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If we take Richards et al.'s (
Reference Richards1992) definition of interlanguage, we can see that it is:

the type of language produced by second- and foreign-language learners who are in the process of learning a language. In language learning, learner's errors are caused by several different processes. These include:

1. a.borrowing patterns from the mother tongue

2. b.extending patterns from the target language.

3. c.Expressing meanings using the words and grammar which are already known

This essay has examined three types of English that exist in Mainland China, distinguishing particularly between Chinglish and Chinese English, which have been grouped together by previous linguists. Chinglish can be viewed as an erroneous form of language that is the result of poor translation, and it generally only exists in written form. Chinese English is an interlanguage used by Mandarin-speaking English learners in China. It is easily understood as being English by Inner Circle speakers, but it often contains so-called L1 interference, or Mandarin structural features. Misplaced or errantly used grammatical patterns are another characteristic of Chinese English. Finally, China English is a developing world variety of English. It has unique features including phonology, lexicon, syntax, and discourse patterns, and therefore it fulfils three out of Butler's five criteria toward becoming a nativised variety. As China develops socially and opens economically over the next decade, the use of English there will only be widened and further refined into an established Expanding Circle World English.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/english-today/article/english-chinglish-or-china-english/AA9B6BAFDEBEE013D8DD2777C9F3620B

Syntax/ Grammar
Firstly, there are some absence of words in Chinese, like the slogan in some important place like the engine room, if we just translate it into “Engine room is serious place”, people will get puzzled about the translation. Therefore, the absent part is “ no unauthorized access”, and we should translate it into “Engine room: No unauthorized access.”. The second one is that we often forget to change the part of speech. An example can be: to emphasize somebody’s speech achieve a good effect, the Chinglish translation is “His speech gave a deep impression to the audience.”, however we should change the noun “impression” to verb “impress”, therefore the correct translation should be “His speech impressed the audience deeply.”. Last but not the least, in Chinese, we describe reasons firstly, results at last and we express things from big to small, from far to near, while in English we illustrate results at first and then we talk about causes, in addition, we describe things from small to big, from common to special. Such as “They canceled the outing because of the rain.” instead of “Because of the rain, they canceled the outing.”. And, the right translation of “18:00 tomorrow afternoon” should be “six o’clock tomorrow afternoon”, rather than “tomorrow afternoon six o’clock”.

Analysis of Chinglish in Chinese-English Translation

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Chinglish // The Ones You Have to See to Believe

The equation is simple : Chinese + English = Chinglish

But what is Chinglish?

Let's get a dictionary definition:
In a nutshell it's a form of English spoken by Chinese natives.
Seems harmless enough right? That said, if you come to China you'll without doubt have a rather hilarious run in with Chinglish somewhere down the line.

They generally come in the form of warning signs at tourist spots or on the road, or perhaps in a Chinese menu. Everyday activities breed opportunities for seeing some fantastic examples of Chinglish.

If you've been to China, you'll be fully aware, if you've not, you are about to be enlightened.

But whether you've been to China or not, you may not have seen Chinglish quite as good as these!
Let's delve into the BEST CHINGLISH WE'VE EVER SEEN!

Discover Chinglish | Chinglish in China

Discover Chinglish | Chinglish on Menus
Discover Chinglish | Chinglish on Clothing

Chinglish in China

#1 - Fall Carefully

Be careful when slipping over!?

Let's break this down and see what they actually meant to say:

Sounds like the literal translation is bang on but the thing to learn here is that many things do not translate between Chinese and English well at all.

Sometimes it just sounds plain awkward or plain wrong, and this is a good example.

We think - BE CAREFUL, DON'T SLIP OVER might be a better alternative - 小心，不要滑倒
Either way, take care of the weather in China, and watch your step!
#2 - Deformed Man's Toilet

You'll have to look twice, even thrice at many of these titles and images.

That's Chinglish for you!

Deformed Man Toilet, it's really a thing in China. What did they mean to say though?

The intentions are clear and no offence was meant, but that doesn't stop it being any less shocking upon first, second and even third glance!

So the Chinese is fine, but they just need to brush up on their English skills here!

#3 - Tiny Grass Dreaming

Excuse me?

Tiny grass what now?

It's hard to even guess what they meant to say when breaking this one down!
There doesn't appear to be a mention of anything to do with grass dreaming in Chinese here.
Likewise we're not sure why the grass is labelled small either. Too many questions, not enough answers.
We still aren't quite sure why the grass must remain un-disturbed but there you go!
#4 - The What with the Fruit?

Oddly enough you'll find the usage of F#ck in a lot of Chinglish.

Why, we don't know.

This is one of many examples using derogatory terms in English. Perhaps one day, it'll click!

When breaking this down character by character you can kind of see how they got to where they did, but still... come on.

In theory this should just read something like Dried Fruit (broken into pieces).

But this is China we are talking about!

#5 - Beware the Racist Park

Oh China, just a little bit of research is all it takes.

Something so innocent becomes an Internet sensation. You only had one job!

This is a simple one also in all honesty:
Yet they found Racism somewhere in there, ouch!
#6 - Interesting Kind of Hall

Probably one of the more instantly hilarious ones you'll come across upon first glance!

This is an interesting one to break down because in theory, it's all correct but let's explain:

You can see where the mess up happened here.

In Chinese some characters have two different meanings, adding to the confusion!
That confusion has left them a cropper, but there's also another couple of interesting angles here.
Firstly the tones - 操 (first tone) means to grasp, but change that to a more aggressive forth tone and it means f*ck. So although in writing it's the same, the tone (and I guess the possible aggression/context) would give away whether the person meant grasp or f^ck. That said, on a sign, we've no way of knowing!

Secondly - As we covered in our Chinese Swear Words blog, there is also another character for F*ck.

Now, break this character down - without getting too vulgar, once you figure out what the top part of the character and the bottom part mean separately (look it up if you don't know already), you'll discover a rather eye-opening way to depict the character "f$ck"... we'll leave it there for now!

Disclaimer - the character 操 generally used much more than 肏.
Absolutely bizarre, but hey, that's learning Chinese for you! And remember... learn those tones!

#7 - Salty Pig Hand?

Confused? Good, you should be!

However, 咸猪手 does not mean salty pig hand but actually is a term for a someone who gropes people in public, a pervert.

How they got to Grilled Sexual Harassment we aren't quite sure, and also more worryingly why they felt the need to make a sign in Chinese saying PERVERT, is perhaps more of a pressing issue.

#8 - That Evil Rubbish

In this instance their Chinese and English translations are virtually on the money, but that doesn't stop it sounding rather amusing when read in English.

有毒 - Poisonous/Toxic

有害 - Harmful

垃圾 - Rubbish/Garbage

Thanks to the inclusion of the evil we've enjoyed a good laugh over this but the right intentions are there and at least they are encouraging locals to put that evil rubbish in the bin!

#9 - That Escalated Quickly!

Another one where you need to look twice and more before actually comprehending what you've just read!

Ok so in a nutshell the Chinese here translates roughly to - Not allowed to use during construction

Actually, the English makes sense, the problem in the choice of image used.

You can erect a building, or a statue, but unfortunately the image turns the mind to the other kind of erect!

#10 - Put out the fire, with a hand grenade
They've just got it all wrong here.
Odd really because this is a sign you see absolutely everywhere and it's generally always correct.

Fire extinguisher.

How hard is it to copy what's already done? Maybe they just wanted a laugh?!

There is nothing wrong with these Chinese here.

灭火瓶 is Fire Extinguisher, they just need a little help with their English. Either way, it makes for some good Chinglish!

Chinglish on Menus

It's quite amazing how many restaurants in China (small or big) manage to squeeze in a bit of Chinglish.

Being in China long enough, you start to wonder if they are purposefully in competition for the most bizarre entry. Don't believe me? Then read on...

#11 - Delicious Roasted Husband

"I'll take some rice, jiaozi, and two portions of the delicious roasted husband please"

Beggars belief doesn't it.

How did they even get there?

Let's try and investigate by breaking the characters down:

Well, look at that. The translation is the exact version as to what the menu provides. This falls into the category of just being plain awkward to translate but it still begs that question, what on earth is 美味烤夫

Brave enough to try it out?
It's worth noting that 烤麸 (same pinyin Kǎo fū, just slightly different 2nd character) translates to steamed gluten/cake... maybe gives some clues as to what the treat is.

Or maybe just confuses us more!

#12 - Political Choice

The translation is absolutely way off for this one, but there maybe some slight logic for this which we'll try and dig into!
三鲜伊府面 broken down are:

三鲜 - This basically means three delicacies

伊府面 - Yifi Noodles which is a type of Cantonese Egg Noodle

So what the menu is trying to say is this dish is Three delicacies Cantonese Egg Noodles

So where on earth has Iraq Government Office Surface come from?

Well the Iraq can probably be explained by the 3rd character, 伊. Iraq in Chinese is 伊拉克. Note the 1st character matches.

Government in Chinese is 政府. The 2nd character here, matches the 4th in our translation.

Although we are clutching straws here, we can vaguely see a connection, and that will be the case for a lot of these bizarre menu translations.

Still, doesn't help us much when we are sat down, hungry and wanting to eat something familiar!

#13 - A LOT of Meat

We like this one a lot!

Club Sandwich? Beef? Or just a lot of Meat? Priciest option of the lot also!

They forgot to add Sandwich on the end which might've made this clearer for their customers.

A wise guess would probably put this as a Meat Feast Sandwich of sorts, who's hungry?

#14 - A Way with Words

Thank goodness you have the picture here.

At least you have an idea of what your getting because the description of the dish just appears to be a hand selected random mix of any words from the dictionary!

Carrots, Corn and a Virus. Mmm, yummy!

Glad we've cracked that code. Carrot and Corn Stew.

That said though, the "what virus" can be explained by taking the last two characters:

什 - First part of "what", 什么

菌 - Mushroom/Fungus

The translator tool they used obviously took it a little too literally and translated every single character, word for word. Bit messy for the menu.

#14 - Branding Gone Wrong
Not quite a menu, but food related.
Bit of a strong one this one.
Huge mess up on the Marketing side of this brand but I suppose at least people are talking about them!
Ramen is a type of Japanese food, hugely popular in China, and around the world actually.
We aren't sure if this is a Chinese or Japanese brand. Chinese is shown on the left side of the packet, Japanese on the right.
Either way, it's a jaw dropper of a name!

#15 - Whatever
Fantastic.

Can't be bothered to list what the dish is, just list it as whatever and hope the masses order it.

Funnily enough however, the translation alongside the Chinese characters is spot on.
随便 actually translates to whatever.
It's a commonly used word you will hear often in many situations.

So why did they list something in the menu as "whatever" in Chinese?

LTL LOGIC - Well there's a clue in the 4 characters below 综合果汁 means Mixed Fruit Juice - perhaps that whatever refers to the fact you can choose whatever fruit juice you want?

In reality though, only they know!

#16 - Dogsh!t? No?

You always feel a sense of pride when you discover some Chinglish whilst being a tourist around.

This gem was spotted by our team on a trip to Wuzhen Water Town, just outside of Hangzhou and not far from Shanghai also.
Dogshit Candy...
We had a laugh, and the staff behind the stall laughed with us but we think perhaps we were on different wavelengths.
狗屎糖 - let's see how it translates:
Right on the money.

Unfortunately for them, they choose that 2nd character!

Trust us, breakfast in Shanghai is way better than Dogshit Candy...

#17 - Cannabis for Dinner?
No need to double take, it's cannabis and it's on the menu for dinner, apparently?!
Unfortunately they have blanked out the Chinese translation, and the price - why?

Must be sold out, makes sense I guess!

Although we did see the price was 88CNY, funny that, given that 8 is a lucky number in China. What are you trying to tell us here?!

This find actually came from a restaurant in Beijing that sells Donkey meat.

It is located near the Bell Tower by Guloudajie Metro stop 鼓楼大街地铁站 (Line 2/8). If you fancy donkey, or cannabis, head to the following address

Want Cannabis? - 76 Gulou Xi Dajie 鼓楼西大街76号

Chinglish on Clothes

When you go shopping in China, be prepared to discover some rather unusual and interesting brands. After a nice warm North Face jacket? Why not branch out a little and go with the Sexy Face...

#18 - The North Face, rebranded

Be prepared for A LOT of famous brands to be rebranded in their own weird and wonderful Chinese way.

Whether the proud owner of these clothes is aware of the resemblance to the famous brand we will never know.

You'll find yourself physically stopping in the middle of the street many a time to gaze at some of the fantastic motivational quotes, brand names and botched up English on clothing in China.

#19 - Care for a Handshake?

Many different emotions and reactions can be triggered when casting an eye upon clothes in China.

This one absolutely falls in the immediate laugh out loud category.

Nothing subtle about it, and no way he has a clue what he's wearing.
"It's in English, so it looks cool."
Unfortunately my friend, not to anyone who has a basic grasp in English.

There are plenty of like-minded examples of these around. Seen any yourself?

Take a picture and SEND IT TO US!

#20 - Pigs and Cats

If #17 was a laugh out loud jumper, this falls into the WTF category.
No sense, no meaning, just all rather odd.
A honourable shout out to spelling though! Every word is correct.

You'll become familiar with many phrases/quotes that not only make no sense, but also are spelt bizarrely and even sometimes with a mixture of languages.

You'll see singular words including English and the Cyrillic Alphabet of Russian for example. Try de-coding that!?
Hard for even fluent speakers of both languages.
So at least the manufacturer of this beauty had the brain power to nail the spelling, just a shame it makes zero sense.

#21 - Poor Kid

I think the first thought here is pure sympathy for the poor chap.

The parents clearly have no idea what they've done to him, but still, that doesn't make it any easier when he sees his face plastered all over the Internet, and wondering what he did to deserve his new found fame.

A lesson to all parents in China, read (or at least translate) the words before making the purchase!

Again, these items of clothing are more common than you'd think.

The elder and younger generations, most of whom have no grasp of English most commonly get caught up wearing these.

#22 - Think Less

You tell 'em girl.

There's a beautiful irony about this one.

Just be stupid more and all will be OK!

As stated, you'll find these ALL OVER CHINA.

Travelling the subway? Walking the street? Off to a tourist hot spot?

Just a few of the places you'll pick up some great pictures.

A quick Google of Chinglish, Chinglish Menus or Chinglish clothes and you'll be greeted with even more weird and wonderful examples.

It's never ending. But for now, we have just one more treat for you, and it's a good one...

#23 - Place your Orders

OK so there's zero Chinglish in this (well they spelt Medium, Midium, but we'll let that one slip) but it's too good to not share with you.

Going back to examples #16, this came from the wonderful Wuzhen Water Town again.

What an absolute peach this is.

In effect, it's a Pizza Menu on the back of a t-shirt but not only that...
It's actually gone through the hassle to tick off what they want. Hot Sauce, times 5?!
Probably a personal favourite is the price at the bottom has also been filled in.
You wonder who makes these t-shirts, and then who actually buys them!
Either way, she's rocking it despite the rather expensive pizza!

Anyway, we could go on and on and on and on...
For now though, we'd love to encourage you to send in your very own examples.
Have you seen any?

Drop us a comment and send us in the pictures and we'll add our best ones in another section below.

Chinglish // FAQs

What is Chinglish?

Chinglish is a mixture of Chinese and English (Chi from Chinese and nglish from English).

I refers to many things seen in China with inaccurate English such as products to eat or wear.

Is Chinglish actually real?

Yes, if you are in China, the likelihood is that you will come across English all the time. Peoples clothes in public environments, fake goods at stalls, any many many more!

Is Chinglish intentional?

As much as these seem like someone having a joke behind the scenes it really isn't. In certain parts of China (think way from the big cities), English is never spoken and not very well understood.
Getting hold of correct translations is therefore a challenge and leads to these rather odd translations!

Even in the top tier cities, these mistakes will happen mainly due to lack of effort translating.

We wouldn't have it any other way!

Is Chinglish common throughout China?

It is indeed, smaller cities probably moreso given the fact English is used much less there, but still even in the behemoths of Shanghai and Beijing, you'll find it everywhere.

