User manuals serve to provide instructions to end users on how to properly and effectively operate the product. Other names or forms of user manuals include user guides, technical documentation, or operational manual. For software, this could include terms such as quick start guide or software manual.

In today’s globalized economy, products are manufactured all across the world. That makes proper user manual translation crucial in ensuring international end users have an understanding of how to use your products safely and effectively.

Translation Services Market size was valued at USD 39.37 Billion in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 46.22 Billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 2.07% from 2021 to 2028.

As the official source of technical communication from the manufacturer, properly translated user manuals are not only important for international end users but are also a legally mandatory prerequisite for selling in many regions around the world.

What Should a Great User Manual Include?

As a key part of user experience, a great user manual should be crafted with the end user in mind. User manuals should aim to be clear and concise, including key product information and warnings of potential hazards. Users should be able to quickly find what they need to get started with using your product.

Plain Language

User manuals should always be written with the end user in mind. Limit the use of technical jargon and superfluous language to keep the document as accessible to as wide a range of users as possible.

Visuals

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Regardless of language, everyone can understand pictures and the more visuals your user manual has, the more you save on translation fees. A key part of IKEA’s international success has been their prioritization of visual instructions over written instructions.

Simplicity

Keep the manual brief and concise. This includes not only text but also visuals. The simpler the user manual, the more likely end users will actually end up reading it.

Focus on the Problem

Understand why users need to read the user manual in the first place – to use your product to accomplish tasks. When writing about product features, focus on direct and simple explanations of how users how users can use each feature to achieve their goals.

Logical Hierarchy and Flow

Develop the user manual according to how the end user will be using your product. Focus on the basics of the product before explaining advanced features. Use headings and subheadings to categorize each step.

Table of Contents

Ensure that when a user reaches for the manual, they can find what they are looking for within a few page flips with a table of contents.

Searchable Content

With the ubiquity of internet access, today, user manuals are also hosted online. Ensure your user manual is optimized for the best features of internet browsers – the search function. This way, users can instantaneously scan the entire document for keywords they need to solve their problem.

Accessible Content

Creating accessible content doesn’t just mean having the manual in a variety of languages. Ensure your user manual is still accessible for end users who may be hard of hearing or visually impaired.

Good Design of User Manual 

Design for as wide a range of audiences as possible. Keep white space to a maximum and break up long lines of text. Keep graphics simple and make sure they translate across cultures. Ensure consistency in visual and written style across all documentation.

User Feedback

Sometimes, working on a product or a project for too long will bias you towards how you see the product. Getting feedback from end users help ensure you’re creating the user manual for them.

Links to Further Resources

Keeping your user manual simple is important. You don’t want to be overwhelming users with advanced information. Consider providing links or QR codes that lead to more detailed information for advanced users. For print documentation, this can also include an email and customer hotline number.

Legal Requirements

Each market has their own legal requirements for how user manuals are written and what it must include. For example, the European Economic Area (EEA), consisting of all 27 EU member states and Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, has a standardized set of directives for CE marking, which stands for European Conformity.

The CE marking, required for specific products, indicates that the manufacturer declares product compliance with relevant EEA product safety legislation. For products that fall under the 25 CE directives or regulations, a CE marking is mandatory if it is to be sold in the EEA. These requirements include mandatory translation to language(s) of the country where the product is sold, intended use of the product, descriptions of foreseeable misuse of the product, risk analysis of the product, safety information, and information on packaging waste.

What Parts of the User Manual Content Should be Translated?

Aside from visuals, all parts of the user manual should be translated. The user manual should have corresponding translations of the below information in all target languages to guarantee legal compliance:

• Intended use
• Features/accessories
• Description of the main product elements
• Description of the user interface
• Safety warnings
• Installation instructions
• Description of how to use/operate the product
• Troubleshooting section and instructions on how to solve problems
• Maintenance information
• Repair information
• Information on disposal of the product and packaging
• Technical specifications
• Table of content
• Index
• Glossary
• Warranty information
• Contact details

User Manual Translation Process

Helpful Tools for User Manual Translation by Yourself

CAT stands for Computer Assisted Translation Tool. These are translation memory tools that split large multilingual documents into segments. CAT can help save translators up to 35% of the workload by memorizing previously translated content. These tools not only save time, but also ensure style consistency and translation accuracy across various sets of documentation.

Professional User Manual Translation: Professionalism and Peace of Mind

Hiring professional translators for user manual translation provides more peace of mind for businesses. As user manuals are required for safety and legal reasons, and more importantly for end user well-being and overall user experience, hiring professional translators for the various languages included is advised.

Professional translators are able to localize to target area requirements. They understand the legal issues involved and are able to take responsibility for the accuracy of their work. Finding professional translators well versed in the industry of your business is important to ensure accurate translation of technical terminology.

Readers can tell when a product manual is translated professionally. Grammatical errors and incorrect terminology will at best come off as untrustworthy to foreign users and at worst cause end users to improperly operate your product and open up your business to risk of potential legal troubles.

At HI-COM, we have a wide network of professional native translators specialized in all major industries. We offer professional full-suite multilingual user manual translation, saving your business costs and time looking for translators for each target language. As a China-based translation agency, we specialize in helping China-based companies expand abroad and international companies enter the Chinese market.

DTP Services for User Manual Translation

Every modern translation agency provides desktop publishing services, or DTP. At HI-COM, we value your time. We provide not only multilingual user manual translation but also DTP services to help your user manual look as professional as it reads. Our DTP team of technical designers help work on page-layout, graphic design, and international typesetting.

With native translators specialized in your industry and experienced technical designers to integrate all languages into your preferred format, (InDesign, AI, PDF, etc), HI-COM provides a one-stop solution for your multilingual technical documentation needs.

Contact us for your free consultation today!

Scan QR code to follow Localization and The Chinese Market Entry News or Contact us on WeChat: 

User manuals serve to provide instructions to end users on how to properly and effectively operate the product. Other names or forms of user manuals include user guides, technical documentation, or operational manual. For software, this could include terms such as quick start guide or software manual.

In today’s globalized economy, products are manufactured all across the world. That makes proper user manual translation crucial in ensuring international end users have an understanding of how to use your products safely and effectively.

As the official source of technical communication from the manufacturer, properly translated user manuals are not only important for international end users but are also a legally mandatory prerequisite for selling in many regions around the world.

What Should a Great User Manual Include?

As a key part of user experience, a great user manual should be crafted with the end user in mind. User manuals should aim to be clear and concise, including key product information and warnings of potential hazards. Users should be able to quickly find what they need to get started with using your product.

Plain Language

User manuals should always be written with the end user in mind. Limit the use of technical jargon and superfluous language to keep the document as accessible to as wide a range of users as possible.

Visuals

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Regardless of language, everyone can understand pictures and the more visuals your user manual has, the more you save on translation fees. A key part of IKEA’s international success has been their prioritization of visual instructions over written instructions.

Simplicity

Keep the manual brief and concise. This includes not only text but also visuals. The simpler the user manual, the more likely end users will actually end up reading it.

Focus on the Problem

Understand why users need to read the user manual in the first place – to use your product to accomplish tasks. When writing about product features, focus on direct and simple explanations of how users how users can use each feature to achieve their goals.

Logical Hierarchy and Flow

Develop the user manual according to how the end user will be using your product. Focus on the basics of the product before explaining advanced features. Use headings and subheadings to categorize each step.

Table of Contents

Ensure that when a user reaches for the manual, they can find what they are looking for within a few page flips with a table of contents.

Searchable Content

With the ubiquity of internet access, today, user manuals are also hosted online. Ensure your user manual is optimized for the best features of internet browsers – the search function. This way, users can instantaneously scan the entire document for keywords they need to solve their problem.

Accessible Content

Creating accessible content doesn’t just mean having the manual in a variety of languages. Ensure your user manual is still accessible for end users who may be hard of hearing or visually impaired.

Good Design

Design for as wide a range of audiences as possible. Keep white space to a maximum and break up long lines of text. Keep graphics simple and make sure they translate across cultures. Ensure consistency in visual and written style across all documentation.

User Feedback

Sometimes, working on a product or a project for too long will bias you towards how you see the product. Getting feedback from end users help ensure you’re creating the user manual for them.

