FAQ for Chinese and Asian language translations

Here you will find answers to common questions that arise when translating websites, documents and other products into Chinese or other Asian languages.

	I need a Mandarin Chinese translation - should it be simplified or traditional Chinese?
	I need to use Chinese text in the USA. Which form should I use (simplified or traditional Chinese)?
	Are there any other languages where I have to be aware of different characters?

I need a Mandarin Chinese translation - should it be simplified or traditional Chinese?

This is probably the most asked and most confusing decision to make when ordering a Chinese translation. Mandarin is the standard spoken Chinese among many other dialects spoken across China, but in written language there is the decision to make between simplified and traditional Chinese.

Simplified and Traditional Chinese:
From Wikipedia:  The Chinese written language has simplified Chinese characters which are officially used in Mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia and the United Nations. The government of the People's Republic of China has promoted them for use in printing in an attempt to increase literacy.

The pre-reform set of characters, known as traditional Chinese, are used officially in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Overseas Chinese communities traditionally use the traditional characters, but simplified characters are gradually gaining popularity as more mainland Chinese emigrate and travel abroad. At the same time, the prestige of traditional characters is increasing in the People's Republic of China. Simplified character forms were created by decreasing the number of strokes and simplifying the forms of a sizeable proportion of traditional Chinese characters.

From Wikipedia:  Standard Mandarin, also known as Standard Spoken Chinese, is the official modern Chinese spoken language used by the Mainland China, Taiwan, and is one of the four official languages of Singapore.

I need to use Chinese text in the USA. Which form should I use (simplified or traditional Chinese)?

Although traditional Chinese is the preferred character set for people in many specific areas of the U.S., not everyone can read it. However, simplified Chinese can be read by most, if not all Chinese readers. 

Are there any other languages where I have to be aware of different characters?

From Wikipedia:  The Japanese language is written with a combination of three different types of scripts: Chinese characters called kanji, and two syllabic scripts made up of modified Chinese characters, hiragana and katakana.