That can include warning signs, clothing or even in Chinese menus.

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Chinese + English = Chinglish // Top 23 You Must See To Believe

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Chinglish || Sometimes you have to see it to believe it. You will be amazed at some of these language mishaps that are made when translating to Chinese.

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Chinese Pidgin English: Its Origin and Linguistic Features.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/23757088

Chinese Pidgin English
https://apics-online.info/surveys/20

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This is a preview. Log in through your library.

Chinese Pidgin English is a contact language widely used along the coast of China in the 18th and 19th century. It was formed in a very restricted contact situation to fulfill limited communication need between English-speaking traders and their Cantonese-speaking servants. Many linguistic features of this pidgin can be considered as contribution from Cantonese. A few features can be analyzed as simplification from both languages. No exclusive English structural feature is found in the data of pre-20th-century Chinese Pidgin English. 洋泾浜英语是一种十八，十九世纪在中国沿海流行的混合语，是在说英语的外国商人和说广东话的佣人之间为满足有限的交际需要而形成的。 洋泾浜英语的许多语言特征可以认定为来自广东话，少数特征可以认为是英语和广东话共有特征的简化。在十八，十九世纪的洋泾浜英语资料中，没有发现纯属英语的结构特征。

Journal Information

These two fields, Linguistics and Sinology, flow together in their concern with the Chinese Language. The central questions on the language remain the same: its structure, its ontogeny, and its phylogeny, as well as the interactions between the Chinese Language on the one hand, and Chinese thought, literature, and social systems on the other. Also of considerable interest are the questions which arise when the Chinese language comes into contact with other languages, be it in the controlled context of a language class or on the streets of an emigrant community. All in all, there is much to be done. Papers on Chinese Linguistics had to seek foster homes in diverse journals of general linguistics and in publications of various hues of orientalia. This situation was at best a nuisance, and at worst a serious impediment to the communication and progress of our field. In this journal, let us hope, Chinese Linguistics will have found its own voice.

Publisher Information

The Chinese University Press was established in 1977 as the publishing house of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. It is a non-profit organization devoted to the advancement, preservation and dissemination of knowledge, as well as the promotion of multi-cultural academic exchanges. The Press publishes more than fifty titles per year and carries well over 1,300 titles on its backlist. It is an established publisher of many scholarly works on China and Hong Kong studies and on Chinese culture.

Rights & Usage

This item is part of a JSTOR Collection.
For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions
Journal of Chinese Linguistics © 1991

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CHINESE PIDGIN ENGLISH: ITS ORIGIN AND LINGUISTIC FEATURES / 洋泾浜英语的起源及语言特征 on JSTOR

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This is a preview. Log in through your library. Chinese Pidgin English is a contact language widely used along the coast of China in the 18th and 19th century. It was formed in a very restricted contact situation to fulfill limited communication need between English-speaking traders and their Cantonese-speaking servants.

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Introduction

Roughly 90,000 taxi drivers in Beijing learned English in preparation for the Summer Olympic Games (Beijing 2008) of some 600,000 total residents of the city that have jumped on the English bandwagon in the past few years ( People's Daily, 2001). China is a country of nearly a billion and a half people, most of whom now begin learning English at the age of ten (Dong, Reference Dong2005: 11). A simple Google search for 'English in China' yields more than 36,000,000 results! It cannot be argued that English is unpopular in the Middle Kingdom. With so many learners there, it stands to reason that a variety of English peculiar to China would eventually develop, and there is much evidence to suggest that it has already begun.

Prior to 1978, China was largely cut off from international contact, but the death of Mao Zedong two years earlier allowed for changes within the country's policy structure. From then on, a gradual modernisation programme was instituted that allowed for the development of a more open market economy. Thus, the English Boom was born, and, nowadays, hundreds of thousands of ESL teachers flock to China each year for annual contracts teaching at all levels, from primary upwards. The roles of English extend to all ends of the Chinese social spectrum: mass media to tourism, sport to government. This English Boom has spurred the development of localised varieties, as well as the so-called Chinglish phenomenon. Tourists and foreigners in China often make a habit out of photographing and collecting the 'funny English' found on signs around the country. Even Wikipedia has a lengthy article on the subject of Chinglish, with examples and photographs. YouTube is chock full of home-made videos on the subject, and every westerner in China wants to be an expert on the subject. Websites like Engrish ( 2006) and The Chinglish Files ( 2008) allow visitors to submit their own personal photos of 'Chinglished' signs, funny menus, or unusual product slogans.

All of these factors raise questions about the legitimacy of a localised variety of English that is unique to China. Does such a variety exist? Where do funny, nonsensical mistakes on signage meet valid local developing forms of English? What are Chinglish, Chinese English, and China English and are there any differences between them?

Chinglish, Chinese English, and China English

Based on the research of several noted linguists, including Ge Chuangui ( Reference Ge1983) and Li Wenzhong (1993), Wei Yun and Fei Jia ( Reference Wei and Fei2003) identify three stages in the development of the English that is spoken in China: Chinese Pidgin English (CPE), Chinglish as an interlanguage, and Chinese/China English (CE) as a developing world variety. While these categories hold much value, the grouping of Chinese and China English together is possibly too broad, and does not take into consideration the existence of entirely nonsensical forms of English that are the result of poor translations. Leaving the largely historical issue of Chinese Pidgin English aside, in this essay I will argue that Chinglish is not, in fact, an interlanguage, but a nonsensical, problematic form of English that is the result of poor translation, misspelling, and errors. Furthermore, I will separate and expand the categories of Chinese English and China English, suggesting that the former is an interlanguage that is used on a learner's path toward fluency and the latter is a developing world variety of English.

In discussing any non-native variety of English, it is first useful to examine Kachru's three circles of English (see Crystal, Reference Crystal1997). With the Inner Circle consisting of the varieties generally considered to be 'native' (e.g. UK or American English) and the Outer Circle comprising developed international varieties often found in former English colonies (e.g. India or Singapore), the outermost Expanding Circle will be the concern of this essay. China English, as I shall define it below, falls into this Expanding Circle category, along with Russia and other large geographical areas, making it the potentially largest group of English speakers on earth. Here, we can also talk about the 'nativisation' of a variety - how far along the variety is on its path to becoming truly localised. Butler (in Kirkpatrick & Xu, Reference Kirkpatrick and Xu2002) sets out five criteria for nativisation, including a) standard and unique pronunciation, b) a lexicon that expresses local ideas, c) history in the speech community, d) a written literature and e) a set of reference works. I follow Kirkpatrick & Xu's ( ibid.) assessment that China English falls into the class of a developing variety rather than an established variety, particularly because China English has, until now, only fulfilled the first three of Butler's criteria. Thus, for the purposes of this essay, China English (as it will be defined below) will be considered as a developing variety in Kachru's Expanding Circle. Several varieties of English have already developed among communities of Chinese speakers in other parts of the world, including Singapore English, Hong Kong English, and Malaysian English. This essay will be limited to the context of Mainland China English only and will not be concerned with the other varieties of Chinese-based English.

Defining Chinglish

As previously stated, Wei & Fei ( Reference Wei and Fei2003) define Chinglish as an interlanguage, usually manifested as Chinese-style syntax with English words, Chinese phonological elements in pronunciation or grammatical variations that attempt to follow Standard English rules but miss the mark (p. 43). As will be discussed later in this essay, I assert that these criteria should instead be used to define Chinese English as an interlanguage. Chinglish, then, is a nonsensical form of language, identifiable as an attempt at English, but usually produced by deficient translation devices or speakers/writers with a low skill level (though it may not always be possible to tell which of the two has caused any particular instance of Chinglish). By definition, then, the occurrence of Chinglish is generally confined to written forms where mistakes of expression or translation are made.

Examples of Chinglish

Figure 1 below is an easily definable example of Chinglish as a nonsensical, erroneous form of language. This sign was photographed at the top of a mountain path climb in rural Zhejiang province.

The phrase 回程道 ( huíchéng dào) can be glossed as 'return journey way' and translated as 'return route' or 'way back', which makes sense in the light of the sign's positional context, indicating the way back down the mountain. However, the obviously flawed 'English' translation listed below the Chinese could hardly be termed anything but nonsensical. The only part of the translation that appears to correlate with the actual Chinese meaning is 'back'; however, with the preceding 'rack' and the suffixed 't' added on, the word makes no sense.

Figure 2, taken near the Da Zha Lan Shopping Alley in Beijing's hutong district, may also be regarded as an example of Chinglish.

Here, the term 智力玩具 ( zhìlì wánjù) is translated as 'mental toy', while a more appropriate translation would be 'intellectual toy'. The concept of an 'intellectual toy' might arguably be a lexical item exclusive to China, as a Google search of the phrase in English yields only Chinese-based toy manufacturers (compared with 'educational toy' in other varieties of English). Thus, the term 'mental toy' might be classified as Chinglish because of its nonsensical nature and poor translation.

Figure 3 is a particularly interesting example of Chinglish signage, photographed at the same place as Figure 2, near Da Zha Lan Alley in Beijing.

The three characters 佛光阁 ( fó guāng gé) can be literally glossed as 'Buddha light shelf' and refer to a small Buddha-shaped lamp that is often manufactured and sold in areas of China frequently visited by tourists. This translation is an obvious case of Chinglish: 'Buddna' being a typo of Buddha, 'sheen' being a possible interpretation of 光, an adjective meaning shiny or lustrous, and 'cockloft' being a very antiquated British word for 'attic'. When translated through more sophisticated online software (Yellowbridge, 2008), 阁 receives hits as both 'shelf' and 'attic' which suggests that the phrase was translated via an out-of-date dictionary or software. Hence, this unintelligible phrase is a clear case of Chinglish as poor translation.

Defining Chinese English

Wei & Fei ( Reference Wei and Fei2003) group the terms Chinese English and China English together, suggesting that ' Chinese English has tended to be held in contempt by both native speakers and most Chinese' (p. 44), whereas China English is a more widely-accepted title for the developing variety of English that is now being spoken in China. Similarly, Hu ( Reference Hu and Chen2006) says that there is 'no clear distinction between the terms' Chinese English and Chinglish and describes them as being 'at the opposite ends of a continuum' (p. 231). I propose that it is dangerous to group together these two forms of English, because there are clear differences between the interlanguage spoken by Chinese learners of English (what I term Chinese English) and the maturing cultural variety of English that is developing, outlined later in this paper as China English.

Aspects of Chinese English

If we take Richards et al.'s ( Reference Richards1992) definition of interlanguage, we can see that it is:

If we look at Chinese English as an interlanguage, the descriptive rules of English at work are obvious, though not always in a 'native-like' fashion. Often, Chinese English is the product of errors made by learners as they advance in fluency level. Chinese syntax or sentence structure with English words might be used, or at other times erroneous but intelligible uses of grammatical patterns (e.g. wrong past tenses, present progressive, etc), erroneous word choice, or the wrong application of rule structures. These forms of interlanguage do not constitute a new variety in and of themselves, but are usually still understandable to native speakers despite the errors. According to Wei and Fei, 'Individual learners, in using English, translate more or less from Chinese and tend to ignore the basic grammatical structure of English' (2003, p. 43). In this way, Chinese English as an interlanguage may not differ significantly from the interlanguages used by other learners of English around the world. Example A is an excerpt from a transliterated version of a speech given by one of the author's Chinese secondary school students:

Example A: Chinese English

The student first fails to transform 'happy' from its adjectival form to its nominal form, 'happiness'. Though this does not render the sentence unintelligible, it is the product of an inexperienced speaker who will presumably learn its standard pattern with more practice. Furthermore, this pattern would be common and particular to Chinese English because, in Mandarin, adjectival and nominal forms are often the same (as in this case, where 高兴 ( gāoxìng) means 'happy', 'happiness' and 'to be happy').

In the second sentence, the student literally translates an idiom from Mandarin using a combination of Chinese syntax and English words: 哪里有你 那里有高兴 ( năli yŏu nĭ, nàli yŏu gāoxìng), which can be glossed as: 'where have you, there have happy'. It should be noted that the student incorrectly translates a second 'where' which should actually have been 'there'. This is an easy error to make, as the words for 'there' and 'where' in Mandarin are homophonic except for their tones: 哪里 năli - 3rd tone = where; 那里 nàli - 4th tone = there. Example B, taken from a second student's speech, demonstrates improper word choice as a component of Chinese English.

Example B: Chinese English

In the first sentence, she uses the word 'work' (a verb) where the word 'job' (a noun) would be standard. Like gāoxìng in the previous example, here 'work' and 'job' are synonymous in the Mandarin word 工作 ( gōngzuò) which carries both the verbal and nominal meanings. In the second sentence, she says 'I want everyone can help me', where the standard pattern would be 'to' instead of 'can' in the use of the infinitive 'to help'. Here, she uses a Chinese verb construction where a lack of verb conjugation in Mandarin means that it is entirely possible to place two verbs next to one another in a sentence. In Standard English, however, only conjugated and infinitive verb forms may be used side-by-side. Furthermore, her choice of the word 'can' reflects the Mandarin use of the word 会 ( huì), which means both ability and permission to do something.

Figure 4 was photographed at a civic museum in Zhejiang Province. It shows a very clear example of misapplied grammatical rules.

The translator obviously meant 'No photographing' or 'No photography', but instead used the same conjugational pattern as in 'No smoking' (where the final 'e' is dropped from 'smoke' and the suffix 'ing' is added) and misapplied it to the word 'photo' rendering the phrase unintelligible. When viewed in context to its partner sign, this becomes an obvious case of interlanguage, where a learner is not yet fluent in the appropriate use of grammar patterns. It would be out of place to label this as China English because the example is an obvious result of misuse rather than a developing new trend in language function.

Figure 5 is a similar final example of Chinese English as an interlanguage.

In this case, the translator obviously meant 'recyclable' and 'non-recyclable' with the phrases 'can't reusing' and 'can reusing'. Two things have happened in this case. First examining the nature of the Mandarin structure, 不可回收 ( bù kĕ huìshōu) and 可回收 ( kĕ huìshōu) can be glossed as 'cannot recycle' and 'can recycle' (from left to right in the photo), making clear why the initial structure of 'can't' and 'can' was used. However, a second pattern has occurred in the employment of the present progressive form 'reusing'. While it is obvious that 'reuse' is a suitable synonym for 'recycle', it is impossible to explain why the present progressive verb form was chosen. Nonetheless, here again it is not a new developing pattern of English but simply a misapplied grammar structure that, presumably, would not occur if the translator was more experienced using English.

Again, these fundamental mistakes do not render the sentences entirely unintelligible to a native speaker, but they are obviously errors resulting from the speaker's lack of practice using English rather than new patterns developing in a China variety of English. Since the phrases are clear despite the misused patterns, they cannot be defined as Chinglish. As well, the patterns are not necessarily new developing forms of English particular to China, so they cannot be called China English, as will be described in the third section below. They fall into this intermediary category of an interlanguage - Chinese English.

Defining China English

The term China English has, by now, been well defined by linguists over the past 20 years. One of the most quoted writers on this particular topic is Li Wenzhong, whose definition has been used by dozens of succeeding researchers. Kirkpatrick and Xu ( Reference Kirkpatrick and Xu2002) quote Li's definition of China English:

China English is based on a standard English, expresses Chinese culture, has Chinese characteristics in lexis, sentence structure and discourse but does not show any L1 interference. (p. 269)

The meaning of 'L1 interference' here is the type of grammatical misuse we have seen occurring in Chinese English, defined in this essay as an interlanguage. So, Li distinguishes between Chinese English, with L1 interference, where the language learner uses certain aspects of her native language (L1) when trying to speak a second language (L2), and China English, which he terms a developing new variety with its own lexicon, structure, and discourse. According to Xu, as quoted in Poon ( Reference Poon2006), there are at least four major features of China English: varied pronunciation and accent, particular lexical items, an idiosyncratic syntax, and distinct discourse varieties (p. 24). Wei and Fei ( Reference Wei and Fei2003) also list several excellent examples of these four aspects of China English, including specific aspects of China English syntax and discourse.

Pronunciation and accent

Though a detailed analysis of the phonology of China English is outside the scope of this essay, a few examples will be provided here.

