The End of Chinglish?: Chinese government agency set to crack down on poor translations
The use of poor English translations on Chinese signs has previously been widespread, with businesses and visitor attractions rushing to accommodate tourists as the country opened up to greater numbers of overseas visitors. However, opinions of Chinglish are mixed. Although visitors may find bad translations amusing or entertaining, for in China they are seen as a national embarrassment, hurting the country’s image. Now, with the country seeking to develop a “multilingual society” and children often learning English from a young age, the government is set to introduce a new national standard for the use of English on national signage.
The new standard, laid down by China’s Standardisation Administration, Ministry of Education and General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine is to “prioritise grammar and a proper register” while avoiding “rare expressions and vocabulary” as well as “content that damages the image of China or other countries”. It also warns against translations that are too direct or literal, which have often been blamed for translation gaffes. This has not been the first attempt to improve public signage, with a large effort taking before the country hosted the 2008 Olympic Games. The new guidelines will cover 13 areas, including transport, healthcare and financial services.
While the policy aims to help improve the country’s national image, some will mourn the passing of humorously translated signs. The South China Morning Post reported Ray Kwong, senior adviser to the University of Southern California’s US-China Institute, as saying, “Bad translations on signage, menus and whatnot have been part of China’s charm since I first visited 30-something years ago.” There are even websites devoted to Chinglish, with translations such as:
An optician’s shop called “common people glasses”
A plaque above a fire extinguisher translated as “hand grenade”
A sign on a bin translated as “Poisonous & Evil Rubbish”
A sniffer dog with a jacket saying, “explosive dog”
It is yet unclear how successful the policy will prove to be after it is implemented on 31 December.
Sources:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/23/beijing-wages-war-chinglish-prevent-translation-gaffes/
http://www.womenofchina.cn/womenofchina/html1/news/china/1706/4111-1.htm
