Category: Chinese (中文)

Little Friends

By Simon

In Mandarin Chinese, one word for a child or children is 小朋友 (xiǎopéngyǒu), which means literally ‘little friend’. It’s generally used by adults to address children.

Mia & Isla
My god-daughters, Isla & Mia

The other day when talking about my experiences in China, I translated 小朋友 from Chinese into French as petits amis, which means boyfriends. I was talking about children, and didn’t realise I’d said something unusual until my friends looked at me strangely, and asked if that’s what I really meant. I assured them I was talking about enfants (children) and not petits amis.

Other ways to refer to children in Mandarin include:

  • 孩子 (hái​zi) = child
  • 小孩子 (xiǎo hái​zi) = (small) child
  • 儿童 (értóng) = child(ren)
  • 孩童 (háitóng) = child
  • 小儿 (xiǎo​’ér) = young child
  • 少儿 (shào​’ér) = child
  • 娃娃 (wáwa) = baby, small child, doll

Source: https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary

Words for older sister – 妹妹 (mèimei), younger sister – 姐姐 (jiě​jie), older brother – 哥哥 (gē​ge) and younger brother – 弟弟 (dìdi) – can also be used to refer to children in Mandarin.

Other ways to refer to a child in French include:

  • bambin = toddler
  • bout de chou, bout d’chou, boutchou = sweet little thing, little one, little tot
  • chérubin = cherub
  • fils = son
  • fille = daughter
  • galopin = urchin, scamp, brat, ragamuffin
  • gamin = kid, street urchin, street kid (dated)
  • marmot = kid, brat
  • minot = kid, lad

Source: https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/enfant#fr

Have you mistranslated terms like I did?

Are there interesting words for child(ren) you know in French or other languages?




Immersion

By Simon

After 7 weeks in China, I’m now back in the UK. I arrived home on Monday afternoon, after a long journey via Zurich and Manchester.

Sok Kwu Wan, Lamma Island / 南丫島索罟灣
Sok Kwu Wan, Lamma Island / 南丫島索罟灣

I spent 6 weeks staying with friends in Zhaoqing (肇庆) in Guangdong Province in the south of China, then spent a week in Hong Kong. I visited places I’d been to before in Hong Kong, and some ones that were new to me, and generally had a good time. Hong Kong felt very busy and crowded, after the relatively relaxed Zhaoqing. I was last there in 1998, and it has changed quite a bit. There seems to be a lot more of everything – people, traffic, buildings, roads, railways, etc, but I did find some things that were familiar, like the Star Ferries and the trams.

Beilingshan Forest Park / 北岭山森林公园
Beilingshan Forest Park, Zhaoqing / 肇庆北岭山森林公园

While in Zhaoqing, I explored the local area and saw some beautiful places, but didn’t visit any other parts of China.

Few of the local people in Zhaoqing speak English, so I had use Mandarin or Cantonese, and interpret for one of my friends, who doesn’t speak much Chinese at all. This helped me to improve both languages. However, most of my interactions with locals were short and about everyday topics, such as buying things, ordering food in restaurants, or asking directions. I did have longer conversations about various topics with some people.

Being immersed in a language, as I was, doesn’t necessarily mean that all aspects of your ability in that language will improve. You need to make an effort to speak to people about all sorts of things, to read the language as much as you can, to watch TV and films in the language, and to listen to radio, podcasts, audiobooks or other material. It also helps to make some local friends who you speak to regularly, and/or find a language exchange partner or tutor.

My Mandarin is maybe at an A2/B1 level, and my Cantonese is at an A1 level at the most. I can have long conversations about various things in Mandarin, and short ones about basic things in Cantonese. Generally, people understand me and some said that it was unusual to meet a Westerner who speaks Chinese well. When reading Chinese texts, there are always characters that I’ve forgotten or don’t know yet, but I can usually get a good idea of what the texts mean.

While I was in Hong Kong, I tried to speak Cantonese with people as much as possible, unless they preferred Mandarin or English. I was able to communicate at a basic level and understand at least some of what I heard.




Outside Aliens

By Simon

As a non-Chinese person in China, a word you’ll hear quite a bit is 外国人 (wài​guó​rén), which means foreigner, foreign national or alien. Some people like pointing out any foreigners they see, and they might say or shout 外国人 at them, assuming they won’t understand.