/θ/ → /s/ Speakers of China English often substitute /s/ where a Standard English speaker would use /θ/. This is because Mandarin has no sound equivalent to the English /θ/, an unvoiced dental fricative, so speakers choose the next closest linguistic component available to them, an unvoiced alveolar fricative, as a substitute. /ð/ → /z/ or /ð/ → /d/ Similarly, the voiced dental fricative /ð/ changes to voiced alveolars, which are the closest phonemes available in Mandarin. Finally, because Mandarin is a monosyllabic, tonal language, there is a tendency for China English speakers to use a very staccato style of speaking, where an additional /ə/ is sometimes added on to the end of a morpheme or lexical item to make it more readily pronounceable. For example, the Standard English /kæt/ may change to /kætə/ in China English. As well, the tonal nature of Mandarin results in China English speakers 'adding' tones to English words where they do not exist, or changing the stressing of syllables.

Lexical items

As Jian Yang ( Reference Yang2005) points out, 'borrowing has long been recognized as an important part of the nativization that English has undergone' (p. 425). To accurately talk about borrowings, it would be useful to define several terms, as there have been many arguments on the various expressions used regarding this subject. Though many definitions have been put forward, I will use Suzanne Romaine's (1995) definitions, as follows:

* loanblend - one part of a word is borrowed and the other belongs to the original language.

* loanshift - taking a word in the base language and extending its meaning so that it corresponds to that of a word in the other language.

* loan translation - rearranging words in the base language along a pattern provided by the other and thus creating a new meaning. (Romaine, Reference Romaine1995: 56-7)

Lexical innovations in China English mostly fall into one of these three categories, but to stay within scope here, I will only give some examples rather than provide lengthy discussions of how each example should be sorted according to the above categories.

In short, China English lexical items are words that can be easily recognised as English; however, they generally express ideas or things specific to Chinese culture and are therefore useless or even meaningless in the context of standard, native, or international Englishes. Distinctive examples of China English lexical items include such terms as autonomous region, colour wolf, dragon boat, little red cap, Mid-Autumn festival, one country two systems, red envelope, and special administrative region.

Although these words and phrases can easily be identified as English, their meaning is often inaccessible to English speakers outside China. For instance, the phrase colour wolf is a direct loan translation from Mandarin, roughly equivalent to 'sex maniac'. And, although a speaker of other varieties of English would easily be able to visualise a red envelope in its literal sense, within the Chinese cultural context, the phrase refers to a special monetary gift, often given at Chinese New Year or to exchange favours. So, these lexical items are very clearly Chinese in context and culture, and not fully comprehensible to users of English outside the Chinese context.

Syntax

Wei and Fei ( Reference Wei and Fei2003) provide a lengthy discussion of China English syntax with examples of six features of variation, including (i) word order differences, (ii) open head vs. open end, (iii) time sequence, (iv) compound and complex sentence structures, (v) special subjects and (vi) the use of the passive voice (pp. 44-5). Let us take as an example feature (ii), open head vs. open end, where, in China English, subordinate clauses are often put in front of main clauses. Example C is taken from a personal email to the author.

Example C: China English grammar (1)

As I am currently in China with an ABQ delegation doing projects of business, medical consulting, fashion-textile design, and Chinese investment to the US, I could not come myself.

In Standard written English, this might be phrased:

I could not come myself, as I am currently in China with an ABQ delegation doing projects [...]

following the pattern main clause + subordinate clause. Kirkpatrick and Xu ( Reference Kirkpatrick and Xu2002) point out that this phenomenon often occurs with 'because' as a forward pointing discourse marker at the beginning of a sentence. Example D shows this in another personal email.

Example D: China English grammar (2)

Because he can not reply you in time, I contact you directly. I hope my English won't let you down.

Though this may cause confusion for a native speaker for whom 'because' is a signifier that important information has already been transmitted, for China English speakers, 'because' is often placed first in a sentence in the Chinese language, and this structure is often transferred into English.

Discourse

Far less research has been done with regard to the discourse patterns of China English, although Kirkpatrick and Xu ( Reference Kirkpatrick and Xu2002) point out a striking feature of written discourse patterns in China English, where 'facework' plays an important role:

The first half of the letter is taken up with what Scollon and Scollon (1991) have called 'facework'. Then the writer introduces the reasons for a particular request and then, finally, makes the actual request. We could simplify the schema to: Salutation, Facework, Reason/Justification, Request, Sign off. (p. 274)

With this pattern in mind, let us examine Example E, a personal email to the author of this article:

Example E: Discourse features of China English

Salutation: Hello ...

Facework: I am [author] (I am Chinese), the colleague of [name] (our foreign advisor). Because he can not reply you in time, I contact you directly. I hope my English won't let you down.

Reason/Justification: It was a long time since my last mail. We are so glad to hear the news that you agree to write for us. Your experience and story is very valuable for our website and tourists. We are hoping to get your story as soon as possible. We will pay you due the time we got the stroy. [sic] So don't worry about that. We have been in business since 1998 and enjoy high reputation home and abroad. I appreciate your writing style and creative idea. It is a happy experience to write to you.

Request: So could you tell me how many stories do you have in hand or be going to write? What price do you charge for your story? When can you finish your story and send it or them to us?

Sign off: I am looking forward to your reply!

Best wishes,

Author

As we can see, this email clearly follows the pattern described in Kirkpatrick and Xu. First, the author introduces himself with a salutation. Next, he engages in facework, whereby he creates 'good face' by complimenting the recipient and noting his connection to her via a third party. Third, he shows his reason and justification for writing while still employing further facework in phrases like 'Your experience and story is very valuable.' Finally, he signs off by asking for a reply and sending best wishes. This type of discourse pattern is very particular to users of China English, especially in the Chinese cultural context where face represents a critical social concept. So, it makes sense that the breadth of the communication is taken up by discourse efforts toward positive facework and justification, whereas the same letter in Standard English would display the request with far less concern for them. China English is unique across the linguistic spectrum, from phonology to discourse. In the light of Butler's five criteria for nativisation, it is obviously still a developing variety, but the aspects shown above suggest that China English is on its way to becoming an established variety of English.

Conclusion

This essay has examined three types of English that exist in Mainland China, distinguishing particularly between Chinglish and Chinese English, which have been grouped together by previous linguists. Chinglish can be viewed as an erroneous form of language that is the result of poor translation, and it generally only exists in written form. Chinese English is an interlanguage used by Mandarin-speaking English learners in China. It is easily understood as being English by Inner Circle speakers, but it often contains so-called L1 interference, or Mandarin structural features. Misplaced or errantly used grammatical patterns are another characteristic of Chinese English. Finally, China English is a developing world variety of English. It has unique features including phonology, lexicon, syntax, and discourse patterns, and therefore it fulfils three out of Butler's five criteria toward becoming a nativised variety. As China develops socially and opens economically over the next decade, the use of English there will only be widened and further refined into an established Expanding Circle World English.

This Is China: A Guidebook for Teachers, Backpackers and Other Lunatics (Lulu, 2009). Email: megan.eaves@gmail.com

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English, Chinglish or China English? | English Today | Cambridge Core

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Roughly 90,000 taxi drivers in Beijing learned English in preparation for the Summer Olympic Games (Beijing 2008) of some 600,000 total residents of the city that have jumped on the English bandwagon in the past few years ( People's Daily, 2001).

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The history of Chinese English

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English, Chinglish or China English? | English Today | Cambridge Core

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Three stages in the development of the English that is spoken in China: Chinese Pidgin English (CPE), Chinglish as an interlanguage, and Chinese/China English (CE) as a developing world variety.
... Leaving the largely historical issue of Chinese Pidgin English aside, in this essay I will argue that Chinglish is not, in fact, an interlanguage, but a nonsensical, problematic form of English that is the result of poor translation, misspelling, and errors.
... I will separate and expand the categories of Chinese English and China English, suggesting that the former is an interlanguage that is used on a learner's path toward fluency and the latter is a developing world variety of English.

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Introduction

Roughly 90,000 taxi drivers in Beijing learned English in preparation for the Summer Olympic Games (Beijing 2008) of some 600,000 total residents of the city that have jumped on the English bandwagon in the past few years ( People's Daily, 2001). China is a country of nearly a billion and a half people, most of whom now begin learning English at the age of ten (Dong, Reference Dong2005: 11). A simple Google search for 'English in China' yields more than 36,000,000 results! It cannot be argued that English is unpopular in the Middle Kingdom. With so many learners there, it stands to reason that a variety of English peculiar to China would eventually develop, and there is much evidence to suggest that it has already begun.

Prior to 1978, China was largely cut off from international contact, but the death of Mao Zedong two years earlier allowed for changes within the country's policy structure. From then on, a gradual modernisation programme was instituted that allowed for the development of a more open market economy. Thus, the English Boom was born, and, nowadays, hundreds of thousands of ESL teachers flock to China each year for annual contracts teaching at all levels, from primary upwards. The roles of English extend to all ends of the Chinese social spectrum: mass media to tourism, sport to government. This English Boom has spurred the development of localised varieties, as well as the so-called Chinglish phenomenon. Tourists and foreigners in China often make a habit out of photographing and collecting the 'funny English' found on signs around the country. Even Wikipedia has a lengthy article on the subject of Chinglish, with examples and photographs. YouTube is chock full of home-made videos on the subject, and every westerner in China wants to be an expert on the subject. Websites like Engrish ( 2006) and The Chinglish Files ( 2008) allow visitors to submit their own personal photos of 'Chinglished' signs, funny menus, or unusual product slogans.

All of these factors raise questions about the legitimacy of a localised variety of English that is unique to China. Does such a variety exist? Where do funny, nonsensical mistakes on signage meet valid local developing forms of English? What are Chinglish, Chinese English, and China English and are there any differences between them?

Chinglish, Chinese English, and China English

Based on the research of several noted linguists, including Ge Chuangui ( Reference Ge1983) and Li Wenzhong (1993), Wei Yun and Fei Jia ( Reference Wei and Fei2003) identify three stages in the development of the English that is spoken in China: Chinese Pidgin English (CPE), Chinglish as an interlanguage, and Chinese/China English (CE) as a developing world variety. While these categories hold much value, the grouping of Chinese and China English together is possibly too broad, and does not take into consideration the existence of entirely nonsensical forms of English that are the result of poor translations. Leaving the largely historical issue of Chinese Pidgin English aside, in this essay I will argue that Chinglish is not, in fact, an interlanguage, but a nonsensical, problematic form of English that is the result of poor translation, misspelling, and errors. Furthermore, I will separate and expand the categories of Chinese English and China English, suggesting that the former is an interlanguage that is used on a learner's path toward fluency and the latter is a developing world variety of English.

In discussing any non-native variety of English, it is first useful to examine Kachru's three circles of English (see Crystal, Reference Crystal1997). With the Inner Circle consisting of the varieties generally considered to be 'native' (e.g. UK or American English) and the Outer Circle comprising developed international varieties often found in former English colonies (e.g. India or Singapore), the outermost Expanding Circle will be the concern of this essay. China English, as I shall define it below, falls into this Expanding Circle category, along with Russia and other large geographical areas, making it the potentially largest group of English speakers on earth. Here, we can also talk about the 'nativisation' of a variety - how far along the variety is on its path to becoming truly localised. Butler (in Kirkpatrick & Xu, Reference Kirkpatrick and Xu2002) sets out five criteria for nativisation, including a) standard and unique pronunciation, b) a lexicon that expresses local ideas, c) history in the speech community, d) a written literature and e) a set of reference works. I follow Kirkpatrick & Xu's ( ibid.) assessment that China English falls into the class of a developing variety rather than an established variety, particularly because China English has, until now, only fulfilled the first three of Butler's criteria. Thus, for the purposes of this essay, China English (as it will be defined below) will be considered as a developing variety in Kachru's Expanding Circle. Several varieties of English have already developed among communities of Chinese speakers in other parts of the world, including Singapore English, Hong Kong English, and Malaysian English. This essay will be limited to the context of Mainland China English only and will not be concerned with the other varieties of Chinese-based English.

Defining Chinglish

As previously stated, Wei & Fei ( Reference Wei and Fei2003) define Chinglish as an interlanguage, usually manifested as Chinese-style syntax with English words, Chinese phonological elements in pronunciation or grammatical variations that attempt to follow Standard English rules but miss the mark (p. 43). As will be discussed later in this essay, I assert that these criteria should instead be used to define Chinese English as an interlanguage. Chinglish, then, is a nonsensical form of language, identifiable as an attempt at English, but usually produced by deficient translation devices or speakers/writers with a low skill level (though it may not always be possible to tell which of the two has caused any particular instance of Chinglish). By definition, then, the occurrence of Chinglish is generally confined to written forms where mistakes of expression or translation are made.

Examples of Chinglish

Figure 1 below is an easily definable example of Chinglish as a nonsensical, erroneous form of language. This sign was photographed at the top of a mountain path climb in rural Zhejiang province.

The phrase 回程道 ( huíchéng dào) can be glossed as 'return journey way' and translated as 'return route' or 'way back', which makes sense in the light of the sign's positional context, indicating the way back down the mountain. However, the obviously flawed 'English' translation listed below the Chinese could hardly be termed anything but nonsensical. The only part of the translation that appears to correlate with the actual Chinese meaning is 'back'; however, with the preceding 'rack' and the suffixed 't' added on, the word makes no sense.

Figure 2, taken near the Da Zha Lan Shopping Alley in Beijing's hutong district, may also be regarded as an example of Chinglish.

Here, the term 智力玩具 ( zhìlì wánjù) is translated as 'mental toy', while a more appropriate translation would be 'intellectual toy'. The concept of an 'intellectual toy' might arguably be a lexical item exclusive to China, as a Google search of the phrase in English yields only Chinese-based toy manufacturers (compared with 'educational toy' in other varieties of English). Thus, the term 'mental toy' might be classified as Chinglish because of its nonsensical nature and poor translation.

Figure 3 is a particularly interesting example of Chinglish signage, photographed at the same place as Figure 2, near Da Zha Lan Alley in Beijing.

The three characters 佛光阁 ( fó guāng gé) can be literally glossed as 'Buddha light shelf' and refer to a small Buddha-shaped lamp that is often manufactured and sold in areas of China frequently visited by tourists. This translation is an obvious case of Chinglish: 'Buddna' being a typo of Buddha, 'sheen' being a possible interpretation of 光, an adjective meaning shiny or lustrous, and 'cockloft' being a very antiquated British word for 'attic'. When translated through more sophisticated online software (Yellowbridge, 2008), 阁 receives hits as both 'shelf' and 'attic' which suggests that the phrase was translated via an out-of-date dictionary or software. Hence, this unintelligible phrase is a clear case of Chinglish as poor translation.

Defining Chinese English

Wei & Fei ( Reference Wei and Fei2003) group the terms Chinese English and China English together, suggesting that ' Chinese English has tended to be held in contempt by both native speakers and most Chinese' (p. 44), whereas China English is a more widely-accepted title for the developing variety of English that is now being spoken in China. Similarly, Hu ( Reference Hu and Chen2006) says that there is 'no clear distinction between the terms' Chinese English and Chinglish and describes them as being 'at the opposite ends of a continuum' (p. 231). I propose that it is dangerous to group together these two forms of English, because there are clear differences between the interlanguage spoken by Chinese learners of English (what I term Chinese English) and the maturing cultural variety of English that is developing, outlined later in this paper as China English.

