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Print Story "English Train Announcements (In Japana) - Why?"
Ranting
By lylehsaxon (Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 05:46:52 AM EST) (all tags)
In newer trains in Tokyo, they have bilingual (Japanese & English) displays over the doors on the inside of the train, as well as bilingual displays on the outside of the train (on the front, rear, and sides), not to mention bilingual signs on the station platforms.  Great stuff - the long-term citizens of the country get to see their own language, and hapless tourists & businesspeople get an International language more widely recognized than Japanese.

What's not so great is the horrible audio; recorded announcements relentlessly assaulting everyone's ears before and after every station.  What's wrong with English language announcements on Tokyo trains?


  • First off, they are unneeded.  "Shinjuku" in Japanese is also "Shinjuku" in English, "Nakano" in Japanese is "Nakano" in English... except when you get some mono-linguist who can't speak the local language to say it - like they have done for the JR announcements - and they pronounce it "NaKAno".  Grrrrrr..!
  • Bad education!  When people ride a train every day, week-after-week, month-after-month, and year-after-year, and every time, their ears and minds are assaulted with the very same badly pronounced station names - I wouldn't be surprised if children here start calling Yotsuya "YoTSUya" like the bloody announcement on JR trains!  And even if it's not bad education, it's disgusting to listen to!  It's sound pollution!  Yamete kudasai yo!
  • The English parts of the announcements, although said with an irritatingly hard and twangy voice, are at least pronounced correctly (with an American accent).  BUT - they are said at one-third speed, as though an over-eager kindergarten teacher is trying too hard to super-pronounce every single word, and to leave miles of space between each word for easy comprehension.  I think even if English was my seventh and most poorly understood language, that way of "speaking" the language would still be highly irritating to listen to!  Kanben shite kure yo!
  • The audio assault English announcements (unneeded & unwanted) are played louder than the Japanese announcements!!  Why???  Is it some kind of mental torture cleverly devised to ease crowding a little by getting people to walk or cycle to work, rather than face the horrible sound waves broadcast on the trains?
  • In one of the announcements (about smoking, or babies or something), it sounds as though the woman badly needs to clear her throat... and you stand there on the train - involuntarily clearing your throat - and you think "Over time, millions - millions of people are going to hear the announcement and they couldn't be bothered to rerecord a bad spot?!? Incredible!!  Astounding!!  Outrageous!!  Unforgivable!!  And - oh so amazingly irritating!!!  Grrrrrrrrrr!!!!!"
And... that's basically it.  I realize the announcements are intended to be helpful, but they're really not needed (or wanted), and if they must be there, it sure would be nice if they could turn the volume down on them and rerecord them in a more natural sounding way.  But really - they're not needed!  They really aren't!  Even tourists would rather take in the ambiance of a foreign country - enhanced by listening to cool Japanese announcements.  Who is happy with those profoundly irritating English announcements?  Maybe one person out of 333,333 - or less!  Arigata-meiwaku desu!

Rant over....

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/

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"English Train Announcements (In Japana) - Why?" | 17 comments (17 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback
Come ovber here some time. by BadDoggie (2.00 / 0) #1 Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 09:36:21 AM EST
The English announcements are atrocious and spoken by the same female German speaker, badly. Instead of "exit to the right" as is said in German, the English announcement subjects all to "Please exit de train on de right hand side" in a sing-song style. While they aren't using English pronunciations of stations, they ARE translating Hauptbahnhof to "Munich Central Station" on the announcements even though there's not a single marking ANYWHERE in Munich which refers to the place as anything other than Hauptbahnhof. Search high and low, you'll starve before you find a single sign for -- or written reference to -- "Munich Central Station".

That they're speaking more slowly over there is a good thing for all the foreigners who are struggling to find their way with transliterated maps and can easily confuse station names. Despite being very good qwith languages I realised how helpful such announcements actually can be when dealing with a language I have ZERO experience in when I was in Prague. No English, full speed announcements, and a language which often sounds little like what one might expect based on the letters used. Non-JPN speakers can't make out the damned kanji station names.

woof.

woof.

OMG WE'RE FUCKED! -- duxup ?


Audio by ucblockhead (2.00 / 0) #3 Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 12:30:23 PM EST
That would be true if it only audio was available, but the trains in Tokyo (at least the ones that I road) had video displays with extremely clear visualizations of where you are, and how far to whatever station you are going to.

See this. It rotates between Kanji and Romaji every 15 seconds or so.

The Tokyo train system is amazingly easy for an English speaker to navigate.
----
ウセーバラケダ
[ Parent ]

Thanks! by lylehsaxon (2.00 / 0) #6 Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 04:18:09 PM EST
Thanks!  Precisely my point!  Visually, they've got it covered, so the English (the loud, irritating and poorly read English) is just an irritation and not useful.

