If you work with Chinese text, you will meet two written forms: Traditional (繁體) and Simplified (简体). They are the same language, but converting between them well means understanding that the difference is not only in how characters look.
1. Character shapes
Simplified Chinese reduced the stroke count of many characters. For example, 體 → 体, 龍 → 龙, 廣 → 广. Traditional keeps the older, fuller forms. This is the most visible difference and the easy part to convert.
2. Vocabulary also differs
This is the part naive character-swapping gets wrong. The two regions often use different words for the same thing:
| English | Traditional (Taiwan) | Simplified (Mainland) |
|---|---|---|
| software | 軟體 | 软件 |
| mouse | 滑鼠 | 鼠标 |
| network | 網路 | 网络 |
| memory (RAM) | 記憶體 | 内存 |
A good converter handles both — character shapes and vocabulary — so the result reads naturally to a native reader, not just “technically converted.”
3. Which should you use?
- Traditional: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and many overseas communities.
- Simplified: Mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia.
Pick the one your audience actually reads.
How to convert, privately
This runs entirely in your browser — your text is never uploaded:
- Chinese Converter (Traditional ⇄ Simplified) — both directions, with vocabulary conversion, powered by OpenCC.
Paste your text, choose the direction, and copy the result. For documents, subtitles, résumés or social posts, it is the fastest way to reach the other audience without hand-editing every word.