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Getting it right--from Chinglish to English (I)
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By Gordon J Kerr
Welcome To Zhuhai Again!
This is the large sign that visitors see in Zhuhai when leaving the city on the road to Guangzhou. It is warm and friendly but, unfortunately, not correct English.
"Welcome" is a greeting used on arrival, not on departure. Everywhere official signs on roads, public buildings and commercial districts proudly display large and expensive signs in English or rather "Chinglish" (Chinese English). Chinglish is often quaint and attractive, expressing the hospitality and unique perspective of the Chinese world view. Sometimes it is quietly amusing, raising a smile for foreign visitors; on other occasions it can be confusing. Sadly Chinglish is sometimes just plain bad English and shows a careless and unprofessional approach to translation, even by large companies and organizations. Most Chinese people I speak to do not realize the seriousness of this problem and the negative effect it has on other people's view of China. I believe more attention needs to be paid to this important issue. We need to get it right, so what can be done?
In the short term, it is essential that native speakers be used to check and proof read English translations made by Chinese translators. I have done a lot of this work since coming to China, but the problem is that many business leaders and managers just don't want to pay for it and do not see accurate translation as a priority. Good translation takes time and money and is a worthwhile investment. A lot of money can be wasted when translations are not checked. To give one example, recently, a company director showed me his new export catalogue. With expensive photography and beautiful illustrations his company spent over 100,000 yuan and many months of effort producing it. The catalogue was meant to promote the company's products and services to overseas buyers. As soon as I opened it up, I found it hard not to laugh because of the terrible English. There were over 100 errors on the first page alone and it made his company look ridiculous. Every page was the same. Despite all the money he had spent on expensive design, silk ribbons and presentation boxes, plus the expense of posting the catalogue overseas, no thought or effort had been given to checking the quality of the translation. What was the result? Well my guess is, that anyone overseas, receiving such an item, would shake his head in disbelief and throw the catalogue immediately into the trash. If a company cannot be bothered to pay attention to such basic details as their own promotional materials, then they are unlikely to be regarded as a reliable supplier of other products.
In the long term, we need to raise the standard of English teaching, improve educational materials and provide more opportunities and support for language training. The need for quality English education in China will increase dramatically in the next few years and a wide variety of approaches will be needed to meet this challenge. The traditional text-based approach to language learning has served a useful purpose in uniting the country with a common core of understanding and Chinese English teachers are to be congratulated on their efforts to teach a complex and difficult language often with inadequate resources.
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