If you have ever requested a translation into Chinese, you’ve probably already had the conversation about whether you would like Simplified or Traditional Chinese. But, if not, let me explain that Chinese has two standard written forms, Simplified and Traditional. Traditional was the dominant written language for centuries in China up until the 1950’s when the government introduced a “simplified” version to increase literacy across the country.

This sweeping mandate was very effective within mainland China. However it fell short of a complete conversion because of the sizeable populations of Chinese readers outside of mainland China, who were not affected by the switch, such as Hong Kong and Taiwan. To make things even more complicated, there are still pockets of Traditional Chinese readers within mainland China and vice versa. This is due to a variety of factors such as the age when an individual emigrated. If they left China before the 1950’s there is a pretty good chance that they still read and write in Traditional Chinese.

As you can imagine, determining what the written style of your Chinese speaking ELL audience can be rather tricky. The best way to determine what the writing preference is would be to ask your audience directly. However, the next best thing might be to find out exactly where they are from and make an educated guess.

Keep Learning!
Maggie