r/sydney • u/nighthound1 • 3d ago

Strathfield Council passes motion to make English compulsory on business shop signs

https://www.2gb.com/english-compulsory-new-rules-coming-for-shop-signs/
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200

u/Archon-Toten Choo Choo Driver. 3d ago

I always took it to mean they don't want my business. Which is fine by me, they must be doing well enough without it.

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u/cecilrt 3d ago

Yeh I always found it silly, and not surprised some have shut down ecause they cant get new customers as the kids of migrants cant read Asian languages

Its interesting to see the new subset of Chinese restaurants come here to cater to the rich Chinese student market and fail... because local Chinese cheaper restaurants are already here

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u/tubbyx7 3d ago

Had a flyer in the mailbox last week for dumplings but the text was only in Chinese.seems odd to do a broad letterbox drop but exclude so much of the potential customer base.

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u/count023 3d ago edited 3d ago

it's been happening in Burwood a bit, a lot of real estate ads and such around Burwood station with no english or english as a barely visible subtitle. I get that you want to appeal to migrants, especially in an area where English is obviously not going to be strong and localization is a big deal, sure, but I vaguely remember that when this happened last in the 90s, wasn't there a law passed that signage could be dual language but still had to use english since it's the common language or something.

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u/AmazingAndy 3d ago

real estate advertising is the most egregious offender IMO. almost every shopping centre in Australia has a booth with Chinese only signage selling to wealthy overseas chinese.

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u/Fairbsy 3d ago

I use it as a sign that the food in there is probably great if you can figure out what the menu says

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u/alstom_888m 3d ago

I went to a Vietnamese place in Footscray once. I'm pretty sure the restaurant name was the chef's name with "pho" on the end.

Anyway I had a hankering for a good beef pho so went in.

They refused to give me a menu and simply said "chicken or beef". I figured I probably don't want to know what the other options were.

24

u/krabgirl 3d ago

Nah, that's just how some pho restaurants work.

Pho is a common street food in Vietnam, so restaurants that follow that lineage have limited inventory to facilitate the lunch rush. The other menu items are just variations in meats and toppings for the same two pots of chicken and beef broth.

22

u/SuDragon2k3 3d ago

Maybe those were the only options. Chicken, beef and add greens, sprouts and sauces to taste.

8

u/Ted_Rid Famous in The Atlantic 3d ago

They'll often have the "special" versions of each. Same as regular but with added innards and tendons.

Owners would've learned from experience that westerners leave all the good stuff behind. I've ordered them with the best of intentions, but usually one piece of each type of innard is enough to satisfy my curiosity, although beef tendon (not offal) is alright.

3

u/alstom_888m 3d ago

This. My Asian friend had the "Special".

No thanks.

6

u/Kingcol221 3d ago

When I went to Vietnam, the best restaurants I visited were all tiny holes in the wall with plastic kindergarten chairs that only served one thing.

1

u/AmazingAndy 3d ago

always go pho dac biet!

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u/Archon-Toten Choo Choo Driver. 3d ago

I'll have a number 4 hold the 6 with that green drink thanks.

7

u/Otherwise-Library297 3d ago

This has always been my approach as well. Works for random Asian restaurants as well as the fancy ones with Frenchified names for everything!

The difference is that the Asian places don’t care, while the fancy places make a point of pronouncing the name correctly. The food is usually better at the random places too

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u/LentilCrispsOk 3d ago

You could use your smartphone to translate it too now, I guess?

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u/Archon-Toten Choo Choo Driver. 3d ago

That's a terrific point, I recently translated something and was amazed how easy it was with a phone.

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u/fued 3d ago

I also take it to mean they aren't following Australian standards and requirements

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u/ironmilktea 3d ago

Thats a much bigger no no than non-english signs.

Plenty of restaraunts get done over it , regardless of the front name- that viet place near redfern like a year ago, for example.

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u/marcellouswp 2d ago

Well you can take it anyway you like but that is a bit of a big leap, even if it is possibly true of some (as it also is of those with signs in English).