Summary
1. Causing of the mistakes: The translators of the above mentioned signs are doing a simple job: consulting a dictionary for a Chinese character, then adding them up, without even changing the order of the words. Strictly speaking, it can’t be called “translation” at all. The English versions read like nonsense, and sometimes they can be quite ridiculous. It is assumed that those translations are done by translation software (machine translation) instead of individuals.
2. Ways of avoiding such mistakes: This kind of mistakes can be easily avoided by consulting a Chinese-English dictionary for the whole translation unit instead of individual words, and testify the validity of the translation through search engines to see whether it is accepted internationally.  

   4.1.3. Redundancies
Description: Simple and clear English should be used on the public signs, for the target readers have limited time to read it carefully. The public signs displayed here seem redundant and wordy by turning out each Chinese word into English.

Example 15
                                  



(Shot on the advertisement of the hospital, Andingmennei Street) (Ordinary photo provided)

Analysis: “五洲”has been turned out as “for all the world”. The name board of an institution is set up with an aim to tell the target readers “what is it” , “what is it for” and “how it is specialized”. Other message except these is redundant. Foreigners only need to know that this building is a hospital, and it is specialized for women. They don’t care whether the hospital is for local residents or “for all the world”. Therefore, it’s not necessary to say “for all the world”.
Suggestions: Since “五洲” is appeared as the brand name of the hospital, it can be put in its pinyin form, revised as “BEIJING WUZHOU WOMEN’S HOSPITAL”.

Example 16

(Shot in the promenade garden, Tiantongyuan Residential Quarter)

Analysis: The Chinese version on this sign is artistic and musical, while the English used here is rather dull and without polish. Obviously, the sign is translated word by word, by which spoil the interests of readers. It is set up with an intention to persuade people not to go into the lawn, and the figure of speech, such as personification and parallelism, has been used to enhance the persuasion. But the purpose can’t be achieved by the English one.
Suggestions: Corresponding figure of speech should be used in the translation, which can be read as followed: “Grass is fair, which needs your care”.

Example 17
  



（Shot on a directing board in Zizhuyuan Park）

Response: Norman Prichard wrote in his Email: “My first reaction was ´I don´t understand this at all - how do you listen to a restaurant?´ Then I realized it referred to birdsong. The pinyin might be better, or something like ´Song of the Oriole Restaurant´ or simply ´The Oriole Restaurant´.” (Appendix – Letter 3)
Analysis: Language used on the public signs should be concise and as short as possible due to the limited place, and at the same time, necessary message should be rendered. Here, the target readers only need to know that it is a “restaurant”, and may have no interests in getting to know the name of it. Thus, it’s unnecessary to translate “听鹂馆” into English.
Suggestions: The name of the restaurant can be easily put in its pinyin form, as “Tingliguan Restaurant”.

Example 18

(Shot at Changling, Beijing)
Analysis: The core message here is “please don’t scribble”, so “cherish the cultural relic” is unnecessary to be translated.
“Scribble” is defined as an activity of “drawing marks that have no meaning” (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 2005). It is usually done with a pen, pencil or brush etc., but never with a knife. “刻画” here means the behavior of painting or writing something on the walls, and the English word for this behavior is “graffiti”.
Suggestion: It can be simply put as “No Graffiti!”

Example 19

(Shot in the Forbidden City)

Analysis: Grammatical problems have been spotted.
1) “Refinement” is a noun, which shouldn’t be put before another noun, i.e. stonework.
2) “Stonework”, according to Cambridge Dictionary Online (http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=78416&dict=CALD), refers to “the parts of a building which are made of stone”, which is not the equivalence for “石雕”.
3) “Prohibit” should be followed by “ing” form, instead of primitive verb.
4) Since the subject is not mentioned, passive voice should be used.
The sign serves as a warning to visitors that no one is allowed to enter in in order to protect the carvings, so, “prohibit” is the core message, words except that are irrelevant and unnecessary to be translated.
Suggestions: It can be easily put as “No entry”.

Example 20

(Shot at the entrance of Guozijian)

Analysis: No grammar mistakes have been found on the sign, except that it is too long to be read. Simplicity is the language requirement of public signs, which should be taken it account when doing the translation. In order to fulfill the requirement, nouns, verbs, gerunds, phrases, abbreviations, the combination of words and signs, present tense, interrogative expressions and set expressions are used. As in this example, the long sentence can be replaced by a set expression.
Suggestion: “Welcome to Guozijian, Beijing”