2010/04/20

Incorrect Arabic

I took this picture of a notice on the bulletin board at the university where I work:



It is well intentioned, but poorly executed. The notice is an advertisement for Expressions, "ECU’s minority publication that strives to provide an alternative voice to address the special concerns and problems of minority groups on campus". Clearly, the editorial staff were trying to make a statement about their inclusiveness by writing "Expressions" in several different languages. I wonder how mis-writing the title in Arabic makes Arab students feel.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Arabic one is wrong too?
The one is hindi first made me smile - 10 points for effort. But the word is so far away from what it is supposed to be that it does not mean anything except a jumble of alphabet. Wish they had found someone who could proof it - one person each from the groups they are reaching out to.

Brn said...

I believe that that Arabic word is the right one (at least it is one possible correct translation) but the way that it is written is completely wrong. When you write Arabic, the letters join together, like writing in cursive. Instead this is written with all the letters separated. It would be sort of like writing "Expressions" in English like this:

E X P R E S S I O N S

JTG (Misalyn) said...

Hi Brn. Just dropping by to say Happy Mother's Day to Bss.