Translator helps B.C. firms pitch to China

Joanne Lee-Young, Vancouver Sun

Published: Monday, March 17, 2008

Chinese and Western worlds fail miserably to understand each other

Vincent Dong is an unassuming Burnaby resident, but the Hefei, China native has helped a slew of B.C. companies and associations put a sharp foot forward when pitching for business in China.

At the same time, Dong also co-hosts a television show that helps recent immigrants from mainland China adjust to life in Lotusland.

Uniquely, then -- as B.C. vies to trade more with China than any other Asian market; and, more people from China than anywhere else move to B.C. -- he has seen how Western and Chinese worlds try, but often fail miserably, to understand each other.

In addition to a regular day job, Dong has, for years, been building a growing side business as a freelance translator. He now has a client base of more than 35 steady clients, including major forestry and increasingly ambitious mining groups.

"In the beginning, it was a lot of wood-product companies, but, for the past two years, the focus has switched to mining and exploration, energy industries," said Dong.

He spends most of his time meticulously translating English brochures, reports, presentation materials and websites into Chinese. Some clients might do a few trips to China per year and he helps them with updates and revisions. Sometimes, he accompanies these B.C. executives on trips to China.

He also does contract work for translation firms such as Wintranslation.com (based in Ottawa), which serves big names including Maple Leaf Foods, Magna, Rogers and Intel.

"He's a multi-talented person. He is a scholar at heart and he hosts a television show," said Huiping Iler, chief executive officer of Wintranslation.com. "He is a simultaneous and consecutive interpreter, and also a very good translator."

Dong said that Western executives and visitors to China often fumble around with what, in Chinese society, is a very natural concept of hierarchy. He explained: "China is a country with long traditions, where there is a lot of respect for older people. When someone calls you 'Old John' or 'Old Lee', it has nothing to do with thinking that you are old. But, [in the Western world], we don't talk about age, especially if you are getting on to be 40 or 50."

Similarly, "in China, when your parents bring friends home, you automatically call them Auntie or Uncle. When I brought some Canadian [executives] to visit Chinese families, they asked the kids to 'just call me Mary.' But the kids would never do it [out of respect for someone who is older]," said Dong.

Exchanging gifts can also be a time of miscues. Said Dong: "The Chinese receiving side would normally decline the gift several times. Seldom do Chinese open the presents right away. This should not be interpreted as lack of interest or appreciation."

Another tip for Westerners that isn't found in most textbook primers: "For some reason, many Chinese are fond of saying 'Okay, okay, okay,' two or three times in a row. The consecutive okays are more of emphasis than of impatience," said Dong.

When Dong isn't coaching Westerners on the idiosyncrasies of Chinese courtesies, he co-hosts a Mandarin-language television show for Fairchild Media Group's Talentvision channel. Aimed at new immigrants from China, Learn English Tonight runs in short, 15-minute episodes. At first, it mainly taught viewers what to say when opening a bank account or going to the hospital. The show, however, has evolved beyond dealing with basic vocabulary into discussing appropriate cultural conduct, said Dong.

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wintranslation.com in the press:
Multilingual by Multilingual Computing (No. 1 trade publication in the translation industry):
Business metrics for language companies

Business Edge:
Expertise maximizes global web presence- High ranking on search engines can pay big dividends (pdf)

CBC Radio Canada International “The Link”
Profile of WTB Language Group Inc. (click to listen)