Links to Further Resources

Keeping your user manual simple is important. You don’t want to be overwhelming users with advanced information. Consider providing links or QR codes that lead to more detailed information for advanced users. For print documentation, this can also include an email and customer hotline number.

Legal Requirements

Each market has their own legal requirements for how user manuals are written and what it must include. For example, the European Economic Area (EEA), consisting of all 27 EU member states and Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, has a standardized set of directives for CE marking, which stands for European Conformity.

The CE marking, required for specific products, indicates that the manufacturer declares product compliance with relevant EEA product safety legislation. For products that fall under the 25 CE directives or regulations, a CE marking is mandatory if it is to be sold in the EEA. These requirements include mandatory translation to language(s) of the country where the product is sold, intended use of the product, descriptions of foreseeable misuse of the product, risk analysis of the product, safety information, and information on packaging waste.

What Parts of the User Manual Content Should be Translated?

Aside from visuals, all parts of the user manual should be translated. The user manual should have corresponding translations of the below information in all target languages to guarantee legal compliance:

• Intended use
• Features/accessories
• Description of the main product elements
• Description of the user interface
• Safety warnings
• Installation instructions
• Description of how to use/operate the product
• Troubleshooting section and instructions on how to solve problems
• Maintenance information
• Repair information
• Information on disposal of the product and packaging
• Technical specifications
• Table of content
• Index
• Glossary
• Warranty information
• Contact details

User Manual Translation Process

Helpful Tools for User Manual Translation by Yourself

CAT stands for Computer Assisted Translation Tool. These are translation memory tools that split large multilingual documents into segments. CAT can help save translators up to 35% of the workload by memorizing previously translated content. These tools not only save time, but also ensure style consistency and translation accuracy across various sets of documentation.

Professional User Manual Translation: Professionalism and Peace of Mind

Hiring professional translators for user manual translation provides more peace of mind for businesses. As user manuals are required for safety and legal reasons, and more importantly for end user well-being and overall user experience, hiring professional translators for the various languages included is advised.

Professional translators are able to localize to target area requirements. They understand the legal issues involved and are able to take responsibility for the accuracy of their work. Finding professional translators well versed in the industry of your business is important to ensure accurate translation of technical terminology.

Readers can tell when a product manual is translated professionally. Grammatical errors and incorrect terminology will at best come off as untrustworthy to foreign users and at worst cause end users to improperly operate your product and open up your business to risk of potential legal troubles.

At HI-COM, we have a wide network of professional native translators specialized in all major industries. We offer professional full-suite multilingual user manual translation, saving your business costs and time looking for translators for each target language. As a China-based translation agency, we specialize in helping China-based companies expand abroad and international companies enter the Chinese market.

DTP Services

Every modern translation agency provides desktop publishing services, or DTP. At HI-COM, we value your time. We provide not only multilingual user manual translation but also DTP services to help your user manual look as professional as it reads. Our DTP team of technical designers help work on page-layout, graphic design, and international typesetting.

With native translators specialized in your industry and experienced technical designers to integrate all languages into your preferred format, (InDesign, AI, PDF, etc), HI-COM provides a one-stop solution for your multilingual technical documentation needs.

HI-COM is a localization and multilingual communication agency dedicated to providing China-specific strategy, social media communication and e-commerce marketing services to businesses around the world. Working with more than 100 brands, HI-COM is the go-to partner of companies that want to enter China market!  Contact us for your free consultation today!

Scan QR code to follow Localization and The Chinese Market Entry News or Contact us on WeChat: 

Certified translation can be very important for working overseas, or dealing with a visa or foreign insurance… No need to worry! Here are the details.

HI-COM is an accredited expert in this field!

Many people won’t have heard of certified or notarized translations before traveling and working internationally. For many coming to or leaving China, it may come as a surprise when they’re asked for a certified translation, and moreover a challenge to figure out exactly how and by whom it can be done.

Countries do not automatically recognize the authenticity of a given legal document, be it a diploma or birth certificate, in its original language. Whether applying for a visa, starting a company, or getting married, it’s often required that a translation is made of requisite documents and that it is made by a company that has been vetted, and is licensed, by the Chinese government.

Nobody wants to apply for something only to find out they don’t have the right paperwork. So, to remove any unwanted surprises below is a list of examples where a certified translation is needed in China.

Certified Translation of Civil Documents in China

# 1. Foreign Diplomas

If you are applying to a university in China, it is often required that any previous diplomas and degree certificates are translated by a certified body. Even if it’s not listed as a specific requirement in the application procedure, it is always good to be overprepared. Likewise, if you gained a diploma in China, you may need a certified translation to prove its authenticity abroad.

# 2. Chinese Work Permit

When you apply for a work permit, there are several documents that need to be provided to the Chinese authorities, many of which need to be translated. Some examples of documents that need to translate:

• letters of recommendation from former employers
• curriculum vitae
• diplomas
• grade cards
• criminal record notes

# 3. Academic Transcripts

In the same vein as diploma translation, academic transcripts may be needed when applying to study in China. A good practice here is to also translate the guide to how the grading system is structured, as a percentage score in one system might denote something significantly different from that in another.

# 4. School Marks

You may wish to supplement translations of your school marks with the comments given in report cards, which giving a qualitative edge to your quantitative appeal. Important for young students looking to study internationally.

# 5. Registration at International Schools

Often families want their children to be immersed in an international environment, in order to learn fluent English and prepare them for their expatriate lives. One solution is to enroll the child at an international school. Here are the necessary documents needed to translate into English: proof of affiliation between parents and children, previous recommendations in mathematics, English, etc., certificate of any previous schooling (if applicable), and certificates of previous vaccinations.

# 6. Registration at a Chinese (or other foreign) University

In order to register at a Chinese university, you will need to provide some documents translated from French/English into Chinese. Certified translation is required in this case.

There is often mention of a degree in partnership with foreign universities, which can facilitate procedures. However, even within the framework of a partnership, the direct classical application is common and you may be asked to provide the translation of transcripts and diplomas in a digital format as well as the application file.

Also, it is necessary to present the original documents and translations on the day of arrival at the university.

# 7. Driving License in China

Unlike other countries, China doesn’t recognize international driver’s licenses so if you are brave enough to want to drive in China, you will need to get a Chinese driver’s license.

For this, you will need a certified copy of your overseas driver’s license to form part of your application and will also need to pass a theory driving exam. Please find the process for obtaining a Chinese (Shanghai) license below:

# 8. Non-Criminal Record Certificates

Leaving China? Depending on where you’re going, you may be asked for proof that you didn’t get up to anything naughty while you were here. Certified translations may be necessary for visas, employment and health insurance in other countries.

In need of a certified translation in China? Contact us today for a free quote!

# 9. Resumes and CVs

Those wishing to get a job with a large company in China might find that it’s a requirement for their HR to have a certified translation of their resume. Even for those who don’t require it, submitting one alongside a resume in the original language shows a degree of effort that might leave a good impression.

# 10. Marriage Certificate

In order to get a spousal visa (L-visa) using an international marriage certificate, it must be presented with a certified translation. Vice-versa, you may need a certified translation for your Chinese marriage certificate to be recognised elsewhere.

*Mixed Marriage certificate certified translation

Documentation for Franco-Chinese marriage:

The application is equivalent to civil marriage in many western countries but it is entirely administrative and there is no ceremony. It normally takes just under an hour, sometimes as little as 15 minutes.

Firstly, you should obtain the forms and complete them before attending the Civil Affairs Bureau. In some cities, there will be a special section for ‘international marriages’, which involves submitting an application with the following:

• Both: Single Status Certificate Original (for foreign citizen – issued by consulate/embassy). If applicable, finalized divorce papers or the death certificate of the ex-spouse if widowed (translated, if issued in foreign languages)

• Both: Birth certificate (for foreign citizen the birth certificate shall be translated and translation shall be notarized by the notary of the country where the document was issued)

• Both: Three official style photos of the couple together – generally, the civil affairs office provides this service.

• Both: The fee • Chinese person: Household registration book (hukou)

• Foreigner: Passport After the wedding, the marriage certificate will be translated, notarized (by Chinese notary), and legalized by the Chinese Legalization Authority). The final paper will be submitted to the Consulate/Embassy of the foreign citizen’s country for internal legalization in that country.

*As from late 2019, two foreign citizens are not permitted to get legally married in China by the Chinese authorities (with the exception of getting married in one of the consulates/embassies which varies per country).