Aspects of Chinese English

If we take Richards et al.'s ( Reference Richards1992) definition of interlanguage, we can see that it is:

If we look at Chinese English as an interlanguage, the descriptive rules of English at work are obvious, though not always in a 'native-like' fashion. Often, Chinese English is the product of errors made by learners as they advance in fluency level. Chinese syntax or sentence structure with English words might be used, or at other times erroneous but intelligible uses of grammatical patterns (e.g. wrong past tenses, present progressive, etc), erroneous word choice, or the wrong application of rule structures. These forms of interlanguage do not constitute a new variety in and of themselves, but are usually still understandable to native speakers despite the errors. According to Wei and Fei, 'Individual learners, in using English, translate more or less from Chinese and tend to ignore the basic grammatical structure of English' (2003, p. 43). In this way, Chinese English as an interlanguage may not differ significantly from the interlanguages used by other learners of English around the world. Example A is an excerpt from a transliterated version of a speech given by one of the author's Chinese secondary school students:

Example A: Chinese English

The student first fails to transform 'happy' from its adjectival form to its nominal form, 'happiness'. Though this does not render the sentence unintelligible, it is the product of an inexperienced speaker who will presumably learn its standard pattern with more practice. Furthermore, this pattern would be common and particular to Chinese English because, in Mandarin, adjectival and nominal forms are often the same (as in this case, where 高兴 ( gāoxìng) means 'happy', 'happiness' and 'to be happy').

In the second sentence, the student literally translates an idiom from Mandarin using a combination of Chinese syntax and English words: 哪里有你 那里有高兴 ( năli yŏu nĭ, nàli yŏu gāoxìng), which can be glossed as: 'where have you, there have happy'. It should be noted that the student incorrectly translates a second 'where' which should actually have been 'there'. This is an easy error to make, as the words for 'there' and 'where' in Mandarin are homophonic except for their tones: 哪里 năli - 3rd tone = where; 那里 nàli - 4th tone = there. Example B, taken from a second student's speech, demonstrates improper word choice as a component of Chinese English.

Example B: Chinese English

In the first sentence, she uses the word 'work' (a verb) where the word 'job' (a noun) would be standard. Like gāoxìng in the previous example, here 'work' and 'job' are synonymous in the Mandarin word 工作 ( gōngzuò) which carries both the verbal and nominal meanings. In the second sentence, she says 'I want everyone can help me', where the standard pattern would be 'to' instead of 'can' in the use of the infinitive 'to help'. Here, she uses a Chinese verb construction where a lack of verb conjugation in Mandarin means that it is entirely possible to place two verbs next to one another in a sentence. In Standard English, however, only conjugated and infinitive verb forms may be used side-by-side. Furthermore, her choice of the word 'can' reflects the Mandarin use of the word 会 ( huì), which means both ability and permission to do something.

Figure 4 was photographed at a civic museum in Zhejiang Province. It shows a very clear example of misapplied grammatical rules.

The translator obviously meant 'No photographing' or 'No photography', but instead used the same conjugational pattern as in 'No smoking' (where the final 'e' is dropped from 'smoke' and the suffix 'ing' is added) and misapplied it to the word 'photo' rendering the phrase unintelligible. When viewed in context to its partner sign, this becomes an obvious case of interlanguage, where a learner is not yet fluent in the appropriate use of grammar patterns. It would be out of place to label this as China English because the example is an obvious result of misuse rather than a developing new trend in language function.

Figure 5 is a similar final example of Chinese English as an interlanguage.

In this case, the translator obviously meant 'recyclable' and 'non-recyclable' with the phrases 'can't reusing' and 'can reusing'. Two things have happened in this case. First examining the nature of the Mandarin structure, 不可回收 ( bù kĕ huìshōu) and 可回收 ( kĕ huìshōu) can be glossed as 'cannot recycle' and 'can recycle' (from left to right in the photo), making clear why the initial structure of 'can't' and 'can' was used. However, a second pattern has occurred in the employment of the present progressive form 'reusing'. While it is obvious that 'reuse' is a suitable synonym for 'recycle', it is impossible to explain why the present progressive verb form was chosen. Nonetheless, here again it is not a new developing pattern of English but simply a misapplied grammar structure that, presumably, would not occur if the translator was more experienced using English.

Again, these fundamental mistakes do not render the sentences entirely unintelligible to a native speaker, but they are obviously errors resulting from the speaker's lack of practice using English rather than new patterns developing in a China variety of English. Since the phrases are clear despite the misused patterns, they cannot be defined as Chinglish. As well, the patterns are not necessarily new developing forms of English particular to China, so they cannot be called China English, as will be described in the third section below. They fall into this intermediary category of an interlanguage - Chinese English.

Defining China English

The term China English has, by now, been well defined by linguists over the past 20 years. One of the most quoted writers on this particular topic is Li Wenzhong, whose definition has been used by dozens of succeeding researchers. Kirkpatrick and Xu ( Reference Kirkpatrick and Xu2002) quote Li's definition of China English:

China English is based on a standard English, expresses Chinese culture, has Chinese characteristics in lexis, sentence structure and discourse but does not show any L1 interference. (p. 269)

The meaning of 'L1 interference' here is the type of grammatical misuse we have seen occurring in Chinese English, defined in this essay as an interlanguage. So, Li distinguishes between Chinese English, with L1 interference, where the language learner uses certain aspects of her native language (L1) when trying to speak a second language (L2), and China English, which he terms a developing new variety with its own lexicon, structure, and discourse. According to Xu, as quoted in Poon ( Reference Poon2006), there are at least four major features of China English: varied pronunciation and accent, particular lexical items, an idiosyncratic syntax, and distinct discourse varieties (p. 24). Wei and Fei ( Reference Wei and Fei2003) also list several excellent examples of these four aspects of China English, including specific aspects of China English syntax and discourse.

Pronunciation and accent

Though a detailed analysis of the phonology of China English is outside the scope of this essay, a few examples will be provided here.

/θ/ → /s/ Speakers of China English often substitute /s/ where a Standard English speaker would use /θ/. This is because Mandarin has no sound equivalent to the English /θ/, an unvoiced dental fricative, so speakers choose the next closest linguistic component available to them, an unvoiced alveolar fricative, as a substitute. /ð/ → /z/ or /ð/ → /d/ Similarly, the voiced dental fricative /ð/ changes to voiced alveolars, which are the closest phonemes available in Mandarin. Finally, because Mandarin is a monosyllabic, tonal language, there is a tendency for China English speakers to use a very staccato style of speaking, where an additional /ə/ is sometimes added on to the end of a morpheme or lexical item to make it more readily pronounceable. For example, the Standard English /kæt/ may change to /kætə/ in China English. As well, the tonal nature of Mandarin results in China English speakers 'adding' tones to English words where they do not exist, or changing the stressing of syllables.

Lexical items

As Jian Yang ( Reference Yang2005) points out, 'borrowing has long been recognized as an important part of the nativization that English has undergone' (p. 425). To accurately talk about borrowings, it would be useful to define several terms, as there have been many arguments on the various expressions used regarding this subject. Though many definitions have been put forward, I will use Suzanne Romaine's (1995) definitions, as follows:

* loanblend - one part of a word is borrowed and the other belongs to the original language.

* loanshift - taking a word in the base language and extending its meaning so that it corresponds to that of a word in the other language.

* loan translation - rearranging words in the base language along a pattern provided by the other and thus creating a new meaning. (Romaine, Reference Romaine1995: 56-7)

Lexical innovations in China English mostly fall into one of these three categories, but to stay within scope here, I will only give some examples rather than provide lengthy discussions of how each example should be sorted according to the above categories.

In short, China English lexical items are words that can be easily recognised as English; however, they generally express ideas or things specific to Chinese culture and are therefore useless or even meaningless in the context of standard, native, or international Englishes. Distinctive examples of China English lexical items include such terms as autonomous region, colour wolf, dragon boat, little red cap, Mid-Autumn festival, one country two systems, red envelope, and special administrative region.

Although these words and phrases can easily be identified as English, their meaning is often inaccessible to English speakers outside China. For instance, the phrase colour wolf is a direct loan translation from Mandarin, roughly equivalent to 'sex maniac'. And, although a speaker of other varieties of English would easily be able to visualise a red envelope in its literal sense, within the Chinese cultural context, the phrase refers to a special monetary gift, often given at Chinese New Year or to exchange favours. So, these lexical items are very clearly Chinese in context and culture, and not fully comprehensible to users of English outside the Chinese context.

Syntax

Wei and Fei ( Reference Wei and Fei2003) provide a lengthy discussion of China English syntax with examples of six features of variation, including (i) word order differences, (ii) open head vs. open end, (iii) time sequence, (iv) compound and complex sentence structures, (v) special subjects and (vi) the use of the passive voice (pp. 44-5). Let us take as an example feature (ii), open head vs. open end, where, in China English, subordinate clauses are often put in front of main clauses. Example C is taken from a personal email to the author.

Example C: China English grammar (1)

As I am currently in China with an ABQ delegation doing projects of business, medical consulting, fashion-textile design, and Chinese investment to the US, I could not come myself.

In Standard written English, this might be phrased:

I could not come myself, as I am currently in China with an ABQ delegation doing projects [...]

following the pattern main clause + subordinate clause. Kirkpatrick and Xu ( Reference Kirkpatrick and Xu2002) point out that this phenomenon often occurs with 'because' as a forward pointing discourse marker at the beginning of a sentence. Example D shows this in another personal email.

Example D: China English grammar (2)

Because he can not reply you in time, I contact you directly. I hope my English won't let you down.

Though this may cause confusion for a native speaker for whom 'because' is a signifier that important information has already been transmitted, for China English speakers, 'because' is often placed first in a sentence in the Chinese language, and this structure is often transferred into English.

Discourse

Far less research has been done with regard to the discourse patterns of China English, although Kirkpatrick and Xu ( Reference Kirkpatrick and Xu2002) point out a striking feature of written discourse patterns in China English, where 'facework' plays an important role:

The first half of the letter is taken up with what Scollon and Scollon (1991) have called 'facework'. Then the writer introduces the reasons for a particular request and then, finally, makes the actual request. We could simplify the schema to: Salutation, Facework, Reason/Justification, Request, Sign off. (p. 274)

With this pattern in mind, let us examine Example E, a personal email to the author of this article:

Example E: Discourse features of China English

Salutation: Hello ...

Facework: I am [author] (I am Chinese), the colleague of [name] (our foreign advisor). Because he can not reply you in time, I contact you directly. I hope my English won't let you down.

Reason/Justification: It was a long time since my last mail. We are so glad to hear the news that you agree to write for us. Your experience and story is very valuable for our website and tourists. We are hoping to get your story as soon as possible. We will pay you due the time we got the stroy. [sic] So don't worry about that. We have been in business since 1998 and enjoy high reputation home and abroad. I appreciate your writing style and creative idea. It is a happy experience to write to you.

Request: So could you tell me how many stories do you have in hand or be going to write? What price do you charge for your story? When can you finish your story and send it or them to us?

Sign off: I am looking forward to your reply!

Best wishes,

Author

As we can see, this email clearly follows the pattern described in Kirkpatrick and Xu. First, the author introduces himself with a salutation. Next, he engages in facework, whereby he creates 'good face' by complimenting the recipient and noting his connection to her via a third party. Third, he shows his reason and justification for writing while still employing further facework in phrases like 'Your experience and story is very valuable.' Finally, he signs off by asking for a reply and sending best wishes. This type of discourse pattern is very particular to users of China English, especially in the Chinese cultural context where face represents a critical social concept. So, it makes sense that the breadth of the communication is taken up by discourse efforts toward positive facework and justification, whereas the same letter in Standard English would display the request with far less concern for them. China English is unique across the linguistic spectrum, from phonology to discourse. In the light of Butler's five criteria for nativisation, it is obviously still a developing variety, but the aspects shown above suggest that China English is on its way to becoming an established variety of English.

Conclusion

This essay has examined three types of English that exist in Mainland China, distinguishing particularly between Chinglish and Chinese English, which have been grouped together by previous linguists. Chinglish can be viewed as an erroneous form of language that is the result of poor translation, and it generally only exists in written form. Chinese English is an interlanguage used by Mandarin-speaking English learners in China. It is easily understood as being English by Inner Circle speakers, but it often contains so-called L1 interference, or Mandarin structural features. Misplaced or errantly used grammatical patterns are another characteristic of Chinese English. Finally, China English is a developing world variety of English. It has unique features including phonology, lexicon, syntax, and discourse patterns, and therefore it fulfils three out of Butler's five criteria toward becoming a nativised variety. As China develops socially and opens economically over the next decade, the use of English there will only be widened and further refined into an established Expanding Circle World English.

This Is China: A Guidebook for Teachers, Backpackers and Other Lunatics (Lulu, 2009). Email: megan.eaves@gmail.com

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English, Chinglish or China English? | English Today | Cambridge Core

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Roughly 90,000 taxi drivers in Beijing learned English in preparation for the Summer Olympic Games (Beijing 2008) of some 600,000 total residents of the city that have jumped on the English bandwagon in the past few years ( People's Daily, 2001).

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The start of English language in China
https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/english-levels-in-china.htm#:~:text=The%20first%20schools%20to%20teach,Russian%20fell%20out%20of%20favor.

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English in China may leave you wondering what the meaning is supposed to be.

Find out all about English usage in China here: the quality of English in China, where English is spoken, how good the signage is, English education in China, and apps and tips to help you overcome the language barrier.

How Good is China's English?

Despite English being taught in the Chinese school system for many years, few Chinese could be considered fluent in English.

There are hundreds of millions of people in China studying English, but less than 1% of people from Chinese mainland are conversational, according to some estimates. Not surprisingly, more English is spoken in China's large cities than in the smaller towns.

Don't panic! You should encounter few problems at the airport, at 4- and 5-star hotels, popular restaurants, major shops, and banks. Chinese staff at these places are generally competent in communicating with native English speakers.

A Brief History of English in China

The first schools to teach English were missionary schools in Macau in the early 17th century. English was gradually integrated into China's education system in the 1960s, when Russian fell out of favor.

After a short period of denunciation during the Cultural Revolution, English language education was revived in the early 1970s and thrived under the economic reform policies of the Deng Xiaoping government.

Since the 1990s, English has become popular especially with those working in tourism and trade.

English loanwords in China include:

English in Chinese Schools

Many people in China, especially young adults and a growing number of children, can speak basic English words and phrases like "hello", "OK", "thank you", and "how are you?" But by no means are most Chinese conversational in English.

The language can be incredibly difficult for Chinese people to learn. Imagine trying to adjust to the rules, quirks, and sometimes seemingly arbitrary constructions of English when your native tongue has no articles, verb conjugations, and plurals!

Many children start learning English in kindergarten. English is mandatory in Chinese schools, starting from at grade one and continuing through junior and senior high school.

Quality of education depends largely if the student lives in a city or a rural area. Students from cities generally have access to superior teachers, materials, and classrooms than do their rural counterparts. While the school curriculum includes an English-language component, the reality is that only Chinese is taught in many rural schools.

Because costs are high to attend senior high schools, most students from rural areas choose to attend vocational schools in order to find employment quickly after graduating. This effectively ends their English-language education.

Despite all of the effort that goes into promoting, teaching, and learning English, some Chinese view it as having limited usefulness within their country. At the same time, English is recognized as the universal language of business, and there are thousands of private English-language schools in China, including web-based ones. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese students are studying online with English-language teachers in China and around the world.
Learn more about education in China
China's English Proficiency Vs Nearby Countries

According to some estimates, fewer than 10 million Chinese, or less than 1% of the population, speak English.

In Hong Kong, a special administrative region, English is an official language; about 50% of the population speak it, though most in that category would not consider themselves fluent.

In nearby Macau (also a special administrative region) the situation is similar: About 28% of residents can speak at least basic English.

EF's English Proficiency Index 2018 ranks China at Low Proficiency. How does that compare to other countries in the region?

Singapore - Very High Proficiency

Philippines - High Proficiency

India - Moderate Proficiency

Vietnam - Moderate Proficiency

South Korea - Moderate Proficiency

Bangladesh - Low Proficiency

Thailand - Low Proficiency

Japan - Low Proficiency

China 1% - Low Proficiency

Myanmar - Very Low Proficiency

Level of Spoken English and Signage in China

Generally, you'll find more and better English speakers and signage in China's well-known, big urban areas in the north, east, and south (think Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong). You should have few problems communicating in basic English at sights that see a lot of foreign travelers.

It's possible that Shanghai has the most English speakers of any big city in Chinese mainland. And Hong Kong, according to the EF English Proficiency Index 2018, ranked at Moderate Proficiency.

In rural areas you'll see and hear less English. This is also true if you decide to explore the more local neighborhoods of cities. Keep in mind that many Chinese are hesitant to speak even basic English for fear of making mistakes.

