Not that I think of MySpace highly nowadays especially as a medium to market and make money but I visited the site today after a long time. I was stumped that it was mostly in Chinese and I just couldn’t find an easy way to change the language preference back to English (see screenshot below – click to enlarge). Since, I live in Singapore MySpace was probably trying to personalize my experience but instead ended up frustrating me.
If the knuckleheads at MySpace had done a little bit of research (like reading the Wikipedia entry), they would have known that English is the main language used in Singapore.
English is the main language of Singapore and has been heavily promoted as such since the country’s independence. The English used is primarily based on British English, with some American English influences. The use of English became widespread in Singapore after it was implemented as a first language medium in the education system, and English is the most common language in Singaporean literature. In school, children are required to learn English and one of the three other official languages. By law, all signs and official publications are required to be primarily in English, although they are occasionally translated versions into the other official languages.
In the screenshot above, did you see an easy way to change the language option to English? Neither did I. It turns out that there are three possible ways of changing MySpace back to English.
I went for the second option and moused over links to finally find the link to MySpace UK. So much pain just to change the language! Why can’t they have a big button that says “English” (in English)?
9 Comments
alex
You could have just googled for the myspace UK or US site and skipped all that.
13 Apr
K
Actually that link means America in chinese.
14 Apr
Kuzzuk
alex > On hindsight, I sure could have Googled MySpace UK or US but I was so worked up that I was in a state where I couldn’t have even spelled the word ‘the’ let alone do any Googling
k > Does it mean America in Chinese? I’m pretty sure it took me to MySpace UK but I was in such a dumb worked up state so I can’t be too sure
14 Apr
pingping
to K
actually that link means UK in chinese!
?? means UK
?? means US
isn’t this obvious enough?!
14 Apr
pingping
ooopss!! chinese characters dont show up!! sorry!! but anyway, tat link is clearly UK in chinese
14 Apr
Charmaine
Agree with the owner of this blog, encounters like these make Singaporeans tired of living, ignorance knows no boundaries lah. Dumbass (in this context) USA.
15 Apr
Kuzzuk
K & pingping > Well only you guys know because I can’t read Chinese to even save my life.
Charmaine > It’s greatly frustrating but I wouldn’t go to the extreme of being tired of living. I agree on dumbass (MySpace but not USA)!
Thanks guys for your comments!
16 Apr
Sam
yup! ying guo is UK. It isnt America.
It’s quite dumb to put ‘UK’ in chinese or the ‘change language settings’ in chinese, because if you could read chinese, then you wouldnt have to change language settings. poorly designed website.
22 Apr
Jonathan
It will keep changing back to Chinese anyway if you liver in a supposedly Chinese speaking place, like Hong Kong. So dumb!
3 Jan
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