Re: [Mind] When too good is no good...

[amerinese (amerinese)]

I saw this posted on the English Research board and am
responding here as well.

First, the problem with the China Post is not that it isn't
"beautiful" English.  The problem is that it suffers from
poor grammar and using words or phrases in the wrong way.  It
doesn't even get the basics right (even if it is better English
than what maybe the average Taiwanese person would write).

Second, you are talking about the China Post as if there isn't
a better alternative.  If the China Post was the best English
newspaper in Taiwan, then maybe I could understand.  But the
Taipei Times doesn't suffer from any of these problms and
I can't remember a single problem with grammar or usage in many
years of reading it.

I don't doubt that the journalists at the China Post work hard,
and of course they don't purposely make mistakes.  But they aren't
as good as the competition.

Why would you buy the China Post to learn English if it has
grammatical problems, but the Taipei Times does not?

※ 引述《AJ215 ()》之銘言：
: I often hear people consider the China Post a lame English
: newspaper because they think its diction is not profound
: and its sentences not beautiful. It is a myth, in fact.
: The China Post is my favorite source of news. It is so
: simple and plain that I'm able read it effortlessly and get
: information quickly and massively. No doubt the China Post
: does not serve as a English-learning material but much as
: a news agent for people who don't read Chinese newspapers.
: Foreigners -- the Japanese, the Indonesian, the Russian, to
: name a few -- who study, work and travel in Taiwan make up
: a large proportion of the China Post's readership. (I once
: saw a Filipino housekeeper in my neighborhood read the
: China Post. And at Shida Language Center, exchange students
: from the Middle East or somewhere else read it,too.)
: Critics from some Internet bulletin boards also hold that
: the China Post abounds in Chinglish, making native speakers
: frown upon. Is that so? I wonder. Because as far as I know,
: the China Post's staff must be excellent in English writing,
: as a crucial part of their work. Those who critize the China
: Post must weigh up their own English against that of the
: China Post before they speak ill of it.
: Last year, a Taiwan-produced English learning magazine called
: "TIME Express" went out of print. Unlike Ivy and studioclassroom,
: TIME Express was not profitable because it was so removed from
: average needs. To put it simply, few people bothered to read a
: magazine that was too hard for them, not to mention buying it.
: I like to decribes TIME Express as a tragic hero who died young,
: and the China Post, an underdog who lies low. Both are victims
: of people's misunderstanding about how English is learnt to use.

--
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◆ From: 61.57.136.181
推 AJ215:Good point! I'll start reading the Taipei Times now
推 Bigfatty73:don't you guys find both dullsome?
→ Bigfatty73:no view points, no arguments, no words between the
→ Bigfatty73:lines... they make news heavy...or is it just me?
→ amerinese:The Taipei Times leaves its "color" for the
→ amerinese:editorial section. You can check that out for that.
噓 msupkg1211:Ok, lets be honest, do you really think that you
→ msupkg1211:can get the best news from China post??? I dont
→ msupkg1211:think so.  Personally, I read NY Times when I wake
→ msupkg1211:up and Wall Street Journal during lunch time.  I
→ msupkg1211:understand that some of the words might be diffcult
→ msupkg1211:for beginner, but learning form the best editors
→ msupkg1211:in US can improve your English immediately.  I also
→ msupkg1211:think that Times are good also.  Regardless, Dont
→ msupkg1211:really agree about China Post... but that might be
→ msupkg1211:the best thing that TW can get currently
→ Bigfatty73:Wall street juornal +1, like the way how the editor
→ Bigfatty73:cuts in and digest subjects
→ Bigfatty73:is retail available here in Taiwan?