Recently-Spotted Chinglish

People often place classified ads in our city's English magazine to find language tutors. From this month's edition:
"hi everyone i'm a young girl i would like serich a english teacher for teach me english and i can teach him Chinese. that would be very funy and useful."

And, as seen on signs over the urinals in public restrooms:
"One small step forward, a giant leap for civilization."

Jiaozi

Some of my freshmen girls came over yesterday to make jiaozi (Chinese dumplings) at my house. I've had lots of girls over to do this before, but these girls had the tastiest jiaozi so far. As only 18-year-old girls, this was their first time to cook without their mothers. They were very proud of their success! Here are some pics, along with a funny video of the girls explaining how to make jiaozi.


(I think the video will give you a good idea of the Chinglish we see everyday!) :-)

Almost the Holidays...

We are excited about Thanksgiving this week and the beginning of the Christmas season. We will again host a number of Christmas parties this year; although, probably not quite as many as last year!

We are continuing to enjoy life at our new school. The students are really great, and we've been able to make lots of new friends here. We've decided that freshmen students are our favorite; they are so excited about hanging out and learning English and haven't gotten lazy yet!

Matt's back is feeling much, much better after the cortisone shot, and he is back into the swing of things. For the past couple of days, he has had no pain or discomfort at all! He feels like a new man and is loving being able to study, hang out with students, and even sit on the sofa more easily again. Thanks to everyone for keeping him in your thoughts recently.

And on a side note.. As I was making some bacon for breakfast this morning, I noticed this funny slogan:

Key Selling Points for My Bike Poncho

Supermarket Chinglish

On June 1 (to look good for the Olympics), China will quit using plastic bags, saying that they end up in drains and rivers, which causes environmental problems. This means supermarkets will no longer provide grocery bags. So, all this month the various supermarket chains have released their versions of shopping bags, which can be used over and over. I think its a pretty good idea, actually.

This is my favorite bag, from the Wu-Mei supermarket... Even the big chains can't get good English language proofreaders sometimes!

Translation: "Don't walk on the grass." (We think...)

Not sure this is exactly what you want in a hair salon... :-)

Good Morning...

It's 6am here, and I'm up early putting some finishing touches on my last mid-term for the week. I thought I'd start the morning with a cup of coffee and a little Chinglish...

More Chinglish...

Chinglish Abounds

So, we see it everywhere... bus stations, advertisements, the supermarket. Chinglish, for those of you who are not familiar, is when the Chinese try to appeal to foreigners in our native language. The only thing is that they rarely get the translation quite right. We often end up just as confused as if there had been no English at all! But, you gotta love it... It always makes us laugh. Like the "Urinary Strength Hospital" or the text message from Matt's student that read, "The great hall mind leeps the aspiration; the mighty waves imposing manner strong culmination." Her question to Matt was the meaning of this sentence, as it was in a book she uses to study English. Matt's response? He has no idea.

Here is the wrapping on a package of kitchen sponges that I bought today. Again, I have no idea what it is supposed to mean!