Sunday, October 29, 2006

Languages


Commenting about English by non-English speakers is an exercise that will quickly get you in trouble. So I am in danger of being snotty here. On the other had, it is hard enough for me to formulate a coherent sentence some days!

The sign at right says, if you can't make it out, "On the lawn, please don't dance, exercise, do yoga, play the ball, and so on." Interesting choices, presumably you are able to walk across it! And so much more polite than "Keep Off the Grass."

Other signs made interesting English errors, which, while amusing, weren't memorable enough to photograph or write down. Most places that we went, the English was pretty good. There was one place that had a large sign: "Forset Ecosystem", an error that occasionally shows up here in the states but gets fixed really fast.

The place that really butchered the English was a tourist stop, where we were the only non-Asians. Here are some examples, talking about alcohol: "Thickness of Alcohol in the blood: .1%-.2%: Slightly show the signs of getting drunk, like talking , joke , feel happy , walk and usually orderly equally in love." Still understandable. Then there was: "After mid-night , should not drink again , it is still drank after a night that avoid to feel the pain." I think they are telling me that drinking after midnight is for the wrong reasons. "Want to drink and just drink oneself , should not impulsive , reluctant the universe cup." Any ideas? I wonder if the universe cup is an idiom that doesn't translate well.

I have this theory that when you make mistakes in a foreign language, you use your own grammar. So these sentences may be perfectly acceptable in Chinese!

A brochure in the airport in Taipei gave us some really useful information: Thank you is Shie-shie, which of course we pronounced with a long e sound. That is actually a word for toilet. "Thank you" has an a sound added towards the end, but it is not "shay-shay". We were told that people would figure out what we were saying. But I'm sure lots of Chinese shopkeepers were sniggering behind us!

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