Beijing visitors go hi-tech to avoid getting lost in translation
ZHANGJIAKOU, China : Businesses at the Beijing Olympics are
getting around the language barrier by using high-tech apps and a
smartphone-like device to translate from Mandarin Chinese and keep the tills
ringing.
Though China's "zero COVID" policy has stopped the
influx of sports fans who would normally be cheering on their favourites, there
are still thousands of athletes, coaches, journalists and technicians in China
with money to burn.
"In the past few days, we have had more customers, and
we've relied on this smartphone to translate when communicating with
customers," ice cream shop assistant Wang Jianxin told Reuters.
He did so by speaking into a smartphone and the device
quickly translated his words before reading them back in a soft female voice.
With staff and volunteers often wearing masks and visors,
communication can be difficult, and Mandarin has little in common with
languages like the English, German, Norwegian, French and Russian spoken by
many Olympic competitors.
Thankfully, help is at hand in the form of devices like the
iFLYTEK Jarvisen, an artificial intelligence (AI) smart translator developed in
China.
"I thought the app worked very well, it seemed to work
perfectly. She (the waitress) answered, it said the same thing I said,"
Team USA media attache Nicki Hancock told Reuters after ordering lunch at the
Green Dragon restaurant.
Manager Lu Juanli has seen a few raised eyebrows as guests
have received unexpected menu advice, with "mushroom" being
translated as "fungus" among other anomalies.
"Some of our dishes have rather colourful names, so
there are some inaccuracies in the translations, which makes customers rather
interested. It's very funny," she said.
Non-Mandarin speakers use marker pens to highlight the
dishes they want on the plastic menus, and verbal communication is done through
a translation device.
Though the apps and devices are working well for many, there
are still things that get lost in translation.
"Once we had an experience when we wanted 'cow
milk'," German journalist Frank Schneider explained at the ice cream
parlour where Wang works.
"But the English 'cow' was understood as 'cough', which
led to some confusion - people here are most afraid of corona (COVID-19) and
coughing is one of the symptoms. (But) all in all, it works pretty well,"
he added.
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