Me in front of the Old City Wall in Zhaoqing / 我在肇庆古城墙前
Me in front of the Old City Wall in Zhaoqing / 我在肇庆古城墙前

外国人 [外國人] (wài​guó​rén) could be translated literally as “outside country person” or “foreign nation person”. A slang version is 歪果仁 (wāi​guǒ​rén) which literally means something like “slanted fruit benevolence” or “askew results humaneness” [source].

When Chinese people look at me and say 外国人, I might reply by saying I’m not a 外国人 but rather a 外星人 (wài​xīng​rén), which means space alien or extraterrestrial. This often gets a smile or laugh. Or I might point that to me they are the 外国人.

When I worked in Taiwan, I was officially an alien as I had an Alien Registration Card, which I found quite amusing.

外国人 is a formal and polite to refer to a non-Chinese national, and seems to be used particularly to refer to people who don’t look Chinese or Asian. Other ways to do so include:

  • 老外 (lǎowài / lou5 ngoi6) – “old foreign” – this is an informal, slang term for foreigners, particularly foreigners of non-East Asian ethnicities, and is used throughout China in Mandarin and Cantonese. It is seen as offensive or rude by some [source]. It can also mean a layman or amateur, and in Cantonese it can refer to a father-in-law, specifically a wife’s father [source].
  • 鬼佬 (gwai2 lou2) – “ghost man”, “devil person” – used in Cantonese and Eastern Min to refer to a foreigner, particularly a white Westerner. It is considered derogatory [source].
  • 洋人 (yángrén) – “ocean / foreign person” – refers to a foreigner, especially a westerner or Caucasian. Used in some varieties of Mandarin, Gan, Hakka, Jin, Wu and Xiang [source]
  • 外宾 [外賓] (wàibīn) – “foreign guest” [source].
  • 国际友人 [國際友人] (guójì yǒurén) – “international friend”.
  • 外国朋友 [外國朋友] (wàiguó péng​you) – “foreign friend”.

In China, people who were not born in the area they live are known as 外地人 (wài​dì​rén – stranger, outsider, non-local, out-of-towner) by local people. I met quite a few such people in Zhaoqing [source].

In the few days I’ve been in Hong Kong, I’ve seen more 外國人 than I did in 6 weeks in Zhaoqing. There, it’s rare to spot a 外国人 in the wild. Here, they’re more common. Today, for example, I heard 外國人 speaking English, French, German, Dutch, Russian and other languages I didn’t recognise. There were quite a few at Victoria Peak, which I visited today.

Victoria Peak / 太平山
A view from Victoria Peak (太平山), Hong Kong

In Japanese, 外国人 (gaikokujin) is used to refer to a foreigner, an alien, a foreign national or a person who is not Japanese [source].

The informal version, 外人 (gaijin), is used specifically for foreigners of European ancestry, and used to mean any outsider, or an estranged or unfamiliar person. After Japan opened up to the outside world in the 1850s, 外人 started to be used to refer to foreigners, especially foreigners in Japan. It is considered negative and pejorative by some these days [source]. It can also refer to ethnically Japanese people who have grown up outside Japan and are not Japanese citizens [source].

Language skills in just 10 minutes a day with Ling




One Another

By Simon

The other day I came accross the word 彼此 (bǐ​cǐ) in one of my Chinese lessons. It means each other or one another, and while I’d seen both characters before, I hadn’t seen them together like this.

Illustration of the Chinese and Japanese word 彼此

There is also the idiom 彼此彼此 (bǐ​cǐbǐ​cǐ) in Chinese, which means you and me both or that makes two of us [source].

彼 (bǐ) on it’s one means that, there or those in Mandarin Chinese [source].

I’m more familiar the character 彼 in the Japanese words like 彼 (kare – he, him or boyfriend) and 彼女 (kanojo – she, her, girlfriend), 彼ら (karera – they, them) and 彼氏 (kareshi – boyfriend, he, him)

彼 can also appear in Japanese words like:

  • 彼 (are) = that (thing / person / time / place)
  • 彼の (ano) = that, those, the – usually written あの
  • 彼処 (asoko) = there, over there, that place, yonder, you-know-where, private parts, that far, that much – usually written あそこ
  • 彼方 (achira) = that way, that direction, over there, yonder, that (one / person), foreign country (esp. a Western one) – usually written あちら
  • 彼方此方 (achikochi) = here and there, various places, all around, all over, everywhere, throughout, muddled, confused, back to front – usually written あちこち
  • 彼是 (arekore) = this and that, one thing or another, this way and that, around about, roughly, nearly, almost – usually written あれこれ, can also be written 彼此

Source: https://jisho.org/

此 (cǐ) on it’s one means this or these in Mandarin Chinese [source].