# 11. Birth Certificate

Children born in China will be provided a Chinese birth certificate, which for a whole host of reasons might be necessary to translate for government agencies elsewhere in the world.

# 12. Death Certificate

This may be required to prove relationships between the deceased and those who wish to take care of their remains and effects.

# 13. Police Records

Slightly different from non-criminal record certificates, these are obtainable from the police office at which a temporary resident of China is registered. In some cases, a certified translation of police records abroad is sufficient in place of a notarized non-criminal record certificate.

# 14. Passports

A certified translation of a passport is often required for work and residence permits in countries all over the world. For Chinese nationals whose visa or residence permit may be tied to a foreign national in another country, it’s likely that a certified translation will be required.

# 15. Bank Statements

Applying for credit, a mortgage or even opening up a new account can often require that one’s financial history is robust and reliable. Banks, both in China and internationally, will often require bank statements as proof of an individual’s history, and will need to see these in a language they can understand.

How to have your document certified? Learn more in our guide!

# 16. 1000 Internships visa (China-France visa program)

This type of visa is issued to a limited number of young French students, allowing them to complete an internship in China.

With this visa, it is only possible to obtain a work permit + category C resident permit. The duration of the internship ranges from 3 to 6 months, whilst only students enrolled at a French higher education institution can apply.

France considers an intern as a trainee, whilst China considers an intern as a short-term employee – therefore, the pay is mandatory. This visa allows students to travel to and from China, which makes the procedure almost as complex as that of a work visa.

First step: Send the documents to a company located in China, in order for them to translate into Chinese. The two most essential documents in need of translation are the criminal record and the internship agreement.

Next step (similar to the work visa): Registration by the company at the Labor Bureau, the visa application in France and then definitive registration after the medical tests in China, as well as the application for the Resident Permit.

Certified Translation in China for Business

# 1. Business License

China is a hub of multinational business. For contracts and deals negotiated across borders, it is simply a matter of due diligence for all parties involved to check each other’s credentials.

# 2. Certificate of Incorporation

The business license is only valid under the aegis of the certificate of incorporation. This is a document that details exactly what type of company was formed, and thereby what specific tax and scope limitations apply to it.

# 3. Shareholders’ Agreement

It can be vital that a shareholders’ agreement is translated verifiably, especially in the case of joint ventures. Shareholders in any company are prone to differences of opinion, internal strife, or unforeseen circumstances that cause one or more of them to want to leave. The conditions under which this may be done are better-set crystal clear, and verified, from the get-go.

# 4. CPA Reports

When operating internationally, one or more governmental bodies might require that a certified translation of a CPA report be given as part of an audit.

# 5. Employee Handbook

When you are working overseas, all the documents that concern your work, such as a labor contract or Employee Handbook aren’t always translated into your mother tongue.

Such a situation is not particularly beneficial as it means they are not aware of the rules and regulations to follow especially in China, where they may vary a great deal from those in Western countries.

Therefore it is a necessity for every employer to know that their employees can understand and follow the employee Handbook, especially in situations like this.

Every China employer should have a set of rules and regulations set out the duties and obligations of the employer and the employee.

To begin with, you may find yourself in a situation where your employee handbook is available only in Chinese. If you can’t read or understand Chinese characters, you expose yourself to unknown legal risks. Labor rules and regulations in China may be very different from what you are familiar with, so not knowing your rights and what you can or cannot do represents a legal risk.

Then, if you decide to translate your employee handbook in a language you can fully understand then you can’t be confronted with any kind of critical situation in the workplace. On the other hand, if your company has its employee handbook in English or French, but you are still working in China, it’s important to have it translated into Chinese, in the event you need it for legal reasons.

More

As the law changes frequently all around the world, there will inevitably be more cases where the certified translation is required in the future. The best thing to do, when in doubt, is to reach out to a certified translation company and ask.

HI-COM is a multilingual translation agency dedicated to providing professional translation services to businesses around the world. Contact us for your free consultation today!

If you’d like more information, feel free to get in touch as we’d be delighted to hear from you!

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All you need to know about NAATI Certified translation

Types of Legal translation

Are you from a non-English speaking country? If you are planning on going to Australia to study, immigrate, set up a business, or even just to travel, “NAATI” translation will be required for your personal documents. Any foreign language document that will be presented to the Australian government requires translation by a translator with NAATI certification:

• If you plan on driving during your vacation to Australia, you’ll be required to have a NAATI translation of your driver’s license.
• If you plan on studying in Australia or applying to a school there, you’ll need a NAATI translation of your diploma and/or academic transcript.
• If you plan on immigrating to Australia, you’ll be required to have NAATI translations of all official documents such as birth certificate, marriage certificates, and citizenship documents.
• If you plan on starting a business in Australia, Australia’s DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) will only accept documents translated by translators with NAATI certification. The DFAT stopped accepting translations from translators accredited by other bodies in 2018.

Read on to learn more about NAATI translation:

What Is NAATI Translation?

NAATI is the acronym for National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters. It is a non-profit body responsible for establishing and maintaining translation and interpretation standards and practises in Australia.

As the accreditation body for translators and interpreters at Australia’s national level, NAATI offers five parallel credential levels for both translators and interpreters: recognized, paraprofessional, professional, advanced/conference, and advanced/conference (senior).

The lower two levels of recognized and paraprofessional are usually only acceptable for very low demand languages.

For all other languages, documents must be translated by translators with a minimum of professional-level certification.

Advanced translators (senior) and conference interpreters (senior) constitute the highest level of NAATI certification and are required for high-level international summits and conferences such as UN meetings.

NAATI accredited translators have a letter of accreditation and will include a special stamp on their work as evidence that their translation is NAATI certified.

You can find a full directory of current NAATI accredited translators and interpreters on the NAATI website

When Do You Need NAATI Translation Services?

Documents requiring NAATI translation include birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce papers, diplomas, academic transcripts, police checks, payslips, and bank statements.

While NAATI translation is not required for private business translations such as marketing documents and product descriptions, choosing to work with NAATI certified translators and interpreters offer many benefits when entering the Australian market:

• NAATI certified translators have proven they meet the exacting professional translation standards at Australia’s national level.
• They are in tune with Australian political and cultural sensitivities.
• Since NAATI certification expires every three years, NAATI certified translators must constantly demonstrate they are active within the field.
• As practising professionals, NAATI translators can be trusted to treat sensitive documents with confidentiality.

Documents That May Require NAATI Translation Services

• Payslip Translations

• Academic Transcript Translation

• Bank Statement Translations

• Birth Certificate Translation

• Marriage Certificate Translation

• Death Certificate Translation

• Driving License Translation

• Divorce Certificate Translation

• Police Report Translation

• Degree Translation

• Financial Translation Services

I Want to Study in Australia, What Documents Do I Need to Have Translated by a NAATI Certified Translator?

In order to study in Australia, you will most likely need to provide your Academic Transcript Translation, as well as a Bank statement in some cases. These translations require a NAATI NAATI translation seal.

We provide high quality document translations that are accepted by Government departments and universities and licensing authorities, including the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP).

If you require your documents to be translated by a NAATI translator, contact us and we will ensure your application process – at least the translation part of it – is as painless as possible.

How  Can You Find a NAATI Translator if You Are Not in Australia at the Moment?

Here at HI-COM, we deal with Chinese, Russian, Spanish and any other NAATI translations daily! We provide NAATI certified translators capable of providing the highest quality. Preparing a document for Australian authorities requiring a NAATI translation may seem a little daunting, but don’t worry.  We have a 100% acceptance rate with all authorities that ask us for a NAATI stamped document.

We use experienced and highly skilled translators who are experts in their specified fields.

In need of NAATI translation services? Shoot us an email!

How do we work with NAATI translation?

Send your documents to us and we will provide a high-quality NAATI certified translation from and to more than 40 languages within a few days (depending on the number of documents). HI-COM has created a pool of resources in Australia so that you don’t have to worry, even if you are not in Australia right now! We will provide the most qualified translator for your needs who will know exactly what you are looking for! Our translators have more than 10 years of experience and work on NAATI translations every day!

Get a free quote for NAATI translation services in 15 minutes by email!

HI-COM is a multilingual translation agency dedicated to providing professional translation services to businesses around the world. In need of NAATI translation services? Contact us today for a free quote!

