【Revised】Lost in Translation?

We might come across millions of people a day in SL but all of us probably speak different languages such as Korean, Arabic or Spanish. In the uncommunicative circumstance, are you eager for a personal interpreter?

Some of you may have run into the situation that you cannot get help from others or build rapport with people you met due to the language barrier. Don’t worry! We got a free custom-made interpreter here in Language Translator -By Simbolic . Get ready to have one? Here we go!

While you are teleported there, find the half cave named “Language Translator” and then you will see a board -Simbolic Translator. After you take the translator, you should put it on for operation. Whenever it is functioning, you can only translate one language into your speaking language. Click the bar right on “I speak” to choose your speaking language, and then opt for the target language others speak.

With the portable interpreter, you can explore around SL and visit various exotic places, contacting foreigners even though you are not multilingual. It seems a satisfactory tool for basic translation; however, if you would like to build deep relationship with other speakers, I am afraid the translator couldn’t serve as the best bridge as you thought. The following is my experiment in English-Chinese translation:
Dezno: hi
translator: 您好
Dezno: is anybody here
translator: 是谁在这里
Dezno: what the hell
translator: 什么是地狱
Dezno: oh my
translator: 噢，我的
Dezno: bad translation
translator: 坏翻译
Dezno: well i had better translate myself
translator: 以及更好地将我自己
Dezno: how comwe
translator: 如何comwe
Dezno: how come
translator: 怎么
Dezno: no one here
translator: 没有人在这里
Dezno: i feel bored
translator: 我觉得无聊
Dezno: i had better take it off
translator: 我有更好地把

First of all, some words the translator uses are out-of-date like 您好and there are also some mistranslations. By the way, if you misspell words, the translator could not tell and correct it on its own like a human being. It can’t even translate some colloquial phrases precisely. As to the translation quality of other language, I couldn’t affirm they are the same as English-Chinese translation. Yet there is one thing I am sure-if you do really like to make friends with people in SL, especially Chinese speakers, you had better be the interpreter yourself, or you maight lose in translation.

Personal Portable Interpreter in SL

We might come across millions of people a day in SL but all of us probably speak different languages such as Korean, Arabic or Spanish. In the uncommunicative circumstance, are you eager for a personal interpreter?

Some of you may have run into the situation that you cannot get help from others or build rapport with people you met due to the language barrier. Don’t worry! We got a free customer-made interpreter here in Language Translator -By Simbolic . Get ready to have one? Here we go!



While you are teleported there, find the half cave named “Language Translator” and then you will see a board -Simbolic Translator. After you take the translator, you should put it on for operation. Whenever it is functioning, you can only translate one language into your speaking language. Click the bar right on “I speak” and choose your speaking language. Then opt for the target language others speak.



With the portable interpreter, you can explore around SL and visit various exotic places and contact foreigners even though you are not multilingual. It seems a satisfactory tool for basic translation; however if you would like to build deep relationship with other speakers, I am afraid the translator couldn’t serve as the best bridge as well as you thought. Following is my experiment in English-Chinese tranlation:

Dezno: hi
translator: 您好
Dezno: is anybody here
translator: 是谁在这里
Dezno: what the hell
translator: 什么是地狱
Dezno: oh my
translator: 噢，我的
Dezno: bad translation
translator: 坏翻译
Dezno: well i had better translate myself
translator: 以及更好地将我自己
Dezno: how comwe
translator: 如何comwe
Dezno: how come
translator: 怎么
Dezno: no one here
translator: 没有人在这里
Dezno: i feel bored
translator: 我觉得无聊
Dezno: i had better take it off
translator: 我有更好地把

First of all, some words the translator use are out-of-date(marked green) like 您好and there are some mistranslations (marked yellow). And if you misspell words (marked blue), the translator could not tell and correct it on its own like a human being. It can’t even translate some colloquial phrases(marked purple) precisely. Therefore, if you do really like to make friends with people speaking different languages in SL, you had better be the interpreter yourself.

【Revised】Lost language identity in SL?

Embodied in a virtual world, how do you present your identity? Sometimes we all ignore how much weight languages put on us.

It seems normal for me that English is the only dominant language in second life in which everyone should speak. “Is it necessary to use the so-called “international language” for successful socialization in SL” was a question I wouldn’t hesitate to answer with “YES” some time ago.