Lyle

The shortest way home is the longest way 'round....
[ Parent ]

Timing? by lylehsaxon (2.00 / 0) #7 Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 04:22:03 PM EST
Thanks for the picture link.  But... doesn't the whole display change to romaji?  I'll have a look when I ride the Yamanote Line in a few hours.  Maybe the picture was taken at just the right time, before the circle of stations changed to romaji?

Lyle

PS - In fact, I suppose I should just take a video of the deal (with sound) and post it....

The shortest way home is the longest way 'round....
[ Parent ]

Two-part Display by lylehsaxon (2.00 / 0) #17 Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 06:28:58 PM EST
I took a video of the display yesterday - posted here:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4075315375439017139&hl=en

The large next-station part of the display and the map of the stations on the circular line alternate between Japanese and English independently.

Lyle

The shortest way home is the longest way 'round....
[ Parent ]

czech by Merekat (2.00 / 0) #12 Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 05:07:08 AM EST
For some reason, apart from basic beer ordering, the only Czech that has stayed with me is that that means 'the doors are about to close'.

[ Parent ]

English on trains by ucblockhead (2.00 / 0) #2 Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 12:25:23 PM EST
Speaking as an English-speaking visitor, I completely ignored the spoken announcements as the written display told me everything I needed to know. They showed the time to the next station and the name of the upcoming station, all in roman text. (Rotating with kanji.) I wish the trains where I live had that

I did notice the English pronounciation differences and found it amusing.
----
ウセーバラケダ


Where? by lylehsaxon (2.00 / 0) #8 Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 04:23:26 PM EST
Where do you live?  In another city in Japan?

Lyle

The shortest way home is the longest way 'round....
[ Parent ]

I don't by ucblockhead (2.00 / 0) #10 Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 04:33:32 PM EST
I travel there on business every once in a while.
----
ウセーバラケダ
[ Parent ]

insidious government plans to help everyone learn by misslake (2.00 / 0) #4 Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 12:34:50 PM EST
when i was in mexico, i recall hearing an interesting little tidbit:
all foreign language films that are not for children specifically cannot be dubbed into spanish. they must be subtitled.
this was a literacy measure enforced by the government to make everyone read.

perhaps they are trying to make everyone speak english.
poorly.
in a very irritating voice.

some sort of subversion/aversion therapy perhaps?



Not policy here exactly, but.... by lylehsaxon (2.00 / 0) #9 Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 04:30:14 PM EST
... the movies here are never dubbed in theaters (except some children's movies), but they are on TV (with English broadcast on a sub-channel, so you can select either one).

Lyle

The shortest way home is the longest way 'round....
[ Parent ]

Curiously by R343L (2.00 / 0) #5 Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 01:40:20 PM EST
The monorail system at the Seattle-Tacoma airport is bilingual English/Japanese. But as far as I can tell, nothing else in the airport is. It was kind of nice to hear announcements in Japanese again.

"There will be time, there will be time / To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet." -- Eliot


Ichiro Power? by lylehsaxon (2.00 / 0) #11 Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 04:41:07 PM EST
Bilingual Japanese & English in Seattle?  No kidding!  Must be Ichiro Power!

Lyle

The shortest way home is the longest way 'round....
[ Parent ]

Dude-- by ammoniacal (2.00 / 0) #13 Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 09:14:50 AM EST
This place is Yokohama East.

This coomenat has be n soidnsord by hurricanbe ice malt liqur
[ Parent ]

Not for residents! by lylehsaxon (2.00 / 0) #14 Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 09:28:28 AM EST
Do you mean the bilingual announcement is for Japanese residents of Seattle?  Or that there are a lot of tourists and business people?  Or all three?  I did meet a woman over here once who had lived in LA for a year, and when I said "What's your name?" - her very memorable reply was "No English! - No English!!" as in "I don't speak any English!".  Apparently she read J-Newspapers, watched J-TV, ate J-food, talked with J-friends, etc. the whole time she was in LA, and didn't learn any English at all.  She came back to Tokyo and then decided to study English!

Same thing up in Seattle then too?

Lyle

The shortest way home is the longest way 'round....
[ Parent ]

All three. Students too. by ammoniacal (2.00 / 0) #15 Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 09:34:12 AM EST
There's a large social support network for Japanese nationals here.

This coomenat has be n soidnsord by hurricanbe ice malt liqur
[ Parent ]

Completely unrelated: by blixco (2.00 / 0) #16 Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 06:16:47 PM EST
I wanted to get this link to you.  Some amazing shots though I am still partial to your photos.

http://arkiblog.net/blog/wp-content/plugins/fgallery/fim_photos.php?album=twilightzonetokyo
---------------------------------
"You bring the weasel, I'll bring the whiskey." - kellnerin


"English Train Announcements (In Japana) - Why?" | 17 comments (17 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback

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