How should you translate a website to Chinese in order to reach this huge audience and their thriving local markets? When it comes to emerging markets such as China, Brazil, and Russia, booming imports and e-commerce markets have made these counties and cultures impossible to overlook. In this article we will describe how to translate a website and show you how to avoid problems when localizing it.

Today, more and more businesses and individuals are opting for Mandarin language website localisation in order to better communicate with their potential Chinese audience. However, Mandarin is a complex tonal language that requires a highly skilled team of translators, to localise a website successfully and ensure that any cultural nuances and values, as well as most appropriate search queries, are taken into consideration.

Entering the Chinese Market Online: Translation, Localization, or Transcreation?

Translation

Translation should be seen as a first step in the process of getting your website to reach Chinese audiences. Professional website translation into Chinese stays true to the content and tone of your original website. Precision and accuracy of language is the priority. This step is important for guaranteeing that the core details of your website content is preserved when translated into a different language.

However, while translation by itself may be sufficient for purely technical writing, it is not effective as the sole method of entering the Chinese market. For content that serves marketing purposes such as website translation, it is important to consider translating the spirit of your brand to fit its new cultural context and reworking content to be culturally specific.

Transcreation

Clever wordplay rarely carries over in translation, especially for unrelated language pairs like English and Chinese. This can be a major stumbling block for translation when it comes to things like brand names, slogans, and various marketing collateral.

That’s where transcreation comes in. Combining translation and creation, transcreation is a technique where both the content and emotional resonance of a message are preserved during translation. It’s a process where the target of translation is ideas, concepts and feelings rather than exact words.

In transcreation, creative liberties are taken with the source translation. Culturally specific talking points are recalibrated to fit the new cultural context. Language specific wordplay is reworked to preserve its memorability without sacrificing meaning. The resulting translation may not be a direct translation of the phrase, but it replicates the emotional impact of the content across languages.

For transcreation to be effective, transcreation teams must have a strong grasp of the nuances of both the source language and the translated language.

Localization

Localization is a crucial step in increasing the effectiveness of your website translation in China. The process of localisation involves optimizing the translated website and content to adapt to the new cultural and digital context of the target language. When localisation is executed well, it helps your brand feel native to the new cultural context it has been translated into.

High calibre website localisation requires translators to not only have native level familiarity with both the source and target language and culture, but also in-depth knowledge of your brand’s industry. Website localisation experts take into account SEO optimization for the target language, cultural connotation of visual signifiers, and differences in digital habits and infrastructure of the new market.

The high level of precision, adaptability, and knowledge involved in localisation make it the most effective step in website translation.

What to Keep in Mind when Localizing Your Website in China

When localizing your website, it’s important to keep in mind the key differences between Western and Chinese internet infrastructure.

Payment options

While in the West, the arena of online payments is dominated by credit cards and Paypal, in China, Alipay, WeChat, and Unionpay are the major players in the game.
Alipay and WeChat capture a combined 95% of the Chinese mobile payment market share while UnionPay has an effective monopoly on the card payment market. This means website localisation must include localisation for Chinese payment systems when it comes to e-commerce functionality.

Social media

Most Western social media platforms are not accessible in China. Instead, the country has its own social media ecosystem that international brands must learn to navigate in order market to Chinese consumers.

Currently, the major platforms dominating the Chinese social media ecosystem consist of WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu. Weibo and Douyin have counterparts outside of China, which are Twitter and Tik Tok respectively. However, WeChat and Xiaohongshu are relatively unique in their market niche. WeChat dominates instant messaging to the point where it has effectively replaced text messaging and email while having developed a full digital ecosystem of its own. Xiaohongshu, as a relatively newer player in Chinese social media, is a social recommendation platform that combines elements of Yelp, Instagram, and Pinterest.

This radically different social media landscape in China means that website localisation for the Chinese market requires adapting websites to fit into this new ecosystem. It is important to keep in mind that China’s social media platforms, with their unique functionalities, have also informed the digital habits of Chinese internet users.

User experience: write for your reader, not yourself

We recommend doing a localized marketing study before creating your content, to familiarize yourself with your (new) audience. If you are not in China yet, doing a benchmarking of your competitors will also be very useful.

This way, you will have an angle or a story that resonates with the local market in the most effective way. Looking to attract mothers? Young entrepreneurs? Imported car owners in their 40s living in second tier cities? The key is to know who you are talking to, to make the best impression and achieve faster customer acquisition.

There are a number of companies who do full market research; you will probably need some local help on that one. But if you don’t want to go this far, you can start with a simple website localization within your own research abilities.

Another point worth mentioning: even if you get your audience targeting right and the text is catchy, your (prospective) customer will leave the website if your navigation or functionality is not up to scratch.

It may be hard to believe but User Experience or UX has developed into a science; it is an actual profession for people to learn about the preferences of your consumers and adapt your website to fit their preferences and expectations.

While this is more of a web design topic, we suggest thinking about your consumer’s behaviors on your website when it comes to wording and calls to action at each step of their experience: interest – consideration – purchasing – after sales: support and feedback.

Do you use the right words to intrigue your Chinese audience? Do you turn viewers into customers easily? How easy is your website architecture to navigate around? Are visitors able to leave a review on your website or your social media page?

Translate a website with the right tools

When talking about website localization tools, one cannot avoid CAT (computer-assisted translation) tools such as Trados, which ensures your multilingual content can be dealt with in a smoother, more consistent, and more efficient manner. Other popular localization tools include DejaVu and Across, which may not have the might of Trados, but are nevertheless widely used by localization professionals and localization service providers.

Machine translation tool. This tool is mostly used by freelance translators and works well for certain language pairs. However, if you take a language with a specific writing system and grammar structure, such as Chinese, Arabic, Japanese or Korean (and many others), machine translation technology has its uses, but is not reliable enough to be used without extensive proofreading and corrective work.

Desktop publishing tools are used for content presentation and design. Language-specific correlations will help you to predict the layout in advance, but you will still need to ask localization engineers to assist with the DTP.

Local Colours

Adapting your colour to a local culture may also be a good idea when finalising the localization of your Chinese website localization project.

The appropriate choices of colours may subconsciously push your consumers closer to your brand. The favourite colours of Chinese audiences are red and gold.

Green is somewhat negative, especially when it comes to men. In north America and Europe, Blue represents peace, trust and security.

Yellow is a positive colour in most countries except Germany, where it represents envy. Purple is often associated with royalty, however, in Brazil and Thailand purple is the color of mourning, similar to White in China, Korea, and some other Asian countries.

Have a website to translate? Check with our team how much time will it take!

Translate a website to Chinese: choose an attractive call to action

With regards to customer acquisition, it is important to make your customer’s life as easy as possible and provide the chance of buying/emailing/joining in one to two clicks. The attention span of the average Chinese customer shopping online is much shorter than that of a Western customer.

This is due to the rapid pace and ‘everything-in-one-click’ lifestyle of China, where people are accustomed to being served or purchases completed in milliseconds; the 24/7 online support of 99% of e-commerce platforms is no-exception, payment is done in one scan plus one click, and most things are done automatically.

Almost no-one is using online-banking as they used to – everything is linked to mobile payment. The new Chinese Consumer is therefore very time sensitive: do not waste their time. Long convincing texts – NO. Page after page of explanations – NO. Your copy should be easy to read, brighten the mood, make a point quickly and make purchasing an easy click of a button or scan of a QR code.

Search engine friendly content: local search engines

Now, Search Engine Optimization is a topic for a whole different article, but let’s talk about your content optimization for the China market. As you probably already know, Google is blocked in China, and it is all in hands of BAIDU. Nevertheless, there are still title tags, meta tags, page titles, and images to think about.

Its not enough to translate your website; the localization of your website is absolutely necessary. It is not OK to just translate your tags and titles, since that will not guarantee that your local consumers are actually using those words. Using a well-known example, “pants” and “trousers” might be used interchangeably in one country, while the whole UK market will assume that the former product is underwear.

Keyword optimization and localization is a must for every market; you can’t just assume what terms will work and not being a native speaker will not help either. By purchasing the right SEO tools that will show you which keywords are searched how many times in a particular region will save you a great amount of time and money.

Doing the localization in-house is not something we recommend, but if you want to give it a shot, here is a tool that can be useful. Of course, there are more professional tools available on the market, as well as researchers, comparison campaigns and so on.

