When English isn’t your first language
Yesterday I was looking to see how hard it was to get a replacement lamp.
It’s for a Magicshine bike light.
Mark’s been disappointed with his current lights from Torpedo7. Don’t get me wrong, he loved them when he first got them, but has since realised that they’re not that bright after all. He’s seen plenty of cyclists out there with better now.
We’d been looking at Ayup lights when a lady Mark works with came to show him her new light. Her husband had just returned from the States and bought 10 of them back.
Mark was dazzled, figuratively and literally.
I wanted to find out more about the light, and especially if you could easily get a replacement LED lamp for it.
I made an inquiry on a website (in Hong Kong) that obviously sends their inquiry out to a number of "branches".
This is just one that I got.
Quotation Message:
hello,my dear , i am shirley from Chip E-go trading ltd
my dear,i have checked your enquiry
it is so pity ,the part you need is out of our stock
i can not offer my quotation to you
as our company and i seriously want to be a honest supplier for you in China
here is my MSN:chipego129@hotmail.com
If you have any other enquiry ,you can let me know
Shirley
I did get a reply from a reseller in Perth, his was the only reply email that made perfect sense. Though the minimum order is 250 pieces.
He did warn me that the Chinese resellers would take my money and run, or supply a fake lamp.
Just as well the light has 55,000 hours of life in it.
Mark couldn’t try it on his way home last night, and I was a little worried it was so light last night too. The first time I was willing it to be dark while he was cycling home.
The light secures to the handlebar by a very tight rubber ring. Mark couldn’t get it on the light bracket to then put it on his handlebar. I had it sussed in 5 seconds flat.
So he had a we trip around the cul-de-sac. Cripes it’s bright. It lit up the road in front of him so well. And was very effective for anyone in the opposite direction, almost blinding!
Today however I’m taking Mark to/from work since I can work the same hours as him, so now he’s got to wait till Wednesday night to get a real feel for how well it works.
It’s all about looks, and it’s all about interpretation of language my dear.
Sometimes this blog is about my struggle with eating properly. I do seem to have an infatuation. But really it's more about my life, and my training. A bit of a mixed bag really.
Ha ha ha, so funny! It’s like the multitude of applications I get from Asian countries – they’re so inappropriate in their letters and emails; the way they express themselves is far too familiar for business correspondence. At least Shirley didn’t call you “Sir” though – she has some commonsense to realise that ‘Anita’ is a woman’s name.
No, Shirley did not call me Sir, but many of the other responders did!
On the website I was at, it auto completed the name of the part I was after. I also needed to complete details about my request, which was do they sell to non-business, what is the minimum number and what is the cost in NZD.
Here’s another reply I got-
Quotation Message:
Dear friend:Nice to meet you !Let me introduce my company as below:
We are specilize in CAPACITANCE/RESISTANCE/ INDUCTANCE /TANTALUM..
MURATA.AVX .TDK.SAGAMI.KEMET .SUMIDA .PANASONI.COILCRAFT .
ROHM.PTC.DALLAS.MAXIM.. VISHAY…
If there is anything need I help ,pls feel free to contact me at any time.
Hope to do the business with you in near future.
HK HUAXINDA ELECTRONIC CO.LTD
MS LUCY LI MSN: huaxinda333@hotmail.com
Email:hk@huaxinda.com
TEL:86-0755-61352265 FAX:86-0755-83014121
Webside: http://www.huaxinda.com
Nice that they ask if they could help, but they never answered any of my questions, and the form details where their reply goes in, is empty.
Thanks for nothing “buddy”.
Hey, that’s great, I’ve been looking for CAPACITANCE/RESISTANCE/ INDUCTANCE /TANTALUM..
MURATA.AVX .TDK.SAGAMI.KEMET .SUMIDA .PANASONI.COILCRAFT .
ROHM.PTC.DALLAS.MAXIM.. VISHAY… for some time now.
Dear friend, I glad service could be helpful. Good day.
Here’s an application letter I just cleared off the email tonight. I wish it wasn’t so wrong to just tell them to bugger off…
Dear Sir,
Pl Find Attached the Resume for the Microbiology.
At Running My Permanent Residence (PR) Are Running and I am Selected the For the EOI.
I am Found the job in Newzeland Country If Any Good opportunity Kindly Revert and Conduct the Interview.
[Ya what???]
Oh, and I responded to him wanting to know what position he was actually applying for, and he came back straight away and said he would “revert me very shortly”. I suspect that means “I’ll just put your email through a translator and will respond soon.”
Lucky bugger, you get all the good ‘ins.