In Japanese 此 can appear in words such as:

  • 此れ (kore) = this (one / person) now, this time, here – usually written これ
  • 此の (kono)= this, last, these, parts この
  • 此方 (kochira) = this way, this direction, here, this (one) – usually written こちら
  • 此処 (koko) = here, this place, this point, here, now – usually written ここ
  • 此奴 (koistsu) = he, she, this fellow, this guy, this person, hey you! – usually written こいつ

Source: https://jisho.org/

I’ve seen some of these words written with kanji in subtitles for songs online, perhaps to save space on the screen.

When I first started learning Japanese, I tried to learn all the rarely-used kanji like this, and wanted to know the kanji for every Japanese word, if they existed. I’ve since forgotten a lot of them, but the Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese lessons I’ve been working on recently have helped.

When I try to read texts in Chinese or Japanese, I can usually understand enough to get some idea of what they mean. However, there are often characters I’ve forgotten, or haven’t learnt yet, which can be frustrating. Fortunately, I can usually find them in a dictionary or translation app on my phone, or I can ask someone.

Language skills in just 10 minutes a day with Ling




Beware your shoes!

By Simon

Here are a few more signs I spotted recently that have ‘interesting’ English versions.

Sign on escalator

I saw this sign on an escalator in the local college campus. If you want to use this escalator, you have to hold the child and the pet, and if you haven’t got them, just borrow or hire them.

The use of handcarts is banned. Handcart is a translation of 手推车 (shǒutuīchē), which, based on the picture, refers to pushchairs, baby buggies, strollers, or whatever you call them. It can also mean trolley, cart, barrow, handcart or wheelbarrow, and literally means “hand push vehicle”. Other translations of pushchair / stroller include 推车 (tuīchē) and 童车 (tóngchē).

You have to watch your sreps to keep safe while waking in the mall, and you must keep your children from plating or running.

Here’s another sign from a different escalator.

Sign on escalator

Here you must hold the child’s hand, carry he pet in your arms, hold the handrail and beware your shoes. The use of carts is banned, the bulky item is forbidden in, and you should not play, slapstick, climb or look at the phone. Most people seem to look at their phones all the time, so the last one is asking a bit much, perhaps.

Rather than slapstick, 打闹 (dǎnào) could also be translated as to quarrel, squabble, be rowdy, play boisterously, or engage in horseplay. So no rowdy or boisterous playing, squabbling or quarrelling with horses on the escalator.

Sign on escalator

This sign, in Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean, forbids you from striding. A better translation might be “No Climbing on/over the fence”. Are the Japanese and Korean versions well-translated?

Here’s a sign I spotted on a litter bin / trash can:

Sign on litter bin

If you have any disposable tableware, old pottery (who carries old pottery around with them?), pericarp skins or the dust, you can dispose of it/them here. I’ve no idea where ‘pericarp’ came from – a better translation of 果皮 (guǒ​pí) would be ‘fruit peel’, and 瓜壳 (guāké) would be better translated as ‘melon rind’.

Merry Christmas, by the way, if that’s something you celebrate.

Language skills in just 10 minutes a day with Ling




Godfathering

By Simon

When I explain to people I meet here that I’m the godfather of my friend’s children, they don’t seem to understand, even though I do so in Chinese.


Me, my friend Malcolm, his mother-in-law and the little monsters (his daughters / my god-daughters)

One person asked me if I was Catholic or Protestant, and seemed to know that being a godfather has something to do with Christianity. I had trouble trying to explain it in Chinese, as I wasn’t entirely sure what being a godparent involved.

The Chinese translation of godfather I’ve been using is 教父 (jiào​fù), however, few people seem familiar with this term. 教父 (jiào​fù) is made up of 教 (jiào​), which means to teach or class, and 父 (fù), which means father. I think 教 in this context might be an abbreviation of 教堂 (jiào​táng – church, chapel) [source]

Another Chinese translation for godfather is 代父 (dàifù) or ‘substitute father’.

According to TheFreeDictionary, a godfather is:

  • A man who sponsors a person at baptism.
  • One that has a relationship to another person or to something that is the equivalent of being a baptismal sponsor.
  • The leader of an organized crime family.

