Unlocking the information contained in Chinese-language documents is nearly impossible if you don’t speak Chinese, but this may soon change thanks to new language translation technology developed in Australia.

As many English speakers know, Chinese can be a difficult language to learn. Written Chinese is based on a pictographic system complicated by dialects and systems such as Pinyin, traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese.

Now, according to World News Australia, Sydney-based researchers have developed a language translation technology that could have big implications for business.

Intricate, complex and layered with meaning, the Chinese language is used by 14% of the world’s population. But accessing the wealth of information locked in Chinese language documents remains difficult even for bilingual speakers.

“We are trying, always trying to find something as identical as possible to the English counterpart. So it is quite interesting as well,” said Franz Cheung, a calligrapher working with the Australian research team.

It’s a problem the University of Sydney research team has been working hard to solve. They’ve developed a computational approach to extract meaningful information from detailed Chinese language texts.

“We look at all the grammar structures between the two languages, compare them, and find unique patterns there,” said Professor Josiah Poon, University of Sydney Research Supervisor.

Computer-based language translation, otherwise known as machine or automated translation, such as Google Translate, already exist. But the researchers believe their method will make translating long or complicated documents much more efficient. They also believe the new tool could have huge commercial appeal.

Further information on Chinese research activities at the University of Sydney may be found on the institution’s website.

By Alex Dupont
Marketing Communications Specialist
Language Translation Inc.

See Also

• Enhanced Chinese language translation will improve communication and allow for stronger, closer business partnerships between Australia and China
  Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese are the two written Chinese languages used today.
• Breaking through the wall of Chinese language
  As we move deeper into the Asian Century, building links with China is becoming increasingly important.