Further west, and in remote areas of China, it's possible English will be nonexistent. In Urumqi, a city of several million in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, English levels are quite low all around. Even staff at major hotels may not be competent in basic English.

The quality of English translations at landmarks, temples, museums, theme parks, and galleries varies. Sometimes you'll glean information that helps you do something or enhances your experience, other times you'll be left scratching your head. Or there might not be any English signage at all.

If you decide to tour China with us, our guides and drivers will ensure smooth and accurate communication the whole way, from transportation and restaurants to sightseeing.

Transportation Signage in China

Limited English is displayed in train stations in China.

You'll find English signage at all of China's major airports. There is some English at train stations. Ticketing agents will usually have a good grasp of English, especially at major airline counters.

Subway systems in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Xi'an, Chengdu, and Chongqing have English signage, and ticketing machines have an English interface. Most of these systems announce stops in English.

With taxis, it's probably best to assume that drivers will not speak or understand English - even in Hong Kong. Bring a business card or have your destination written down in Chinese characters.

Buses in Beijing are tricky to use if you don't speak or read Mandarin. Drivers and staff speak little English and few stops are announced in English. This contrasts with Shanghai, where stops are announced, and Hong Kong, where most buses announce and display stops in English. In Xi'an some buses that run to the more popular sites have English displays. Buses in Chengdu and Urumqi do not have English signage.

It may not always be easy to get directions in English, depending on where you are and who you ask. If you're at The Bund in Shanghai, or a similarly busy tourist area, chances are good that you'll find a local who can help you.

Nearly all road traffic signs in Beijing and Shanghai have English on them. In Hong Kong, traffic signage must have English by law.

Menus in China

Most premium restaurants will have an English menu. You'll also find English menus at tourist restaurants in the major cities and at some popular sights. At small street-side restaurants and outside of the big cities, English menus can be few and far between.

What's written on the menu and what you get on your plate might not be the same thing, and translations can be flawed - often with unintentionally humorous or even shocking results!

Some menus lack pictures, compounding the frustration. The staff's English skills will vary depending on the type of restaurant; is it mostly locals or packed with tourists? If it's the latter then you can expect a basic level of English, though some snack vendors at touristy spots might know a few common English words or numbers.

Menus are usually divided into sections according to food type. This might be somewhat helpful if you're able to decipher at least one dish....

Apps like Google Translate can translate speech and text in images, but don't expect them to be perfect. (Read more below in the section Apps.)
Chinese Restaurant Menus and How to Use Them
English on Products and Packaging in China

English slogans on products should perhaps be seen as a designer's effort to appear "internationally-minded" rather than as a genuine attempt at meaningful communication.

Wording is often nonsensical ... and sometimes inadvertently offensive!

You might come across bewildering English printed on everything from t-shirts and coffee cups to advertisements, no matter where you are traveling in China. These can make for funny souvenirs for friends back home.

Helpful Communication Tools You Can Use in China

The Effective Language Learning Center says Mandarin and Cantonese are among the most difficult languages for a native English user to learn. It is no doubt equally difficult for Chinese speakers to learn and use English. Thankfully, there are other ways to communicate besides speaking and listening.

Body Language and Gestures

Body language and hand signs share similar meanings to those in the West, and can be an effective communication tool while in China.

Charades and gestures can be particularly effective at restaurants and when asking for directions.

Remember: Point at something or someone with your entire hand; pointing with only a finger is considered rude.
Learn more about useful hand signs in China
Apps

Translation apps work more or less the same way, share the same basic features, and can be used offline if you download language packs. What follows is by no means an exhaustive list.

WeChat: Online, Android, iOS, Mac OS, Windows

WeChat is the most popular all-round digital communication tool in China; more people use it than don't. You can download an international version, which has a translation function.

Key feature: does just about everything

Google Translate: Online and app (Android and iOS)

Key feature: real-time speech and text image translation

Important: Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, and other similar web products from the West are blocked in Chinese mainland. You could set up a VPN (virtual private network) before your trip. This would allow you to access all of these blocked products while in China. Keep in mind that, sometimes, even access to the VPN is blocked. For email, you could get a Yahoo! or Hotmail account and then delete it when you get home.

iTranslate: Android, iOS, Mac OS, Windows

Key feature: Converts Chinese characters into pinyin (Latin letters)

Microsoft Translator: Online, Windows desktop, Android, iOS

Key feature: Translates voice and text in real time

TripLingo: Android, iOS

Key feature: There is a function to speak to a live human translator

China's top telecommunication companies, China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Mobile, offer customer services in English.
The Top 15 Apps for China Travelers
New to VPNs? Read about the best virtual private networks for China.

Pen and Paper

Write a word or phrase in English and chances are good it can be scanned by someone's phone and almost instantly translated to Chinese.

In the event that you can't write Chinese characters or pinyin, you'll most likely be able to get your hotel's reception, tour guide, or even restaurant staff to do it for you, if the restaurant sees a lot of Western tourists.

Business cards can be lifesavers. Pick up and stash your hotel's card so that you'll have it when you need to reference it. Many business cards in China have both Chinese and English printed on them.

Take the Guesswork Out of Communication and See China with Us

Our guides will take care of you in China and their English skills will help you get far more out of your China trip.

Dreaming of your first trip to China but worried about language issues? Our tours remove the communication barrier. We do the planning, driving, and guiding; you relax and enjoy your trip.

Consider these popular itineraries:

We can even tailor-make your tour. Just tell us the things you're most interested in seeing and we'll take it from there.

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English in China may leave you wondering what the meaning is supposed to be. Find out all about English usage in China here: the quality of English in China, where English is spoken, how good the signage is, English education in China, and apps and tips to help you overcome the language barrier.

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Aspects of Chinese English
a. borrowing patterns from the mother tongue
b. extending patterns from the target language.
c. Expressing meanings using the words and grammar which are already known

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Chinese English VS Chinglish

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The terms Chinese English and China English are often used interchangeably, though some scholars draw distinctions between them.

The related term Chinglish, a blend of the words Chinese and English, tends to be used in a humorous or derogatory fashion to characterize English texts such as road signs and menus that have been translated literally and often imprecisely from the Chinese. Chinglish may also refer to the use of Chinese words in an English conversation or vice versa. Chinglish is sometimes characterized as an interlanguage.

In Global English (2015), Jennifer Jenkins concludes that "there are probably more Chinese speakers of English in the world than speakers of any other kind of English."

"With some 250 million Chinese people currently learning to speak English or already fluent, there will soon be more English speakers in China than in the entire British Commonwealth. . . .
"Since each Chinese ideogram can have many meanings and interpretations, translating Chinese ideas into English is, indeed, extremely difficult. Because of this, Chinese-English hybrid words [such as "No noising" for "Quiet, please," and "slippercrafty" for "treacherously icy road"] are often viewed with amusement by the rest of the English-speaking world. Nevertheless, this abundance of new words and phrases, unlikely as it may seem, is one of the prime drivers of the globalization of the English language."
(Paul J. J. Payack, A Million Words and Counting: How Global English Is Rewriting the World. Citadel, 2008)

"On a theoretical level, China English is distinguished systematically from Chinese English, Chinglish, Pidgin English, etc. China English is understood as a standardizing or standardized variety in use in China, which reflects Chinese cultural norms and concepts. Chinese English refers to varieties of English used by Chinese learners (see Kirkpatrick and Xu 2002). Hu (2004: 27) puts China English at one end of a continuum where lowly Pidgin English or Chinglish is at the other. China English is 'a language which is as good a communicative tool as standard English,' but one which has important Chinese characteristics."
(Hans-Georg Wolf, Focus on English. Leipziger Universitätsverlag, 2008)

Speaking both English and Chinese in one's sentences.
Example of a sentence in chinglish: "At K-mart, I buy hen duo clothes."
(A. Peckham, Mo' Urban Dictionary. Andrews McMeel, 2007)

"Fortified by an army of 600 volunteers and a politburo of adroit English speakers, the [Shanghai Commission for the Management of Language Use] has fixed more than 10,000 public signs (farewell 'Teliot' and 'urine district'), rewritten English-language historical placards and helped hundreds of restaurants recast offerings. . . .
"But while the war on mangled English may be considered a signature achievement of government officials, aficionados of what is known as Chinglish are wringing their hands in despair. . . .
"Oliver Lutz Radtke, a former German radio reporter who may well be the world's foremost authority on Chinglish, said he believed that China should embrace the fanciful melding of English and Chinese as the hallmark of a dynamic, living language. As he sees it, Chinglish is an endangered species that deserves preservation."
(Andrew Jacobs, "Shanghai Is Trying to Untangle the Mangled English of Chinglish." The New York Times, May 2, 2010)

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The terms Chinese English and China English are often used interchangeably, though some scholars draw distinctions between them. The related term Chinglish, a blend of the words Chinese and English, tends to be used in a humorous or derogatory fashion to characterize English texts such as road signs and menus that have been translated literally and often imprecisely from the Chinese.

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The development of English in China:
-history,
-role of English,
-How did the Chinese adapt in English,
-China English & Chinglish,
-Characteristic of China English (vocab, grammar, etc)

(Download the pdf)

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China English: Adaptation of English to Chinese Culture | Zhang | Asian Social Science | CCSE

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China English: Adaptation of English to Chinese Culture

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The difference of Chinese English and Standard ENglish.
https://excelenglishinstitute.com/english-vs-mandarin-chinese-three-main-differences-between-the-languages#:~:text=Chinese%20is%20a%20language%20made,is%20a%20combination%20of%20letters.

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These challenges in pronunciation can cause a lot of frustration for the Chinese speaker! And of course, speaking affects listening. Even if the speaker has good grammar, they can have difficulty communicating with and being understood by Americans.

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Three Differences Between Mandarin Chinese and English

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These challenges in pronunciation can cause a lot of frustration for the Chinese speaker! And of course, speaking affects listening. Even if the speaker has good grammar, they can have difficulty communicating with and being understood by Americans.

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Linguistic Features of Chinese English
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/weng.12572

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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356063676_Current_research_on_the_linguistic_features_of_Chinese_English

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Impact of English on China

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED502484.pdf

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Speech habits that are common in Chinese but considered rude in English.

Pronunciation of English words (phonology):
https://www.ieltspodcast.com/common-problems-chinese-speakers/

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What are some speech habits that are common in Chinese but considered rude in English?

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Answer (1 of 5): Asking strangers how much money they make, only asking yes/no questions instead of open-ended questions - for example it saves time to ask "Where are you from?" instead of "Are you American? Australian? British? Canadian?" & going through all the countries of the world before get...

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English in China may leave you wondering what the meaning is supposed to be.

Find out all about English usage in China here: the quality of English in China, where English is spoken, how good the signage is, English education in China, and apps and tips to help you overcome the language barrier.

How Good is China's English?

Despite English being taught in the Chinese school system for many years, few Chinese could be considered fluent in English.

There are hundreds of millions of people in China studying English, but less than 1% of people from Chinese mainland are conversational, according to some estimates. Not surprisingly, more English is spoken in China's large cities than in the smaller towns.

Don't panic! You should encounter few problems at the airport, at 4- and 5-star hotels, popular restaurants, major shops, and banks. Chinese staff at these places are generally competent in communicating with native English speakers.

A Brief History of English in China

The first schools to teach English were missionary schools in Macau in the early 17th century. English was gradually integrated into China's education system in the 1960s, when Russian fell out of favor.

After a short period of denunciation during the Cultural Revolution, English language education was revived in the early 1970s and thrived under the economic reform policies of the Deng Xiaoping government.

Since the 1990s, English has become popular especially with those working in tourism and trade.

English loanwords in China include:

English in Chinese Schools

Many people in China, especially young adults and a growing number of children, can speak basic English words and phrases like "hello", "OK", "thank you", and "how are you?" But by no means are most Chinese conversational in English.

The language can be incredibly difficult for Chinese people to learn. Imagine trying to adjust to the rules, quirks, and sometimes seemingly arbitrary constructions of English when your native tongue has no articles, verb conjugations, and plurals!

Many children start learning English in kindergarten. English is mandatory in Chinese schools, starting from at grade one and continuing through junior and senior high school.

Quality of education depends largely if the student lives in a city or a rural area. Students from cities generally have access to superior teachers, materials, and classrooms than do their rural counterparts. While the school curriculum includes an English-language component, the reality is that only Chinese is taught in many rural schools.

Because costs are high to attend senior high schools, most students from rural areas choose to attend vocational schools in order to find employment quickly after graduating. This effectively ends their English-language education.

Despite all of the effort that goes into promoting, teaching, and learning English, some Chinese view it as having limited usefulness within their country. At the same time, English is recognized as the universal language of business, and there are thousands of private English-language schools in China, including web-based ones. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese students are studying online with English-language teachers in China and around the world.
Learn more about education in China
China's English Proficiency Vs Nearby Countries

According to some estimates, fewer than 10 million Chinese, or less than 1% of the population, speak English.

In Hong Kong, a special administrative region, English is an official language; about 50% of the population speak it, though most in that category would not consider themselves fluent.

In nearby Macau (also a special administrative region) the situation is similar: About 28% of residents can speak at least basic English.

EF's English Proficiency Index 2018 ranks China at Low Proficiency. How does that compare to other countries in the region?

Singapore - Very High Proficiency

Philippines - High Proficiency

India - Moderate Proficiency

Vietnam - Moderate Proficiency

South Korea - Moderate Proficiency

Bangladesh - Low Proficiency

Thailand - Low Proficiency

Japan - Low Proficiency

China 1% - Low Proficiency

Myanmar - Very Low Proficiency

Level of Spoken English and Signage in China

Generally, you'll find more and better English speakers and signage in China's well-known, big urban areas in the north, east, and south (think Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong). You should have few problems communicating in basic English at sights that see a lot of foreign travelers.

It's possible that Shanghai has the most English speakers of any big city in Chinese mainland. And Hong Kong, according to the EF English Proficiency Index 2018, ranked at Moderate Proficiency.

In rural areas you'll see and hear less English. This is also true if you decide to explore the more local neighborhoods of cities. Keep in mind that many Chinese are hesitant to speak even basic English for fear of making mistakes.

Further west, and in remote areas of China, it's possible English will be nonexistent. In Urumqi, a city of several million in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, English levels are quite low all around. Even staff at major hotels may not be competent in basic English.

The quality of English translations at landmarks, temples, museums, theme parks, and galleries varies. Sometimes you'll glean information that helps you do something or enhances your experience, other times you'll be left scratching your head. Or there might not be any English signage at all.

If you decide to tour China with us, our guides and drivers will ensure smooth and accurate communication the whole way, from transportation and restaurants to sightseeing.

Transportation Signage in China

Limited English is displayed in train stations in China.

You'll find English signage at all of China's major airports. There is some English at train stations. Ticketing agents will usually have a good grasp of English, especially at major airline counters.

Subway systems in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Xi'an, Chengdu, and Chongqing have English signage, and ticketing machines have an English interface. Most of these systems announce stops in English.

With taxis, it's probably best to assume that drivers will not speak or understand English - even in Hong Kong. Bring a business card or have your destination written down in Chinese characters.

Buses in Beijing are tricky to use if you don't speak or read Mandarin. Drivers and staff speak little English and few stops are announced in English. This contrasts with Shanghai, where stops are announced, and Hong Kong, where most buses announce and display stops in English. In Xi'an some buses that run to the more popular sites have English displays. Buses in Chengdu and Urumqi do not have English signage.

It may not always be easy to get directions in English, depending on where you are and who you ask. If you're at The Bund in Shanghai, or a similarly busy tourist area, chances are good that you'll find a local who can help you.

Nearly all road traffic signs in Beijing and Shanghai have English on them. In Hong Kong, traffic signage must have English by law.

Menus in China

Most premium restaurants will have an English menu. You'll also find English menus at tourist restaurants in the major cities and at some popular sights. At small street-side restaurants and outside of the big cities, English menus can be few and far between.

What's written on the menu and what you get on your plate might not be the same thing, and translations can be flawed - often with unintentionally humorous or even shocking results!

