- The ubiquitousness of 'Masala' English. Many Indians, particularly those with a high level of education, are highly fluent in English (and usually, a handful of other languages). Yet in a country where English is widely spoken, and where English is highly visible on official communications, road signs, and advertisements, misspellings and bad grammar abound. From what I have heard of restaurant menus in China, I think Indian menus could give them a run for their money. "REAL ESTEAT," "PHOTOGARAPHI NOT ALOUT," and "CHEEKEN" are some favorite examples.
- Hilarious Web design: Hi tech has come to India in a big way. India engineers our computers, writes the code for the software that runs on them, and then answers the phone when we call in for help. Consumer electronics are everywhere, and cell phones are better and easier to use than in the states. and India is leading the way in innovation in areas like mobile banking. Unfortunately, web page design has been left behind in the early 1990's. Or Indians are just really keen on Angel Fire-ish web layout and gif animations. The best example we have found is the web page for Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad. Also do yourself a favor and check out the page for Jurassic Park on this site. Who knew that triceratops could breathe fire?
Sunday, February 8, 2009
One or Two Things You Didn't Know About India
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I've known about triceratops' abilities for a long time. I used to time-travel as a kid. Do they have any in the park, or are they not up-to-date on the latest time travel technology? BTW -- the music on that site is amazing.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the English. If China/Japan speak "Engrish" then India speaks "Engleesh."
I disagree about the mobile phones, though. I fought with my Vodaphone every day. You must have a monthly plan and/or a nice phone.
Oh, correction: I didn't say that getting a mobile phone contract was easy or transparent. Big headache!
ReplyDeleteFirst, I got my phone, and they wanted a passport photo, which I said I would bring "the next day." OK, so I dropped the ball on that one, but when they disconnected my phone, I high-tailed it over to the office with the photos . . . where I was instructed that I would need to provide proof of address as well. So I promised to return the following Monday, and they promised to turn on my phone in an hour . . . which ended up being 72 hours in the end.
... around the time you provided an address? :)
ReplyDeleteb/c I love to share adventure blogs from India: http://nickandlaurascurrymoon.blogspot.com/2009/01/penmanship-problems.html
I kept the Jurassic Park website open at work so I could dance to the music and pass the time. Nice find Bartley!
ReplyDeletethe zoo's website is quite possibly my most favorite website ever created, and particularly all of the fire breathing dinosaurs.
ReplyDeleteAlso, regarding the use of English, I've learned to just accept much of it as another dialect like British or Australian English. "Veg" has replaced both the words "vegetable" and "vegetarian" in my vocabulary, you take "snaps", not photos, and I learned today that a school administrator is called the "In Charge". These, of course, have to do not with mispellings but, er, varied use of the language, to put it gently.