In its ongoing war against Chinglish, the city of Shanghai has deployed a team of volunteers with a special set of skills.
Local high school students are being used by the city’s language work committee to monitor instances of the English language in public places. Since 2016, around 6,500 high school students have taken part in this effort.
According to Shine.cn, the students have affected change, arguing for the use of “metro” over “subway” and correcting the term “first last train” to “first and last trains.”
The students are now receiving additional training and instruction in more specialized terms as Shanghai is gearing up to host the China International Import Expo next month, which it doesn’t want to be marred by Chinglish.
In December 2017, a new English translation standard went into effect in China with officials vetting millions of bilingual signs across the country since then. The campaign has been especially intense in Beijing which is hoping to clear up the capital’s signage ahead of foreign visitors arriving en masse for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Honestly, we hope they are less than successful in these efforts as hilarious Chinglish is part of the charm of living in China.