Some menus lack pictures, compounding the frustration. The staff's English skills will vary depending on the type of restaurant; is it mostly locals or packed with tourists? If it's the latter then you can expect a basic level of English, though some snack vendors at touristy spots might know a few common English words or numbers.

Menus are usually divided into sections according to food type. This might be somewhat helpful if you're able to decipher at least one dish....

Apps like Google Translate can translate speech and text in images, but don't expect them to be perfect. (Read more below in the section Apps.)
Chinese Restaurant Menus and How to Use Them
English on Products and Packaging in China

English slogans on products should perhaps be seen as a designer's effort to appear "internationally-minded" rather than as a genuine attempt at meaningful communication.

Wording is often nonsensical ... and sometimes inadvertently offensive!

You might come across bewildering English printed on everything from t-shirts and coffee cups to advertisements, no matter where you are traveling in China. These can make for funny souvenirs for friends back home.

Helpful Communication Tools You Can Use in China

The Effective Language Learning Center says Mandarin and Cantonese are among the most difficult languages for a native English user to learn. It is no doubt equally difficult for Chinese speakers to learn and use English. Thankfully, there are other ways to communicate besides speaking and listening.

Body Language and Gestures

Body language and hand signs share similar meanings to those in the West, and can be an effective communication tool while in China.

Charades and gestures can be particularly effective at restaurants and when asking for directions.

Remember: Point at something or someone with your entire hand; pointing with only a finger is considered rude.
Learn more about useful hand signs in China
Apps

Translation apps work more or less the same way, share the same basic features, and can be used offline if you download language packs. What follows is by no means an exhaustive list.

WeChat: Online, Android, iOS, Mac OS, Windows

WeChat is the most popular all-round digital communication tool in China; more people use it than don't. You can download an international version, which has a translation function.

Key feature: does just about everything

Google Translate: Online and app (Android and iOS)

Key feature: real-time speech and text image translation

Important: Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, and other similar web products from the West are blocked in Chinese mainland. You could set up a VPN (virtual private network) before your trip. This would allow you to access all of these blocked products while in China. Keep in mind that, sometimes, even access to the VPN is blocked. For email, you could get a Yahoo! or Hotmail account and then delete it when you get home.

iTranslate: Android, iOS, Mac OS, Windows

Key feature: Converts Chinese characters into pinyin (Latin letters)

Microsoft Translator: Online, Windows desktop, Android, iOS

Key feature: Translates voice and text in real time

TripLingo: Android, iOS

Key feature: There is a function to speak to a live human translator

China's top telecommunication companies, China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Mobile, offer customer services in English.
The Top 15 Apps for China Travelers
New to VPNs? Read about the best virtual private networks for China.

Pen and Paper

Write a word or phrase in English and chances are good it can be scanned by someone's phone and almost instantly translated to Chinese.

In the event that you can't write Chinese characters or pinyin, you'll most likely be able to get your hotel's reception, tour guide, or even restaurant staff to do it for you, if the restaurant sees a lot of Western tourists.

Business cards can be lifesavers. Pick up and stash your hotel's card so that you'll have it when you need to reference it. Many business cards in China have both Chinese and English printed on them.

Take the Guesswork Out of Communication and See China with Us

Our guides will take care of you in China and their English skills will help you get far more out of your China trip.

Dreaming of your first trip to China but worried about language issues? Our tours remove the communication barrier. We do the planning, driving, and guiding; you relax and enjoy your trip.

Consider these popular itineraries:

We can even tailor-make your tour. Just tell us the things you're most interested in seeing and we'll take it from there.

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English in China may leave you wondering what the meaning is supposed to be. Find out all about English usage in China here: the quality of English in China, where English is spoken, how good the signage is, English education in China, and apps and tips to help you overcome the language barrier.

# data[].attributes.body
History, English loanwords, English in China's education, uses of English in China

https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/english-levels-in-china.htm

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
English in China may leave you wondering what the meaning is supposed to be.

Find out all about English usage in China here: the quality of English in China, where English is spoken, how good the signage is, English education in China, and apps and tips to help you overcome the language barrier.

How Good is China's English?

Despite English being taught in the Chinese school system for many years, few Chinese could be considered fluent in English.

There are hundreds of millions of people in China studying English, but less than 1% of Mainland Chinese are conversational, according to some estimates. Not surprisingly, more English is spoken in China's large cities than in the smaller towns.

Don't panic! You should encounter few problems at the airport, at 4- and 5-star hotels, popular restaurants, major shops, and banks. Chinese staff at these places are generally competent in communicating with native English speakers.

A Brief History of English in China

The first schools to teach English were missionary schools in Macau in the early 17th century. English was gradually integrated into China's education system in the 1960s, when Russian fell out of favor.

After a short period of denunciation during the Cultural Revolution, English language education was revived in the early 1970s and thrived under the economic reform policies of the Deng Xiaoping government.

Since the 1990s, English has become popular especially with those working in tourism and trade.

English loanwords in China include:

English in Chinese Schools

Many people in China, especially young adults and a growing number of children, can speak basic English words and phrases like "hello", "OK", "thank you", and "how are you?" But by no means are most Chinese conversational in English.

The language can be incredibly difficult for Chinese people to learn. Imagine trying to adjust to the rules, quirks, and sometimes seemingly arbitrary constructions of English when your native tongue has no articles, verb conjugations, and plurals!

Many children start learning English in kindergarten. English is mandatory in Chinese schools, starting from at grade one and continuing through junior and senior high school.

Quality of education depends largely if the student lives in a city or a rural area. Students from cities generally have access to superior teachers, materials, and classrooms than do their rural counterparts. While the school curriculum includes an English-language component, the reality is that only Chinese is taught in many rural schools.

Because costs are high to attend senior high schools, most students from rural areas choose to attend vocational schools in order to find employment quickly after graduating. This effectively ends their English-language education.

Despite all of the effort that goes into promoting, teaching, and learning English, some Chinese view it as having limited usefulness within their country. At the same time, English is recognized as the universal language of business, and there are thousands of private English-language schools in China, including web-based ones. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese students are studying online with English-language teachers in China and around the world.
Learn more about education in China
China's English Proficiency Vs Nearby Countries

According to some estimates, fewer than 10 million Chinese, or less than 1% of the population, speak English.

In Hong Kong, a special administrative region, English is an official language; about 50% of the population speak it, though most in that category would not consider themselves fluent.

In nearby Macau (also a special administrative region) the situation is similar: About 28% of residents can speak at least basic English.

EF's English Proficiency Index 2018 ranks China at Low Proficiency. How does that compare to other countries in the region?

Singapore - Very High Proficiency

Philippines - High Proficiency

India - Moderate Proficiency

Vietnam - Moderate Proficiency

South Korea - Moderate Proficiency

Bangladesh - Low Proficiency

Thailand - Low Proficiency

Japan - Low Proficiency

China 1% - Low Proficiency

Myanmar - Very Low Proficiency

Level of Spoken English and Signage in China

Generally, you'll find more and better English speakers and signage in China's well-known, big urban areas in the north, east, and south (think Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong). You should have few problems communicating in basic English at sights that see a lot of foreign travelers.

It's possible that Shanghai has the most English speakers of any big city in Mainland China. And Hong Kong, according to the EF English Proficiency Index 2018, ranked at Moderate Proficiency.

In rural areas you'll see and hear less English. This is also true if you decide to explore the more local neighborhoods of cities. Keep in mind that many Chinese are hesitant to speak even basic English for fear of making mistakes.

Further west, and in remote areas of China, it's possible English will be nonexistent. In Urumqi, a city of several million in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, English levels are quite low all around. Even staff at major hotels may not be competent in basic English.

The quality of English translations at landmarks, temples, museums, theme parks, and galleries varies. Sometimes you'll glean information that helps you do something or enhances your experience, other times you'll be left scratching your head. Or there might not be any English signage at all.

If you decide to tour China with us, our guides and drivers will ensure smooth and accurate communication the whole way, from transportation and restaurants to sightseeing.

Transportation Signage in China

Limited English is displayed in train stations in China.

You'll find English signage at all of China's major airports. There is some English at train stations. Ticketing agents will usually have a good grasp of English, especially at major airline counters.

Subway systems in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Xi'an, Chengdu, and Chongqing have English signage, and ticketing machines have an English interface. Most of these systems announce stops in English.

With taxis, it's probably best to assume that drivers will not speak or understand English - even in Hong Kong. Bring a business card or have your destination written down in Chinese characters.

Buses in Beijing are tricky to use if you don't speak or read Mandarin. Drivers and staff speak little English and few stops are announced in English. This contrasts with Shanghai, where stops are announced, and Hong Kong, where most buses announce and display stops in English. In Xi'an some buses that run to the more popular sites have English displays. Buses in Chengdu and Urumqi do not have English signage.

It may not always be easy to get directions in English, depending on where you are and who you ask. If you're at The Bund in Shanghai, or a similarly busy tourist area, chances are good that you'll find a local who can help you.

Nearly all road traffic signs in Beijing and Shanghai have English on them. In Hong Kong, traffic signage must have English by law.

Menus in China

Most premium restaurants will have an English menu. You'll also find English menus at tourist restaurants in the major cities and at some popular sights. At small street-side restaurants and outside of the big cities, English menus can be few and far between.

What's written on the menu and what you get on your plate might not be the same thing, and translations can be flawed - often with unintentionally humorous or even shocking results!

Some menus lack pictures, compounding the frustration. The staff's English skills will vary depending on the type of restaurant; is it mostly locals or packed with tourists? If it's the latter then you can expect a basic level of English, though some snack vendors at touristy spots might know a few common English words or numbers.

Menus are usually divided into sections according to food type. This might be somewhat helpful if you're able to decipher at least one dish....

Apps like Google Translate can translate speech and text in images, but don't expect them to be perfect. (Read more below in the section Apps.)
Chinese Restaurant Menus and How to Use Them
English on Products and Packaging in China

English slogans on products should perhaps be seen as a designer's effort to appear "internationally-minded" rather than as a genuine attempt at meaningful communication.

Wording is often nonsensical ... and sometimes inadvertently offensive!

You might come across bewildering English printed on everything from t-shirts and coffee cups to advertisements, no matter where you are traveling in China. These can make for funny souvenirs for friends back home.

Helpful Communication Tools You Can Use in China

The Effective Language Learning Center says Mandarin and Cantonese are among the most difficult languages for a native English user to learn. It is no doubt equally difficult for Chinese speakers to learn and use English. Thankfully, there are other ways to communicate besides speaking and listening.

Body Language and Gestures

Body language and hand signs share similar meanings to those in the West, and can be an effective communication tool while in China.

Charades and gestures can be particularly effective at restaurants and when asking for directions.

Remember: Point at something or someone with your entire hand; pointing with only a finger is considered rude.
Learn more about useful hand signs in China
Apps

Translation apps work more or less the same way, share the same basic features, and can be used offline if you download language packs. What follows is by no means an exhaustive list.

WeChat: Online, Android, iOS, Mac OS, Windows

WeChat is the most popular all-round digital communication tool in China; more people use it than don't. You can download an international version, which has a translation function.

Key feature: does just about everything

Google Translate: Online and app (Android and iOS)

Key feature: real-time speech and text image translation

Important: Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, and other similar web products from the West are blocked in Mainland China. You could set up a VPN (virtual private network) before your trip. This would allow you to access all of these blocked products while in China. Keep in mind that, sometimes, even access to the VPN is blocked. For email, you could get a Yahoo! or Hotmail account and then delete it when you get home.

iTranslate: Android, iOS, Mac OS, Windows

Key feature: Converts Chinese characters into pinyin (Latin letters)

Microsoft Translator: Online, Windows desktop, Android, iOS

Key feature: Translates voice and text in real time

TripLingo: Android, iOS

Key feature: There is a function to speak to a live human translator

China's top telecommunication companies, China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Mobile, offer customer services in English.
The Top 15 Apps for China Travelers
New to VPNs? Read about the best virtual private networks for China.

Pen and Paper

Write a word or phrase in English and chances are good it can be scanned by someone's phone and almost instantly translated to Chinese.

In the event that you can't write Chinese characters or pinyin, you'll most likely be able to get your hotel's reception, tour guide, or even restaurant staff to do it for you, if the restaurant sees a lot of Western tourists.

Business cards can be lifesavers. Pick up and stash your hotel's card so that you'll have it when you need to reference it. Many business cards in China have both Chinese and English printed on them.

Take the Guesswork Out of Communication and See China with Us

Our guides will take care of you in China and their English skills will help you get far more out of your China trip.

Dreaming of your first trip to China but worried about language issues? Our tours remove the communication barrier. We do the planning, driving, and guiding; you relax and enjoy your trip.

Consider these popular itineraries:

We can even tailor-make your tour. Just tell us the things you're most interested in seeing and we'll take it from there.

Related Articles

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English Levels in China: How Good is China's English?

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English in China may leave you wondering what the meaning is supposed to be. Find out all about English usage in China here: the quality of English in China, where English is spoken, how good the signage is, English education in China, and apps and tips to help you overcome the language barrier.

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(4 pages)
Reasons why CHINGLISH appears in Chinese-English translations:
- Negative transfer caused by mother tongue
- Cultural differences
Specific examples of CHINGLISH in Chinese-English translation:
- chinglish words
- chinglish sentences
.etc

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English in China
https://factsanddetails.com/china/cat4/sub16/item123.html

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Chinglish Examples
https://ltl-school.com/chinglish/

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Chinglish // The Ones You Have to See to Believe

The equation is simple : Chinese + English = Chinglish

But what is Chinglish?

Let's get a dictionary definition:
In a nutshell it's a form of English spoken by Chinese natives.
Seems harmless enough right? That said, if you come to China you'll without doubt have a rather hilarious run in with Chinglish somewhere down the line.

They generally come in the form of warning signs at tourist spots or on the road, or perhaps in a Chinese menu. Everyday activities breed opportunities for seeing some fantastic examples of Chinglish.

If you've been to China, you'll be fully aware, if you've not, you are about to be enlightened.

But whether you've been to China or not, you may not have seen Chinglish quite as good as these!
Let's delve into the BEST CHINGLISH WE'VE EVER SEEN!

Discover Chinglish | Chinglish in China

Discover Chinglish | Chinglish on Menus
Discover Chinglish | Chinglish on Clothing

Chinglish in China

#1 - Fall Carefully

Be careful when slipping over!?

Let's break this down and see what they actually meant to say:

Sounds like the literal translation is bang on but the thing to learn here is that many things do not translate between Chinese and English well at all.

Sometimes it just sounds plain awkward or plain wrong, and this is a good example.

We think - BE CAREFUL, DON'T SLIP OVER might be a better alternative - 小心，不要滑倒
Either way, take care of the weather in China, and watch your step!
#2 - Deformed Man's Toilet

You'll have to look twice, even thrice at many of these titles and images.

That's Chinglish for you!

Deformed Man Toilet, it's really a thing in China. What did they mean to say though?

The intentions are clear and no offence was meant, but that doesn't stop it being any less shocking upon first, second and even third glance!

So the Chinese is fine, but they just need to brush up on their English skills here!

#3 - Tiny Grass Dreaming

Excuse me?

Tiny grass what now?

It's hard to even guess what they meant to say when breaking this one down!
There doesn't appear to be a mention of anything to do with grass dreaming in Chinese here.
Likewise we're not sure why the grass is labelled small either. Too many questions, not enough answers.
We still aren't quite sure why the grass must remain un-disturbed but there you go!
#4 - The What with the Fruit?

Oddly enough you'll find the usage of F#ck in a lot of Chinglish.

Why, we don't know.

This is one of many examples using derogatory terms in English. Perhaps one day, it'll click!

When breaking this down character by character you can kind of see how they got to where they did, but still... come on.

In theory this should just read something like Dried Fruit (broken into pieces).

But this is China we are talking about!

#5 - Beware the Racist Park

Oh China, just a little bit of research is all it takes.

Something so innocent becomes an Internet sensation. You only had one job!

This is a simple one also in all honesty:
Yet they found Racism somewhere in there, ouch!
#6 - Interesting Kind of Hall

Probably one of the more instantly hilarious ones you'll come across upon first glance!

