Chinese Certificate Translation in the Australian Context

Abstract

All countries issue certificates – marriage certificates, birth certificates, medical certificates, graduation certificates, degrees, driver’s licenses, and business permits – for various purposes, so the translation of certificates is common in the translation market. For cultural, practical, and administrative reasons, certificates issued by different countries and in different languages often take different forms and contain different information. Because translated certificates may be required for specific purposes, the appropriate translation of certificates can therefore pose challenges for translators. This paper presents a study on the translation of various certificates from Chinese into English. It attempts to compare and analyze different features of certificates in Chinese and English, identify issues encountered in the translation of certificates, and explore different translation strategies, taking into account linguistic, pragmatic, cultural, and communicative factors. Based on the findings of the data analysis, the study suggests that when translating Chinese certificates into English, it is necessary to consult the potential users of the translated certificates to identify the purposes of the translation and decide which translation strategy is appropriate.