From the Expats

    Finding what has been lost in translation

    By Pauline D Loh (China Daily)
    Updated: 2013-03-07 07:01

    The Tower of Babel is a story in the Bible that best illustrates the value of being multilingual. There was a time when all men spoke one language, the book says, but they started quarreling so God decided they were better off not understanding each other.

    We have gone full cycle. Now men quarrel because they don't understand each other, and are suspicious because they do not share a common language, culture or skin color.

    That's the point. Language goes beyond linguistics. Its nuances are cultivated and built upon history, culture and common use.

    So it is that American English is different from the Queen's English, and within the United Kingdom itself, various pockets of subjects speak variations of English almost incomprehensible to the other. Received Pronunciation was heard only on the BBC, but even the BBC is now peppered with different accents.

    In China, language is not a problem internally. Thanks to the Emperor Qinshihuang, we all share a common writing that transcends even the thickest country dialects. But when it comes to conversing with the world, China is still stuttering.

    Most of China looks out through a haze of translations, some of which have assumed a life of their own.

    The names of Hollywood films and their stars take on multi-character names even their mothers may not recognize, but which trip easily off the tongues of film buffs young and old. Enough jokes have been posted online about funny typos or badly translated items on English menus in Chinese restaurants. This only makes food seem more exotic than it actually is and propagates the myths that the Chinese only eat odd animal parts.

    Ordering a caf latte at a Starbucks in Beijing, you better know how to say it in Chinese, which sounds roughly like "pulled iron". And look carefully before you order those burgers. A Big Mac is known locally as a Big Bully.

    For foreign journalists under tight deadlines, trying to extract information from ministry websites can be bewildering, but no more so than faced with a stack of colored tissue papers printed with tiny Chinese characters when at a bank trying to transfer funds or open an account.

    Civil servants, generally efficient in the New Age, IT-savvy China, turn stony-faced when presented with documents not issued in China, and not in Chinese.

    Previous Page 1 2 Next Page

    8.03K
    精品久久久久久无码中文字幕| 精品久久久无码中文字幕天天| 久久久久无码中| 精品久久久久久无码不卡| 四虎国产精品永久在线无码| 亚洲精品无码久久久久久| 91中文字幕在线观看| 国产50部艳色禁片无码| 一区二区三区人妻无码| 中文字幕一区一区三区| 亚洲毛片av日韩av无码| 久久国产精品无码HDAV| 夜夜添无码一区二区三区| 中文字幕一区二区三区在线观看| 国产成人AV无码精品| 日韩午夜福利无码专区a| 久久亚洲日韩看片无码| 最近高清中文字幕免费| 亚洲一区二区三区无码中文字幕 | 久久久久久国产精品无码下载| 中文字幕精品亚洲无线码一区| 无码精品一区二区三区免费视频| 无码中文av有码中文a| 日韩AV高清无码| 无码精品A∨在线观看免费| 最近中文字幕免费2019| 无码AV中文字幕久久专区| 亚洲 日韩经典 中文字幕| 亚洲Av无码国产情品久久 | 伊人久久大香线蕉无码麻豆| 国产精品无码日韩欧| 日韩网红少妇无码视频香港| 色综合久久中文字幕无码| 无码精品人妻一区二区三区人妻斩| 亚洲精品无码久久久久sm| 亚洲日韩v无码中文字幕| 亚洲AV无码第一区二区三区| 亚洲V无码一区二区三区四区观看| 亚洲国产无套无码av电影| 亚洲A∨无码无在线观看| 无码午夜成人1000部免费视频|