Chinese Translation Services

 

  • ISO:9001 quality certified
  • Excellent customer service
  • Expertise in more than 120 languages

Chinese translation services in Singapore

From Singapore to anywhere worldwide, our translation services allow you to bridge any language gap with your Chinese-speaking audience. Reach out effectively and efficiently to every market that speaks Chinese by utilising our reliable, comprehensive service!

Are you an English-speaking company trying to reach Singapore’s Chinese-speaking communities? Or are you a Singaporean company aiming to do business with another global region?

At Asian Absolute, we carefully select a team of Chinese translators who are not only native speakers of your target language but also subject matter specialists in your industry.

Our adept linguists have extensive experience with translating a range of materials, such as websites and applications, product packaging and documentation, marketing brochures and ads, immigration forms, technical handbooks and manuals, along with e-learning courses.

Communicate with clarity

  • With your audience in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, mainland China or overseas
  • In Mandarin, Cantonese, Wu, Xiang, Gan, Hakka, Min or any Chinese dialect

Work with specialists in your field

We know how important it is that your translated materials are accurate, so we take the time to carefully select translators from our global talent pool according to their industry-specific knowledge.

Our team members have either five or more years of experience in this sector and hold Masters’s degree qualifications – they’re making sure all your translations use the proper industry terminologies precisely!

In addition, thanks to these experienced professionals for particular Chinese dialects and regions, you might even find them defining what’s accepted as ‘the translation’ moving forward; now that’s something special!

Engineering

Electronics

Life Sciences

Banking & Finance

Marketing & PR

Legal

e-Commerce

Games

Insurance

Travel

Automotive

Manufacturing

Engineering

Electronics

Life Sciences

Banking & Finance

Marketing & PR

Legal

Games

Insurance

Travel & Tourism

Find the exemplary Chinese translation service for Singapore and beyond

Localising materials into the proper Chinese dialect can be crucial to resonate with your audience. For optimal engagement in Greater China, it’s vital to ensure that separate translations are customised for Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. This demonstrates your consideration of the entire region!

Your project manager can help you identify the best options to reach your goals. As a rule of thumb, we’ll recommend the following:

 

  • Mainland China and some overseas communities – Mandarin (written using Simplified Chinese characters).
  • Singapore – Mandarin (written using Simplified Chinese characters and Singapore-specific vocabulary).
  • Taiwan – Mandarin (written using Traditional Chinese characters).
  • Hong Kong and some overseas communities – Cantonese (written using Traditional Chinese characters).

Client testimonials

Many thanks for your help and also for providing an interpreter for the week, she was absolutely fantastic and a real life-saver!

— Guinness World Records

I was extremely impressed by Asian Absolute’s hard work to complete the project to our high standards and within a very tight timeframe.

— Global Witness

Asian Absolute helped FTChinese.com in the challenging task of building a world-class translation service. They provide top quality, personal service.

— Financial Times
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Localise in specific Chinese scripts

Know that your Chinese-to-English or English-to-Chinese translators will be carefully handpicked from our global talent pool for their subject matter knowledge of your industry:

Traditional Chinese characters – this set of thousands of righteousness is how Chinese has been written for thousands of years.
Simplified Chinese characters – the ongoing product of a Chinese government project since the 1950s. Simplified Chinese has fewer options for the same concept, a reduced overall number of characters, and characters are written using fewer “strokes”.
Get in touch with us to discuss which script is going to be the most suitable for your project. Count on us to provide Chinese translation services in the widest variety of hands, dialects, and variants.

With twenty years of specialising in the region behind us, our vast talent pool makes it easy to find just the right linguist for your project.

Source Chinese interpreters for events in Singapore and globally

Get the same expertise for spoken language support as you do from our written Chinese translation services. Covering Singapore, more expansive Asia, and the world, our interpreting services can support you from one-on-one appointments to conferences and trade exhibitions.

Like our translators, our Chinese interpreters are industry specialists. They can guide you through local customs and etiquette and use their mastery of both languages to help you communicate easily. We provide both:

 

  • Simultaneous interpreters – ideal for one-to-many interpreting situations, such as when someone is giving a presentation or speech at a conference.
  • Consecutive interpreters – perfect for situations where two or more people want to communicate with each other. For instance, during a business meeting, a site visit, or a medical or legal appointment.

Why Asian Absolute?

  • 20+ years of specialisation in Chinese translation services
  • Award-winning project management expertise
  • Access to specialist industry experts in your field
  • Trusted by the Financial Times and many other global brands
  • Accredited to ISO 9001 quality standards

Talk through your Chinese translation with a professional

Please tell us what you need from your next Chinese translation service in Singapore today. Get a free quote without obligation, 24 hours a day, any day of the week.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need Simplified or Traditional Chinese?

