Do you speak chinglish?

Be careful the waves surged, Qingdao, China

On seaside, to warn of waves
“Be careful, the waves surged”

When you are an independant traveler in China the language barrier makes the communication even more difficult than in other countries. Even if you use a dictionary and try to say some sentences you will not often be understood by Chinese people. The structure of this language is totally different from the ones we now in occident because they do not use an alphabet but signs and concepts associations.

Obviously if it is not easy for us it is not for Chinese either to speak such language as English. Even if more and more young people learn it in school it is not the case of most of Chinese people. However big cities make some efforts to translate signs, museums explanations, metro stations and so. Thus it is more and more easy for international tourists.
But is it because of a lack of experimented translators or an excessive use of automatic translators which gives so funny translations? We do not know the answer to this question but what is sure is that a new language was born : it is called chinglish!

In an hotel to ask us if we wanted to stay another night.
“You want to continue to live an other day.”

Au musee de Nanjing, China

In Nanjing museum, to ask people to be quiet.
“The sublimation of thought happened here while the noisy has been stopped”

Caution slip, China

In a park, to warn of a slippery surface.
“Caution slip.”

Keeping your personal property in case of lost, chinglish, China

In some hostel bathroom, to warn of taking care of your belongings.
“Keeping your personal property carefully in case of lost.”

No rely, chinglish, China

In a mall, to prevent people of leaning on the wall.
“No rely.”

2 comments for “Do you speak chinglish?”

  1. Excellent ! Il n’y a guère que dans les messages d’alerte informatique que j’ai trouvé des expressions aussi amusantes et surréalistes !

  2. Ca me rappelle un affichage en Turquie dans un car pour touristes francophones, “Boteyado 2€”. Quelques temps d’interrogation et de flottement avant de comprendre qu’on vendait des bouteilles d’eau…

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