More information about Baidu SEO can be found in this article by Engage-art.

The legal side of Chinese website translation: forbidden terms in China

As you might already guess, it is not enough to just translate a website. Localization is much more than working with dictionaries! When working on Chinese website localization, you may be in for a few surprises regarding your marketing content.

There is a fairly extensive list of words and phrases you cannot use, most of which refer to being the best, strongest, fastest, original, 100% or even “real leather”, and violating this law will lead to a fine up to 300,000 RMB or even 300 days in jail! Now, if you want to protect your marketing director from this fate, check the full list of forbidden terms on our dedicated article here.

Make sure your content is legal in the country you are hosting and marketing your website in/to.

Further reading:

Forbidden terms in China that can not be used online

Brand name translation: new company/brand name – is it necessary?

Since the writing system in China is dramatically different, your brand name/company name will be translated whether you want it or not, so you better have the time and resources to have it done.

To see examples of some brand naming failures in China and some useful information on how to avoid similar fates, please see one of our previous articles.

You can go a few different directions here: a phonetic way – sounding it out, making your new brand name sound like the old one – but using local characters. Be careful here, because two characters may have a positive meaning separately, but put together they might change the whole picture.

The second way would be to actually translate the meaning of the brand – this of course works well for companies and brands that actually mean something (like Apple).

Don’t forget that double checking the final list of the possible name translations will save some time and money, as well as prevent you from some embarrassing situations. No matter how perfect you think your final translation is, make sure to show it to a test group to assure your meaning is not lost in translation. And don’t rush to translate a website to all the languages possible, it takes time to do research and testing for each language.

Example of Good Website Localization

An example of successful website localization would be Dentsply Sirona. The Chinese version of the website has highly technical medical product descriptions that are expertly translated. Source language terms are kept to a minimum, with all product names translated. Product descriptions are clear and have plenty of terms for Chinese SEO.

On the homepage, the header is welcoming, with a call to action for visitors engage in their native language. The footer is fully fleshed out, allowing Chinese visitors to learn more about the company, read their blogs, search for products, and even apply for a job.

The only improvements would be to establish Chinese social media channels and translate the company name into Chinese, something that would require intensive transcreation.

How Should Your Website Translation be Organized?

The website of any international company should be translated into the languages ​​of all countries where the goods or services of this company are sold. The easiest and almost free way to make a site multilingual is to use automatic translation, for example Google.

However, the bounce rate percentage (percentage of users leaving the site without scrolling down) in this case will be extremely high, which can adversely affect the site’s position in search engines.

In addition, the accuracy of the transmission of meaning will be approximate and will constantly change depending on the updates of the machine translation engine. Such a translation may mislead the user and certainly will not contribute to strengthening the image of the company.

Therefore, most companies decide to localize their websites with the help of professionals. In this article, we have compiled general web localization recommendations based on HI-COM’s many years of working experience.

Step1. Determine which sections of the website can be localized and which translated only

The cost of changing the text of the site increases in direct proportion to the number of language versions of this site. Often, at the end of a project, a translation company will find a long list of typos, logical contradictions, inconsistencies, etc. noted in the source text of the site.

Not all such inconsistencies can be resolved by the translator without the participation of the customer, or when the customer finalizes the site’s content after the start of the translation.

All this leads to confusion and significantly increases the terms of work on the project.

It’s vital to estimate the project budget. Is it really necessary to translate the entire site content or can it be limited to individual pages? Do the “News”, “Articles”, “Reviews” sections need to be translated?

Step 2. Work on the structure of the website and estimate the volume of technical work on it

A. How will multilingualism be implemented?

You can organize language versions of a site in the following ways:

– Domains with the same name in other zones (yoursite.ru, yoursite.de, yoursite.fr, etc.);

– subdomains with language designation (ru.yoursite.ru, de.yoursite.ru);

– directory with language identifier (yoursite.ru/de/);

• Substitution of content.

The first method is the most difficult and costly. Some domains may be busy and will have to be redeemed.

Changing the design or features will require edits on each site. At the same time, this method gives the greatest freedom for localization.

The structures of individual sites will not be tightly interconnected. In addition, each site will be separately indexed and ranked by search engines independently from others.

A multilingual site using a subdomain is technically no different from using a separate domain for each language, so this method is only advisable to use if it is not possible to purchase all the required domains.

A directory with a language identifier is the most common and easiest way to implement a multilingual interface. Many site management systems have free or low-cost plug-ins (such as WPML for WordPress) to implement this option.

In some systems (for example, Joomla), such a plug-in is already built into the basic functionality. All the advantages and disadvantages of this method are related to the fact that you still have one whole website.

This can, for example, cause difficulties when work on the site’s content is decentralized – for example, when different branches of the company are responsible for each language version.

The option with substitution of content is used extremely rarely due to the negative impact on website promotion. Pages in different languages ​​in this case may have the same URL, headings, keywords, which will negatively affect their promotion.

B. Will the structure of all language versions of the website coincide?

The need for different structures with separate language versions of the site can be caused by various factors: delivery or order features, or  legal features (for example, different requirements for the protection of personal data). Assortment of goods, promotions, and news may vary.

C. Will the functionality of all language versions of the site coincide?

Creating a multilingual website can lead to an extension of the functionality: automatic conversion of prices into different currencies (units), changing the format of dates, etc.

D. Is website design suitable for multilingualism?

Text in different languages ​​can vary significantly in graphical terms. If the site design was developed for languages ​​based on hieroglyphs or characters (for example, Korean or Chinese), then most likely it cannot be used without modifications, for example, the German version of the site. Long German text just doesn’t fit inside buttons.

Refinement of the design may also be required in case of localization in languages ​​with reverse (RTL / LTR) writing direction (for example, Arabic or Hebrew), where it will be necessary to arrange the main modules in a mirror.

E. Are there any editable sources for all audiovisual materials (diagrams, graphs, videos, presentations)?

The lack of editable files can significantly increase the cost and timing of layout work.

In addition, if the text or subtitles are part of a bitmap image, either the image below them will be lost when replacing the text (the translated text will be placed in the “text box” with a background fill), or you will have to pay for the long-term work of manually rendering these parts of the image.

F. Flags or languages?

Flags symbolize countries, but not languages. It is necessary to use them very carefully to indicate the language versions of the site so as not to confuse or offend the user.

If the flags of the United Kingdom or the United States do not mislead the user, then many of the more rare languages ​​cannot be denoted by flags.

For example, the flag of which country should be designated to Arabic, Hindi, Persian, etc.?

When using language names, it is very important not to indicate them in the main language of the site, i.e. instead of “German” and “Chinese”, indicate “Deutsch” and “中文”.

G. Is the site encoding suitable for displaying content in different languages?

If the project will use not only Latin or Cyrillic, then there is almost only one option for implementing multilingualism – you need to use Unicode, usually UTF-8.

H. Do I need to try to automatically detect the user’s language?

There are many ways to determine the user’s language and redirect them to the desired language version of the site. It is important to understand that none of these methods is absolutely accurate.

A user, by mistake redirected to the wrong language version, should be able to quickly change it.

J. What page of the site will the user access when switching between languages?

Ideally, switching the language on any page should lead to the opening of the same page in the desired language.

This principle will not work if only part of the materials are translated. Another option is to send the user to the translated home page of the site.

Step 3. Arrange materials required translation/localization

A. How will the export of the translation and subsequent import of translated pages be carried out? Does it make sense to automate this process?

With small sites you can do without automation by copying the text into an Excel file. It is highly undesirable to use MS Word for these purposes.

Firstly, it is more difficult to structure the content elements and it will be more difficult to search for them and correlate them in different languages ​​(in Excel, no matter how many languages there are, the translation can be entered in the next column).

Secondly, any professional translation company is able to work with HTML markup. If you send an Excel file containing the markup tags in the cells for translation, then all the tags after the translation will remain in their places.

This is achieved with the help of special translation software that blocks tags so that the translator does not accidentally delete them, and also allows you to compare the original and the translation and make sure that all tags are kept in place.

For larger projects, setting up export of content for translation may be an effective solution. This can be done either with the help of modules (for most popular CMS, such modules already exist) or by independently understanding the database structure of the site where the content is located.

