… Carole!

Well, I’m a fan of English mistakes made by Chinese people. They’re amusing and, with some experience of teaching English in China, understandable. We can’t reverse the effects of our mother tongue just like that. What’s more, such features make the world not only funnier but also more interesting and varied.

Now, as my years as a translator have been accumulating, I sometimes have new contacts with Chinese companies, mostly in the Guangzhou area. Now another one has emerged from Zhejiang province, where I used to teach English. But said Carole is already a Project Manager, not a student. She’s supposed to write reasonably. So what message have I seen from her?

The elevation of the meaning of Chinglish to a new, shining height! She’s advertising for a Dutch<>English translator. The culprit is her requirement, “Preferred native language: English Middle (ca.1100-1500)”.

First, what does English Middle mean? If she means Middle English by the phrase, why reverse the word order?

Second, she seems to require somebody to speak Middle English. Really? As a native language? Looking for somebody whose mother should be dead for more than 500 years! Or much longer, perhaps since “ca. 1100”.

Congratulations for winning first place at the stupidity race among project managers! All, not only Chinese. Well done!

By P.S.