A Way With Words
Frequently Asked Questions
In Germany the word Igel doesn't mean the masterful creature we would assume to be the eagle. Instead it's the common prickly garden animal, the hedgehog.
What are the different types of spoken and written Chinese?
Chinese has numerous dialects, of which people speak one or more. Because of China's long history such dialects have diverged greatly to the point that speakers of one dialect do not necessarily understand speakers of another dialect. However, about 70% of the total Chinese population speaks Mandarin, the official dialect of China, as their mother tongue.
People in China or Taiwan who speak other dialects as their mother tongue understand and speak Mandarin as long as they have had basic education. Therefore, in addition to Mandarin, people in Taiwan also speak Taiwanese (sometimes called Hoklo), whereas people in the Guangdong (Canton) province in southern China also speak Cantonese.
Finally, Cantonese is widely spoken in Hong Kong and in many overseas Chinese communities.
In 1956 and in 1964 China simplified several thousand characters to make learning Chinese less difficult. Therefore, we can find two main Chinese written forms: the Traditional Chinese (Fanti Zi) and the Simplified Chinese (Jianti Zi).
The Traditional Chinese characters are still used in Taiwan whereas the People's Republic of China uses Simplified Chinese characters.
Because of the various forms of written and spoken Chinese it is important to specify which dialect is required when booking interpreters, as communication problems could be easily encountered. Similarly, it is important to select carefully which market or country you are targeting for your company literature so that the correct Chinese written form can be used and certain cultural differences in the regions that may affect the style of the translation can be taken into account.