Taiwan should improve their English level

It is quite often seen a bit everywhere in Taiwan, a poor standard of the English language.
Although great efforts are visible among the young generations, we come across with innumerous careless mistakes, affecting the government (official reports), businesses, etc, etc.
This would not be a problem if Taiwan would only interact with it self, but we are in the 21st century and in a dynamic economy like Taiwan, an interaction with the world is unavoidable.
Another serious example is when the local post offices have street names lists with wrong spellings. When they receive a letter with the right spelling in English and as the majority of the post office employees can't speak English, they rely on their list to verify the correspondent Chinese name. Because their list does not contain the official English spelling, the letter is either returned to the sender as "Non-existing address" or is delivered in a wrong place.
I've been personally affected by this problem several times and had to take a photo of my street's plate name to bring to the post office, for them to understand the actual problem.

Check out an example of shop that has the intention to advertise their product: Instead of writing "Fruit Ice-cream", they write "Special Ice & Fruit Food". This is an example of a direct translation, which sometimes does not make any sense (not to mention the spelling error).


Another example published today in the Taipei Times (the main Taiwanese News Paper in English), they meant Kelly doesn't eat much of that crap:

phto: AP
At 53kg, something tells us Kelly Chen doesn't each much McDonald's.

PS. Nothing to do with the subject of this post, but I do not want to make any publicity to such company so here are the facts published in Taipei Times:

"Hong Kong singer/actress Kelly Chen (陳慧琳) was put in a tight spot last week when reporters began pressing her about her role as a spokeswoman for McDonald's with the documentary Supersize Me, which is set to be released in the city. Chen, who clocks in at 53kg, offered the stock response from the McDonald's camp that the fast food restaurant now offers low-calorie options, like salads, and that it's a great family locale. No one pointed out, though, that with salad dressing added, the salads are just as calorie-rich as a Big Mac."

Have a great Halloween weekend and avoid fast food!

Happy Halloween

You can drink, you can fly, but at diferent times!
Happy Halloween

Democracia Imatura

O comportamento infantil de certos politicos deixa-nos a pensar se serao pessoas com capacidade de nos representar e de certa forma influenciar as nossas vidas.
Aqui na Asia e’ frequente em certas culturas e regimes democraticos, os membros do paralamento acabarem as sessoes ‘a porrada.
E’ do conhecimento publico este tipo de cenas tanto no parlamento de Taiwan como no da Coreia do Sul.
Ontem, aqui em Taiwan discutia-se no parlamento, a compra de armas aos USA. O partido da oposicao, KMT, bloqueou a compra com o voto negativo e afirma que ficou ofendido com a declaracao de Colin Powell (Secretario de Estado Americano) em Pequim: “Taiwan nao e’ uma nacao soberana.”
Apesar de compartilhar os sentimentos do partdo da oposicao, o partido do actual governo, DPP, insiste na compra de armamento aos USA.
Resultado, nao chegaram a um acordo e acabaram a sessao ‘a batatada, ou melhor ‘a arrozada (ja que as armas que utilizaram para se atacarem mutuamenete foi nada mais nada menos que as lancheiras de arroz.
Coisas de democracias imaturas!


photo: Lin Cheng-Kuan, Taipei Times
DPP Legislator Chen Chong-yi yesterday throws a copy of the proposed arms procurement plan at opposition lawmakers as the legislature failed to pass the budget again due to the opposition's boycott.

Pan-blues block arms deal citing Powell's comments
The statute governing the arms deal with the US failed to pass the Procedure Committee yesterday as the pan-blue camp claimed they objected to the statute in response to US Secretary of State Colin Powell's statement that "Taiwan is not a sovereign state," and the meeting ended in confusion as the lawmakers from the two camps threw their lunch boxes and other items at each other to vent their frustration.
The pan-blue camp lawmakers boycotted the statute yesterday, saying that if Powell does not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state, then Taiwan should refrain from buying weapons from the US.
By Debby Wu – Taipei Times reporter
Wednesday, Oct 27, 2004

Grab life now, it’s not going to last for ever!

Although the English is not quite OK, the message of this sentence is very powerful.
I think they meant something like this:

The excitement in your life depends on how you pursue your dreams!

A felicidade na tua vida depende da forma como tu tentas realizar os teus sonhos!

Veneza em Taipei

At least four die as storm hits Taiwan
LOCAL DEVASTATION: Heavy rains, flooding and severe winds left their mark on the country as Typhoon Nock-Ten brushed trough Taiwan.
At least four people died after Typhoon Nock-Ten pounded northern Taiwan with heavy rains and strong winds yesterday.


photo: Tang Sheng-Yang, Taipei Times
Aisan 3rd Road in Keelung suffers the worst flooding since the devastating Typhoon Nari in 2001. Extensive flooding resulting from Typhoon Nock-Ten leaves the usually bustling street deserted.

Mother natures attacks fiercly this year: so far 10 typhoons and 97 earthquakes in Taiwan!