There is a similar geographic divide in written Chinese. This divide is between Traditional Chinese characters and the more modern Simplified Chinese that was introduced in the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

Simplified Chinese requires fewer strokes to create each character – it is, quite literally, simplified. But, as you can see from the table below, there is no constant link between the dialect spoken and the characters used across regions:

RegionCharactersSpoken
ChinaSimplifiedMandarin and many others
Hong KongTraditionalCantonese
TaiwanTraditionalMandarin
SingaporeSimplifiedMandarin
MacauTraditionalCantonese

Contact us for free and impartial advice about the most suitable language for your next project.

What is Chinese Pinyin?

Chinese Pinyin (sometimes called Hanyu Pinyin) is the official Romanisation of the Chinese written language.

There used to be several systems for phonetically writing out Chinese in the Latin script. But Pinyin was slowly adopted by the Chinese government as part of the campaign to create a national language – a standard form of Mandarin based on the Beijing dialect of Chinese.

For people trying to learn Chinese, Pinyin is an incredibly useful tool to aid in pronunciation.

What is the best way to translate Chinese to English?

If you need a fast translation of Chinese text into English, there are apps out there that can do the job. Of course, you should never use them for business, professional, or office purposes as they will never produce a translation of any quality.

But on top of the usual Google Translate (or China’s Baidu search engine’s translation software), if you want a rough approximation of what a piece of Chinese text says, you might try:

  • Pleco – most people’s Chinese language learning app of choice includes a good free translator that also features a “point camera at target” function.
  • WayGo – point this app at some Chinese text and you’ll get some idea of what is written. Its translations aren’t always the best and it does struggle with some fonts, but you should get the gist.
  • Papago – this Korean app is free and surprisingly good at translating Chinese and several other Asian languages into English.
How do tones affect the meaning of words in Chinese?

Chinese is a tonal language, meaning the tone in which a word is spoken can change its meaning. Mandarin Chinese, for example, has four main tones (high flat, rising, falling-rising, falling) and a neutral tone. The same phonetic word can have completely different meanings depending on its tone. For instance, the syllable “ma” can mean “mother” (mā, first tone), “hemp” (má, second tone), “horse” (mǎ, third tone), or “scold” (mà, fourth tone) based on the tone used.

 

What challenges do translators face when translating between Chinese and English?

Translators encounter several challenges, including:

Linguistic structure differences: Chinese and English have vastly different grammar, syntax, and sentence structures, making direct translation difficult.

Cultural nuances: Certain concepts, idioms, or expressions may not have direct equivalents in the other language, requiring cultural adaptation.

Writing system: The transition from a character-based script to an alphabet-based one (or vice versa) can be complex, especially with the need to convey the correct tones in Romanization for Chinese.

Contextual meaning: Context plays a more significant role in Chinese due to its use of homophones and reliance on implied meanings, requiring translators to understand the broader context to accurately translate the text.

The Chinese Language in the UK

The Chinese language in the UK reflects the country’s diverse linguistic landscape and the historical and ongoing connections between the UK and China. Here are some key facts about the Chinese language in the UK:

Population and Language Speakers: The UK has a significant Chinese community, with Mandarin and Cantonese being the most spoken Chinese dialects. The 2011 Census reported over 100,000 people in England and Wales speak Chinese as their primary language, though this number is likely higher today due to immigration and natural growth.

Dialects: Mandarin, being the official language of China and Taiwan, is widely taught and spoken within the Chinese community in the UK. Cantonese is also prevalent, especially among older generations and communities with roots in Hong Kong and southern China.

Education: Chinese has become an increasingly popular language to learn in the UK, both at the school level and in higher education. Many universities offer Chinese language and cultural studies programs, and there are also supplementary schools and community programs that offer Chinese language classes.

Cultural Integration: Chinese New Year is widely celebrated in the UK, particularly in cities with significant Chinese populations like London, Manchester, and Liverpool. These celebrations often include traditional Chinese performances, cuisine, and language elements, highlighting the language’s cultural significance.

Business and Trade: With China being one of the UK’s largest trading partners, there is a growing demand for Chinese language skills in the business sector. Proficiency in Mandarin is increasingly seen as a valuable asset for UK professionals engaging in trade, investment, and cultural exchanges with China.

Media and Publishing: There are Chinese-language media outlets in the UK, including newspapers, radio stations, and television channels, catering to the Chinese-speaking population. These media outlets provide news and content in both Mandarin and Cantonese.

Community Organisations: Numerous Chinese community organisations and associations in the UK offer language support, cultural activities, and educational programs to promote the Chinese language and culture among Chinese residents and the wider UK population.

Language Services: Due to the diverse Chinese-speaking population in the UK, there is a demand for language services such as translation and interpretation in various sectors, including legal, medical, and governmental services.

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