Articles and Stories

April 23, 2014

Lost in a hotel abroad? No worries, the “Hotel is always pleased to accept adultery”

You’ve probably heard it before and it even made it once in the title of a movie: Lost in Translation.

Even assuming you have never needed translation services before, (which is highly unlikely if you travel abroad at all, whether for business or just to enjoy a vacation) you probably have a slight idea of what “Lost in Translation” means.

Linguistic and cultural limitations can cause a lot of stress if you feel that what you are trying to communicate is not being conveyed properly; in fact, after a prolonged stay in a foreign country, you might end up feeling like a fish out water much in the same way Bill Murray’s character, Bob, did in Lost in Translation during his stay in Tokyo. Even if you manage to say something “grammatically” correct in a foreign language, who knows what people might understand if you don’t master its nuances. You could just as easily make friends or enemies if you say the wrong thing.

This is probably what happened to a hotel in Beijing when handing out brochures in English to their international guests that provided information about the hotel amenities and services. It was certainly an attempt to accommodate foreign visitors and offer “friendly” customer service, though perhaps the approach wasn’t as successful as intended, seeing that the material didn’t seem to have been translated by a professional translator. Some of the hotel guests might have felt offended and others…? Well, there are people for everything, so some might have actually enjoyed what the hotel had to offer.

Lines such as, “the manager will await you in the entrance hall. He always tries to have intercourse with all new guests”, “We of course are always pleased to accept adultery” or “please note that ladies are not allowed to have babies in the bar” are examples of how a literal translation can make you seriously wonder if cultural differences can be that insurmountable, or if perhaps your travel agent misjudged your “needs”.

You have to give it to them, the hotel at least realized the importance of translating information for their guests and did something right: it became memorable! Except… it was for the wrong reason.

Would you like to read the entire brochure and judge for yourself? Visit the following link: http://www.junyingkirk.com/?p=5205