China – a gold medal in Translation

With the Olympics winding down…a closer look at how they translated so many elements that contributed to clear communications and a successful 2008 Summer Olympic Games.  English, French and Chinese are the three official languages of the games.  So what does a $40 billion makeover budget provide to Beijing?

1.  Signs and Slogans – the government invested in over 6,500 road signs last  year that were in English.  Many businesses invested in this as well but with less success as they were not as regulated regarding their grammar. 

2.  Telephone Language Access – Telephone interpreters are available for everything from Sailing Events to Taxi Services.  They are offered in 14 languages and over 10 million calls are expected.

3.  In-person Interpreters – They have provided crash courses in sports terminology for the many doctors who assist and support the Olympic athletes.

5.  The Beijing government provided a 170 page document to the many restaurants in the area to help them create bilingual menus.

6.  There was even an official language service provider – Yuanpei Translation. 

They even had a translation world congress with over 50 countries represented to be in Beijing on August 4th. 

China invested significant time, energy and money into preparing for these summer events and possible language barriers.  Great job China!