Starting from December, the Standardisation Administration, Ministry of Education, and General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine will issue a new guide, while encouraging sign-makers to “prioritize correct grammar” and avoid misleading direct translations.
Particular focus will be on translations that are offensive, discriminatory, or unpatriotic.
Wrong translations “damage the country’s image,” while better use of foreign languages in public spaces will pave the way for the “development of a multilingual society,” officials explained in an article published in the state-owned People’s Daily.
The rapid opening up and economic development of a country, where most do not read foreign alphabets or speak other languages, in the past several decades has produced a demand for foreign-language texts that is simply not matched by the requisite expertise.
Comments about this article
Local time: 09:27
عضو (2010)
أنجليزي إلى برتغالي
+ ...
A very smart decision.
إيطاليا
Local time: 10:27
عضو
أنجليزي إلى إيطالي
All they'd need to do is stop using machine translation and think they can get 'good' translations at 'bad' rates. It's not rocket science, really...
Local time: 10:27
فرنسي إلى أنجليزي
Just wondering if imposing 3,500 standard translations will actually solve the problem.
المملكة المتحدة
Local time: 09:27
عضو (2008)
إيطالي إلى أنجليزي
At least someone, somewhere, is acknowledging that good and bad translations exist. That's a step in the right direction.
الأرجنتين
Local time: 05:27
أنجليزي إلى إسباني
I think it's great! Someone is finally giving priority to such an important thing as a proper translation. As Tom said, at least someone is acknowledging the existence of incorrect translations. Now, my question is, will we see the day in which all those funny, hilarious translations disappear from our everyday walk to the store? Who will be there to force me to fall into who knows where?
المملكة المتحدة
Local time: 09:27
صربي إلى أنجليزي
+ ...
Just wondering if imposing 3,500 standard translations will actually solve the problem.
on a journey of thousand miles ...
It's not the ideal solution to all ills but it can at least eliminate all the comical/nonsensical translations of the various frequently used public signs - and more importantly [hopefully?] create an awareness of the importance of accurate translation.
As long as these "standard translations" have been done by people who really know what they are doing, and as long that there is the awareness that these "standard translations" may not fit in every single context, it is a positive step.
أسبانيا
Local time: 10:27
عضو (2005)
أنجليزي إلى إسباني
+ ...
To every problem, the same solution in China: regulation, regulation, regulation. The people are very rarely given the chance to go their own way on anything. The issue at hand cannot be solved with more regulation, but with more education.
الأرجنتين
Local time: 05:27
عضو (2015)
أنجليزي إلى إسباني
+ ...
http://justsomething.co/34-hilarious-translation-fails/
الهند
Local time: 13:57
عضو (2006)
أنجليزي إلى هندي
+ ...
[Edited at 2017-07-03 04:34 GMT]
المملكة المتحدة
Local time: 09:27
صربي إلى أنجليزي
+ ...
is surely deregulation, deregulation, deregulation ....?
And who cares about pesky secondary facts, like the whole saga of subprime mortgages, or more recently buildings designed to burn as quickly as possible ...
To every problem, the same solution in China: regulation, regulation, regulation. The people are very rarely given the chance to go their own way on anything. The issue at hand cannot be solved with more regulation, but with more education.
"who cares it the cat is black or white, as long as it's good at catching mice"
THAT sounds to you like regulation, regulation, regulation?
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