"transcribing" between zh-CN and zh-HK? Thread poster: Jan Sundström
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Jan Sundström 
Sweden
Local time: 09:16
Member (1970)
English to Swedish
+ ...
Hi all,
Sorry for writing in English.
A client wants to translate a text into Mainland Chinese + Hongkong Chinese.
The customer would want the two target texts to be as analogous as possible, but still adapted to each region.
Which would be the most efficient approach?
Commission two separate translations?
Or translate one language first, and then transcribing it into the other?
I'm aware that zh-CN is written with simplified and zh... See more Hi all,
Sorry for writing in English.
A client wants to translate a text into Mainland Chinese + Hongkong Chinese.
The customer would want the two target texts to be as analogous as possible, but still adapted to each region.
Which would be the most efficient approach?
Commission two separate translations?
Or translate one language first, and then transcribing it into the other?
I'm aware that zh-CN is written with simplified and zh-HK with traditional chars. Is there any semi-automated way to convert between the two charsets, and then change the words that differ? Or would it take as much time as translating from scratch.
Thanks a lot for your input!
/Jan ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Try MS-Word? | Nov 11, 2014 |
Hi Jan,
Re your questions, putting aside the different expressions used by mainlanders and HKers, the "transcription" between the 2 is quite simple, sometimes I do it with MS-Word, "Review - Convert with Options". - not sure if that's a plug-in only for Chinese users.
However, sometimes the reason for Simplified CN and Traditional CN regarded as 2 different translation pairs is, in areas require professional terms, those 2 always have different expressions, even for traditiona... See more Hi Jan,
Re your questions, putting aside the different expressions used by mainlanders and HKers, the "transcription" between the 2 is quite simple, sometimes I do it with MS-Word, "Review - Convert with Options". - not sure if that's a plug-in only for Chinese users.
However, sometimes the reason for Simplified CN and Traditional CN regarded as 2 different translation pairs is, in areas require professional terms, those 2 always have different expressions, even for traditional CN along, there are HK version and TW version, while for simplified CN, there are mainland version and Singapore version, etc.
So, if your customer would not mind these differences, or the text doesnt need to be localized to a native level, then the conversion itself is quite easy.
HJ.H ▲ Collapse
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blizzardhhj wrote:
Hi Jan,
Re your questions, putting aside the different expressions used by mainlanders and HKers, the "transcription" between the 2 is quite simple, sometimes I do it with MS-Word, "Review - Convert with Options". - not sure if that's a plug-in only for Chinese users.
However, sometimes the reason for Simplified CN and Traditional CN regarded as 2 different translation pairs is, in areas require professional terms, those 2 always have different expressions, even for traditional CN along, there are HK version and TW version, while for simplified CN, there are mainland version and Singapore version, etc.
So, if your customer would not mind these differences, or the text doesnt need to be localized to a native level, then the conversion itself is quite easy.
HJ.H
This is correct; if your client just wants traditional characters WORD can do this. However, if the client wants the text to be instantly identifiable by a Hong Konger as being HK Chinese you'll either need to commission two different translations or give the simplified translation to an HK translator to make changes to (or vice versa).
| | | | Phil Hand
China
Local time: 15:16
Chinese to English
| Translation+adaptation | Nov 11, 2014 |
The languages are close enough that any competent HK editor should be able to knock a mainland text into HK shape for you (or vice versa). Unless it's advertising - the advertising cultures are quite different, and would probably require two different texts. But for most materials adaptation is possible.
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| I also often do that | Nov 11, 2014 |
I also often do that, but there seems no easy way, uless you know both languages very well.
| | | | David Lin
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:16
Member (2013)
English to Chinese
+ ...
Moderator of this forum | A warm welcome to the Chinese Forum! | Nov 11, 2014 |
Dear blizzardhhj,
How nice to see you here at the Chinese Forum! Do come often and share your views.
I hope you find your experience in this Forum a rewarding and fruitful one.
Regards.
David
blizzardhhj wrote:
Hi Jan,
Re your questions, putting aside the different expressions used by mainlanders and HKers, the "transcription" between the 2 is quite simple, sometimes I do it with MS-Word, "Review - Convert with Options". - not sure if that's a plug-in only for Chinese users.
However, sometimes the reason for Simplified CN and Traditional CN regarded as 2 different translation pairs is, in areas require professional terms, those 2 always have different expressions, even for traditional CN along, there are HK version and TW version, while for simplified CN, there are mainland version and Singapore version, etc.
So, if your customer would not mind these differences, or the text doesnt need to be localized to a native level, then the conversion itself is quite easy.
HJ.H
| | | | wherestip
United States
Local time: 02:16
Chinese to English
+ ...
Jan,
FYI, they are hardly two languages. A parallel could be drawn between British English and American English.
So if time allows, I would definitely have only one version done, and then plug it into one of the "SimplifiedTraditional" tools that are readily available, suc... See more Jan,
FYI, they are hardly two languages. A parallel could be drawn between British English and American English.
So if time allows, I would definitely have only one version done, and then plug it into one of the "SimplifiedTraditional" tools that are readily available, such as this one ...
http://www.chinese-tools.com/tools/converter-simptrad.html
Most of the time, the results should be satisfactory. If not, you could have the converted text polished at a lower cost. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Thank you David | Nov 12, 2014 |
David Lin wrote:
Dear blizzardhhj,
How nice to see you here at the Chinese Forum! Do come often and share your views.
I hope you find your experience in this Forum a rewarding and fruitful one.
Regards.
David
blizzardhhj wrote:
Hi Jan,
Re your questions, putting aside the different expressions used by mainlanders and HKers, the "transcription" between the 2 is quite simple, sometimes I do it with MS-Word, "Review - Convert with Options". - not sure if that's a plug-in only for Chinese users.
However, sometimes the reason for Simplified CN and Traditional CN regarded as 2 different translation pairs is, in areas require professional terms, those 2 always have different expressions, even for traditional CN along, there are HK version and TW version, while for simplified CN, there are mainland version and Singapore version, etc.
So, if your customer would not mind these differences, or the text doesnt need to be localized to a native level, then the conversion itself is quite easy.
HJ.H
Thank you David, I'm a noobie at Proz, but will try to share my knowledge with others:)
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