Oliver Lutz Radtke - Chinglish : found in translation

Some instances in life happen with such intensity that they may well be regarded as the starting point for a wonderful friendship or a lifelong passion. I had such a moment on July 25, 2000. I was about to get off a taxi near the Shanghai Foreign Languages University, where I had recently started my scholarship year as a Chinese major, when a neat sticker on the inside of the door told me: Dont forget to carry your thing.

I was immediately fascinated, and I began to look everywhere for signs of Chinglish. I traveled the provinces and spotted it throughout, often in the most unexpected places. I found it on hotel room doors and brightly lit highway billboards, construction sites and soccer balls, condoms and pencil boxes.

Chinglish exists because people travel and their language travels with them. Chinglish also exists because of Chinas opening to the world, the tourism industry, state propaganda mechanisms, and the Internet. In preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing is gearing up an immense amount of manpower to eradicate Chinglish from the capital, and the Chinese government plans to extend this linguistic cleansing to the rest of the country as well. My aim is to show the nowadays endangered species of Chinglish in its natural habitat.

Many contributors to this book come from the academic world. Most of them fear their colleagues reactions and are uncertain about having their names revealed. For my part, I am in the privileged position to stick my head out for something I regard well worth the riska better understanding between China and the world.

Since Chinese grammar is virtually nonexistent regarding inflections, declinations, and past and future tenses, it offers more options to play around than many other languages. This makes Chinese a first-class creativity booster. Linguistic variations exist in any language, including German, my mother tongue; these variations possess a creative potential that we should cherish more. The reinterpretation of language allows for a tremendous amount of humor, and humor is, and always has been, a cross-cultural form of communication. Therefore this book is about passion, not mockery. It is my most sincere hope that this book is understood as a bridge rather than a border.

Chinglish is very often funny because of the sometimes scarily direct nature of the new meaning produced by the translation. A deformed man toilet in Shanghai or an anus hospital in Beijing is funny because it instantly destroys linguistic euphemisms we Westerners have carefully built up when talking about sensitive topics. Chinglish annihilates these conventions right away. Chinglish is right in your face.

Poetry is what gets lost in translation, writes American poet Robert Frost. In terms of Chinglish, hes plain wrong.

This book came as a surprise and the realization of a dream I have had for quite some time. Ever since I spotted my first Chinglish sign in Shanghai, I have wanted to let people know about this truly fascinating topic, and, more importantly, make them interested in China and its people.

I thank Gibbs Smith, Publisher for this opportunity, my editor Jared Smith for brushing up my Denglish, and especially Christopher Robbins for contacting me in the first place. Many thanks go to Nico Volland and Tia Thornton for their valuable comments and my friends and fellow travelers, especially Patricia Schetelig, who provided me with their Chinglish beauties over the years.

I thank my father for living the importance of writing every day.

And finally Id like to thank you, dear reader, for picking up this little picture book and for your interest in a country that will continue to fascinate and divide for years to come.

Oliver Lutz Radtke

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