Cantonese translator

Cantonese and Mandarin are not mutually intelligible in speech; linguistically they are separate languages. For Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong province and most of the Western Hong Kong diaspora, choose Cantonese. For mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore, choose Mandarin. We never substitute Cantonese with Mandarin and we confirm the choice with you up front.

Cantonese is written predominantly in Traditional Chinese (Hant), in the Hong Kong style. For romanisation Hong Kong uses the Jyutping system, distinct from Pinyin for Mandarin. We deliver to the Hong Kong conventions by default, unless you explicitly ask otherwise, and confirm the script choice in the quote.

The UK has no sworn-translator institute, so there is no "sworn translator" as a legal office here. For official acceptance we provide certified translation: a signed and dated statement of accuracy from the translator or the agency, with our contact details. Where a body asks for more, this can be escalated to notarisation by a solicitor or notary public, or to an apostille or legalisation through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). We confirm in the quote which level your receiving authority requires.

Common document types are financial reporting and annual reports for Hong Kong entities, commercial contracts, birth and marriage certificates for family reunification, notarial deeds and cultural content. UK-specific cases we handle often are Home Office and UKVI immigration documents, university admissions assessed by UK ENIC and HMCTS court documents. Per document we confirm the approach, the script and any certification in the quote.

We work with native specialist translators and reference the recognised UK professional bodies — the ITI (Institute of Translation and Interpreting), the CIOL (Chartered Institute of Linguists) and, for interpreting, the NRPSI (National Register of Public Service Interpreters). These are bodies of reference for the profession; we name them so you can see the standard the work is held to.

On working days you receive a quote within 1 hour. The lead time for the translation itself depends on document type, volume, script choice and any required certification, and is confirmed in the quote. For tight deadlines we confirm a workable rush schedule up front rather than promising a fixed turnaround.

We combine native specialist translators with a structured QA layer: a terminology list, a style guide and a second review where the legal field, risk profile or volume requires it. CAT tools (Trados, memoQ, Phrase TMS) keep script and terminology consistent across volume and repeated content, and a translation memory keeps follow-up work aligned and lowers the cost over time.

A Cantonese translation agency takes the coordination off your hands. We select the specialist who fits your document, region and sector, keep Cantonese and Mandarin strictly separate, arrange certification, notarisation or legalisation where an authority requires it, and have the work checked by a second reviewer. You keep one point of contact for script choice, terminology, scheduling and delivery, all under a single quote. A skilled freelance translator does excellent work too; the difference an agency adds is bringing those moving parts together so you are not managing them separately.