This is an interesting one to break down because in theory, it's all correct but let's explain:

You can see where the mess up happened here.

In Chinese some characters have two different meanings, adding to the confusion!
That confusion has left them a cropper, but there's also another couple of interesting angles here.
Firstly the tones - 操 (first tone) means to grasp, but change that to a more aggressive forth tone and it means f*ck. So although in writing it's the same, the tone (and I guess the possible aggression/context) would give away whether the person meant grasp or f^ck. That said, on a sign, we've no way of knowing!

Secondly - As we covered in our Chinese Swear Words blog, there is also another character for F*ck.

Now, break this character down - without getting too vulgar, once you figure out what the top part of the character and the bottom part mean separately (look it up if you don't know already), you'll discover a rather eye-opening way to depict the character "f$ck"... we'll leave it there for now!

Disclaimer - the character 操 generally used much more than 肏.
Absolutely bizarre, but hey, that's learning Chinese for you! And remember... learn those tones!

#7 - Salty Pig Hand?

Confused? Good, you should be!

However, 咸猪手 does not mean salty pig hand but actually is a term for a someone who gropes people in public, a pervert.

How they got to Grilled Sexual Harassment we aren't quite sure, and also more worryingly why they felt the need to make a sign in Chinese saying PERVERT, is perhaps more of a pressing issue.

#8 - That Evil Rubbish

In this instance their Chinese and English translations are virtually on the money, but that doesn't stop it sounding rather amusing when read in English.

有毒 - Poisonous/Toxic

有害 - Harmful

垃圾 - Rubbish/Garbage

Thanks to the inclusion of the evil we've enjoyed a good laugh over this but the right intentions are there and at least they are encouraging locals to put that evil rubbish in the bin!

#9 - That Escalated Quickly!

Another one where you need to look twice and more before actually comprehending what you've just read!

Ok so in a nutshell the Chinese here translates roughly to - Not allowed to use during construction

Actually, the English makes sense, the problem in the choice of image used.

You can erect a building, or a statue, but unfortunately the image turns the mind to the other kind of erect!

#10 - Put out the fire, with a hand grenade
They've just got it all wrong here.
Odd really because this is a sign you see absolutely everywhere and it's generally always correct.

Fire extinguisher.

How hard is it to copy what's already done? Maybe they just wanted a laugh?!

There is nothing wrong with these Chinese here.

灭火瓶 is Fire Extinguisher, they just need a little help with their English. Either way, it makes for some good Chinglish!

Chinglish on Menus

It's quite amazing how many restaurants in China (small or big) manage to squeeze in a bit of Chinglish.

Being in China long enough, you start to wonder if they are purposefully in competition for the most bizarre entry. Don't believe me? Then read on...

#11 - Delicious Roasted Husband

"I'll take some rice, jiaozi, and two portions of the delicious roasted husband please"

Beggars belief doesn't it.

How did they even get there?

Let's try and investigate by breaking the characters down:

Well, look at that. The translation is the exact version as to what the menu provides. This falls into the category of just being plain awkward to translate but it still begs that question, what on earth is 美味烤夫

Brave enough to try it out?
It's worth noting that 烤麸 (same pinyin Kǎo fū, just slightly different 2nd character) translates to steamed gluten/cake... maybe gives some clues as to what the treat is.

Or maybe just confuses us more!

#12 - Political Choice

The translation is absolutely way off for this one, but there maybe some slight logic for this which we'll try and dig into!
三鲜伊府面 broken down are:

三鲜 - This basically means three delicacies

伊府面 - Yifi Noodles which is a type of Cantonese Egg Noodle

So what the menu is trying to say is this dish is Three delicacies Cantonese Egg Noodles

So where on earth has Iraq Government Office Surface come from?

Well the Iraq can probably be explained by the 3rd character, 伊. Iraq in Chinese is 伊拉克. Note the 1st character matches.

Government in Chinese is 政府. The 2nd character here, matches the 4th in our translation.

Although we are clutching straws here, we can vaguely see a connection, and that will be the case for a lot of these bizarre menu translations.

Still, doesn't help us much when we are sat down, hungry and wanting to eat something familiar!

#13 - A LOT of Meat

We like this one a lot!

Club Sandwich? Beef? Or just a lot of Meat? Priciest option of the lot also!

They forgot to add Sandwich on the end which might've made this clearer for their customers.

A wise guess would probably put this as a Meat Feast Sandwich of sorts, who's hungry?

#14 - A Way with Words

Thank goodness you have the picture here.

At least you have an idea of what your getting because the description of the dish just appears to be a hand selected random mix of any words from the dictionary!

Carrots, Corn and a Virus. Mmm, yummy!

Glad we've cracked that code. Carrot and Corn Stew.

That said though, the "what virus" can be explained by taking the last two characters:

什 - First part of "what", 什么

菌 - Mushroom/Fungus

The translator tool they used obviously took it a little too literally and translated every single character, word for word. Bit messy for the menu.

#14 - Branding Gone Wrong
Not quite a menu, but food related.
Bit of a strong one this one.
Huge mess up on the Marketing side of this brand but I suppose at least people are talking about them!
Ramen is a type of Japanese food, hugely popular in China, and around the world actually.
We aren't sure if this is a Chinese or Japanese brand. Chinese is shown on the left side of the packet, Japanese on the right.
Either way, it's a jaw dropper of a name!

#15 - Whatever
Fantastic.

Can't be bothered to list what the dish is, just list it as whatever and hope the masses order it.

Funnily enough however, the translation alongside the Chinese characters is spot on.
随便 actually translates to whatever.
It's a commonly used word you will hear often in many situations.

So why did they list something in the menu as "whatever" in Chinese?

LTL LOGIC - Well there's a clue in the 4 characters below 综合果汁 means Mixed Fruit Juice - perhaps that whatever refers to the fact you can choose whatever fruit juice you want?

In reality though, only they know!

#16 - Dogsh!t? No?

You always feel a sense of pride when you discover some Chinglish whilst being a tourist around.

This gem was spotted by our team on a trip to Wuzhen Water Town, just outside of Hangzhou and not far from Shanghai also.
Dogshit Candy...
We had a laugh, and the staff behind the stall laughed with us but we think perhaps we were on different wavelengths.
狗屎糖 - let's see how it translates:
Right on the money.

Unfortunately for them, they choose that 2nd character!

Trust us, breakfast in Shanghai is way better than Dogshit Candy...

#17 - Cannabis for Dinner?
No need to double take, it's cannabis and it's on the menu for dinner, apparently?!
Unfortunately they have blanked out the Chinese translation, and the price - why?

Must be sold out, makes sense I guess!

Although we did see the price was 88CNY, funny that, given that 8 is a lucky number in China. What are you trying to tell us here?!

This find actually came from a restaurant in Beijing that sells Donkey meat.

It is located near the Bell Tower by Guloudajie Metro stop 鼓楼大街地铁站 (Line 2/8). If you fancy donkey, or cannabis, head to the following address

Want Cannabis? - 76 Gulou Xi Dajie 鼓楼西大街76号

Chinglish on Clothes

When you go shopping in China, be prepared to discover some rather unusual and interesting brands. After a nice warm North Face jacket? Why not branch out a little and go with the Sexy Face...

#18 - The North Face, rebranded

Be prepared for A LOT of famous brands to be rebranded in their own weird and wonderful Chinese way.

Whether the proud owner of these clothes is aware of the resemblance to the famous brand we will never know.

You'll find yourself physically stopping in the middle of the street many a time to gaze at some of the fantastic motivational quotes, brand names and botched up English on clothing in China.

#19 - Care for a Handshake?

Many different emotions and reactions can be triggered when casting an eye upon clothes in China.

This one absolutely falls in the immediate laugh out loud category.

Nothing subtle about it, and no way he has a clue what he's wearing.
"It's in English, so it looks cool."
Unfortunately my friend, not to anyone who has a basic grasp in English.

There are plenty of like-minded examples of these around. Seen any yourself?

Take a picture and SEND IT TO US!

#20 - Pigs and Cats

If #17 was a laugh out loud jumper, this falls into the WTF category.
No sense, no meaning, just all rather odd.
A honourable shout out to spelling though! Every word is correct.

You'll become familiar with many phrases/quotes that not only make no sense, but also are spelt bizarrely and even sometimes with a mixture of languages.

You'll see singular words including English and the Cyrillic Alphabet of Russian for example. Try de-coding that!?
Hard for even fluent speakers of both languages.
So at least the manufacturer of this beauty had the brain power to nail the spelling, just a shame it makes zero sense.

#21 - Poor Kid

I think the first thought here is pure sympathy for the poor chap.

The parents clearly have no idea what they've done to him, but still, that doesn't make it any easier when he sees his face plastered all over the Internet, and wondering what he did to deserve his new found fame.

A lesson to all parents in China, read (or at least translate) the words before making the purchase!

Again, these items of clothing are more common than you'd think.

The elder and younger generations, most of whom have no grasp of English most commonly get caught up wearing these.

#22 - Think Less

You tell 'em girl.

There's a beautiful irony about this one.

Just be stupid more and all will be OK!

As stated, you'll find these ALL OVER CHINA.

Travelling the subway? Walking the street? Off to a tourist hot spot?

Just a few of the places you'll pick up some great pictures.

A quick Google of Chinglish, Chinglish Menus or Chinglish clothes and you'll be greeted with even more weird and wonderful examples.

It's never ending. But for now, we have just one more treat for you, and it's a good one...

#23 - Place your Orders

OK so there's zero Chinglish in this (well they spelt Medium, Midium, but we'll let that one slip) but it's too good to not share with you.

Going back to examples #16, this came from the wonderful Wuzhen Water Town again.

What an absolute peach this is.

In effect, it's a Pizza Menu on the back of a t-shirt but not only that...
It's actually gone through the hassle to tick off what they want. Hot Sauce, times 5?!
Probably a personal favourite is the price at the bottom has also been filled in.
You wonder who makes these t-shirts, and then who actually buys them!
Either way, she's rocking it despite the rather expensive pizza!

Anyway, we could go on and on and on and on...
For now though, we'd love to encourage you to send in your very own examples.
Have you seen any?

Drop us a comment and send us in the pictures and we'll add our best ones in another section below.

Chinglish // FAQs

What is Chinglish?

Chinglish is a mixture of Chinese and English (Chi from Chinese and nglish from English).

I refers to many things seen in China with inaccurate English such as products to eat or wear.

Is Chinglish actually real?

Yes, if you are in China, the likelihood is that you will come across English all the time. Peoples clothes in public environments, fake goods at stalls, any many many more!

Is Chinglish intentional?

As much as these seem like someone having a joke behind the scenes it really isn't. In certain parts of China (think way from the big cities), English is never spoken and not very well understood.
Getting hold of correct translations is therefore a challenge and leads to these rather odd translations!

Even in the top tier cities, these mistakes will happen mainly due to lack of effort translating.

We wouldn't have it any other way!

Is Chinglish common throughout China?

It is indeed, smaller cities probably moreso given the fact English is used much less there, but still even in the behemoths of Shanghai and Beijing, you'll find it everywhere.

That can include warning signs, clothing or even in Chinese menus.

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Chinese + English = Chinglish // Top 23 You Must See To Believe

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Chinglish || Sometimes you have to see it to believe it. You will be amazed at some of these language mishaps that are made when translating to Chinese.

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History of how Chinese English came to be

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Analysing Chinglish, Chinese English and China English
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/english-today/article/english-chinglish-or-china-english/AA9B6BAFDEBEE013D8DD2777C9F3620B

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Introduction

Roughly 90,000 taxi drivers in Beijing learned English in preparation for the Summer Olympic Games (Beijing 2008) of some 600,000 total residents of the city that have jumped on the English bandwagon in the past few years ( People's Daily, 2001). China is a country of nearly a billion and a half people, most of whom now begin learning English at the age of ten (Dong, Reference Dong2005: 11). A simple Google search for 'English in China' yields more than 36,000,000 results! It cannot be argued that English is unpopular in the Middle Kingdom. With so many learners there, it stands to reason that a variety of English peculiar to China would eventually develop, and there is much evidence to suggest that it has already begun.

Prior to 1978, China was largely cut off from international contact, but the death of Mao Zedong two years earlier allowed for changes within the country's policy structure. From then on, a gradual modernisation programme was instituted that allowed for the development of a more open market economy. Thus, the English Boom was born, and, nowadays, hundreds of thousands of ESL teachers flock to China each year for annual contracts teaching at all levels, from primary upwards. The roles of English extend to all ends of the Chinese social spectrum: mass media to tourism, sport to government. This English Boom has spurred the development of localised varieties, as well as the so-called Chinglish phenomenon. Tourists and foreigners in China often make a habit out of photographing and collecting the 'funny English' found on signs around the country. Even Wikipedia has a lengthy article on the subject of Chinglish, with examples and photographs. YouTube is chock full of home-made videos on the subject, and every westerner in China wants to be an expert on the subject. Websites like Engrish ( 2006) and The Chinglish Files ( 2008) allow visitors to submit their own personal photos of 'Chinglished' signs, funny menus, or unusual product slogans.

All of these factors raise questions about the legitimacy of a localised variety of English that is unique to China. Does such a variety exist? Where do funny, nonsensical mistakes on signage meet valid local developing forms of English? What are Chinglish, Chinese English, and China English and are there any differences between them?

Chinglish, Chinese English, and China English

Based on the research of several noted linguists, including Ge Chuangui ( Reference Ge1983) and Li Wenzhong (1993), Wei Yun and Fei Jia ( Reference Wei and Fei2003) identify three stages in the development of the English that is spoken in China: Chinese Pidgin English (CPE), Chinglish as an interlanguage, and Chinese/China English (CE) as a developing world variety. While these categories hold much value, the grouping of Chinese and China English together is possibly too broad, and does not take into consideration the existence of entirely nonsensical forms of English that are the result of poor translations. Leaving the largely historical issue of Chinese Pidgin English aside, in this essay I will argue that Chinglish is not, in fact, an interlanguage, but a nonsensical, problematic form of English that is the result of poor translation, misspelling, and errors. Furthermore, I will separate and expand the categories of Chinese English and China English, suggesting that the former is an interlanguage that is used on a learner's path toward fluency and the latter is a developing world variety of English.

In discussing any non-native variety of English, it is first useful to examine Kachru's three circles of English (see Crystal, Reference Crystal1997). With the Inner Circle consisting of the varieties generally considered to be 'native' (e.g. UK or American English) and the Outer Circle comprising developed international varieties often found in former English colonies (e.g. India or Singapore), the outermost Expanding Circle will be the concern of this essay. China English, as I shall define it below, falls into this Expanding Circle category, along with Russia and other large geographical areas, making it the potentially largest group of English speakers on earth. Here, we can also talk about the 'nativisation' of a variety - how far along the variety is on its path to becoming truly localised. Butler (in Kirkpatrick & Xu, Reference Kirkpatrick and Xu2002) sets out five criteria for nativisation, including a) standard and unique pronunciation, b) a lexicon that expresses local ideas, c) history in the speech community, d) a written literature and e) a set of reference works. I follow Kirkpatrick & Xu's ( ibid.) assessment that China English falls into the class of a developing variety rather than an established variety, particularly because China English has, until now, only fulfilled the first three of Butler's criteria. Thus, for the purposes of this essay, China English (as it will be defined below) will be considered as a developing variety in Kachru's Expanding Circle. Several varieties of English have already developed among communities of Chinese speakers in other parts of the world, including Singapore English, Hong Kong English, and Malaysian English. This essay will be limited to the context of Mainland China English only and will not be concerned with the other varieties of Chinese-based English.

Defining Chinglish

As previously stated, Wei & Fei ( Reference Wei and Fei2003) define Chinglish as an interlanguage, usually manifested as Chinese-style syntax with English words, Chinese phonological elements in pronunciation or grammatical variations that attempt to follow Standard English rules but miss the mark (p. 43). As will be discussed later in this essay, I assert that these criteria should instead be used to define Chinese English as an interlanguage. Chinglish, then, is a nonsensical form of language, identifiable as an attempt at English, but usually produced by deficient translation devices or speakers/writers with a low skill level (though it may not always be possible to tell which of the two has caused any particular instance of Chinglish). By definition, then, the occurrence of Chinglish is generally confined to written forms where mistakes of expression or translation are made.

