While they’re both descended from the same elegant script that once graced calligraphic documents, Simplified and Traditional Chinese in their modern forms are very different. Those who lack formal language experience may not be familiar with these differences, but your customers can tell. Shipping a document in the wrong variety may cause a client to be unable to read it.
If you’re working with legal or medical personnel in Hong Kong, then you’ll need an English to Traditional Chinese translator. The same goes for those corresponding with Taiwanese professionals.
Those who plan to engage in international commerce need to familiarize themselves with why this important division exists.
Drawing a Line Between Various Writing Systems
Media outlets in the People’s Republic of China are more likely to use Simplified characters, which grew out of language reforms in that country. While professionals in Hong Kong and Taiwan will probably be able to understand them to a degree, they’re more likely to feel comfortable reading Traditional Chinese text.
Chinese characters, often referred to as hanzi, are made up of a series of strokes. Since the 1940s, there’s been a push to reduce the number of strokes needed to write certain characters in order to make certain types of documents easier to write.
While the PRC has never prohibited the use of unchanged characters, they’ve heavily promoted the use of a simplification system that hasn’t received nearly as much enthusiasm among Chinese speakers in other territories. In fact, many professionals feel that the traditional writing system is more intuitive for readers.
Translating English to Traditional Chinese is therefore important for anyone who is sending legal, medical or industrial documentation to any number of areas in the Chinese-speaking world.
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