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Translation
Those damned English expertsPosted by Joel Martinsen on Monday, November 2, 2009 at 12:45 PM
 Discreet airport transit The Beijing Subway system recently issued a bilingual safety manual for riders on the Airport Express line. Zhai Hua, a blogger who posts on cross-cultural issues, noted several types of problems with the booklet:
On October 30, the Beijing Youth Daily summarized Zhai's blog post and asked the subway company for an explanation:
"Experts" could conceivably argue over whether to use "metro" or "subway," if the city hadn't already decided on the latter, but many of the errors in the pamphlet are indefensible. Zhai notes that few years ago, an "expert" was cited in defense of Shanghai's use of "model unit" as a translation of , an honor bestowed on organizations that meet certain standards of excellence. Zhai and other Internet commentators felt that the city's translation captured none of the meaning of the original and could be misinterpreted as referring to a promotional apartment unit in a new development. The city's response to Xinmin Online:
Other parts of the country use "civilized unit," a translation that has its own problems. Yet when pressed, they would probably be able to justify the choice by appealing to the judgment of an expert. Links and Sources
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Comments on Those damned English experts
It's frustrating that all they really need is a qualified proofreader. They couldn't come up with 250 kuai an hour to hire one?
On the other hand: which subway system in Europe/USA provides a 'safety manual' also in Chinese? I think the initiative is laudable.
Please keep us posted on this issue. I've long wondered whether my "unit" was best described as "model" or "civilized," but budget constraints have thus far kept me from hiring an expert to review my unit and offer feedback.
Kudos to Zhai Hua!
I had just picked that brochure up earlier this month, and was amazed.
"Mystifying cover design"is one way to put it ... was it lifted from a 1970s soul album cover? or a dating service print ad?
Lisa
p.s. to an earlier commenter - in Toronto most municipal brochures are available in multiple languages, and the public transit has a phone help service available in over 70 languages.
"Please Cherish Grass" sign on newly seeded landscaping
The Seattle area is small by Chinese standards but Sound Transit offers info in Korean, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese and of course Chinese: link I can't read it, are there any obvious or laughable errors?
@Mary, I don't think New York City even has a subway safety manual in English. But they do have some signs in Chinese and plenty more in Spanish.
I think the same marketing team must have some of the local bars as clients, like Drei Kronen, a German brew pub that earlier this year put up posters that showed English Crusaders sharing a pint under the heading, "Even Hercules Needs a Day Off." Another favorite, "you will become immediately infected [after entering our bar."
Cheers, Boyce
In America, translations in multiple languages are usually correct and idiomatic. But this is only because those translations are done/vetted by native speakers of the respective languages. America can afford to retain the service of these native speaking translators. On the other hand, in China, the translation are done by Chinese speakers only and they cannot afford (or do not know how to find) qualified translators who are native speakers of the language they want stuff translated into.
@mary, I live in Cali, pretty much everything here is translated into traditional and simplified. I'd wager the level of translation is light year's ahead of some of the stuff I've seen in China.
It would be more useful if they put up a notice to identify which airlines use which terminals, since travel agents appear incapable of notifying this invaluable info on a ticket.
I expected problems with the translation, but the cover! If I didn't know better, I'd have it was a health brochure about menstruation or a call girl ad.