Something really interesting happens when people of one language try to learn another. They make mistakes.
There is a theory that says a person must make one million mistakes to speak a language fluently. I proved the theory wrong last week when I hit one million and one. When I first arrived in China I tried to tell the girl at Pizza Hut that I wanted my order to go (Wo yao da bao). She looked at me funny when I said "Wo yao dao gao" or "I want to pray." I recently told my landlord that I needed to go because my plane was leaving in two weeks. I routinely call taxi drivers a dead chickens and I once called the front desk of my hotel to ask for a blanket and promptly received a coffee cup. This list goes on and on for three years. Being one of the chief language fumblers you might think that I would know better than to laugh at other people who make mistakes as well. However, I now laugh even harder. What has changed is my haughty arrogance when I laugh. I've surrendered all rights to look down on anyone because they fumble my language. We are one, them and me. Card carrying members of a club whose only rule is that you mess up . . . daily . . . a lot. I'm thinking of running for club President.
Translations from Chinese to English often get fumbled and the results can be quite humorous. There are a number of factors from honest mistakes and difficult grammar to knockoff brand names and cheap electronic translators but it's always good for a chuckle. So start by taking a humbling dose of "how's my Chinese?" Then enjoy these pictures.
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"Be Careful" Signs often prove difficult to translate. We've also seen "Bump Your Head Carefully" and "Carefully fall into River" |
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I always thought Mario was Italian You might want to click this one to make it bigger but as it turns out Mario and Luigi (of Nintendo fame) were just alias's for some of Iraq's most wanted terrorists. |
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| :) Withholding comment |
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