Published On - February 16, 2018
21 Fun Facts about the Chinese New Year
To celebrate Chinese New Year which starts today, here are 18 fun facts about this unique holiday. Enjoy!...
Published On - November 10, 2017
Chinese Translation Services: A Beginner’s Guide
Is your business looking for Chinese translation services? The potential benefits are tremendous: Mandarin Chinese has approximately 955 million native speakers, making it the most commonly spoken language in the world. China is the world’s fastest-growing consumer market, and the second-large...
Published On - June 30, 2017
New Chinese Translation Guidelines: Is This the End of Engrish?
Over the years, China has become famous around the world for culture, food, industry . . . and funny translation mistakes. “Engrish” may have been born in Japan, but China has been exporting memes of hilariously bad translations for years now. Except that the Chinese government is o...
Published On - March 9, 2016
Notes from Hong Kong
This week we have an interesting piece for the language blog from one of our exceptional team members, Liz Kim. After a whirlwind tour of Hong Kong, here’s Liz’s write up of the attractions she encountered in one of the world’s most impressive cities. Over to Liz… Hong Kong i...
Published On - February 1, 2015
Chinese New Year Celebrations
Chinese New Year, a festive event celebrated by people all around the world (the image above was taken in Yokohama, Japan). As you may well know, the Chinese New Year is represented by one of 12 different animals which cycle annually, the sheep, the monkey, the rooster, the dog, the pig, the rat, th...
Published On - June 4, 2014
Chinese Language Teacher Becomes Internet Celebrity
In China, Jessica Beinecke is kind of a big deal. The 27-year-old language teacher has become an internet celebrity for her work on OMG Meiyu (OMG American English), a YouTube program produced by Voice of America that teaches American slang terms like “twerk” and “swag” to ...
Published On - May 5, 2014
“Zero Translation” Causes a Row in China
Slowly but surely, bits of English are creeping into Chinese, Roman alphabet and all. English words and acronyms like Wifi, GDP and NBA now appear untranslated in all sorts of contexts, from spoken conversations to emails to news stories. But not everyone is pleased with this trend, which is known a...
Published On - February 26, 2013
Chinese Translation of “Finnegan’s Wake” Sells Out
“Finnegan’s Wake,” the last novel written by Irish author James Joyce, is one of the most critically acclaimed novels in the English language. It’s also one of the most perplexing and difficult to parse. Consequently, most of the general English-speaking public has not even a...
Published On - January 11, 2013
Almonds or Apricot Kernels
Q: When is an apricot kernel not an apricot kernel? A: When it’s an almond, as droves of Chinese grocery shoppers are learning to their dismay. Apricot kernels have long been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat afflictions such as colds and coughs. Almonds have a similar flavor...
Published On - November 30, 2012
“Onion’s” Satire Lost in Translation
Jokes and satire are often quite difficult to translate. So, perhaps it’s not all that surprising that a leading Chinese newspaper recently found the joke was on them when they quoted an article from “The Onion”, a satirical American online newspaper, as fact. It all started on Nov...