Archive for the ‘Chinglish’ Category
A structured approach to Chinglish pronunciation (1 of 2)
August 21st, 2008
The following is a guest post by Randy Alexander, who more frequently (but not with any great frequency) posts at Echoes of Manchu. This is part 1 of 2 (go to part 2).
We’ve been seeing the word “Chinglish” all over the place lately, especially in reference to Beijing cleaning up English signs to prepare for the Olympics. But there’s another kind of Chinglish that is unseen: that which is uttered daily by the estimated over 300,000,000 English speakers (well, learners mostly) in China. Here we’re talking about spoken Chinglish, which has almost nothing to do with translation, little to do with incorrect word choice, but everything to do with pronunciation.
The mistranslated signs that we’ve been seeing are funny, sure, but they don’t pack the world-changing doom that Chinglish pronunciation does. Consider the fact that the number of English speakers/students in China is greater than the whole population of the US (and not everyone speaks English in the US). Add to that the US’s slow economic growth rate (63% from 1990-2006) versus China’s fast rate (327% in the same period). Can you see what’s coming? Don’t try to turn away! Denying it will get you nowhere. It’s happening whether you like it or not:
CHINGLISH IS GOING TO BE THE WORLD’S NEXT GLOBAL “LANGUAGE”!
OK, now let’s fast-forward and just say we’ve already passed through Kübler-Ross’s five stages of grief about this and have finally accepted our fate. What does it really mean? Read the rest of this entry »
A structured approach to Chinglish pronunciation (2 of 2)
August 21st, 2008
The following is part 2 of 2 (go back to part 1) of a guest post by Randy Alexander.
More than simple Chinese domestic piracy is at work here, because there’s more to this story. Read the rest of this entry »
