Hands up if you ever had a t-shirt with Chinese characters on it. Any idea what they meant? Or whether they were even real Chinese? Or you didn’t really care, because they just looked cool?

This is one of the reasons for the growth of Chinglish, according to Oliver Lutz Radtke. He believes it is often used for decorative purposes and no-one really minds what it says. Oliver majored in Chinese and is author of the book ‘Chinglish: Found in Translation’ and The Chinglish Files, a blog about everyday examples of Chinglish.

This obsession with Chinglish is not meant as a joke, however. Rather, he sees Chinglish as a great opportunity for Westerners to understand differences between Western and Chinese culture. For example as Westerners we find some examples of Chinglish shocking or funny because they talk directly about subjects our culture has taught us to avoid talking about.

Chinglish is becoming more and more common as China learns English, and some think it could be accepted in the future as a standard variation of English.

PocketCultures asked Oliver some questions about his love affair with Chinglish.

1. Oliver, Where are you based now?

I am based in Beijing now, which feels great to be back in the Chinglish cradle again. [After studying in China, Oliver has been based in Singapore for the last few years] I’ve been to Beijing for the last time in 2004 and the city has changed enormously. Many public signs are corrected. Many restaurant menus are not; despite the effort of the Beijing Tourism Bureau to issue a standard set of 2000 plus dish names last year.

2. In the introduction of your book you state that the Chinglish found on written signs in China is an endangered species. But there are reports that spoken Chinglish is starting to take on a life of its own, assimilating grammatical attributes of Chinese languages.

What do you think are the chances that it will someday be recognised as a standard variation of English?

We have to differentiate between written and spoken Chinglish. In the academic context Chinglish is rather referred to as China English and I am pretty sure it’s a trend you can’t stop.

Languages keep changing and English has proven to be one of the liveliest languages ever, just take a look at how much French you find in there! So I guess certain expressions have already started to make their rounds around the globe and more and more will.

I am not at all in favour of teaching a language without using a local context and I don’t think that AE or BE will be the standard of the future, with billions around the globe learning English as a foreign language. Besides, research has shown that native speakers aren’t necessarily the ones that are being understood the easiest, rather the opposite.

3. Out of the (1000+!) examples of Chinglish you have gathered over the last few years what is your personal favourite?

I think it is definitely a tough choice between the first one “Don’t forget to carry your thing”, because it keeps reminding you that Chinglish is mostly about laughing at yourself and not others and “Little grass has life, please watch your step”, since in a wonderfully anthropomorphized way clearly shows the Chinese love for flowers.

Photos from The Chinglish Files

Many thanks to Oliver for his help with this post.

More like this:
Is Chinglish the future of English?: most English conversations do not involve a native speaker
Top 20 languages of the World: What are the most widely spoken languages in the world?
Languages fight for global dominance: more about the prospects for English as language of international communication

As the use of English as language of global communication is on the rise, an increasing number of conversations in English happen between non-native speakers.

English is the second most spoken language in the world, and it is estimated that by 2020 native speakers will make up only 15% of those using or learning the language.

Photo: The Chinglish Files by olr

According to Wired magazine the massive numbers of Chinese speakers using English in daily life is leading to an English of the future which will take on more and more aspects of Chinese translation quirks. Others believe that Chinglish’s days are numbered.

With increasing use of English as lingua franca between different nationalities (as opposed to conversations with at least one native speaker), it was inevitable that the ‘international English’ used would evolve into a pared down, simplified version of the language. And a native speaker in a room of non-native speakers has to adapt or risk not being understood by the rest of the group.

It remains to be seen whether Chinglish will grow in strength or blend into other versions of ‘international English’ as China-based English speakers come into contact more and more with the outside world.

Read more:
Next week we will be posting an interview with Oliver Lutz Radtke, author of the book Chinglish: Found in Translation

The Syrian city of Aleppo, near the Turkish border, is an atmospheric place to discover Syrian culture.

