Ali Express

[Muzzer]

Yes, sorry wasn't trying to sound glib but I worked for a Chinese company for several years and worked in and out of there for the best part of 15 years. Thank god I haven't been back for the last couple of years, as I'm now too old and fat and stupid to be trudging around the place any longer.

Most Chinese engineers have only a (very) basic ability in written English, as it's taught in school and is the universal technical language. Most aren't comfortable speaking English at all and even then, most of the teachers have never left the country in the first place. I guess that's your Chinese whispers in action.

The reason most user manuals are so crap is because they translate them with online translators. I've done it myself in desperation and the results are very similar - they sort of make sense if you know what they mean in the first place, otherwise they quickly become gobbledegook.

[cropwell]

Yes, sorry wasn't trying to sound glib

Don't worry - I have used online translators myself (Chinese to English) and though they are useful tools, they do not have the style or idiom of English if it were translated by a native English speaker.

As an amusing aside, I was part of a team which had one Malay bloke in it (his name was Tin Tek Tung btw). When a Londoner colleague told him his English wasn't good (it was though), he only spoke to that person in Malay for a week and if he complained Tin would say something like 'You learn Malay' in a voice like that was all he knew. Until the apology was issued.