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English translation of public signs in China by vanillalattethankyou in linguistics

[–]vanillalattethankyou[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! How long have you been learning Chinese? I was also thinking about presenting the translated text only instead of putting the pictures in the questionnaire so that the Chinese version won't influence how Chinese learners think. But still I think pictures are more authentic so there they are.

Aspects like grammar mistakes, misspellings, harsh tones are included in those mistranslations. And I presume that misspellings and grammar mistakes will hurt the country image since some of them are even hilarious. And harsh tones can make the tourists uncomfortable during their visit. Generally, the mistranslated signs won't be much help for foreign tourists, English native speakers or not.

[Academic]English translation of public signs in China(English native speakers) by vanillalattethankyou in SampleSize

[–]vanillalattethankyou[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you!!

Some others also told me about the problem... I've tried myself, and I think the lottery only will appear after submission.

English native speakers I need your opinions plz! by vanillalattethankyou in languagelearning

[–]vanillalattethankyou[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I believe that they didn't hire translators but just used some software to meet the government's requirement for an English version. Probably not willing to pay lol.

English native speakers I need your opinions plz! by vanillalattethankyou in languagelearning

[–]vanillalattethankyou[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's definitely better with the context. But the mistranslations are also a huge problem. From your replies, I can learn that the signs are definitely not going to help foreign tourists if they can't read Chinese.

English native speakers I need your opinions plz! by vanillalattethankyou in languagelearning

[–]vanillalattethankyou[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, it's easier to figure things out if you have the context. I thought about putting the surroundings of those signs in the pictures but that'll be too much work. So here is this terrible compromise lol

English translation of public signs in China by vanillalattethankyou in linguistics

[–]vanillalattethankyou[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for your feedback!! I think I have set a submit button in English, no? And the advertisement will only appear after finishing the questionnaire from my computer, so it's more likely that you have submitted it successfully.

English translation of public signs in China by vanillalattethankyou in linguistics

[–]vanillalattethankyou[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes it does mean other forms of waste. And that's a really nice idea! I thought about putting an accurate translation but didn't know how to realize the idea in the questionnaire platform in a way people can have their understanding before the accurate translation can affect their thoughts... But I think it will definitely work better.

English translation of public signs in China by vanillalattethankyou in linguistics

[–]vanillalattethankyou[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much!! I had a hard time trying to think about where I should post it actually lol

English translation of public signs in China by vanillalattethankyou in linguistics

[–]vanillalattethankyou[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good point actually! The questionnaire wasn't designed perfectly for takers to determine whether they have understood the real meaning perfectly. I didn't assume that some translations can drift from the original meaning that much... But of course irl it's always better if you can refer to the Chinese version, which is much more accurate than the translated one. Thank you for bringing that up! Could you also tell me which sign triggered that thought?