People depend on road signs to know where they are and to reach the places they want. But by following signs saying "Forbidden City" and "Sino-Japanese" Hospital, visitors to Beijing may have a hard time finding their way to the Forbidden City and the China-Japan Hospital.
"They guided people incorrectly. Some foreign tourists complained that some of these signs prevented them from knowing where they were. To make things worse, they forgot the fact that Beijing is an international city," said Li Honghai at the Fourth Meeting of the Beijing Speaks English Programme Committee(委员会).
At this meeting, correcting mistakes on road signs became the centre of the discussions. Last month, all areas in the capital were asked to check their English road signs. The checks mainly cover areas with many foreigners, such as scenic spots, transit routes, and large hotels.
Besides Beijing municipal government, citizens(市民) and foreign tourists also joined in the activity. "Many Beijingers phoned or emailed us the mistakes they had found. Their work helped us a lot," said Zhang Mao, Vice Mayor of Beijing.
Most mistakes are caused by poor translation(翻译). Sometimes the language workers themselves don't fully understand the signs. Moreover, there is no translation standard to learn. "We asked some foreigners to translate some pavilions(阁) in the Forbidden City. Their translations were all grammatically correct so we didn't know which one to choose. If there was a standard to follow, it would be much easier," said Xiong Yumei, deputy director of the Beijing Tourism Administration.
To solve(解决) this problem, people in Beijing asked the government to set up a standard as soon as possible. Now the committee is organizing a group of experts(专家) both from home and abroad to set up and improve such standards. What's more, the committee will work with other governments to improve English levels of the citizens. More English training programmes and activities will be offered to make people more interested in learning English.
