In the just-concluded title-conferring ceremony of Shenzhen’s first batch of international blocks, Minzhi won the title of Demonstrative International Block and Characteristic International Block excelling in commercial exchanges, Guanlan was recognized as International Commerce, Culture and Tourism Feature Block.

With urban district development becoming more internationalized, English public signs are seen almost everywhere in the district. However,  there are still some hilarious and unexpected translation.

Slip carefully? Seriously?

How could “No” be “Do”? Crazy!

German friends are stunned!

We undoubtedly find these examples both funny and annoying. Mistakes in some English public signs are obvious for us to see! To remedy the situation, Mr. Right Corrects English Translations of Public Signs Campaign is coming! Be it non-standard English, misspellings or ambiguities, better translation you propose will help you win the prize!

i)Time:

March 23-July 31, 2023

ii)Area:

Longhua District

iii)Participants:

Shenzhen residents, including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents, overseas Chinese and foreign residents. No restriction on genger or census registration.

Part.1 Wechat Mini Program

Shenzhen residents take a snap of wrong translation in Longhua District, and then upload in the "Mr. Right" mini program.

·First: click sub-menu “Mr. Right”

Scan the above QR code or follow the official account of “龙华外事online”, click the sub-menu “Mr. Right”, and then choose “纠错提交” to enter the mini program.

·Second: login

Click “Me” and then log into the platform.

·Third: upload information

Submit relevant picture(s) as required. For follow-up, please enter the location of the public signs, its mistakes, your revision suggestions, and your name and contact.

Part.2 Registration for “纠错达人帮”

Scan the above QR code or follow the official account of “龙华外事online”, click the sub-menu “Mr. Right”, and then choose “达人帮报名” to get registered.

Get registered and join our special Volunteers’ Team of Translation Correction! We will have a regular on-site inspection on designated sites in the international blocks, including Minzhi, Guanlan, Longhua and Dalang, to identify mistranslated English public signs in Longhua.

Registration time: March 23- April 23

二、Awards

Participants are qualified for one of the 20 types of awards worth ¥ 128, if at least one translation mistake is detected. Plagiarism and duplicate submissions are prohibited.

三、Error correction cases

Common and typical translation errors detected in the past two years are shown below. If you detect similar errors in English public signs, do not hesitate to send it off to us!

01.Word-for-word translation (somewhat like Chinglish)

Example: 小心地滑 

Wrong translation: 

Carefully Slide

Standard translation:

Caution！Wet Floor

02.Misspelling or non-standard writing format

Example: 禁止喧哗 

Wrong translation: 

Plbase Not Noisy

Standard translation: 

Please Keep Quiet

03.Inappropriate word selection or Chinese-English mismatching

Example: 禁止倚靠 

Wrong translation: 

Do Not Lean

Standard translation: 

No Leaning

Example: 禁止抛物

Wrong translation: 

Do tossing

Standard translation: 

No Tossing

Why not join Mr. Right Corrects English Translations of Public Signs Campaign NOW!