Examples of Chinglish

Figure 1 below is an easily definable example of Chinglish as a nonsensical, erroneous form of language. This sign was photographed at the top of a mountain path climb in rural Zhejiang province.

The phrase 回程道 ( huíchéng dào) can be glossed as 'return journey way' and translated as 'return route' or 'way back', which makes sense in the light of the sign's positional context, indicating the way back down the mountain. However, the obviously flawed 'English' translation listed below the Chinese could hardly be termed anything but nonsensical. The only part of the translation that appears to correlate with the actual Chinese meaning is 'back'; however, with the preceding 'rack' and the suffixed 't' added on, the word makes no sense.

Figure 2, taken near the Da Zha Lan Shopping Alley in Beijing's hutong district, may also be regarded as an example of Chinglish.

Here, the term 智力玩具 ( zhìlì wánjù) is translated as 'mental toy', while a more appropriate translation would be 'intellectual toy'. The concept of an 'intellectual toy' might arguably be a lexical item exclusive to China, as a Google search of the phrase in English yields only Chinese-based toy manufacturers (compared with 'educational toy' in other varieties of English). Thus, the term 'mental toy' might be classified as Chinglish because of its nonsensical nature and poor translation.

Figure 3 is a particularly interesting example of Chinglish signage, photographed at the same place as Figure 2, near Da Zha Lan Alley in Beijing.

The three characters 佛光阁 ( fó guāng gé) can be literally glossed as 'Buddha light shelf' and refer to a small Buddha-shaped lamp that is often manufactured and sold in areas of China frequently visited by tourists. This translation is an obvious case of Chinglish: 'Buddna' being a typo of Buddha, 'sheen' being a possible interpretation of 光, an adjective meaning shiny or lustrous, and 'cockloft' being a very antiquated British word for 'attic'. When translated through more sophisticated online software (Yellowbridge, 2008), 阁 receives hits as both 'shelf' and 'attic' which suggests that the phrase was translated via an out-of-date dictionary or software. Hence, this unintelligible phrase is a clear case of Chinglish as poor translation.

Defining Chinese English

Wei & Fei ( Reference Wei and Fei2003) group the terms Chinese English and China English together, suggesting that ' Chinese English has tended to be held in contempt by both native speakers and most Chinese' (p. 44), whereas China English is a more widely-accepted title for the developing variety of English that is now being spoken in China. Similarly, Hu ( Reference Hu and Chen2006) says that there is 'no clear distinction between the terms' Chinese English and Chinglish and describes them as being 'at the opposite ends of a continuum' (p. 231). I propose that it is dangerous to group together these two forms of English, because there are clear differences between the interlanguage spoken by Chinese learners of English (what I term Chinese English) and the maturing cultural variety of English that is developing, outlined later in this paper as China English.

Aspects of Chinese English

If we take Richards et al.'s ( Reference Richards1992) definition of interlanguage, we can see that it is:

If we look at Chinese English as an interlanguage, the descriptive rules of English at work are obvious, though not always in a 'native-like' fashion. Often, Chinese English is the product of errors made by learners as they advance in fluency level. Chinese syntax or sentence structure with English words might be used, or at other times erroneous but intelligible uses of grammatical patterns (e.g. wrong past tenses, present progressive, etc), erroneous word choice, or the wrong application of rule structures. These forms of interlanguage do not constitute a new variety in and of themselves, but are usually still understandable to native speakers despite the errors. According to Wei and Fei, 'Individual learners, in using English, translate more or less from Chinese and tend to ignore the basic grammatical structure of English' (2003, p. 43). In this way, Chinese English as an interlanguage may not differ significantly from the interlanguages used by other learners of English around the world. Example A is an excerpt from a transliterated version of a speech given by one of the author's Chinese secondary school students:

Example A: Chinese English

The student first fails to transform 'happy' from its adjectival form to its nominal form, 'happiness'. Though this does not render the sentence unintelligible, it is the product of an inexperienced speaker who will presumably learn its standard pattern with more practice. Furthermore, this pattern would be common and particular to Chinese English because, in Mandarin, adjectival and nominal forms are often the same (as in this case, where 高兴 ( gāoxìng) means 'happy', 'happiness' and 'to be happy').

In the second sentence, the student literally translates an idiom from Mandarin using a combination of Chinese syntax and English words: 哪里有你 那里有高兴 ( năli yŏu nĭ, nàli yŏu gāoxìng), which can be glossed as: 'where have you, there have happy'. It should be noted that the student incorrectly translates a second 'where' which should actually have been 'there'. This is an easy error to make, as the words for 'there' and 'where' in Mandarin are homophonic except for their tones: 哪里 năli - 3rd tone = where; 那里 nàli - 4th tone = there. Example B, taken from a second student's speech, demonstrates improper word choice as a component of Chinese English.

Example B: Chinese English

In the first sentence, she uses the word 'work' (a verb) where the word 'job' (a noun) would be standard. Like gāoxìng in the previous example, here 'work' and 'job' are synonymous in the Mandarin word 工作 ( gōngzuò) which carries both the verbal and nominal meanings. In the second sentence, she says 'I want everyone can help me', where the standard pattern would be 'to' instead of 'can' in the use of the infinitive 'to help'. Here, she uses a Chinese verb construction where a lack of verb conjugation in Mandarin means that it is entirely possible to place two verbs next to one another in a sentence. In Standard English, however, only conjugated and infinitive verb forms may be used side-by-side. Furthermore, her choice of the word 'can' reflects the Mandarin use of the word 会 ( huì), which means both ability and permission to do something.

Figure 4 was photographed at a civic museum in Zhejiang Province. It shows a very clear example of misapplied grammatical rules.

The translator obviously meant 'No photographing' or 'No photography', but instead used the same conjugational pattern as in 'No smoking' (where the final 'e' is dropped from 'smoke' and the suffix 'ing' is added) and misapplied it to the word 'photo' rendering the phrase unintelligible. When viewed in context to its partner sign, this becomes an obvious case of interlanguage, where a learner is not yet fluent in the appropriate use of grammar patterns. It would be out of place to label this as China English because the example is an obvious result of misuse rather than a developing new trend in language function.

Figure 5 is a similar final example of Chinese English as an interlanguage.

In this case, the translator obviously meant 'recyclable' and 'non-recyclable' with the phrases 'can't reusing' and 'can reusing'. Two things have happened in this case. First examining the nature of the Mandarin structure, 不可回收 ( bù kĕ huìshōu) and 可回收 ( kĕ huìshōu) can be glossed as 'cannot recycle' and 'can recycle' (from left to right in the photo), making clear why the initial structure of 'can't' and 'can' was used. However, a second pattern has occurred in the employment of the present progressive form 'reusing'. While it is obvious that 'reuse' is a suitable synonym for 'recycle', it is impossible to explain why the present progressive verb form was chosen. Nonetheless, here again it is not a new developing pattern of English but simply a misapplied grammar structure that, presumably, would not occur if the translator was more experienced using English.

Again, these fundamental mistakes do not render the sentences entirely unintelligible to a native speaker, but they are obviously errors resulting from the speaker's lack of practice using English rather than new patterns developing in a China variety of English. Since the phrases are clear despite the misused patterns, they cannot be defined as Chinglish. As well, the patterns are not necessarily new developing forms of English particular to China, so they cannot be called China English, as will be described in the third section below. They fall into this intermediary category of an interlanguage - Chinese English.

Defining China English

The term China English has, by now, been well defined by linguists over the past 20 years. One of the most quoted writers on this particular topic is Li Wenzhong, whose definition has been used by dozens of succeeding researchers. Kirkpatrick and Xu ( Reference Kirkpatrick and Xu2002) quote Li's definition of China English:

China English is based on a standard English, expresses Chinese culture, has Chinese characteristics in lexis, sentence structure and discourse but does not show any L1 interference. (p. 269)

The meaning of 'L1 interference' here is the type of grammatical misuse we have seen occurring in Chinese English, defined in this essay as an interlanguage. So, Li distinguishes between Chinese English, with L1 interference, where the language learner uses certain aspects of her native language (L1) when trying to speak a second language (L2), and China English, which he terms a developing new variety with its own lexicon, structure, and discourse. According to Xu, as quoted in Poon ( Reference Poon2006), there are at least four major features of China English: varied pronunciation and accent, particular lexical items, an idiosyncratic syntax, and distinct discourse varieties (p. 24). Wei and Fei ( Reference Wei and Fei2003) also list several excellent examples of these four aspects of China English, including specific aspects of China English syntax and discourse.

Pronunciation and accent

Though a detailed analysis of the phonology of China English is outside the scope of this essay, a few examples will be provided here.

/θ/ → /s/ Speakers of China English often substitute /s/ where a Standard English speaker would use /θ/. This is because Mandarin has no sound equivalent to the English /θ/, an unvoiced dental fricative, so speakers choose the next closest linguistic component available to them, an unvoiced alveolar fricative, as a substitute. /ð/ → /z/ or /ð/ → /d/ Similarly, the voiced dental fricative /ð/ changes to voiced alveolars, which are the closest phonemes available in Mandarin. Finally, because Mandarin is a monosyllabic, tonal language, there is a tendency for China English speakers to use a very staccato style of speaking, where an additional /ə/ is sometimes added on to the end of a morpheme or lexical item to make it more readily pronounceable. For example, the Standard English /kæt/ may change to /kætə/ in China English. As well, the tonal nature of Mandarin results in China English speakers 'adding' tones to English words where they do not exist, or changing the stressing of syllables.

Lexical items

As Jian Yang ( Reference Yang2005) points out, 'borrowing has long been recognized as an important part of the nativization that English has undergone' (p. 425). To accurately talk about borrowings, it would be useful to define several terms, as there have been many arguments on the various expressions used regarding this subject. Though many definitions have been put forward, I will use Suzanne Romaine's (1995) definitions, as follows:

* loanblend - one part of a word is borrowed and the other belongs to the original language.

* loanshift - taking a word in the base language and extending its meaning so that it corresponds to that of a word in the other language.

* loan translation - rearranging words in the base language along a pattern provided by the other and thus creating a new meaning. (Romaine, Reference Romaine1995: 56-7)

Lexical innovations in China English mostly fall into one of these three categories, but to stay within scope here, I will only give some examples rather than provide lengthy discussions of how each example should be sorted according to the above categories.

In short, China English lexical items are words that can be easily recognised as English; however, they generally express ideas or things specific to Chinese culture and are therefore useless or even meaningless in the context of standard, native, or international Englishes. Distinctive examples of China English lexical items include such terms as autonomous region, colour wolf, dragon boat, little red cap, Mid-Autumn festival, one country two systems, red envelope, and special administrative region.

Although these words and phrases can easily be identified as English, their meaning is often inaccessible to English speakers outside China. For instance, the phrase colour wolf is a direct loan translation from Mandarin, roughly equivalent to 'sex maniac'. And, although a speaker of other varieties of English would easily be able to visualise a red envelope in its literal sense, within the Chinese cultural context, the phrase refers to a special monetary gift, often given at Chinese New Year or to exchange favours. So, these lexical items are very clearly Chinese in context and culture, and not fully comprehensible to users of English outside the Chinese context.

Syntax

Wei and Fei ( Reference Wei and Fei2003) provide a lengthy discussion of China English syntax with examples of six features of variation, including (i) word order differences, (ii) open head vs. open end, (iii) time sequence, (iv) compound and complex sentence structures, (v) special subjects and (vi) the use of the passive voice (pp. 44-5). Let us take as an example feature (ii), open head vs. open end, where, in China English, subordinate clauses are often put in front of main clauses. Example C is taken from a personal email to the author.

Example C: China English grammar (1)

As I am currently in China with an ABQ delegation doing projects of business, medical consulting, fashion-textile design, and Chinese investment to the US, I could not come myself.

In Standard written English, this might be phrased:

I could not come myself, as I am currently in China with an ABQ delegation doing projects [...]

following the pattern main clause + subordinate clause. Kirkpatrick and Xu ( Reference Kirkpatrick and Xu2002) point out that this phenomenon often occurs with 'because' as a forward pointing discourse marker at the beginning of a sentence. Example D shows this in another personal email.

Example D: China English grammar (2)

Because he can not reply you in time, I contact you directly. I hope my English won't let you down.

Though this may cause confusion for a native speaker for whom 'because' is a signifier that important information has already been transmitted, for China English speakers, 'because' is often placed first in a sentence in the Chinese language, and this structure is often transferred into English.

Discourse

Far less research has been done with regard to the discourse patterns of China English, although Kirkpatrick and Xu ( Reference Kirkpatrick and Xu2002) point out a striking feature of written discourse patterns in China English, where 'facework' plays an important role:

The first half of the letter is taken up with what Scollon and Scollon (1991) have called 'facework'. Then the writer introduces the reasons for a particular request and then, finally, makes the actual request. We could simplify the schema to: Salutation, Facework, Reason/Justification, Request, Sign off. (p. 274)

With this pattern in mind, let us examine Example E, a personal email to the author of this article:

Example E: Discourse features of China English

Salutation: Hello ...

Facework: I am [author] (I am Chinese), the colleague of [name] (our foreign advisor). Because he can not reply you in time, I contact you directly. I hope my English won't let you down.

Reason/Justification: It was a long time since my last mail. We are so glad to hear the news that you agree to write for us. Your experience and story is very valuable for our website and tourists. We are hoping to get your story as soon as possible. We will pay you due the time we got the stroy. [sic] So don't worry about that. We have been in business since 1998 and enjoy high reputation home and abroad. I appreciate your writing style and creative idea. It is a happy experience to write to you.

Request: So could you tell me how many stories do you have in hand or be going to write? What price do you charge for your story? When can you finish your story and send it or them to us?

Sign off: I am looking forward to your reply!

Best wishes,

Author

As we can see, this email clearly follows the pattern described in Kirkpatrick and Xu. First, the author introduces himself with a salutation. Next, he engages in facework, whereby he creates 'good face' by complimenting the recipient and noting his connection to her via a third party. Third, he shows his reason and justification for writing while still employing further facework in phrases like 'Your experience and story is very valuable.' Finally, he signs off by asking for a reply and sending best wishes. This type of discourse pattern is very particular to users of China English, especially in the Chinese cultural context where face represents a critical social concept. So, it makes sense that the breadth of the communication is taken up by discourse efforts toward positive facework and justification, whereas the same letter in Standard English would display the request with far less concern for them. China English is unique across the linguistic spectrum, from phonology to discourse. In the light of Butler's five criteria for nativisation, it is obviously still a developing variety, but the aspects shown above suggest that China English is on its way to becoming an established variety of English.

Conclusion

This essay has examined three types of English that exist in Mainland China, distinguishing particularly between Chinglish and Chinese English, which have been grouped together by previous linguists. Chinglish can be viewed as an erroneous form of language that is the result of poor translation, and it generally only exists in written form. Chinese English is an interlanguage used by Mandarin-speaking English learners in China. It is easily understood as being English by Inner Circle speakers, but it often contains so-called L1 interference, or Mandarin structural features. Misplaced or errantly used grammatical patterns are another characteristic of Chinese English. Finally, China English is a developing world variety of English. It has unique features including phonology, lexicon, syntax, and discourse patterns, and therefore it fulfils three out of Butler's five criteria toward becoming a nativised variety. As China develops socially and opens economically over the next decade, the use of English there will only be widened and further refined into an established Expanding Circle World English.

This Is China: A Guidebook for Teachers, Backpackers and Other Lunatics (Lulu, 2009). Email: megan.eaves@gmail.com

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English, Chinglish or China English? | English Today | Cambridge Core

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Roughly 90,000 taxi drivers in Beijing learned English in preparation for the Summer Olympic Games (Beijing 2008) of some 600,000 total residents of the city that have jumped on the English bandwagon in the past few years ( People's Daily, 2001).

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History and character
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/english-today/article/english-chinglish-or-china-english/AA9B6BAFDEBEE013D8DD2777C9F3620B