However, once I ran into a Chinese speaker who asked me to speak Chinese to in China Town even though she had no idea whether I was a Chinese speaker. I felt surprise and inquired what language she used to communicate with people in SL and she responded without hesitation— “Chinese”. I was not sure she spoke English well or not but she told me firmly that Chinese was also an international language. I have ever also bumped into some guys who are not native English speakers and our conversation couldn’t last because they preferred to talk to people who can speak their mother languages. Those events gathered together and turned into a bomb exploding in my mind.

I’ve started to ponder whether I lost my identity in SL because I am so accustomed to the dominant language that I am blind to face the importance of varied languages. To be honest, I am pleased about showing my origin to others in the virtual world, yet I tend to reckon English as the only access to the world and presentation of internationalization unconsciously.

In fact, language seems to play an important role in driving conversation, especially between people from different countries. It is essential to shift in different language identity timely to create a more agreeable conversational environment where we practice our target language as well.
in Japanese Town
in China Town

Lost Identity?

Embodied in a virtual world, how do you present yourself?

No matter being a newbie or an oldbie, I almost speak in English all the way. It seems normal for me that English is the only dominant language in second life in which everyone should speak. “Is it necessary to use the so-called “international language” for successful socialization in SL” was a question I wouldn’t hesitate to answer with “YES” some time ago.

However, once I ran into a Chinese speaker who asked me to speak Chinese to her in China Town even though she had no idea whether I was a Chinese speaker or not . I felt surprise and inquired what language she used to communicate with people in SL and she responded without hesitation— “Chinese”. I was not sure she spoke English well or not but she told me firmly that Chinese was also an international language.

I’ve started to ponder whether I lost my identity in SL because I am so accustomed to the dominant culture that I am blind to face my own mother language. To be honest, I am pleased about showing my origin to others in the virtual world, yet I tend to reckon English as the only access to the world and presentation of internationalization unconsciously. It is crucial to realize the power of cultural imperialism acting upon myself imperceptibly.

Definitely it is too tough for me to change the situation not to speak English, so I’ve tried to alter my appearance to resemble a Chinese as much as possible in order to reinforce my idnetity. I inquired around where to purchase Chinese avatars and even spent almost all of my Liden on an Asian avatar. Now as a Chinese-looking girl in SL, I feel more comfortable and confident about who I am.

The Luscious Landscape along Interchanges

(Photo: Tobie Openshaw)

Have you ever been attracted to those beauties in sexy and appealing dresses? If you get a chance to experience, you are sure to be surprised by Taiwanes Betelnut Beauties.

One of the features in Taiwan appealing to international media and foreign tourists is our “betelnut girl”. Sprinkled with numerous transparent boxes with twinkling neon lights and alluring shop names, the interchange in Taiwan is known as a display for betelnut girls. As a stall, the showcase displays these betelnut beauties in sexy outfits.

Formerly, people selling betelnut are from diversity of ages and could be males or females but, gradually, for the sake of attracting customers, the boss of betelnut stalls came up with an idea to hire young and beautiful girls in fascinating outfits as clerks. Obviously, it is such a successful business strategy that betelnut girl has become a burgeoning industry in Taiwan. You may wonder why most stalls are located on interchanges and that’s because truck drivers are the chief customers who support the betelnut industry. In order to keep alert and energetic, truck drivers like to chew betelnuts while they are on a long-way driving. Accordingly, situated on interchanges, betelnut shops are sure to earn more businesses.

Even though the business strategy is so successful, it incurs overwhelming judgments on those girls. With so many beauties dressed little clothes on the street, it is regarded as indecent exposure. Chinese culture doesn’t encourage women dress exposurelyat all, especially in public; moreover, it is believed that making money by the advantage of appearance is definitely a moral wrong.

Serving as betelnut beauties, those girls are the same as showgirls in car exhibition or super stars dancing lusciously on TV programs. Apparently, most of us take wrong attitudes toward them. Instead of doing something legally wrong, they are dedicated to their career by entertaining customers and taking their career seriously.


Visit Tobie Openshaw's gallery of betelnut girl photos, taken over a five-year period:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tobie_openshaw/sets/72157594581621891/