Chinese flashlight and the descriptions in ENGLISH

[Stream]

Stream, I love Norway. It's pretty and people are cool. I've been there many times and I lived in Sweden and now here

Cool. So where do you hail from originally?

As someone who speaks several languages and LIKES languages, it irritates me that they can't get someone to fix their EngRIsh. HOWEVER, I love reading it as it
makes my day

Hell, they're like little innocent children trying hard but only getting it right sometime...

Now that I think of it, I have actually noticed that Chinese products have much better instructions in languages such as Norwegian, Swedish or Dutch as opposed to English. I believe the reason for this is because translating to these languages would present a considerable obstacle without the help of a native speaker; whereas English, being a common lingua franca, no doubt results in more non-native speakers attempting translations. I suppose it's likely a blend of people overestimating their own English skills, or using translation services that don't offer genuine native English speakers—thereby offering a sub-par product and perhaps ripping off unsuspecting clients.

 

[guiri]

You're probably right about the english translations.

I was born in Bulgaria, moved to Sweden to Boden, then Piteå, Gävle and Helsingborg, then Spain and now the US. I MISS THE NORTH or did I mention that already..?

 

[StarHalo]

moved to Sweden to Boden

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Lol, that was funny. It does get the point across though.

 

[Cataract]

Just remembered this one I read in a computer monitor manual. This was from Chinese to French, but I translated the French to English for your pure pleasure:

"...please insure that the crew is linked to brakes or rockets of a different circuit."

original French translation:

"...veuillez assurer que l'équipage est relié à des freins ou des fusées de circuit différent."

I[...]Also, I bought something off of ebay and the seller in China sent me a note saying something about mr Stork being on his way with my package.
I thought that was awesome.

Makes you wonder 'What did I just buy??' oo:



Living in Quebec means that I sometimes have to translate documents from French to English or the other way around. I'm very fluent in both, so it is not a problem for me. What irritates me is that I have had to redo whole translations from scratch and those were made by local profesionnal translators. If someone needs to hire a translator, it is because they are not fluent in the language the document is being translated into, so who checks the translator's work other than the consumer?

 

[Stream]

If someone needs to hire a translator, it is because they are not fluent in the language the document is being translated into, so who checks the translator's work other than the consumer?

This is a very good point, and it ties in with what I was saying about sub-par translators. I think it's definitely one of the big reasons you get so many jumbled translations. However, it's still pretty sloppy not to hire a native speaker to double check the work. Especially for large companies.

 

[Stream]

"...please insure that the crew is linked to brakes or rockets of a different circuit."

It could just be that your computer monitor is more advanced than you think

 

[Cataract]

It could just be that your computer monitor is more advanced than you think

Couldn't tell; they forgot to include the take-off procedures. That was about 15 years ago, though. I never found the crew either, but I suspect they took off on foot or it would have started smelling after a few weeks of not feeding them.

 

[Stream]

Couldn't tell; they forgot to include the take-off procedures. That was about 15 years ago, though. I never found the crew either, but I suspect they took off on foot or it would have started smelling after a few weeks of not feeding them.

It could be they were just very tiny, and living inside your monitor for the whole time you had it...

 

[Cataract]

It could be they were just very tiny, and living inside your monitor for the whole time you had it...

That would explain how my keyboard was clean from crumbs all that time oo:

 

[guiri]

Makes you wonder 'What did I just buy??' oo:



Living in Quebec means that I sometimes have to translate documents from French to English or the other way around. I'm very fluent in both, so it is not a problem for me. What irritates me is that I have had to redo whole translations from scratch and those were made by local profesionnal translators. If someone needs to hire a translator, it is because they are not fluent in the language the document is being translated into, so who checks the translator's work other than the consumer?

Yeah, I thought there was a baby on the way

I know what you mean about languages. Every idiot out there think they know a language when they know a few words only. I'm in NC and I have met soo many people claiming they speak Spanish and they barely speak a few words.
I only claim what I'm fluent in

This moron the other day said something about speaking Spanish and he says, it's not like I'm fluent or anything and then he proceeded to say a few words that he barely could pronounce and that was about the extent of his knowledge so no, you're right, you're not fluent or anything. As a matter of fact, you do not know ANY Spanish

 

[guiri]

It could just be that your computer monitor is more advanced than you think

Which brings me to another point. If you have a very fast computer, you may want to upgrade your brakes to bigger rotors and better pads. I'm just sayin'....

