Oliver Radtke says he first discovered the odd and wonderful world of Chinglish in 2000 in a Shanghai cab, where he saw a curious sign reading: “Don’t forget to carry your thing.”
Nine years later, the German multimedia producer has written two popular books on the subject and is working hard to preserve China’s special brand of English for generations to come.
“There is a lot in Chinglish that is so much more than just incompetent English or incorrect English,” said the 32-year-old Radtke, who focuses on written examples of the lingo on signboards, menu cards and shop fronts.
PHOTO: AFP
“A lot of the Chinglish signs carry a certain Chinese notion in them which enriches the English language and makes English more Chinese in the sense that there is a certain Chinese flavor, a certain Chinese way of thinking,” he said.
The view held by many — not least by the Chinese authorities — is that Chinglish is an embarrassment that must be wiped out at all costs, but Radtke disagrees, saying the “language” should be preserved.
“This is one of my favorites,” the Beijing resident said, pointing to a photo in one of his books of a public lavatory sign which helpfully explains: “You can enjoy the fresh air after finishing a civilized urinating.”
“In the West, you would never use the word ‘urinating’ in a public toilet, but the Chinese don’t have this convention and it’s a very direct approach,” he said.
“It challenges you as a Westerner to think about why we carefully circumvent certain uses of words. Why are there those conventions? Why is it almost about stigmatizing certain sets of words in public use?” he asked.
Some signs highlighted in Radtke’s two books are decidedly politically incorrect — “Cripple’s lane” rather than “Wheelchair path,” or “Deformed man toilet” instead of “Handicapped restroom.”
Other signs seem almost poetic, attaching emotions to inanimate objects such as grass or fire.
“Our life will be ceased if you step hard,” a sign at a lawn in the city of Kunming says, while visitors to one section of the Great Wall are reminded to be careful: “Do not forget the fire is heartless.”
Some signs make rather grandiose promises.
“Best love since 1996,” reads an advertisement for a wedding photo studio from Hainan.
Radtke’s fascination first led him to launch a blog in 2005, followed two years later by a book, Chinglish: Found in Translation, which has now sold 50,000 copies. A follow-up title has just been published.
“The initial reaction of many Chinese users was very much against the project. They thought I was making fun of them,” he said.
“It’s still a very interesting topic — how difficult it is as a foreigner in China to write in a critical way about certain social phenomena,” he said.
But Radtke says the Chinese are increasingly supportive of his efforts, as they have come to understand that he believes Chinglish is in fact enriching the English language.
The entire notion of one single, standard version of English is outdated, he says, because it now has far more than one billion regular users worldwide and a rapidly growing number speak it as their second language.
“From their usage the language will be influenced one way or the other, whether native speakers like it or not,” he said.
In recent years, China has kicked off campaigns to root out poor grammar and misused vocabulary in official usage.
The most famous of these drives took place in Beijing prior to the Olympic Games in August. During that time, authorities re-christened the Dongda Proctology Hospital, formerly the Dongda Anus Hospital.
These campaigns will never fully succeed, Radtke says, adding he remains optimistic that Chinglish will never disappear from the mainstream.
“I’m pessimistic when it comes to official signs in the big cities,” he says.
“But restaurants, companies, private institutions, small shop owners will all produce a lot of Chinglish,” he says.
With much pomp and circumstance, Cairo is today to inaugurate the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), widely presented as the crowning jewel on authorities’ efforts to overhaul the country’s vital tourism industry. With a panoramic view of the Giza pyramids plateau, the museum houses thousands of artifacts spanning more than 5,000 years of Egyptian antiquity at a whopping cost of more than US$1 billion. More than two decades in the making, the ultra-modern museum anticipates 5 million visitors annually, with never-before-seen relics on display. In the run-up to the grand opening, Egyptian media and official statements have hailed the “historic moment,” describing the
‘CHILD PORNOGRAPHY’: The doll on Shein’s Web site measure about 80cm in height, and it was holding a teddy bear in a photo published by a daily newspaper France’s anti-fraud unit on Saturday said it had reported Asian e-commerce giant Shein (希音) for selling what it described as “sex dolls with a childlike appearance.” The French Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) said in a statement that the “description and categorization” of the items on Shein’s Web site “make it difficult to doubt the child pornography nature of the content.” Shortly after the statement, Shein announced that the dolls in question had been withdrawn from its platform and that it had launched an internal inquiry. On its Web site, Le Parisien daily published a
UNCERTAIN TOLLS: Images on social media showed small protests that escalated, with reports of police shooting live rounds as polling stations were targeted Tanzania yesterday was on lockdown with a communications blackout, a day after elections turned into violent chaos with unconfirmed reports of many dead. Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan had sought to solidify her position and silence criticism within her party in the virtually uncontested polls, with the main challengers either jailed or disqualified. In the run-up, rights groups condemned a “wave of terror” in the east African nation, which has seen a string of high-profile abductions that ramped up in the final days. A heavy security presence on Wednesday failed to deter hundreds protesting in economic hub Dar es Salaam and elsewhere, some
Flooding in Vietnam has killed at least 10 people this week as the water level of a major river near tourist landmarks reached a 60-year high, authorities said yesterday. Vietnam’s coastal provinces, home to UNESCO world heritage site Hoi An ancient town, have been pummeled by heavy rain since the weekend, with a record of up to 1.7m falling over 24 hours. At least 10 people have been killed, while eight others are missing, the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said. More than 128,000 houses in five central provinces have been inundated, with water 3m deep in some areas. People waded through
RSS