According to Wikipedia:

Within Christianity, a godparent or sponsor is someone who bears witness to a child’s baptism (christening) and later is willing to help in their catechesis, as well as their lifelong spiritual formation. In both religious and civil views, a godparent tends to be an individual chosen by the parents to take an interest in the child’s upbringing and personal development, and to offer mentorship.

Apparently you can only be a godparent to one child, and as my god-daughters haven’t been baptised, I’m not, in a religious sense, their godfather yet.

When I was young I went to our local (Church of England) church with my parents, and was christened and confirmed there, and went to church-aided schools from 5-16. So technically, I am an Anglican Christian. However, I stopped going to church at the age of 16, and these days, only go to occasional weddings, funerals and Christmas services.

There is apparently a Chinese tradition of matching a child with a relative or family friend, who becomes the 义母/义父 (yì​mǔ/yì​fù) or ‘voluntary mother/father’, or the 干妈/干爹 (gān​mā/gān​diē) or ‘dry mother/father’. These terms also mean adoptive mother or father, in the sense of traditional adoption, i.e. without legal ramifications. This is a non-religious tradition, usually involving a childless friend or relative, and helps strengthen ties between families.

Alternatively, a family friend might be known as 叔叔 (shū​shu) – uncle, or 阿姨 (ā​yí) – aunt. Other words for uncle and aunt are available in Chinese [source].

Language skills in just 10 minutes a day with Ling

To me, being a godparent means that you’re a good friend of the family, and get on well with their children. I spend quite a bit of time with my god-daughters and their parents, particularly recently as I’m currently staying with them. The little ones can be monsters at times, and angels at others, but I love them anyway.




Oceanic Lutes

By Simon

My mandolin

When looking for the names of various instruments in Chinese, as you do, I came across 洋琵琶 (yáng​pí​pá) for mandolin. 洋 (yáng) means ocean, sea, foreign or western, and the 琵琶 (pí​pá) is a traditional Chinese string instrument described by the MDBG Chinese dictionary as a ‘guitar-like instrument’. So it’s a ‘foreign pipa’ in Chinese [source].

The Encyclopedia Britannica describes the pipa (see above) it as a ‘short-necked Chinese lute’ that originated in Western Asia, and has been known in China since the 2nd Century AD. Apparently the Chinese name comes from the way it’s played: pí​ originally meant to pluck in a forward motion, and pá meant to pluck in a backward motion. Different characters with the same sounds were later chosen for the instrument’s name [source].

Chinese Pipa

The word 洋 (yáng) also appears in

  • 洋葱 (yáng​cōng) = onion, or ‘foreign scallion / green onion’
  • 洋气 (yáng​qì) = Western style, foreign style, trendy, fashionable, or ‘foreign steam / vapour’
  • 洋葱 (yáng​cù) = potato, or ‘foreign taro’

Another Chinese word that appears in various instrument names is 琴 (qín), which on its own refers to a type of long zither with seven strings, plucked with the fingers, also known as a 古琴 (gǔ​qín). The 琴 (qín) is also translated as a Chinese lute or guitar [source].

Other types of 琴 (qín) include:

  • 钢琴 [鋼琴] (gāng​qín) = piano, or ‘steel qin’.
  • 风琴 [風琴] (fēngqín​) = organ, or ‘wind qin’.
  • 口琴 (kǒu​qín​) = mouth organ, harmonica, or ‘mouth qin’.
  • 竖琴 [竪琴] (shù​qín​) = (Western-style harp). or ‘vertical qin’.
  • 小提琴 (xiǎo​tí​qín​qín) = violin, or ‘small hand-held qin’.
  • 中提琴 (zhōng​tí​qín​) = viola, or ‘medium-sized hand-held qin’.
  • 大提琴 (dà​tí​qín​) = cello, or ‘big hand-held qin’.
  • 低音大提琴 (dī​yīn​(dà)​tí​qín​) = double bass or ‘low sound (big) hand-held qin’.
  • 班卓琴 (bān​zhuó​qín​) = banjo, or ‘banjo qin’ – the Chinese characters sound similiar to the word banjo

I think it’s interesting that in Chinese, non-Chinese instruments and other things are referred to as variants on traditional Chinese instruments, etc, while in English, Chinese instruments are referred to as versions of ‘Western’ instruments like guitars, lutes and zithers.

