Translation Skills

Translation is both a skill and an art. Excellent translation is not simply a word-for-word conversion;it requires accurately conveying information and resonating with the target audience. We emphasize understanding the context during translation, not just translating sentence by sentence. For example, when translating marketing copy, we adjust sentence structures according to the cultural traits of the target market and choose expressions that match local language habits, ensuring that the message is conveyed correctly and persuasively. Especially for literary works, advertisements, and other texts requiring strong artistic expression, we use rhetorical devices flexibly to ensure that the translation not only conveys the core idea of the original text but also adapts to the local language's aesthetic.

Beyond language and cultural conversion, translators must also possess professional domain knowledge. For translations in industries such as law, medicine, and technology, translators need to fully understand the usage of industry-specific terminology and jargon to ensure the translation meets legal, regulatory, and academic standards. For example, medical translations must accurately convey medical information and ensure that both patients and healthcare professionals understand the content clearly.

Languages around the world are classified into different language families based on their origins, development, and similarities. Within each language family, languages share similar vocabulary, grammatical structures, and phonetic systems. The most widespread language families include:

• Indo-European Family：Includes languages such as English, French, German, Spanish, and Russian, which are spoken by the largest number of people globally. These languages share characteristics such as inflectional grammar and rich tense systems.

• Sino-Tibetan Family：Includes languages such as Chinese, Tibetan, and Burmese. Chinese is distinguished by its pictographic writing system and tonal nature, while Tibetan and Burmese have unique writing systems and phonological structures.

• Afro-Asiatic Family：Includes languages like Arabic and Hebrew. These languages are consonant-heavy and often feature complex morphology and rich word formation rules.

• Uralic Family：Includes languages such as Finnish, Hungarian, and Estonian. These languages exhibit unique non-Indo-European features like rich case systems and grammatical gender.

• Altaic Family：Includes Turkish, Mongolian, and Korean, known for their agglutinative structure and unique syllabic structures.

Each language is backed by a unique cultural and historical heritage. Understanding language classification helps translators better grasp the linguistic habits and expression patterns of each language, ensuring the translation aligns with the language logic of the target market.

Translation is a cross-cultural art, and its challenges go far beyond literal conversion. Some words or phrases, when directly translated, may lead to misunderstandings. For example, the English phrase "kick the bucket" literally means "to kick a bucket," but it is an idiom meaning "to die." Such cultural differences often arise in language conversion, which is why excellent translation work not only ensures accurate language conversion but also prevents misunderstandings and cultural conflicts.

Sometimes, expressions in different languages are vastly different. For example, the Chinese phrase "马马虎虎" (mǎmǎhūhū), if directly translated into English, would be hard to express the intended meaning. Therefore, translators often need to reinterpret the expression based on context, or even create new metaphors or expressions to help readers in the target language understand better.

Additionally, some languages have unique words that describe specific cultural phenomena or emotions that are "untranslatable." For instance, the Japanese term "Tsundoku" refers to the act of buying books and letting them pile up without reading them. This unique cultural phenomenon not only reflects the distinctiveness of Japanese but also makes translation work more complex and fascinating.

There are over 7,000 languages spoken globally, and many are endangered due to low numbers of speakers or historical reasons. Rare languages are those that have a very limited number of speakers, typically confined to specific ethnic groups or regions. Some examples of rare languages include:

• Basque：The only language in Western Europe that does not belong to the Indo-European family, primarily spoken in the Basque region of Spain and France.

• Manx：A language spoken in the Isle of Man that is now used by only a few hundred people worldwide.

• Nubian：Spoken in parts of Egypt and Sudan, it is becoming an endangered language due to a decline in speakers.

• Hawaiian：A Polynesian language that has gradually been revived and is now an official language of Hawaii.

Translating these rare languages presents significant challenges due to a lack of resources, few translators, and limited tools or reference materials. Our translation team has professional experience handling rare languages and is capable of providing accurate translation services for such languages.

Idioms are expressions rich in cultural meaning, and when translated into other languages, they often require adaptation based on the cultural context. For example:

• “Kill two birds with one stone”，is a direct translation of the Chinese expression "一箭双雕" (yī jiàn shuāng diāo), but the literal meaning differs, and the translation should focus on the target language's understanding.

• “Adding the finishing touch”，is a better translation for the Chinese idiom "画龙点睛" (huà lóng diǎn jīng), which refers to adding something essential to complete an effort.。

The key to idiom translation lies in preserving the original wisdom and meaning while ensuring that the translated expression resonates with the culture of the target language.

Language Family Classification

Understanding the classification of languages into families helps us comprehend the similarities and differences between languages. In addition to major families like Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, and Afro-Asiatic, there are several smaller or ancient language systems that often present additional challenges in cross-cultural communication. For example, the Austronesian Family includes languages like Hawaiian and Maori, while the Niger-Congo Family covers several languages from the sub-Saharan region.

By studying the evolution and classification of languages, we can better understand their structure, habits, and historical development, providing more accurate cultural context and language support for translation work.