General Style Guide for Translations

1. Style:

Keep your translation as close to the English as possible in structure and style, without violating target language rules (this will make the review and revisions processes easier). The translation should read as if it was originally written in the target language.

Please translate into standard language — avoid regionalisms.
Do not add or omit any ideas and/or concepts (no preference changes).

If possible, use the same number of complete sentences. If the English source is too long, you can split 1 sentence into 2 or 3 separated by Chinese comma ，.

Keep product names, titles, and recurring terms entirely consistent throughout the translation.

Use contemporary language.

NOTE: If, while working on a project, you find something in the English source text that you suspect is not correct, please do not alter the translation according to what you assume is the correct source text without first contacting Linguistics Coordination or Project Management in order to receive authorization to do so.

Similarly, if you find a discrepancy between the English source and the translated target text during a tech review, and this discrepancy is based on what appears to be an error in the source text, please raise the issue to Linguistics Coordination or Project Management as well, so they can let you know how to proceed.

Read Also: Contract & Agreement and English-Chinese Translation

2. Vocabulary:

1) Follow the Client’s glossary faithfully. This is important because part of the GUI has already been translated by the Client, and we need to maintain consistency throughout.

2) Use the abbreviated form from the Glossary if you cannot guess or do not know what would be the extended form.

3) If you suspect that a term in the glossary is translated completely wrong, please notify us before making any changes to the glossary, for approval of a correct translation.

3: Acronyms and Abbreviations

Keep acronyms and abbreviations as they appear in the English, unless a well-known acronym/abbreviation translation exists in your language. If they do not have a definition next to them in parentheses, do not include one in the translation. In case they do have a definition, translate the definition and keep the acronym/abbreviation following in parentheses.

—> If Chinese language does not use a certain acronym and does not have a corresponding acronym to replace it, use the full translated form instead.

4. Interface Components:

Interface components include control functions, screen names, menu options, adjustments, and buttons.

Make sure you leave them bilingual in the Target, using this style only, for consistency:

English in its original format (bold, italics, etc.), followed by the Chinese translation in parenthesis.


Correct: “Email”（电子邮件）

NOT as:

Incorrect: Email（电子邮件）

If the term in the source file is bold/italic, the translation should be bold/italic too.

If the Source refers to a series of buttons, or a path, translate each idea individually by placing the English followed by the translation in parentheses.

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