由全球语言监听会公布的2005年全世界涉及时事与政治的十大流行词排行榜中，Chinglish（中式英语）位列第四，仅次于Refugee（难民）、Tsunami（海啸）、Pope（罗马教皇），而高于H5N1（高致病性禽流感病毒）、Katrina（“卡特里娜”飓风）、SMS（短信服务）。
　　
　　跟久违的老外朋友碰面，问候一句“资深”的Chinglish“Long time no see”，对方很可能会心领神会的用同一句话来问候你。

　　中国人学习英语的热潮在若干年前膨胀起来之后就再也没有冷却过，哪怕只是暂时的冷却。这个有着13亿人口的泱泱大国，这样一股学英语说英语的热潮，中式英语的出现既是情理之中也在意料之内。

　　在北京上海广州一类的都市，满大街的广告牌和公共标识几乎都是以双语体现，一些中小型城市也早已开始效仿。若干年前，曾经流行过满大街找错别字，那是当年不少小学生中学生乐此不疲的事，如今，在“与国际接轨”这一口号喊了N多年之后，我们开始满大街的找英语的“碴”了。当然，毕竟英语不是咱的母语，更何况语言不单单是语言那么简单，合不合语法是一回事，老外能不能看明白又是另外一回事，毕竟这语言后面撑腰的可是“文化”这位大爷啊。会说英语的中国人大街上一抓一大把，可真正懂得西方文化的就真的是凤毛麟角了。于是在这场“找碴”运动中，高举大旗的换成了既热心又略懂中文的老外。他们为什么要在中国满大街地找英文的“碴”？两位最具代表性的人物，跟大家分享他们的“找碴”经历。
　　
　　David Tool: Correcting mistakes is a way to help improve relations.
　　老杜：“找碴”可促进中外关系
　　
　　打开信息搜索网页，键入“杜大卫”两个字，很快就会搜到一大堆信息，而且基本上都与2006年北京十佳志愿者有关。作为首位获得“北京十大志愿者”称号的外国人，老杜最杰出的贡献就在于他连续六年致力于北京交通、博物馆等英语标牌的“找碴”工作，并义务为本市官方英文网站提供语言服务。
　　
　　来自美国的杜大卫已经年逾花甲，在北京第二外国语大学任教的他自称“老杜”。采访刚开始，老杜就告诉记者自从评上“十佳志愿者”之后，他的生活是多么的忙碌。他每天上午去给学生们上课，下午经常要接受媒体采访，晚上才能静下来做一些义务的翻译或者是撰写自己的新书。老杜目前已经接受了超过三十家媒体的采访，说到这个他显得有些无奈，因为有一些重要的采访往往需要花费一天或者十几个小时的时间。也许老杜并不知道中国有句古话“人怕出名猪怕壮”。除了要应付媒体，出名之后的老杜还经常遇到一些不知该如何处理的小麻烦——有媒体报道称老杜是现代活“雷锋”，于是这位美国活“雷锋”时常接到一些莫名其妙的电话，比如请他帮助寻找去美国念书后跟家里失去联系的儿子等等。

　　老杜说他喜欢中国，也喜欢中国文化。这就是他六年来四处“找碴”的根本原因。如今已经取得中国绿卡的老杜说，他这样做是帮助中国人，也是帮助外国人。热爱中国五千年文化的他不愿意因为语言方面的错误让深厚的中国文化在外国人面前闹笑话。
　　
　　老杜“找碴”始于2001年。某一天，痴迷京剧的他在长安大戏院欣赏京剧《大闹天宫》。座下老外一阵一阵的笑声令杜大卫难堪，中国观众不明白老外为什么哄堂大笑，还以为是生动有趣的情节打动了他们，但老杜知道个中原因。如孙悟空腾云驾雾出场时，字幕上竟将祥云（Clouds）写成了Clods（土疙瘩），老杜回忆说当时的心情真是生气又难堪。

　　2002年初，北京市民讲外语活动组委会成立。组委会找到老杜，请他做顾问，老杜欣然接受。他接受的第一项任务便是修改地铁中的交通标识错误。从地铁到其它一些交通设施，从博物馆到各色餐厅，老杜的“找碴”工作一直干到了今天。采访最后，老杜说，现在找他义务做翻译校正的机构越来越多了，他时常会觉得有些忙不过来，但他还是会尽自己最大的努力，将“找碴”事业进行到底！
　　
　　Dr. David Tool (He prefers to be called "Lao Du") first came to China in 1991. What originally drew him here were his experiences as a soldier during the Vietnam War. After the war he returned home determined¹ to learn about Vietnamese history and culture, but a teacher told him that in order to truly understand Vietnam, or most any other East Asian country, he first had to understand China. And so began his lifelong interest and love of China.

