英语角-圆桌会议 RoundTable1226 - 奇葩翻译重现江湖

Topic1 "Optional Class System" in High School, is it necessary or not?

The Ministry of Education said it would introduce a new student assessment system to supplement the national college entrance exam, as a way to reform the country's test-centric approach to education. Education experts indicate that high schools in China may adopt a "Class-selection-system" to coordinate with the reform.

Do we need such a system in high school?

Topic2 An open letter from a teacher at Sichuan University On Dec 23, an open letter from Zhou Ding, a history teacher at Sichuan University, aroused heated discussion on the Internet, which makes him controversial online. In the letter, Zhou criticized the current higher education system in China and pointed out the problems Chinese universities are facing.

Did the complaint in the open letter make sense?

Topic3 Weird Translations Many public venues in China put up signs in both Chinese and English, with the influx of millions of overseas tourists and an increasing number of expats living in China.

But some of these venues should have been more thoughtful and dedicated in providing the information in English.

The latest translation mishap was spotted in Xi'an North Railway Station (wait, according to regulations it should be translated as Xi'an Bei Station), in which the sign "Please wait behind the yellow line" becomes "Please wait outside a noodle". The actual Chinese is "请在一米线外等候".

Is there a serious problem of bad English translations in China?

Topic4 Gome Cancels Orders for Cars with Wrong Pricing A well-known e-commerce website in China has unilaterally canceled orders for cars sold on its websites after it found a mistake on the price tag.

Hong Kong-listed home appliance retailer ' Gome mistakenly set the prices for a BMW car worth at 1.7 million yuan, at 170,000 yuan on its e-commerce unit.

The pricing mistake was taken as a special deal by customers who placed a dozen or so orders within just several hours of the trading.

What went wrong? Who has more reason?

Topic5 A High School in Xi'an Banns X'mas in Campus A high school in Xi'an issued a Christmas ban to its students on Dec. 24, prohibiting them from celebrating Christmas Eve but requiring them to watch a video about Confucius instead. The management said that it was a measure to ask the students to value traditional Chinese culture. Does it make sense?