REFERRING to an inaccurate Chinese translation on a backdrop during a ceremony to welcome Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and his entourage in Putrajaya, Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong lamented that “you cannot do direct translation” (“Wee slams bad translation” – The Star, April 30).

He should also take a look at our print and television media advertisements and commercials. Syntax and grammatical errors occur every day.

Let me give two very common examples. “Channel 101” in English was translated directly into Chinese, with the “Channel” in front of the number, whereas it should be the other way around.

The other common error is when translating “RM200 per month”, the direct translation has the “per month” behind, whereas in Chinese, the correct way is, again, the other way around.

Most, if not all, such texts are originally written in either English or Bahasa Malaysia, and the resulting translated Chinese text is often laced with clumsy “direct translations”.

Much needs to be done by the authorities in this area as any foreigner with a decent standard of Chinese will form a low opinion of our Chinese standard on reading or watching such boo-boos.

SKW,
Kota Kinabalu.