Beijing brushes up its English before Olympics

“Five sliced things” and “pee soup” will be off the menu under a plan to try to standardise the English names of dishes and drinks sold in Beijing restaurants before the 2008 Olympics, a newspaper reported today.

Although the quality of English on restaurant menus has improved greatly in recent years, spelling errors and simple descriptions of food instead of names are still common.

The Beijing Daily said that the dishes and drinks served in the capital’s restaurants will be given “standardised” English names by the Beijing Speaks Foreign Languages Programme, a government-sponsored organisation that promotes English among Beijing residents.

Xinhua News Agency said the organisation had finished translating more than 1,000 dishes and drinks so far.