Photo: Skylife magazine

Aleppo is historically a trading town, once one of the silk road towns on the famous route which brought silk from China to Europe. In a fitting way for such a cultural crossroads, bargaining is carried out in Arabic, Turkish, French or a mixture of the three languages.

Turkish Airlines magazine describes a bus journey to this ancient city.

What are the most widely spoken languages in the world? Or, if you are contemplating learning a second language, which will get you the most new conversation opportunities for your effort?

The following list shows number of people speaking a language either as their first or second language. It is taken from Nicholas Ostler’s ‘Empires of the Word’, a detailed (and long!) history of the main world languages.

1. Mandarin Chinese (1,052m)
2. English (508m)
3. Hindi (487m)
4. Spanish (417m)
5. Russian (277m)
6. Bengali (211m)
7. Portugese (191m)
8. German (128m)
9. French (128m)
10. Japanese (126m)
11. Urdu (104m)
12. Korean (78m)
13. Wu Chinese (77m)
14. Javanese (76m)
15. Telugu (75m)
16. Tamil (74m)
17. Yue Chinese / Cantonese (71m)
18. Marathi (71m)
19. Vietnamese (68m)
20. Turkish (61m)

It would be interesting to know how the popularity of these languages is evolving. These figures are nearly 10 years old so in that time the Chinese speaking population has probably increased by around 40 million, for example. Rate of population increase must be the strongest factor in determining whether a language is currently moving up or down this list.

I suspect this list may under-estimate the power of English by not counting those who speak English very competently and use it on a regular basis, but have learnt it as their third or even fourth language. That may sound improbable if you are a native English speaker, but for some it is a necessity. As one example, This post on A Wide Angle View of India blog explains that in many parts of India children grow up learning three languages, of which one is English.

English is currently the most popular choice as language of international communication, but will there come a point where another language becomes so widely spoken that it overtakes English as second language of choice? It may happen sooner than you think.

Update: from the discussion in the comments it is clear that compiling a list like this involves some difficult decisions (such as whether or not Arabic should be included). As an alternative view, this post from The Linguist Blogger incorporates different sources of information as well as Ostler’s list.

More like this:
Is Chinglish the future of English?: most English conversations do not involve a native speaker
Languages fight for global dominance: more about the prospects for English as language of international communication
Gestures say so much: multiple language speakers are more likely to gesticulate when speaking
International Mother Language Day: the importance of learning in the mother tongue

Scientists are working to decode what is now thought to be a very unusual writing system used by the Inca people in South America.

Khipu are knotted strings which were used by the Incas. They were recorded by the Spanish when they arrived in South America in the 16th Century. Previously, it was thought that the Inca did not use written communiation, which is surprising as their civilisation was so advanced in other areas. The possibility of these strings being a means of communication was not considered, because it is so different to the methods we use today.

However recent observations have noted similarities with other language systems. This article writes about progress in deciphering khipu.

Today is International Mother Language day, and also the launch of 2008 as the International Year of Languages, led by UNESCO.

Global Voices online published ‘Are languages free?’ an article from Bangladesh on the importance of mother languages, especially minority languages and those in danger of extinction. According to the article, it has been proven that we learn more easily if we are taught in our mother tongue. Unfortunately many people around the world do not have the opportunity to learn in their own mother tongue.

Read more about the International Year of Languages here.

Has the use of english as global language of international communication gone so far that it will never be overtaken? Or is it destined to go the way of Latin and Ancient Greek as the balance of power between civilisations shifts and other languages gain in importance?

Apparently experts are divided on this question. Across cultures, English is the word is a very interesting article from the International Herald Tribune discussing the issue.

Meanwhile a post from Chinese in Vancouver blog Is Chinese culture going mainstream? highlights the rising importance of Chinese culture and language in Hong Kong, the USA and Canada.

 
Photo courtesy of CBC Sports

Language lives as much in our gestures as in our words, a new study shows. Certain languages are richer in gesture, and bilingual individuals often use the fluent gestures from one language, even when speaking the words of another.

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn10608