Language skills in just 10 minutes a day with Ling




No Fierce Action

By Simon

One of the joys of being in foreign parts for a language nerd like me is spotting badly or interestingly translated signs, notices and other texts. I haven’t seen very many yet, but here’s a notice from the lift in the building where I’m staying:

Lift notice

You have to avoid taking your pets in the lift during the rush hour, whenever that is. Most of the flats in this building are empty, so there isn’t really a rush hour. Maybe there will be when most or all of them are occupied.

You also have to make sure that you don’t push the button with any hard stuff or tine. A better translation might be “Do not use any hard or sharp objects to press the buttons”

In an emergency, you shouldn’t “try to and grill the door”, whatever that means. A better translation might be “Do not force the doors or try to exit through the shaft”.

And finally, fierce action in the lift must be avoided at all times. Or maybe they mean “No strenuous exercise in the lift”. Light or moderate exercise is probably okay, but nothing too strenuous.

I saw this sign at a local KFC and thought it might be a bit of questionable English translation, but it seems to be a genuine KFC slogan. Do they use this in other countries?

Everyone has a place at my bucket

This certainly wouldn’t entice me into a restaurant.

Guangdong Business and Technology University library

This is one of the places we visited this week – Guangdong Business and Technology University (广东工商职业技术大学) – which has some rather elaborate architecture. The building pictured above is the library, which is even more impressive inside (see below). You can see my goddaughters and their parents in the foreground. I just noticed that the sign saying library is in traditional characters rather than simplified characters. The sign over their main gate is the same. I’ll look out for other uses of traditional characters.

Guangdong Business and Technology University library

Language skills in just 10 minutes a day with Ling




China Adventures

By Simon

This week I’ve mainly been in China, and have had little time to add new material to Omniglot. Normal service should resume when I return to the UK. I’m planning to do so towards the end of January 2026, but we’ll see.

A nearby street leading to Zhaoqing University
A nearby street leading to Zhaoqing University

It was quite an epic journey to get here. I left Bangor at ridiculous o’clock far too early on Tuesday morning, and got a lift to Manchester airport with friends. Then I flew to Beijing on Hainan Airlines (海南航空) with one of those friends. The flight took 10 hours and went smoothly, though I wasn’t able to sleep much, so was very tired when we arrived in Beijing. After filling in some pointless forms, going through immigration and collecting our bags, we checked in for our flight to Guangzhou, which took about 3 hours. Then we took a rather rickety old bus to Zhaoqing, which took another 2 hours, and a taxi to where we’re staying. The whole journey took just under 24 hours door-to-door.

The building I'm staying in and the view from my window
The building I’m staying in and the view from my window

I’m staying with M, the friend I travelled with, his Chinese wife YR, their two daughters (my goddaughters), Mia (5) and Isla (4), and YR’s mother. They’re renting a large, comfortable apartment in a new gated complex near Zhaoqing University (肇庆学院), where YR works as a teacher trainer. It’s quite a lively area full of students with plenty of places to eat and other shops, and the university campus has some quite picturesque parts, particularly the lake. It kind of reminds me of parts of Taipei, and even smells quite similar.

The lake on the campus of Zhaoqing University
The lake on the campus of Zhaoqing University

There’s a much bigger lake near the centre of Zhaoqing which I saw on the way here. It’s called 星湖 (xīnghú) or Star Lake. I’ll go to explore the area soon. We were going to go last night, but got distracted with eating and other things.

Zhaoqing (肇庆 [肇慶] – zhàoqìng / siu6-hing2 in Cantonese) was established during the Qin Dynasty in the 1st century BC. It was originally known as Sihui (西会 [xīhuì]), and has also been known as Gaoyao (高要 [gāoyào]) and Duanzhou (端州 [duānzhōu]). Gaoyao and Duanzhou are now districts of Zhaoqing, and Sihui is a separate city. It became Zhaoqing in 1118 AD. It’s a port on the Xi River (西江) in Guangdong Province (广东省) about 50 miles / 80 km west of Guangzhou (广州).

The first and only other time I visited Mainland China was in 1991, when I spent nearly 2 months travelling around the south of the country. It has changed quite a bit since. Back then, travelling in China was an interesting experience, but not always a particularly comfortable one. The roads were full of bicycles, motorbikes, mopeds, buses, trucks, tractors, and even horses and donkeys, but very few private cars. The buildings were mostly grey, unadorned concrete, the air wasn’t particularly clean, except in rural areas, and foreign tourists were a novelty.