B. Check that you didn’t forget anything when submitting website for translation:

– menu items;

– the contents of all modules and plug-ins;

– submitting forms error messages;

– templates of emails sent to the user by the site;

– meta tags and keywords;

– text on images and subtitles for video;

• legally relevant texts (confidentiality agreements, delivery terms, product catalogs, price lists, specifications, etc.).

Step 4. Hire translation company or set up an internal translation team

Modern translation is a complex, multi-stage process, which, in addition to the translation itself, includes various project preparation and quality control tasks: compilation and approval of a glossary, editing by a second translator, automatic control of formatting compliance, transfer of digital values.

For localization of the site in five languages, for example, a team of 12-15 people may be involved. Managing such a process requires specialized knowledge.

Based on our experience, the customer will not normally be able to significantly save funds by organizing this work on their own.

Be sure to make at least an approximate work schedule. Will all the text be sent for translation at once? Do you plan to regularly translate any other materials (news, audit reports, press releases, etc.)?

Knowing such information will allow the translation company to plan resources, and a more stable team will work on the project, which will positively affect quality.

Step 5. Linguistic testing

After the website translation is completed and the test assembly of the multilingual site is prepared, you can proceed to linguistic testing. Linguistic testing allows you to identify errors that are impossible or extremely difficult to notice in the previous stages of work.

These errors include:

• Semantic errors due to lack of context. Such errors practically do not depend on the competence of the translator, since the translator does not work with text in the shell of the site, but most often receives text uploaded to Excel, where the content elements are not grouped in the way they are grouped on the site pages.
• Distortion of formatting due to the variability of the text length (the text goes beyond the borders of the buttons or its incomplete display).
• Errors with fonts (for example, when the font used does not contain the characters of the desired language).
• Invalid hyperlinks (for example, leading to another language version of the site).

Step 6. Work on multilingual SEO

Modern search engine optimization is largely a linguistic task. Correctly selected frequency keywords can only be done by a person who is fluent in the target language. Ideally, if the keyword list should be ready before the translation begins. This will save energy and time on processing the content afterwards.

Translate a Website Using Professional Services: Companies and Prices

When deciding to translation a website as well as localize it, you shall choose a reliable, experienced partner who is working in your target market.

Normally, website content localization services will include original website extraction, evaluation of the content length, translation and/or transcreation, localization of the commercial terms and marketing taglines, and even in some cases content integration. Not to forget a specific aspects of SEO localization that includes the localization of targeted keywords, translation of meta tags etc.

Prices for website localisation vary depending on specificity of the content and the size of website. Big websites may receive a “bulk” discounts, so to say that the price is decreasing based on the volume.

To find out more about website localization services please contact HI-COM, a multilingual localization expert that works with more than 40 languages worldwide.

HI-COM is a digital marketing agency dedicated to providing China-specific strategy, social media communication and e-commerce marketing services to businesses around the world. Working with more than 100 brands, HI-COM is the go-to partner of companies that want to enter China market!  Contact us for your free consultation today!

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One of the most common tools in the advertiser’s toolbelt, good voice-over can make a campaign sing to an audience. If done well, it can make good copy, and make it great. For international brands operating in China, there are several considerations that need to be made, in order to make the most of what voice-overs have to offer, and to avoid the worst of what a misguided voice-over can do. Below, we’ll look at the particulars of why voice-overs need good localization in China, when video voice-over is necessary, and how the typical work process works, from start to finish.

Localization of Voice-over in China: What and Why?

China’s mediasphere is increasingly distinct from just about everywhere else in the world, and as such, techniques such as voice-over must be adapted to suit the local context. On the digital front, domestic innovators have created media platforms and services that are analogues in some respects with their international counterparts, but bear significant and important differences. Comparisons that are often wheeled out by ‘experts’ on digital marketing in China may previously have needed to be taken with a grain of salt; now, like a tequila slammer, they need to be taken with a whole lot more.

Yes, WeChat is similar in some ways to WhatsApp. But it’s just as similar to Facebook, or Twitter, or even Venmo. Yes, Weibo may appear similar to Twitter, but its functionality is different – micro-topics, rich media, threaded comments, events and reward systems make it stand apart. The same can be said for the other media platforms that currently dominate the Middle Kingdom, when viewed through the lens of comparisons with international platforms: Xiaohongshu (Instagram), Bilibili (YouTube), Dianping (Yelp), iQiyi (Netflix). The comparisons sort of make sense. In some ways. But in just as many ways, they are either incomplete or misleading.

When it comes to localization, it is the differences that matter the most. Each of these platforms contain functionality that can support content with voice-over, but much of it is distinct from other platforms. An advertisement with voice-over is a tried-and-true method to grab a potential customer’s attention, but it must be suited to a platform’s functionality and audience.

For example, ads on iQiyi are more like traditional TV commercials, running around 60 seconds, with full arcs and high production value. On platforms like Dianping and Xiaohongshu however, ads are much, much shorter, and are often made in an informal faux-amateur style, with a host or KOL. The voice-over script, tone and delivery has to be carefully curated, in line with platform-specific considerations. For international brands wanting to enter or increase their share in the Chinese market, adaptation is simply a must.

When is Video Voice-over Needed?

Website / online store videos

Chinese consumers are well-known for wanting as much detail as possible on the products or services they buy, and for wanting to know that what they’re buying is authentic. A website or online listing with a video, accompanied by a high-quality voice-over, can make the difference between converting a prospect into a customer. It is the kind of extra note of professionalism and attention to detail that all consumers seek.

Social media videos

Now that so many Chinese consumers own smartphones, and are big fans of short-video platforms, new opportunities for international brands seeking to make a name in the Chinese market. Well-produced, high-quality videos often require voice-over that is appropriate for the audience, and attune to the latest trends in online social media.

Exhibition videos

Art is booming in China. New collaborations between Pompidou and the West Bund Art Centre, and Tate and the Museum of Art Pudong, are just the tip of the iceberg. With the expansion of the art market, international institutions are flowing in. Nothing is worse, however, than bad translation at an art exhibition. Doubly so when it’s voice-over. Language in these circumstances must articulate complex ideas with precision, navigating the intersection between concepts related to art history and technique, and the interpretation of the work on display. Done well, voice-over can guide visitors through this often-difficult journey. Done badly, it can confuse and confound.

E-learning platform guides

E-learning is huge in China. In fact, due to Covid-19, it’s become huge everywhere. Worldwide, the industry is now valued at $250bn. With a projected annual growth rate of 21%, it’s set to hit $1tn by 2027. There is no reason why e-learning platforms shouldn’t internationalize; with few of the associated assets being physical, they are perhaps one of the easiest services to take beyond domestic borders. For clients and customers, it’s important to create a fast understanding of what a given e-learning platform offers, and then to follow through with a frictionless user experience. Clear, well-localized guides using voice-over are a quick, easy way to achieve this.

Guided audio tours

Audio guides in museums used to be clunky affairs. They would involve renting a tape player or mp3 player, with headphones, and flicking through the recorded passages, usually according to a pre-set route. Likewise on city walking tours, or even bus tours, listeners had little control over what they might hear and when, or how. Smartphones have changed the game entirely. With the help of interactive pages, mini-apps, QR-code scans and more, listeners are able to listen in a dynamic, flexible way. This opens up opportunities for tour providers to become much more creative with their voice-over format, creating a dialogue with the listener, wherein both parties share control over the experience.

Public address systems

Whether it’s during an event, at a pop-up store, or on a means of transportation that caters to people who speak different languages, public address voice-over is ubiquitous. It’s often said in the world of user experience design that good design is invisible. The same could be said for voice-over in public address. The aim of public address is to convey information. The recipient should be focused on that information, not on the voice-over itself. The voice-over therefore needs to sound natural, properly-localized, and therefore, ‘invisible’.

Voice-over Process

Client sends their original video and/or audio

When it comes to localization, it’s usually the case that the client has source material in one language. If not, they will have something similar to what they need, and can provide it as a reference. This is sent to the localization agency first, to gain an understanding of what the project entails.

Script writing and/or translation of the script

Some clients do not have scripts, some do. In the former case, it is the job of experienced, native script-writers to come up with something that will be interesting, culturally-resonant and that accurately conveys the ideas in the campaign. In the latter, it is a matter of translating, localizing, and often improving the existing script.

