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Why is “John” being translated as “约翰”?
Thu, Apr 9th 2015, 16:38 Under Category Useful Information for the Public by actc
“约翰” is pronounced as “Yue-Han” - nothing similar to the pronunciation of “John” in English. So, why “约翰”?
In Loving Memories of Mr Lee Kuan Yew. 国父长辞,万民悲痛!
Mon, Mar 23rd 2015, 10:09 Under Category Useful Information for the Public by actc
Rest in peace, our honourable founding father – you will be sadly missed and your great legacy forever remembered by all.
Answering Yes-No Questions in Different Languages
Fri, Feb 27th 2015, 10:00 Under Category Useful Information for the Public by actc
A glance at the differences between Japanese and English, when it comes to answering Yes-No questions asked in negative form.
Cultural Relics IV: Chinese Paper Cutting
Tue, Feb 17th 2015, 11:51 Under Category Useful Information for the Public by actc
In Singapore, as Chinese New Year draws near, all sorts of New Year decorations can be seen in stores. With these seasonal decors sold everywhere during the Chinese New Year period, not many Singaporeans would choose to make their own ones. Amongst all these decorations lie a traditional Chinese art long forgotten by many.
“True-Feelings” Chocolate
Fri, Feb 6th 2015, 12:10 Under Category Useful Information for the Public by actc
Valentine's Day is just around the corner. In Japan, it is known as “Honmei Choco” when ladies proffer chocolates to men they like on the Valentine’s Day, which translates to “true feelings chocolate”. In fact, it was an advertising mistranslation that gave people the wrong idea of what February 14 is about.
Cultural Relics III: Joss Stick Men
Fri, Jan 30th 2015, 09:27 Under Category Useful Information for the Public by actc
The Chinese temples in Singapore are clouded with smoke from fragrant incense all years round. Have you ever wondered where those joss sticks come from? In Cultural Relics this month, we shine a spotlight on one of the last joss stick makers in Singapore, the Tay brothers, and their dying art.
Why do we need proofreading?
Fri, Jan 16th 2015, 18:37 Under Category Useful Information for the Public by actc
At ACTC, we emphasize on having two rounds of proofreading for every translation work that we did. Once a document is being translated, our team of proofreaders would go through the translation painstakingly to spot errors. Translation proofreading is always the final and essential step.
Translating Idioms and Proverbs
Tue, Dec 16th 2014, 16:19 Under Category Useful Information for the Public by actc
It is a great way to learn about others’ cultures through idioms. For example, Germans are known to be sausage and beer lovers, thus many German idioms seem to be about sausages and beer; on the other hand, the Malay’s Simpulan Bahasa often tells stories of crocodiles, cows and goats.
Cultural Relics: Hakka Culture
Wed, Dec 3rd 2014, 14:12 Under Category Useful Information for the Public by actc
Singapore, one of fastest changing urban landscapes on Earth, is well-known for its unique multicultural fusion. However, in the name of development and globalization, many traditions and local cultures are slowly diminishing. In Cultural Relics, we feature several fading cultures – be it dying trade, language, or food – in memories of the old lion city.
Hardest-to-pronounce Western Names: My Top 10 List
Mon, Oct 20th 2014, 17:31 Under Category Useful Information for the Public by actc
I have heard many westerners complained about our Asian names being too challenging for them to properly pronounce. However, from my very Asian point of view, the alphabetical names of many westerners are no way easier to be spelt or pronounced correctly.
‘Brain-washing’
Mon, Oct 20th 2014, 17:23 Under Category Useful Information for the Public by actc
On heels of the ongoing global turmoil and recent shocking events, I’ve come upon the word ‘brainwash’ quite a few times this year. Interestingly, the word ‘brainwash’ was not originally an English word. It is, in fact, a calque of Chinese words "洗脑" (direct translation: ‘wash brain’), meaning ‘thought reform’ or ‘coercive persuasion’.
每次苹果发布会都是两岸苹果官网的翻译竞赛 这一次大陆又输了
Thu, Sep 11th 2014, 18:24 Under Category Useful Information for the Public by actc
苹果官网的简体中文翻译水平向来为人诟病，之前就闹出过许多经典的笑话，这一次也好不到哪里去。打开苹果中国大陆官网首页，赫然映入眼帘的是一句莫名其妙的话——“比更大还更大”(注：现已改正）。如果看过昨晚苹果的发布会，不难猜出这是iPhone 6的广告词，英文原文是"bigger than bigger"。
A few Malay words for your next trip to Malaysia
Mon, Sep 1st 2014, 15:54 Under Category Useful Information for the Public by actc
As you might have heard, the Malays have a flair for adopting foreign words. In fact, many Malay words were derived from Austronesian and European languages – out of which English played a crucial role in shaping modern Malay language. When you take a closer look at Malay language you’d notice a colossal amount of English words or English loan words, such as bank, hospital, hotel, and so on.
How to Deal with Untranslatable Words?
Mon, Aug 25th 2014, 13:59 Under Category Useful Information for the Public by actc
In the process of translation, translators/interpreters always scratch their heads to juice out the most fitting words in order to precisely express what they intend to convey. How can we solve it? Well, there are several ways to decide which word would fit best. One of them is to find out the meaning of the word from the source language, of course, but there’s also the context of what’s being said.
A Study in The Chinese Translation of “Holmes”
Mon, Aug 18th 2014, 11:49 Under Category Useful Information for the Public by actc
I have recently decided to read the detective stories again in both English and Chinese, which brought me into question: Why was the detective’s name translated as “福尔摩斯” (Mandarin pronunciation: Fu-er-mo-si), when it sounds nothing like the English pronunciation for Sherlock Holmes?
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