Language Accuracy Importance Example

[OriginalRen]

I heard a very interesting story on the radio today on my way home from work. China recently held a marathon for runners who, upon finishing the race, received gift bags with scented soaps. Each one of the soaps had English labeling on them. It turns out that a lot of runners are very hungry and thirsty after completing a long marathon of over 10 miles (16 kilometers). It turns out they ate the soaps assuming they were some form of food. A lot of the runners got sick and threw the soap all over the streets, half eaten.

I found this story interesting because it seems to me that China (which can also relate to Japan) doesn't seem to understand the importance of properly labeling things if you are using foreign words. I connected this with the poor use of English all over the country and why Japan specifically doesn't care how bad they butcher the language in anime and other material. I just don't get it: what is so cool about English anyways? We treat Japanese like a gift of the gods, yet Japan falls head over heels for English.

Sure, it's just soap, but getting sick because of poor labeling is just sad. Is that the full reason? Probably not, but had the packaging been in Chinese or had this been addressed to the participants of the marathon beforehand, it could have been avoided. We care so much about the accuracy of TLs in the English community, yet it seems to be the opposite around the world. You'd think there would be a little more common sense being used in this example. Better yet, who gives people scented soaps as a marathon reward? Seriously.

Anyways, thoughts? Not specifically on this story, but language accuracy in general.

[Deep Blue]

Who can eat a bar of soap specially scented and not realize that is not food...? it taste bad, it's smell like perfume, it is violet!.... the package looks like your regular cosmetic thing... come on we are not animals or babies wtf is wrong with humans :/ a bit of common sense...

https://twitter.com/PDChina/status/713122081479737344/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Really? Really? :facepalm:

[bigfatround0]

That's popular all over the world. I don't go anymore but when I used to visit Mexico I would always see a bunch of hood rats wearing clothes with English on it.

[Eclipsed]

That's some tasty candy-looking soap.

[Flutterz]

I don't really get the point of your story, people might think things that look like food are food even it says "soap" in their language, but I know that the name of the movie "Love is a Four Letter Word" was translated literally into Russian when it came out there... the only problem is that "любовь" has 6 letters, not 4.

[Silvz]

Hmm, it does look like food, honestly.

It is not just the orient, here in Brazil we also have this thing for English words. Some things like a bar called "Juca's" or even "Lugar Bonito's Lounge" [beautiful place] are quite common. Here, at least, we have a whole situation about treating foreigner things as if they were better, and that applies for most things, be them in TV, clothes, food and all of that. Why, I don't know why.

Maybe China and Japan have something because of the W. Wars? Something about foreigners dominating part of their countries? Maybe some reminiscents of that, I don't really know.

[Velociraptor]

2 minutes ago, Silvz said:

Maybe China and Japan have something because of the W. Wars? Something about foreigners dominating part of their countries? Maybe some reminiscents of that, I don't really know.

By that logic, China should be infatuated with Japan...

[Silvz]

15 minutes ago, Velociraptor said:

By that logic, China should be infatuated with Japan...

hahhahahah I didn't mean they have a good relationship, but English-speaking countried did invade the orient, so even if not as much as that time, their language still influence other countries a lot.

IIRC, even nowadays India speaks English as a second language, right? Some countries in Africa speak Portuguese, and so on.

 

[Fiddle]

I like to think English is as trendy but nonsensical in Chinese as Chinese is in English.

[sanahtlig]

1 hour ago, OriginalRen said:

Sure, it's just soap, but getting sick because of poor labeling is just sad. Is that the full reason? Probably not, but had the packaging been in Chinese or had this been addressed to the participants of the marathon beforehand, it could have been avoided. We care so much about the accuracy of TLs in the English community, yet it seems to be the opposite around the world. You'd think there would be a little more common sense being used in this example. Better yet, who gives people scented soaps as a marathon reward? Seriously.

Anyways, thoughts? Not specifically on this story, but language accuracy in general.

What does this have to do with translation accuracy?  The problem here wasn't that the translation was bad.  It wasn't translated at all.

My guess is that the product was made in China for export, and therefore the packaging was in English (because making multiples types of packaging in other languages costs extra).  Trying to spin this into social commentary is misguided.

[Chronopolis]

China sure has a lot of minor-moderate humanitarian horror stories...I'm sure someone picked up on the possibility but the higher ups just went like 'who gives a shit'.

[Deep Blue]

1 hour ago, Fiddle said:

I like to think English is as trendy but nonsensical in Chinese as Chinese is in English.

I don't see anything wrong with this one, who doesn't love all those things, specially omelettes 

[littleshogun]

To be honest I didn't know much about marathon event, ie never following one. But I think the truth was quite questionable to said the least, or so I thought until I checked Deep Blue link. I think I also like to ask is the organizer prepared free drink and food or not (Cheap is fine), instead they prepare gift for the runner (soap with English language), which to be honest also questionable since that most of the participant probably didn't understand English. Also is the participant nose somewhat not functioning that they mistake soap scent as grape scent (Granted, it may mean that China was already too advance in term of scent, but still), or even their tongue (I mean one bite surely will let us know that it's soap, not snack bar unless the runner was take a bite at half directly). Even then why they swallow it instead of spit it out after found out the taste was definitely not food (Over 12,000 people according to Twitter). So much questionable from the event there, but maybe the runner smell and taste sense was kinda dull after running 16 km.

As for my commentary here, to be honest instead of using soap with English label as gift, once again they should go with cheap energy drink or snack bar (I don't know if in China soap was cheaper compared to those 2 foods, but the organizer should go with common sense obviously). Or if they insist to use soap as gift, why not using China label in the first place, ie if the soap company was the sponsor of marathon running. But, if the sponsor was not soap company, well it's quite questionable or to be blunt stupid decision from the organizer themselves to prepare English labeled soap as the gift.

As as for language accuracy thing, I think once again it's like sanathlig said it's probably for export instead of for local (This is my 3rd time, but seriously who the heck had the right mind prepared soap with English label as the prize for the people who probably wasn't their target at the first place ie local people who didn't understand English). And to answer Ren question, I think it was very different between translating VN and using simple common sense to not using English product for local people.

I think that's all I could comment.

[OriginalRen]

2 hours ago, Chronopolis said:

I'm sure someone picked up on the possibility but the higher ups just went like 'who gives a shit'.

Clearly 12,000 people gave one.

[Hikari]

To be perfectly fair, there are pictures of grapes on the packaging, and inside is a chemical-purple bar which may or may not be thought of as a grape-flavored snack.

I think that the true issue here is that people eat too many processed foods to notice a difference between a cleansing bar and food. But hey, maybe that's just me.

[atorq]

When we're talking about accuracy I feel the need to point out that a marathon is 42 km (26 fake measuring units). 16 km wouldn't even be a half marathon.

[Okarin]

But, Meow, don't get China and Japan mixed up.

The English language is beloved all around the globe as the trading language, so of course it's common to have it in businesses. Also most countries are so far away from native speakers, or detached from them, that they tend to butcher it or as we say here "kick the dictionary".