Beijing-Building a Good English Environment

Beijing officials are trying to improve the English of some ads. A better translation of the sign above might be, "Find something new and be pleasantly surprised."

(Doug Kanter for The New York Times)

City officials have enlisted the two scholars and other experts to retranslate the bad English translations on signs around the city. Last week, Beijing announced new standards and official translations that can be used on more than 2,000 different types of signs, as well as on menus.

Tool said he spent his weekends visiting different businesses as if he were a detective in a linguistic vice squad. "I go in and I say the Olympics are coming and this sign is wrong," Tool said. He then sends an e-mail message with a correct translation or has a printout delivered.

He is writing a book on the subject, and no wonder: regular blunders include typos on menus in which the 'b' in crab becomes a 'p.' Some translations are trickier, like describing pullet, which is a hen less than a year old but appears on some menus as Sexually Inexperienced Chicken. Tool said one prominent sign had become a regular photo op for foreigners: the Dongda Anus Hospital.

Tool intervened. It is now the Dongda Proctology Hospital.

Score another gold medal for Beijing's self-improvement campaign.