Provide samples from a selection of voice-over artists

Once the script is ready and approved, the agency will send the client a selection of samples of varying tones, accents and genders. The client will pick based not just on whether they like a given voice, but based on whether it fits the company image, might resonate with the target audience, and suits the content of the video.

Send the script to the artist

The voice-over artist will often practice before recording, becoming familiar with the different highs and lows, the energy, and refining their cadence. This will often be sent along with the original video for reference in tone, or another video from another campaign for the same reason.

Artist records the audio in partnership with the studio network

Generally, the agency and the artist will go together to an audio studio and record options. The agency will do its best to represent the client, and communicate their vision to the artist. It is the job of the studio sound engineers to refine and apply the recording.

Send the audio to the client

Once the options are recorded, they are sent to the client. The client might then offer feedback, and request small changes.

After validation of the audio recordings, the mastering of the audio track and application to the video track can be completed. The client can receive the video on the same day as the recording.

HI-COM has had over five years of experience providing voice-over services. We have accrued a good range of artists and studios, and have an efficient, working process. As a certified translation service, we can help translate, localize and record materials in English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, Spanish, and more. Moreover, with our expertise in digital marketing, we can advise how best to adapt videos and audio clips to best suit whichever platform they will be hosted on. Drop us a line, send us a file, and let’s start the conversation.

With the COVID-19 pandemic showing signs of coming to an end, now is the time for those in the hospitality sector to prepare for the new normal. There are plenty of opportunities up ahead, and the deciding factor in whether they may be taken advantage of will likely be an organisation’s ability to communicate and appeal to new international visitors.

The focal point of international travel in Asia looks to be making a shift, and when Chinese borders open up, there will be rush of tourists eager to explore. Below, we take a look at how organisations in the hospitality sector can, and should, adapt.

Correct and Stylish Translations Make the Service More Attractive

When translating hospitality content, it should be a given that translations should be technically correct, but they need to be contextually correct too. Take for example the sentence ‘four-person automobiles are available for leasing’. It is technically correct, and conveys the necessary information, but it isn’t natural English. A better sentence might be ‘Family-sized cars are available for rent’.

In the first case, the reader might immediately be taken out of the text, their focus shifted away from the service being offered, towards the oddness of the phrasing. In the second, they likely receive the information, note its positive aspects, and read on. The same goes for any language – it is important to have the contextual meaning of a translation checked by someone who understands it.

The same can be said for style. In English, for example, hospitality content tends to be fairly matter-of-fact – a mixture of plain information mixed with occasional evocative adjectives. While in Chinese, listings can often be more lyrical and poetic – plain information is often complemented by abstract verse.

Which Locations Should You Focus on As Your Next Target?

In the ASEAN region, Cambodia is trail-blazing in terms of its vaccination program. At the time of writing, a quarter of its population have received at least one dose. It has plans to achieve herd immunity by Q4, in order to open its borders to vaccinated tourists, and its economy is once again growing.

This could mark a turning-point in the Cambodian hospitality sector, and opportunities for international hospitality organisations. Why? Cambodia has often been treated as a stop-off point, often for Angkor Wat, in tourists’ larger South-East Asia tours. But if Cambodia opens before other countries in the region, it’s predicted that travellers will spend more time there, opening up new opportunities for hotels and tours catering to those who stay for a week or more, rather than just a few days.

Hainan is another place to keep an eye on. Known as the ‘Hawaii of China’, it has been inundated with domestic tourists over the last year, only adding to its status as a luxury beach-filled getaway. A combination of duty-free shopping, a beautiful natural environment, and the establishment of world-class hotels has turned the island into a place full of opportunity in the hospitality sector.

Being Ready: When Chinese Borders Open

After two years of travel across borders being extremely limited, there’s a good chance that border restrictions will ease in 2022. The consequences of this will be twofold: first, and perhaps most significantly, there will be swathes of Chinese tourists looking to holiday outside of the middle kingdom. Now is the time to get prepared for that moment – by localizing content aimed at Chinese tourists, it will be possible to stand out in the crowd of hospitality service providers.

Second, international tourists will be able to visit China. For companies operating within China, this represents a good opportunity to focus on getting their international offer perfected. By translating services into several languages, it will be possible to engage tourists coming from all over the globe.

HI-COM is a digital marketing agency dedicated to providing China-specific strategy, social media communication and e-commerce marketing services to businesses around the world. Working with more than 100 brands, HI-COM is the go-to partner of companies that want to enter China market!  Contact us for your free consultation today!

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ICO White paper translation, and ICO translation for Marketing. Initial Coin Offering, is unchartered territories for many, bringing with it a whole new meaning to the term “digital marketing”. With more than 1,000 cryptocurrencies currently listed on CoinMarketCap and new startups launching daily, we take a look at what successful coin launches have done.

2021 has seen an explosion in interest in blockchain technology worldwide thanks to the NFT boom and the record-setting highs of Bitcoin valuation, compelling projects to heavily localize their documents for different market regions around the world to capture valuable market share.

While blockchain has now entered the media spotlight, it is still a relatively new concept and technology. In addition, with its variety of use cases blockchain documents typically cover a wide range of fields.

This means unlike other more established fields of translation, blockchain translation requires deeper levels of research and expertise to ensure translations are accurate and appropriate.

HI-COM understands the various intricacies involved with translation and localization for blockchain. As a certified translation agency operating in China specialized for digital marketing, we are experts at helping projects reach audiences from around the world.

ICO Marketing – the New Frontiers of Marketing

Marketing for an ICO or Initial Coin Offering, is unchartered territories for many, bringing with it a whole new meaning to the term “digital marketing”. For these new technologies, there are few marketing specialists. There are more than 1,000 cryptocurrencies currently listed on CoinMarketCap with new startups launching daily, so one needs to find their point of difference to stand out from the growing pool of cryptocurrency startups.

Needless to say, marketing to bitcoin investors is not akin to marketing other products or services. The audience is far more nuanced, diverse and skeptical, and the marketing tools and strategies will not be your typical Facebook promotions or billboard advertisements.

Rather, your White Paper, the marketing medium of choice for the bourgeoning cryptocurrency industry, will be the critical marketing tool. It will be the mouthpiece of your company and the central marketing tool that will instantly gain or undermine your credibility. The importance of how you draft your White Paper and how to distribute it to investor bases can determine the success of your ICO.

What Kinds of Blockchain and Crypto Documents We Translate

Websites

In today’s globalized online environment, it’s imperative to offer a multilingual website. With your blockchain project being a digital product, the website it most likely any user’s first interaction with your project. Readers from around the world should feel at home reading through your website, and clearly understand your project’s goal.

HI-COM’s translation and localization professionals have extensive experience in ensuring every language offered on your website is clear and concise, localized for each target market. We understand that for readers, the professionalism displayed on your website is a reflection of your project’s credibility. In addition, we specialize in multi-language SEO optimization for websites, helping your audiences find their way to you no matter what language they speak.

Apps and Software

For any digital product, ease of use is key in retaining users. After dedicating time and effort into crafting intuitive UI and instructions for your app or software, ensure that it translates over in every language you support. Localizing your apps and software is crucial for thriving in foreign markets.

HI-COM’s localization professionals are native speakers of their target regions, providing app and software localization that keeps your project’s user experience intuitive in any cultural or linguistic context.

ICOs

It’s now time to sell your blockchain project to the world. By appealing to investors on a global scale, you will increase the likelihood of success for your project’s ICO. Localizations that resonate in the native language and context of your target demographics will be a key determinant for your ICO’s success.

As experts in digital marketing and localization services, HI-COM’s extensive experience can help you design the perfect multilingual ICO campaign. Utilizing region specific strategies for each localization will allow your investors to feel like you are as invested in them as they are in your project, increasing investor confidence.

Financial Reports

Fintech, as one of blockchain technology’s first use-cases, is a mature market for blockchain projects. As a digitally secured accounting ledger, blockchain technology has revolutionized the industry, with governments to major corporations working on developing their own digital blockchain currencies.

With cross-border trade and finance increasing in scale and volume, the translation of financial reports has become an increasingly important component of fintech blockchain projects. HI-COM’s network of professional financial translators are well experienced in the field and uphold professional values of strict confidentiality around sensitive documents.

Insurance Documents

The insurance industry is another major area where blockchain technology has proven use-cases. Blockchain allows for traceability in record keeping, verification of coverage, and smart contracts for automating claims. With the digital sphere becoming increasingly borderless, there is increasing demand for insurance document translation services by blockchain projects.

