Error-laden English road signs in Ilan County have recently faced harsh scrutiny from one of the county's councilors.
Ilan County Councilor Hsieh Chih-deh (謝志得) said there are so many spelling mistakes on Ilan's road signs that foreign tourists often get lost when traveling in the county, which hosts numerous international events.
Hsieh said that there are currently seven different versions of the English for "Dongshan River Water Park" (
PHOTO: YU MING-CHIN, TAIPEI TIMES
In addition to the official version, "Dongshan River Park," a couple of signs say "piver" and "rark" instead of "river" and "park," and then there are also a couple of versions simply romanizing the Chinese name for the park in different ways.
Similar errors are found in signs for Ilan's other attractions, Hsieh said. For example, the county-ordained version of Luodong Sports Park (
Yu Wen-hsiang (游文祥), director of the county's Bureau of Business and Travel, said that translations and spellings of names of streets and scenic spots differ because the Directorate General of Highways take charge of provincial highways and county thoroughfares, while each county government is responsible for managing village and township streets.
Nevertheless, Yu said that in 2003, the Ilan County Government had approved a standardized version for each of the county's tourist spots.
Therefore, the country government would begin to coordinate between the various agencies and present a standard English version for place names around the country, he said.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday thanked Palau for its continued support of Taiwan's international participation, as Taipei was once again excluded from the World Health Assembly (WHA) currently taking place in Switzerland. "Palau has never stopped voicing support for Taiwan" in the UN General Assembly, the WHO and other UN-affiliated agencies, Lai said during a bilateral meeting with visiting Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. "We have been profoundly touched by these endorsements," Lai said, praising the Pacific island nation's firm support as "courageous." Lai's remarks came as Taiwan was excluded for the ninth consecutive year from the WHA, which is being held in
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
At least three people died and more than a dozen were injured yesterday afternoon when a vehicle struck a group of pedestrians in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽). The incident happened at about 4pm when a car rammed into pedestrians at an intersection near Bei Da Elementary School. Witnesses said the sedan, being driven at a high speed, ran a red light, knocking scooters out of the way and hitting students crossing the road before careening into a median near the intersection of Guocheng and Guoguang streets. The incident resulted in three deaths and 13 injuries, including the driver, a 78-year-old man
RSS