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I have an iOS app. I want to do localization of the app in Chinese language. But, in language settings, there are two options Simplified and Tradition. I' m not able to figure out which is the best one.

Please any one could tell me, which language, shall i use for Localization of my App ?

Thanks in Advance.

ChenSmile
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3 Answers3

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Simplified Chinese is used throughout mainland China, though pretty much everyone can read the Traditional also. Traditional Chinese tends to still be used in places like Malaysia, Singapore, etc.

If you're marketing to mainland China then you probably want Simplified.

Alternatively, do both.

Ming
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  • oh we have to use both. – ChenSmile Dec 05 '13 at 05:15
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    Traditional Chinese tends to still be used in places like Malaysia, Singapore This is not exactly correct. See Wikipedia. Officially Singapore uses simplified Chinese, and Malaysia doesn't have specific preference. Anyway, supporting both is a good idea, and it's simple, @Immi you just need to do an automatic conversion in some software like MS word :) – Stan Dec 05 '13 at 05:56
  • @Stan Google translator is good for translating english to chinese..or u suggest me from where can i get correct translated chinese words... – ChenSmile Dec 05 '13 at 05:58
  • @Stan I say tend to still be used because I believe that's true, according to my experience. In movie theatres subtitles are in Traditional, not Simplified, in Malaysia and Singapore. Also, restaurant signs and menus have Traditional and English, but not Simplified. – Ming Dec 05 '13 at 06:00
  • @Immi if you are translating from English to Chinese, you really can't rely on Google Translate. It's not accurate, especially for translating sentences (singular words it is better at.) – Ming Dec 05 '13 at 06:03
  • @Immi Oh the conversion I meant was "Traditional Chinese <=> Simplified Chinese". Machine translation is often of poor quality ... If using Google translator to translate English to Chinese, it's better to do some refinement work on the result. – Stan Dec 05 '13 at 06:03
  • @Ming@Stan suggest me where can i get accurate translation for English in Chinese – ChenSmile Dec 05 '13 at 06:08
  • @Immi Ummm, you pretty much have to hire a native-level Chinese speaking person to help you with this. There's nothing automated that will convert English to Chinese or vice versa reliably. – Ming Dec 05 '13 at 06:13
  • @Ming do u know chinese can u help me please – ChenSmile Dec 05 '13 at 06:16
  • @Immi for this issue, I suggest first using google translator and then posting the result to some forum (but not this site, it's off-topic here) for Chinese beginners, so that there would be native speakers helping you. If you're developing an app that has massive words, it's better to follow Ming's suggestion, or you can find a Chinese friend. – Stan Dec 05 '13 at 06:19
  • @Stan could u give ur mail id plz – ChenSmile Dec 05 '13 at 06:20
  • @Immi sorry but no, privately I don't have much time to answer detailed questions :) You might understand. – Stan Dec 05 '13 at 06:24
  • @Stan SORRY TO ASK..ITS K – ChenSmile Dec 05 '13 at 06:24
  • @Immi I think what Stan says is good advice, do it bit by bit and people will be happy to help. I am not able to help you convert your app into Chinese (for starters, apps tend to have a lot of .. IT-specific words,) sorry. I also don't have enough free time outside of work to take on a project like that -_- – Ming Dec 05 '13 at 06:24
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    'Pretty much everyone can read the Traditional also' I am not sure about that. Many of my classmates are unable to read Traditional Chinese fluently. For them, the text is understood through contextual deduction, it's definitely not on the same proficiency level as reading Simplified Chinese. – NS.X. Dec 05 '13 at 22:22
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Traditional characters are standard in Taiwan.

Taiwan might be the biggest market for traditional characters, although they are certainly known in many other areas, such as Hong Kong.

Rick
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Simplified characters are used in mainland China, but in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau, traditional characters are much more likely to be used. In Hong Kong at least (possibly Taiwan and Macau as well), simplified characters are pretty rare in usage, though most people will be able to read them anyway.