As a certified legal translation agency, HI-COM offers professional worry-free legal translation services for documents such as insurance documentation. Our network of professional legal translators from around the world follow stringent protocols for data security and privacy, guaranteeing both quality of services and protection from data leakage.

White Papers

White papers are the key document for any blockchain project. They can be seen as the mission statement or founding paper for the project. They describe not only the technical specifications of the blockchain itself, but they provide the philosophical arguments for the merits of the project itself, delving in depth into the context of the industry the project is aimed for.

As such, they are not only one of the most important documents to translate, but also one of the most challenging. Requiring blockchain technical fluency in both languages and a deep familiarity with the target industry, white paper translation and localization should only be carried out by professionals with extensive experience.

What is a White Paper?

A White Paper is a concise yet highly structured and technical report, that is informative and persuasive in its content. It typically conveys the company’s background, technical model and methodologies, and introduces the personnel behind the company, their credentials: why you should trust them with your money.

A well thought-out and appealing White Paper will be critical to a successful Token Sale and serves as the ‘roadmap’ to what the company will do, once it reaches different phases of funding through its tokens being traded on the coin exchange. There are more and more resources and articles online regarding how to draft an effective White Paper.

Is There a ‘Typical’ ICO White Paper?

From what we have seen, this appears to be the typical structure:

Setting the scene

• A brief history and overview of blockchain
• A brief history and overview of the industry your company is in
• Clear and concise explanation of why your company is needed in the world

Explain your ‘how’

• Clear explanations of how you will achieve your goals
• Diagrams and modelling of your platform architecture, technology used and methodologies
• Introduce yourselves
• After all the diagrams and equations, this is where you get human. The team page is where you prove your credibility based on your team member’s backgrounds, experience and resumes. Your ability to boast about the credentials of supporters and early investors will be the persuasive pull for many investors

Map out before you translate ICO White Paper

• This is where you explain in more micro-terms why you need the funding and what steps you will take using the money invested and how it will be applied (e.g. Legal, Operational, Marketing)
• Set out a roadmap of milestones so investors know the schedule you are working towards

Disclaimers and Risk Warnings

• This probably needs no explanation. Make sure you have consulted with your legal team to ensure this section is sophisticated and accurate in law, but not overly legalistic. A well drafted Risk Warning section will reinforce your credibility and will give confidence to potential investors.

Here is a list of White papers to get you inspired:

• Delphi
• Bitcoin (the original crypto White Paper)
• Vestarin

Samples of White Papers:

DeFi

Defi stands for decentralized finance, an umbrella term for fintech blockchain projects.

NFT

NFT stand for Non-fungible token, an application of blockchain technology for tracking ownership of digital property.

In need of blockchain document translation? Contact us for a free quote!

What Languages to Translate Your Blockchain Documents to in 2021?

HI-COM has ranked the top languages to translate your blockchain documents to in 2021:

German

In 2021, Germany passed new legislation to allow investment fund managers to invest up to 20% of their portfolio in crypto.

French

As another EU country friendly to blockchain and crypto, France has a thriving blockchain industry thanks to its open support of the technology since 2016.

Spanish

According business consulting firm IDC Spain, 11% of businesses already use blockchain technology in the country.

Dutch

Home of the Dutch Blockchain Coalition, a collaboration between the Dutch government, and industries and education institutes to grow increase the country’s competitiveness in the blockchain sector.

Portuguese

Not only is crypto tax free in Portugal, but in 2020, the country established Technological Free Zones to directly incentivize blockchain technology development.

Runner Ups:

Russian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Indonesian, Arabic

These are all important languages for blockchain document translation as these are mostly non-English fluent countries with mature and developed crypto and blockchain communities.

Honourable Mention:

Polish, Czech, Romanian, Turkish, Thai, Vietnamese.

Similar to the runner up countries, most residents of these countries are not fluent in English, but they have rapidly developing crypto and blockchain communities.

Where Does China Sit in the Cryptocurrency World?

From an official point of view, China is very against cryptocurrencies and the Chinese government has prohibited its citizens from investing in crypto companies. However, there still remains a significant Chinese population that are native Chinese speakers while holding foreign passports, so one should not overlook the benefit of translating your White Paper to Chinese.

China is a country that is rapidly developing, extremely QR code and mobile payment savvy, and home to a large population of early adopters; if not for the government prohibitions, China would arguably be the ‘perfect’ crypto investor base and the place to market to. We asked BANCA’s CEO Linda Chen why we are seeing more of an uptake in crypto in Asian countries, as opposed to UK or Europe (putting to one side the in-country regulations). Ms. Chen replies with a small smile: “it’s because Asian people are betting people. People are more likely to take risks here”.

Regardless of the region, the world over one will find risk-takers keen to invest. Investing time, creativity and language support to your White Paper is one critical marketing move that crypto or blockchain startups cannot afford to miss.

The author has no affiliations nor investments with any of the companies mentioned in this article. Despite being Asian, she is not a betting person.

HI-COM is a multilingual translation agency dedicated to providing professional translation and interpreting services to companies all over the world. Working in over 40 languages, HI-COM is the localization partner for hundreds of companies and brands. Contact us today for your free consultation!

Interpretation is different from simple translation. Interpreters are expected to conduct a translation, with no room for edits or redactions, based on a one-time exposure to the source material. They are used to translate speeches, conduct meetings in multiple languages, represent people in interviews, and in many other contexts where immediate communication is needed. Professional interpreters are highly trained in specific techniques that enable them to do so, techniques that a bilingual person – someone who speaks fluently in two languages – does not usually possess.

Reasons not to use a bilingual person as an interpreter

1. Bilingual people usually acquire one or both of their two languages in a general life environment. Often, this is at home with parents, meaning that many specific, technical topics might never be discussed. As such, their vocabulary and syntax understanding often lacks specificity.
2. Vocal control. Because bilingual people often learn one of their languages at home, it can be difficult for them to transmute their use of language to a form that is professionally appropriate. Interpreters are trained when to take pauses, how to control pitch and volume, and they practice rigorously the correct pacing to facilitate maximum understanding.
3. Professional touch. Bilingual people usually go through their educational and professional journeys in one language. This means that in the other language, often they’re not used to using the various pleasantries, signposts and norms that make up professional lingual etiquette.
4. Connecting the two languages. Bilingual people can flip from one language to another without thinking about it. This is a strength and a weakness. Mother-tongue speakers of any language usually don’t know why elements of their language are the way they are – take grammar and etymology as examples.That is, they don’t have a structural understanding of their language. In most circumstances this doesn’t matter, however it means that the speaker is usually unaware of the ways in which their vernacular is misaligned with that which is formally correct. In professional situations, it is vital that colloquialisms be understood and then mitigated, across the two languages; something bilingual people are not in the habit of doing.

Discover with HI-COM the differences between simultaneous and consecutive interpreting!

Reasons to hire a professional interpreter

1. Ensured quality. Interpreters often devote their whole lives to making sure that their work is of a high quality. They go through many years of study, usually at university-level, and then go on to build years of experience through a dedicated career. Practice makes perfect.
2. They’re culturally appropriate. Part of learning to be a professional interpreter is deep-dive research on the cultures surrounding the languages they interpret between. Most will have spent time living in the places the languages they use originate from, and so the chances of accidental faux-pas are lowered significantly.
3. Interpreters are not simply trained in the use of language. They are trained in a series of techniques and skills, such as note taking, memory recall, composition and etiquette that ensure a steady, reliable level of performance.
4. Many interpreters will choose to specialize in one field or another, be it manufacturing, policy, law, or otherwise. These are the absolute best port of call for those seeking interpretation on highly consequential actions. They far outstrip the average speaker of their languages in these specific domains.

The overview

Through a combination of years of study and professional experience, professional interpreters learn techniques and skills, as well as cultural nuances, that facilitate quick translation in a reliable way. Through an in-depth dedication to building a structural understanding of two or more languages, they are able to cover the blind spots that are natural to bilingual speakers. Moreover, professional interpreters can provide specialized assistance in fields that speakers of naturally acquired languages might be completely unaware of.

HI-COM provides reliable and cost-effective Interpreting services, with a network of highly skilled, qualified and experienced linguists.

Contact us for your interpreting mission!