Tag Archive for 'chinese'

Lost In Translation

Published by
Steve
at February 18, 2008 in Language and funny. 3 Comments

Erica and I have done quite a bit of traveling over the past several years and while we always appreciate people’s attempts to put signage in English, sometimes we are left to guess the true meaning a sign is trying to convey.

When a non-native English speaker translates something from their native language into English, there is an ever-present danger of getting it exactly right but oh so wrong!

Here are a few examples gleaned for your enjoyment;

Japanese hotel room - You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid

Paris hotel elevator - Please leave your values at the front desk

Tokyo hotel - It is forbidden to steal hotel towels please. If you are not a person to do such a thing is please not read this notice

Bucharest hotel - The list is being fixed for the next day. During this time you will be unbearable

Leipzig elevator - Do not enter the lift backwards, and only when lit up

Athens hotel - Visitors are expected to complain at the office between the hours of 9 and 11am daily

Belgrade elevator - To move the cabin, push button for wishing floor. If the cabin should enter more persons, each one should press a number of wishing floor. Driving then going alphabetically in national order.

Sarajevo hotel - The flattening of underwear with pleasure is the job of the chambermaid

Moscow hotel - You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous Russian and Soviet composers, artists and writers are buried daily except Thursday

Swiss menu - Our wines leave you nothing to hope for

Hong Kong tailors shop - Ladies may have a fit upstairs

Bangkok dry cleaners - Drop your trousers here for best results

Paris dress shop - Dresses for street walking

Rhodes tailor shop - Order your summer suit. Because is big rush we will execute customers in strict rotation

Hong Kong advert - Teeth extracted by the latest methodists

Rome laundary - Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time

Swiss mountain inn - Special today… no ice cream

Copenhagen airline - We take your bags and send them in all directions

Moscow hotel - If this is your first visit to the USSR, you are welcome to it

Norwegian lounge - Ladies are requested not to have children in the bar

Tokyo shop - Our nylons cost more than common but they are better for the long run

Acapulco hotel - The manager has personally passed all the water served here

Do you have any funny signs / sayings that you’ve spotted on your travels?

Ni Hao, Kai-lan!

Published by
Steve
at February 7, 2008 in Kids and Language. 1 Comment

 Ni Hao, Kai-lan!

This morning the girls watched the new Nickelodeon animated series for preschoolers “Ni Hao, Kai-lan!“  The show’s stated goals are to have the interactivity of “Blue’s Clues” and the bilingualism of “Dora the Explorer.”  They also want to emphasize the “Chinese value of being a good member of a group” and encouraged children to “take the perspective of others to maintain harmony in relationships with other people.”

Karen Chau is the creator of “Ni Hao, Kai-lan!,” and has based it on her memories of growing up in a bicultural household with two overachieving brothers, a doting immigrant grandfather and a father with one foot in the Old World and one in the New. Ms. Chau and her mother, Hai-lan (Helen), were outnumbered but unbowed, honoring some gender traditions that dated to Confucian times while questioning others. “Ni hao” means “Hi” in mandarin, and Kai-lan is the Chinese name Ms. Chau was given at birth, later Anglicized to Karen.

It was nice to have a language other than Spanish being taught through a main-stream cartoon.  However, there wasn’t that much Mandarin being taught in the episode that I watched.  We’ll have to see how future episodes go.

Another interesting thing from the show’s website was that typically, television portrays “excitement” as the good emotion to feel. In many Chinese communities, the good thing to feel is often “calmness and contentment.” “Feeling excited and feeling calm can both be happy feelings, but they differ in how aroused the body is.”  I will say, there was significantly less shouting in this show than in Dora and Diego.  It was nice.

Hopefully the series will be available on iTunes, otherwise Elizabeth and Anna (and eventually Nate) will have to say “Zai Jian, Kai-lan!” after we return to China.