fund as they give to English prospects.