A drive to standardize the use of English on public signs will
force Beijing's hotels, shops and government buildings to clean up
their awful English by the end of next year.
Translation standards for public signs at hotels, shopping
malls, tourist spots, bus or subway stations, hospitals, museums,
and sports venues will be released by the end of this year, the
government said.
Businesses and government departments then will be given almost
a year to correct language errors on public signs, sources with the
foreign affairs office of Beijing municipal government said.
Earlier this year, the office established translation standards
for road signs.
The drive is to prepare Beijing for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games by creating a better
language learning environment, and more importantly, enhancing the
nation's international image, officials involved in the drive
said.
Even in the nation's capital, "Chinglish" or English with
Chinese characteristics, is prevalent in public places and has
misled many foreigners. For example, hotels use "scatter" for
"evacuate" in their emergency information. The Park of Ethnic
Minorities was identified as the "Racist Park".
In August, the city's tourism bureau issued a regulation
requiring correct English signs as one of the main criteria unrated
hotels must meet in order to become official accommodation
providers.
(Xinhua News Agency October 15, 2006)
