These types of errors are not only seen on campus, but also found on the official English school websites. Based on the analysis conducted by the Ewha Voice on May 7, the official English school website had 58 grammatical errors, 59 spelling errors and 65 punctuation errors. Additionally, there were incomplete sentences, outdated names of college departments and occasionally, Korean expressions on the web pages.
“I used to visit the school’s English homepage quite often in March,” said a foreign student in her freshman year. “I noticed the errors in the web pages. However, what affected me more than the simple mistakes was the fact that the English pages lacked much of the information that the Korean pages provide. I felt that if the English website provided as much information as its Korean counterpart, it would definitely have a positive impact on the global perception of Ewha. I hope the university is willing to improve on that part as well.”
Last November, the Office of Information and Communications took over the management of all the school websites.
“It is now our responsibility to update both the Korean and English version of the website twice a year,” said Kim Na Young, an official of the Office of Information and Communications.
Since then, the school websites have gone through inspection from last November to December, and most recently this year in April. However, the mistakes on the English pages are still abundant.
As a member of the administration that is now responsible for the management of websites, Kim said that during the scheduled website inspection that will be held throughout May, additional notices will be sent to ask for special examination of the English web pages.
“To prevent additional mistakes, we will make sure to inspect the websites at least twice a year,” Kim said. “Under our supervision, we will try our best to ensure a website free of errors. Additionally, if students find any errors while using the school websites, we would be deeply grateful if they let us know via e-mail (master@ewha.ac.kr).”
Regarding the issues of insufficient information in the English websites, Kim responded that the notices outgoing to individual departments will ask for additional information and the correction of existing material on the English pages.
Immediately after the Ewha Voice conducted an interview with the Office of Information and Communications, the school website has been going through revision. Especially the “Stores” page, a subordinate of “Facilities” listed under “Campus Life,” has gone through complete reconstruction; from originally having had four spelling, nine grammatical and 33 punctuation errors, the revised page currently does not have any errors.
As for the book returning machine, the sign was quickly removed after Ewha Voice pointed out the mistakes of the user guide.
“The user guide was actually made and posted by request of some students a couple of years ago,” noted a correspondent of Ewha Centennial Library. “That sign was made under a unique circumstance. Even so, we will be more careful when producing English materials in the future.”
Son Young-chai
squares@ewhain.net