Book Reviews

To mock someone else's mistakes isn't polite. For that reason, some readers may dislike Singapore-based TV news producer Oliver Lutz Radtke's picture book, Chinglish, Found in Translation (2007, Gibbs Smith, Publisher, 112 pages).

Radtke, whose first language is German, fills this slim book with photos of the imperfect, often-puzzling English portions of bilingual signs (usually the street variety) seen in Chinese-speaking regions. His mirth arises from clumsy translations.

“Linguistic variations exist in any language, including German, my mother tongue. These variations possess a creative potential that we should cherish more. The reinterpretation of language allows for a tremendous amount of humor, and humor is, and always has been, a cross-cultural form of communication. Therefore, this book is about passion, not mockery. It is my most sincere hope that this book is understood as a bridge rather than a border.”

Inspiration struck the well-traveled Radtke after he noticed an amusing sticker in a Shanghai taxi. “Don't Forget to Carry Your Thing”, it read. The intentions were good -- to prevent careless loss of possessions.

“I was immediately fascinated, and I began to look everywhere for signs of ‘Chinglish'. I traveled the provinces and spotted it throughout, often in the most unexpected places. I found it on hotel-room doors and brightly lit highway billboards, construction sites and soccer balls, condoms and pencil boxes.”

With Chinese and English as the world's leading languages, it makes sense to study how they intersect, for better or worse, with wisdom, deliberation or unintended humor. “English relies heavily on a logical sequence; Chinese is deeply rooted in its graphic imagery. Both have their advantages. And both need to be taken into consideration when attempting to cross the cultural border. That is why a word-by-word translation usually fails or produces unintelligible content which is at best humorous, if not hazardous at times.”

Chinese officials sometimes try to eliminate Chinglish and remove the embarrassing signs. As Radtke implies, they'll never succeed for long.

“I've invested a great deal of time, money and beer bills in trying to figure out what the thought processes of sign-makers in China are…. It is valid to ask why nobody actually proofreads many of the bilingual signs in China – signs that are not only displayed publicly but brightly illuminated by night, enlarged to giant proportions as billboard ads or larger than life posters.”

How do the bizarre signs read? Consider some examples:
-- The Civilized and Tidy Circumstances Is a Kind of Enjoyment;
-- Takewaterplace;
-- Caution Dander;
-- Don’t Press the Glass to Get Hurt;
-- The Ancient Building Is Renovating. Excuse Me For Bringing Trouble to You;
-- Your Careful Step Keeps Tiny Grass Invariably Green;
-- Wash After Relief;
-- Slip and Fall Down Carefully; and
-- Deformed Man Toilet.

Remember that most Europeans, North Americans and others shy away from trying to learn Chinese – and those who do probably make much worse miscues. But their less-influential efforts rarely appear on street-signs or in ads.   

Chinglish takes just minutes to read and isn't as funny as the author presumes. Photos of signs, by nature, aren't spectacular.

More recently, Radtke delivered another similar book, More Chinglish, Speaking in Tongues (2009). After the first volume, readers should feel no urgency to reach for the second.

Approval rating: 52 per cent.