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Initiating the Project Plan of “A Word is Worth a Thousand-Delighted to travel around Prefectural City-Tainan and Welcome Everybody to Find Errors”

  1. I.Basis
  2. The basis of this project is the issues announced in the 3rd General Meeting in August, 2006.
  3. II. Objectives
  4. This project is to accord with Tainan City’s 2007 “Year of Cultural Tourism” scheme, to improve the bilingual settings of all historic sites, and to provide a high-quality English-friendly environment for foreign tourists. It is aimed to attract media attentions to further boost the “Year of Cultural Tourism” plan.
  5. III. Project Area
  6. The project targets public bilingual signposts of historic sites, parks and roads setup by Tainan City Government
  7. IV. Implementation
  8. 1. The project is to be advertised via mass media to welcome everyone to find English printing errors on signposts and to attract more tourists to come to Tainan City for travel.
  9. 2. Targeting on city government made public bilingual signposts, a $1,000 NT prize is to be rewarded for every incorrect English translation reported by event participants upon verification.
  10. 3. All mistakes shall be registered on the event web site (http://ims.tncg.gov.tw/correct/Default.aspx). If the same mistake is found by more than two participants, the prize will be awarded to whoever report it first judging by the time registered on the website.
  11. 4. The Planning Office is in charge of organizing the Review Committee. Alleged errors shall be reviewed by the Committee. Detailed evaluation rules and regulations are to be drawn up by the Committee upon its formation.
  12. 5. English translation errors reported shall be inspected by the Review Committee. Prizes are to be rewarded in the case of positive confirmation made by the Committee.
  13. 6. The Review Committee shall hold monthly meetings to discuss alleged cases. Business units in charge are to amend the mistakes within a month once cases are confirmed in the meeting. If a mistake cannot be corrected immediately for difficulties such as budget or massive funding requirement, the business unit in charge shall note down the mistake for future revision.
  14. 7. The prize is to be ready for collection within two weeks after a reported case is verified by the Review Committee. The participant can choose either collect the prize in person or have the balance remit to his/her bank account.
  15. V. Source of Funds
  16. 1. The costs and expenses of the Review Committee will be paid by the Planning Office’s budget.
  17. 2. Prizes paid for mistakes found on public signposts will be paid by business unit in charge using related funding.
  18. VI. Participants
  19. Tainan City citizens and visitors who travel to Tainan City regardless of the nationalities are all eligible for participation.
  20. VII. Pre-event Preparation
  21. The pre-event preparation period is between October 2006 and December 2006. During which, the Review Committee organized by the Planning Office shall draw up the basic inspection rule and all departments involved shall make thorough inspections and amend any possible mistakes of bilingual signposts erected in public areas defined by the project plan.
  22. VIII. Event Period
  23. March 1, 2007 to October 31, 2007
  24. IX. Rewards and Incentives
  25. $1,000 NT is to be rewarded for every incorrect English translation reported by event participants. A limit of $10,000 NT is set for any single participants.
  26. 2.If no mistakes are reported during the event period, the business unit in charge shall be rewarded for outstanding administrative work.

Principle of Inspection for plan of “A Word is Worth a Thousand - Delighted to travel around Prefectural City-Tainan and Welcome Everybody to Find Errors”

  1. 1. The event targets only signposts made by Tainan City Government and its subordinate organizations. Signposts made by other government organizations or private companies are not included in this event.
  2. 2. If an error is occurred due to actual damages on the signpost, it’s not account as a mistake.
  3. 3. Romanization of street signs in Tongyong Pinyin, Hanyu Pinyin and Mandarin Phonetic Symbols II are all accepted.
      Tongyong Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin Mandarin Phonetic Symbols II
    Example 1: Hai-an Rd. Haian Rd. Haian Rd.
    Example 2: Jhongshan Rd. Zhongshan Rd. Jungshan Rd.

  4. 4. Spelling errors are counted by individual words. Grammatical errors are counted per sentence. Only one mistake is accounted for multiple errors when appearing on a single warning sign or indicator The total prize given out for a single signpost cannot exceed NT$ 3,000.
  5. 5. Proper nouns, such as names of people, places and their Romanization are not included in this event.
  6. 6. Interchangeable wordings, different usages between American and British English or local customary usages are not counted as mistakes. However, if translated content is not understandable even to English speaking foreign visitors, even without any spelling errors, the Review Committee shall make further inquires into such cases for verification.
  7. 7. To report a fault, please upload photos or detailed descriptions with locations, accurate spelling or correction and contact information to Tainan City Government’s designated website.
  8. 8. Once an error has been registered and announced on the designated website, it cannot be reported repeatedly.
  9. 9. The prizes given out for identical signposts with mistakes constructed by the same business unit occurring at different locations cannot exceed NT$ 3,000.
  10. 10. Problems in proper noun capitalization, interval spacing, punctuation and other usage errors on one single signpost are counted for one mistake.
  11. 11. The project targets public bilingual signposts and indicators. Other printing materials, documents and websites are not included for this event.
  12. 12. Tainan City Government employees and staffs are welcome to report translation mistakes, however, they can't not be awarded cash prizes. Other forms of awards will be given out instead.