　　杜大卫第一次来中国是在1990年。他曾在美国军队服役，是个越战老兵，战争结束回家后，他就决定学习越南的历史文化。可那时他遇到的一位老师告诉他，要想真正了解越南和其它东亚国家，得首先了解中国。于是，老杜对中国长达一生的关心和热爱开始萌芽。
　　
　　Lao Du is currently² a teacher at Beijing International Studies University. Teaching is his passion, it is something that keeps him truly happy. However this is not all he does here in Beijing, in fact he is involved in many different things. He has become particularly well known for his work in helping³ to improve the English found on signs and buildings throughout the capital. He started this work in 2001 when he wrote a letter to the Ministry⁴ of Culture, volunteering to help correct the English of any museum, cultural site or art gallery in Beijing. Eventually the government responded and asked him to work on the English found in the Beijing subways. He was reluctant at first, but the government promised that if he first did the subways and transportation system in general, they would allow him to work on the museums. After completing work on the transportation system, he worked on the English for more than 80 different museums.
　　老杜如今在北京第二外国语学院任教，教书育人正是他的激情所在，对此他感到由衷的高兴。然而教学却不是他在北京生活的全部，他还做着很多别的事情。他在北京市街头英语标识规范化方面的贡献让他变得非常有名。2001年他写信去文化部毛遂自荐，志愿替北京市的博物馆、艺术馆及文化商店的英语做规范化工作。政府给他回了信，并邀请他帮忙修改北京地铁里的标识用语。起初他有些勉为其难，但政府保证，如果他从地铁和普通交通标识入手，就会有机会为博物馆工作。在修改完交通标识的英文错误以后，他目前已经为80余所博物馆修改英文并为游客提供义务英语解说服务。
　　
　　This original English polishing work has since grown in number tremendously. There are now many organizations and museums that send their questions and proof reading needs directly to Mr. Tool. This has actually become quite an important part of his life in China. He has a real passion for helping the Chinese improve the English they use on the streets and in their cultural sites. When he is out on the weekend collecting work for the book he is currently writing, he will approach shop owners and restaurant owners when he discovers English mistakes. He photographs or writes down the mistakes, takes them home, and then takes the corrections back to them.

　　这种给英文标牌挑错的工作量迅速增加，如今许多机构和博物馆都直接把他们的问题及校对稿发给老杜。这实际上也成为老杜在中国生活的一大重心。他对帮助北京做街头英语标识规范化工作充满了热情。老杜周末会外出走走，为自己正在编写的新书搜集材料。走在街上，如果发现商店或是餐馆招牌上有英文错误，他就会立刻去找店主。用相机或者笔记下那些错误，带回家，然后把正确的用法回复给店主。
　　
　　Some of these English mistakes are often perceived as quite amusing⁵ by foreign visitors. One of the more famous examples was the "Dong Da Anus Hospital". It was a hospital in Beijing with a very large sign on the roof that advertised its services. In fact, this mistake was well known to many foreign tourists who would often have their picture taken in front of it to send back home to friends and family. It was considered funny because in the West, this word "anus" could never be used on a sign, it is perceived as very disgusting by most people. Lao Du was first alerted⁶ about this mistake by a famous American journalist who brought it to his attention. He immediately notified⁷ the hospital and the sign was changed within two weeks.

　　有的英文错误常常被外国游客发现并沦为笑柄，最有名的就是东大肛肠医院了。这是北京一家很大的医院，医院门口挂着大大的牌子告诉世人它叫“Dong Da Anus Hospital”。实际上，很多外国游客都知道这个招牌，有的人甚至到医院门口和大牌子合影并寄回家给家人和朋友“欣赏”。在西方，“anus”这个词被认为难登大雅之堂，绝不能出现在标语或是广告牌上，所以外国人都觉得很好笑。老杜从一个知名美国记者口中得知这件事后，马上提高了警惕。他立刻和院方取得联系并帮助他们在两个星期内更换了招牌。
　　
　　Another good example of an interesting English mistake was a sign at a Beijing park that was supposed to point visitors in the direction of a "Curved Pool". Whoever made the sign for this park made a small but important mistake when spelling "pool". If you leave off the "l" of "pool", you have the word "poo". This word "poo" is slang⁸ for "shit" in English. So there was a sign that read "this way to Curved Poo." This again was considered quite humorous by foreigners who would often take a picture in front of the sign.

　　老杜帮忙改正的另一个有名的错误是在北京一所公园的方向指示牌上出现的。这个地方叫“Curved Pool”（弧形池塘）。做标志的人在拼写“Pool”时犯了一个不大但是很严重的错误，他把“Pool”里的“L”给漏掉了。而在英语俚语里，“Poo”的意思和“Shit”一样。这又成了外国游客们争相合影的一个笑料。
　　
　　Lao Du feels that correcting these kinds of English mistakes found on the streets and in signs is very important for two reasons. The first is that when foreigners come to visit China, they see these mistakes and leave with an impression that Chinese people don't care enough about their foreign guests to correct these mistakes. They also get the impression that the Chinese people don't care enough about their own culture and history because it is presented in such a poor manner. The second reason he feels this work is so important is because he wants to avoid the misunderstanding that occurs when foreigners laugh or make fun of the English mistakes found around the country. He doesn't want the Chinese people to get the impression that the foreigners are rude because of this. He feels very strongly that correcting these mistakes is a way to help improve relations between the Chinese people and their foreign visitors.
　　在老杜看来，替城市大街小巷公共场所标志牌上的英文挑错非常有必要。首先对外国游客而言，他们来到中国，如果看到诸如此类的错误，会觉得中国人对外国客人不够在乎，连招牌上的英文都没经过认真的思量，同时他们也可能会觉得中国人对自己的传统不太在乎，因为用这样的英语来展示自己的历史文化实在是很失礼。另外，对中国人而言，他们很可能会因为很多外国人大肆嘲笑这些英文错误而觉得外国人非常粗鄙。老杜很想努力制止这种情况下可能会发生的文化冲突。他深深感觉到，修改这些错误能改善中国人和外国游客之间的关系。
　　
　　After nine years of life in China, Lao Du has had many rich and fulfilling experiences here. He hopes to continue life here and continue his dedication⁹ to his love of helping others see the beauty of Chinese culture and history. He also hopes to continue promoting good values amongst the Chinese people, such as the importance of volunteering. We wish him well as he continues to contribute to the growth and bright future of China.

　　在中国生活已经九年了，老杜也积累了许多这方面的经验。他希望能继续在北京生活，继续把中国最美的历史文化展现给全世界。他也希望通过自己的努力能让中国人得到一些诸如志愿服务的良好价值观。大家都希望老杜能继续为中国繁荣和美好的明天做出他的贡献。