Chinese Localization Blog Posts

Somebody recently asked me:
"We are currently asking a freelancer to do English-to-Chinese translation on the content found on our main website. I wonder if SEO keyword research could be done now so that we can pass on the info to our translator so that he can keep in mind the various keywords he should use when translating the materials. Or is it more efficient to do this as well as rest of SEO when the Chinese website is up and running? Read more...

There are a lot of articles out there on how to learn Chinese. Basic tips include things like “go to China”, “take Chinese language courses”, etc. Great tips.

But, as somebody that wants to learn Chinese, what else should you know? What are the secrets that only someone who has invested their sweat and blood into learning a language can tell you?

To answer this, I asked this question to several accomplished language learners on the topic of learning Chinese: What is one unusual tip you have for learning Chinese? Read more...

Some of the most common questions I hear from website owners that are considering entering the Chinese market are about hosting and domain names. Questions like “Do I need to host my site in China?”, “Should I use a .cn, .com.cn or something else?” and “Will my site get blocked?” Read more...

On Chinese websites, chat boxes are ubiquitous. Chinese consumers are accustomed to having a chat feature available, and they expect customer service very quickly, if not instantly.

In most cases, the consumers can find the information they want on the website… So why do consumers still want to chat with online support staff? Read more...

When entering the Chinese market, one of the first things you’ll need is a website. Perhaps you already have an English website, or perhaps you’re planning on creating a completely new website for the Chinese market, but either way you’ll have to answer the same questions: How can I better tailor my website to the habits of Chinese Internet users? How can I make them like us? How can I make them want to buy our products? These are essential questions to ask yourself at the beginning of the website localization process. Read more...

When entering the Chinese market, choice of domain name is often one of the first decisions that will need to be made. It’s a decision that shouldn’t be made lightly. Choose right, and you’ll have a more memorable, easily pronounceable, trustworthy domain name. Choose wrong and you may miss out on type-in traffic or end up with a domain that doesn’t inspire enough trust in the minds of your potential customers. Read more...

Why can’t a translation be a fully accurate representation of the original text? This can be a tricky question to answer, especially when speaking to people without translation experience, but I’m going to answer it in the simplest way I can. Let’s take a look at just one word – 'fuck'. Read more...

Groupon China posted their first deal today. This gives us a good chance to check out what they've done with the interface. 

It's obvious that Groupon China (Gaopeng.com), has chosen to make as few changes as possible. They've maintained a very similar design and brand image with their parent site, Groupon.com. The changes they have made reflect the different players in the Chinese Internet ecosystem, most notably the choice of social networks.  Read more...

Like many native English speakers, you may have been impressed by the use of Chinglish - the name “PPStream,” the mean bank machine, "Fuk Hing Stationary," the “Nigger-brown" couch – there is so much creative Chinglish online for our entertainment! Read more...

One of the video game projects that I work on, Runes of Magic, is what's called a "massively-multiplayer online role-playing game, or MMORPG for short. If you don't know what that is, it's like World of Warcraft. I'm one of the Chinese-to-English translators on the team so I translate quests, character names, items, instructions, etc. Unlike most of what I translate, I am actually permitted to talk about this one. :) Read more...