 

[markr6]

I like how some of the posts here come from supposed native English speakers, yet they still contain improper English! Some catching up to do indeed.

I think that's what text messages, forums and much of the Internet is all about! (find the grammar error here)

EDIT: OH MY GOD!!!! I just spent about 10 minutes typing out a great response and the forum or my computer failed and only posted the first sentence!!! AHHHHHHH!!!! No way I'm retyping all that....sorry

 

[dc38]

My favorite so far was an instruction sheet with a badly drawn cartoon picture of a crying child with a circle and a line through it. "Do not aim at the creature," it said.

I don't even remember what this came with, but I keep it in a box of strange things.

That, my friend, came with an airsoft pellet gun. lol

 

[guiri]

I think that's what text messages, forums and much of the Internet is all about! (find the grammar error here)

EDIT: OH MY GOD!!!! I just spent about 10 minutes typing out a great response and the forum or my computer failed and only posted the first sentence!!! AHHHHHHH!!!! No way I'm retyping all that....sorry

Been there, done that :devil:

On top of that, my carpal tunnel sometimes goes ape$hit so I just say the hell with it

Do what I do (IF I remember). Every so often select all the text and copy and paste it somewhere and save it. Just in case.

So, what was the grammatical error in that sentence? My English IS getting worse as I'm getting older (well, so is everything else by the way
but my memory is REALLY going downhill).

As for the internet, it's done a number on the languages

 

[markr6]

Been there, done that :devil:On top of that, my carpal tunnel sometimes goes ape$hit so I just say the hell with it Do what I do (IF I remember). Every so often select all the text and copy and paste it somewhere and save it. Just in case.So, what was the grammatical error in that sentence? My English IS getting worse as I'm getting older (well, so is everything else by the waybut my memory is REALLY going downhill).As for the internet, it's done a number on the languages

Yeah I do the cut and paste from Notepad often and sometimes use Word for the spell check. How fitting for this topic!
I could be incorrect, but I believe it should be "...text messages, forums and much of the Internet ARE all about" even though that sounds totally wrong.

 

[guiri]

Well, not necessarily. It depends on what you refer to and although messageS and forumS ARE plural, the Internet itself ISN'T so if you consider
that you had only said, that's what the INTERNET is all about, it would be correct and since the two other words FALL under the Internet,
I guess it could be correct, BUT, I'm not a scholar so I have no clue.

I could find out but again, the carpal tunnel 'n all that.

Also, is it 'n or n' now that there's a letter missing in FRONT and AFTER the n

 

[gadget_lover]

While I feel sympathy for anyone who has to market their product in another language, I have no respect for anyone who botches it. Proofreading is a basic part of all marketing.

Just as I lose confidence in a magazine like Popular Science when they make glaring errors, I have to doubt the quality of the product when they could not take the time to produce advertising copy or manuals that are at least readable and understandable.

Pop Sci had an article about new speakers from Sony that work from 87.5mhz to 108 Mhz. Now THAT is some speaker! You can use them to broadcast FM radio.

Daniel

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Pop Sci had an article about new speakers from Sony that work from 87.5mhz to 108 Mhz. Now THAT is some speaker! You can use them to broadcast FM radio.

Daniel

:shakehead
Imagine how fast those voice coils must be moving to do that. They've apparently found a way to suspend certain physical laws involving mass, accelleration and friction, not to mention inductive and capacitive reactance. Yeah, I want to see those speakers.

 

[Stream]

I hate to say it, but I think the digital age has inspired a certain level of laziness when it comes to writing. Back in the age of the typewriter, you could be pretty damn sure the writer would be thorough or he/she would have to type the whole page over again. I see so many typos in both newspapers and magazines (both online and printed), that I wonder what the editorial process must be like. As I understand it, publications or news organizations have proof readers--or at least they used to. I sometimes wonder if all they do is check for words underlined in red in the word processor before sending it off to the presses. Sometimes they don't even seem to do that, as there are often spelling errors as well.