Me in Yangshuo (阳朔) in 1991
Me in Yangshuo (阳朔) in 1991

There were two currencies back in the 1990s: RMB (人民币 [rénmínbì]) for locals, and Foreign Exchange Certificates (外汇券 [wàihuìquàn]) for foreign tourists. There were restrictions on where you could visit, where you could stay and how you could travel, both for locals and tourists. FECs were used for certain hotels, flights, train tickets, and so on, and the locals were keen to exchange their RMB for FECs whenever they could.

Now there are fancy electric cars and scooters everywhere, there are a lot more local people and tourists, the cities are bigger and full of mostly smart, modern tower blocks, although you still see some unadorned concrete around, and they have built a whole network of high speed trains and many new roads. You could say that China is very much a work in progress, as there seems to be endless construction of new buildings, roads, railways, and so on. If you’re looking for a quiet, peaceful place to stay, most Chinese cities are best avoided.

There is only one currency now – RMB, and while cash is used to some extent, most people pay for everything with the WeChat app. It’s like WhatsApp, in that you can use it for messaging and calls, but has various other functions. Apparently shops and street vendors are keen to use WeChat as they get bonuses for doing so. Everybody has a QR code which you scan with your phone, which makes transactions much easier, and saves you having to carry around cash. I set it up before I left the UK, and finally got it working yesterday after getting hold of a local SIM card.

On the planes on the way here, I heard people speaking both Mandarin and Cantonese, and expected to hear Cantonese being spoken here in Zhaoqing. So far though, I’ve only heard a few people speaking Cantonese – most people seem to speak Mandarin as their first language. I’ve spoken plenty of Mandarin so far, but haven’t had any opportunities to speak Cantonese yet.

YR and her mum speak Mandarin and a variety of Mandarin from Guangxi Province where they come from. It sounds similar enough to Mandarin that I can sort of get the gist of what they’re saying. Apparently their dialect / language is known as Guangxi Mandarin or Jia Zhuang (嘉庄), as it is influenced by the Zhuang language [source].

The building I'm staying in and the view from my window Thanks to the Great Firewall of China, many of the sites I normally use are not accessible here, which makes things difficult. So unless I can find ways round this, I plan to spend my time here improving existing content on Omniglot, rather than adding new stuff. I will add some new pages when I have time and it’s possible to do so.

Before comning here, I made some bilingual English and Chinese name cards. They include a QR code which links to my page on Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/omniglot. I just found out that this site is blocked here. Oh well.

Better Safe than Sorry

By Simon

In the past week or so I’ve had a number of vaccinations to prepare for my trip to China, and have more to come. As they say, better safe than sorry, but what do they say in other languages?

The Big Spill

The phrase better safe than sorry means it is preferable to be cautious in one’s choices and actions than to act recklessly and suffer afterwards.

Phrases with similar meanings in English include:

  • err on the side of caution
  • measure twice, cut once
  • play it safe
  • prevention is better than cure
  • an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

Equivalent phrases in other languages include:

  • Azerbaijani – htiyat igidin yaraşığıdır
    (“prudence is the adornment of a brave man”)
  • Bulgarian – който сам се пази и Бог го пази (koĭto sam se pazi i Bog go pazi) – (“He who protects himself and God protects him”)
  • Chinese (Mandarin) – 小心驶得万年船 [小心駛得萬年船]
    (xiǎoxīn shǐ dé wànnián chuán) – (“If you are careful, you can steer your ship safely for a myriad of years”)
  • French – mieux vaut prévenir que guérir
    (“prevention is better than cure”)
  • German – Vorsicht ist besser als Nachsicht
    (“caution is better than clemency”)
  • Greek – κάλλιο γαϊδουρόδενε παρά γαϊδουρογύρευε (kállio gaïdouródene pará gaïdourogýreve) – (“Better to tie a donkey than to ride a donkey.”)
  • Irish – is fearr glas ná amhras
    (“better a lock than a doubt”)
  • Japanese – 転ばぬ先の杖 (korobanu saki no tsue) – (“a walking stick before stumbling”)
  • Korean – 돌다리도 두들겨 보고 건너라 (doldalido dudeulgyeo bogo geonneola) – (“even if you cross a stone bridge, test it first.”)
  • Polish – żeby kózka nie skakała, toby nóżki nie złamała
    (“if the goat had not been jumping, it would not have broken its leg”)
  • Welsh – gwell diogel nac edifar
    (“better safe than sorry”)

Source: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/better_safe_than_sorry

How about in other languages?

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