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Poor English on Metro amuses and irritates
By Xu Chi |
August 17, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A POOR English announcement is letting down Chongqing Metro Line 1 as passengers are told to "prepare to get out" instead of "get off" whenever a train pulls into a station.
Metro authorities, however, blamed the mistake on the announcer's mispronunciation. They said the Beijing native read the English words with a Beijing accent that made the word "off" sound like "out."
The apparent error has begun a debate among Chongqing residents, with some laughing at the "rookie mistake" and some saying the words "get out" are ill-mannered to passengers.
One person, identifying himself as "Naaning" on the forum Tianya.cn, posted: "It gave me a feeling that the subway train is forcing the passengers to leave as soon as possible with an insulting message.
"Chongqing is a big international city. I wonder what foreigners think when they are asked to 'get out'?"
Some foreigners told Chongqing Economic Times they feel amused, embarrassed or sometimes angry when they hear the announcement.
A 25-year-old US man told the newspaper: "I feel so amused every time I am ready to get off a train and hear the broadcaster saying 'get out'."
A person from Uzbekistan told the newspaper he considered the announcement "impolite."
According to the newspaper, on other trains and buses in the city, passengers are told to "get off" or "please get ready."
A Chongqing Metro official said the original script read "please prepare to get off," but the announcer pronounced the final word with a strong Beijing accent.
He added: "In a quiet environment, it can be clearly heard that the broadcaster is saying 'get off'." But the subway is frequently noisy and this leads to misunderstanding, he said.
Metro officials said they will be recording a new announcement soon.
Metro authorities, however, blamed the mistake on the announcer's mispronunciation. They said the Beijing native read the English words with a Beijing accent that made the word "off" sound like "out."
The apparent error has begun a debate among Chongqing residents, with some laughing at the "rookie mistake" and some saying the words "get out" are ill-mannered to passengers.
One person, identifying himself as "Naaning" on the forum Tianya.cn, posted: "It gave me a feeling that the subway train is forcing the passengers to leave as soon as possible with an insulting message.
"Chongqing is a big international city. I wonder what foreigners think when they are asked to 'get out'?"
Some foreigners told Chongqing Economic Times they feel amused, embarrassed or sometimes angry when they hear the announcement.
A 25-year-old US man told the newspaper: "I feel so amused every time I am ready to get off a train and hear the broadcaster saying 'get out'."
A person from Uzbekistan told the newspaper he considered the announcement "impolite."
According to the newspaper, on other trains and buses in the city, passengers are told to "get off" or "please get ready."
A Chongqing Metro official said the original script read "please prepare to get off," but the announcer pronounced the final word with a strong Beijing accent.
He added: "In a quiet environment, it can be clearly heard that the broadcaster is saying 'get off'." But the subway is frequently noisy and this leads to misunderstanding, he said.
Metro officials said they will be recording a new announcement soon.
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