i wonder how much sympathy an american driver gets for using the wrong lane in france. “well, i don’t know a lick o’ french so it ain’t my fault.” why is this even an issue? why are you even driving if you have no idea what the signs say?
can the same be applied to parking? gee, i couldn’t read that sign that said no parking during working hours on weekdays. how can a law be broken if i didn’t know about it? it’s a very lame “if it isn’t in english, i don’t have to pay attention to it” attitude.
Even I am not a native English speaking person I think putting up road signs in English makes sense, at least where the characters are different.
That way I managed to drive from Bangkok to Pattaya (and back) before, without speaking or reading any Thai.
In Malaysia the characters are the same (as in English) so it’s not a problem to drive around there and find the right toll both or a place, even when it’s written only in the local language only.
But reading Chinese while driving is IMHO a bit tricky though of course when you have been here a while then it should be easier of course.
No excuse though for being able to read but not understand.
Ridiculous. English is the standard international trade language. Any country that wants to become a part of the international community is going to have to embrace English. America is not Chinese-friendly (I’m talking about the language) because America’s economy is not dependent on Chinese (or Taiwanese) commerce. Taiwan’s economy, however, is largely dependent on international commerce, especially from America. It is in Taiwan’s best interests to institute a system that is friendly toward English speakers. If Taiwan were able to function independent of western investment, I’d say forget the English. But that’s not the case. Westerners are hefty contributers to Taiwan’s economy. Have you forgotten why Taiwanese people are so obsessed with learning English in the first place? Complain all you want about westerners not learning Chinese, but as long as they’re bringing in the wealth, they’re going to have the right-of-way.
right of way? so i can drive around france and ignore any traffic signs that don’t have english translations because the us has the biggest economy in the world and france does a huge chunk of trade with the us?
or is it only asian countries that have to bow down and let foreigners do whatever they want?
There is a close to universal convention for traffic signs throughout Europe, and most other countries with European languages (North America seems to use a limited subset). This enables people to safely drive in these countries with little or no knowlegde of the local language.
Even parking signs are largely unified, although exact details can be difficult at times. Just as in Taiwan - if you cannot read the details you don’t park there.
Unfortunately application in Taiwan seems more than a little uneven. They are even used more widely in China (well Shanghai and Guangzhou anyway).
There is a very common and “hard to mistake” one for “no cars”. There are also signs for “cash” and “no cash”. They may not be part of the convention, but they are pretty obvious unless you come from a country that still uses beads for money.
quote:Originally posted by Mo' Joe:
Ridiculous. English is the standard international trade language....Complain all you want about westerners not learning Chinese, but as long as they're bringing in the wealth, they're going to have the right-of-way.
This is the same attitude (“Economic arrogance”) is also prevelent with the Germans and Japanese. But Mo’ Joe is correct. If the sole hyperpower were Germany today, the Taiwanese would be learning Deutsche. And Mo’ Joe wouldn’t be working in Taiwan.
This is the same attitude (“Economic arrogance”) is also prevelent with the Germans and Japanese. But Mo’ Joe is correct. If the sole hyperpower were Germany today, the Taiwanese would be learning Deutsche. And Mo’ Joe wouldn’t be working in Taiwan.
Why do they put pictures of men and women on the toilet signs? And the swerving vehicle on slippery signs? And the hump on the speed bump signs? And the Kangaroo on the Kangaroo caution sign? And the two joining roads picture on the merging road sign? Food for thought. Would it take so much to draw some pictures? A picture of a car on the light vehicles line, and a truck on the heavy vehicle section would be a good start.
This issue reminds me of the issue we have in the U.S. regarding whether we should have Spanish translations for everything official. It’s a tough call here, and I think the same of the issue in Taiwan. On the one hand, foreigners who drive or ride a scooter/motorcycle in Taiwan should be responsible for learning the local language(s). It’s not our country, and with living there and driving there comes certain responsibilities. It’s not our place to ask for English translations, when doing so amounts to some degree of trying to Westernize Taiwan. On the other hand, English is a major world language, spoken by a large number of people, and is, as was noted, the second official language in Taiwan. I guess I’m not saying anything new here. Just saying that for at least one American, I don’t take either side strongly, and personally, wouldn’t have a problem learning written Mandarin (and plan on doing so) if I drive or ride a scooter over relying on English.