Mistakes on banners and signboards

Mission to spot, correct misspelt Bangla words

Spotting misspelt words on banners and signboards in different parts of Dhaka has become more of a pastime for many than a matter of concern. Very few, after all, actually bother to correct the wrongly spelled words that have already been printed or displayed. To the average resident of the capital, correcting the spellings on banners and signboards would seem to be a futile exercise. Volunteers from Dream Towards Social Empowerment Foundation (DSEF), an NGO, however, think otherwise.

In February, the Language Month, DSEF volunteers take a unique and unprecedented initiative to correct the orthography on misspelt banners and signboards across the capital. Their initiative, which has already begun, will continue till February 21, International Mother Language Day.

DSEF chairman Mahfuz Hasan Imon said ahead of this February, the members and volunteers of the organisation were planning to do something for the sake of the Bangla language.

“We sometimes forget that we are the proud speakers of Bangla, the language for which our forefathers have shed blood. In the history of mankind, there was no such event where people have shed blood for a language. That’s why the United Nations has declared February 21 International Mother Language Day.”

Hasan said on the part of DSEF, they first thought of conducting a month-long Bangla language training workshop in English-medium schools in Dhaka. But they later

scrapped the plan because they did not think that such an initiative would achieve the necessary results.

Reza Farhad, one of the volunteers with DSEF, then came up with the idea of correcting misspelt words on banners and headlines across the capital. “We have all seen these misspellings across the city. They make us laugh instead of making us feel concerned. But we wanted to change that. We took Farhad’s idea and decided we would work on it throughout February,” said Hasan.

Hasan said after they decided to launch the initiative to correct misspelt spellings on banners and signboards across the capital, they divided the whole city into 10 zones.

“To systematically conduct our work, we thought of demarcating these divisions, so that our volunteers can concentrate on particular areas.” These zones are Dhaka University  Area, Bangshal-Wari, Dhanmondi-Hazaribagh, Gulshan-Banani, Malibagh-Maghbazaar, Shahbagh-Azimpur, Jatrabari-Motijheel, Khilgaon, Mirpur and Sutrapur.

DSEF has a total of 30 volunteers working for them. “Aside from the volunteers, we have our Facebook page where we ask for snapshots and locations of the banners and signboards that have misspellings from various people. After getting those, we ask our respective volunteers in that zone to go there and talk with the owners of the shops and organisations that have put up the misspelt words.”

Hasan said the first attempt they made at correcting a signboard was at the Nilkhet-Azimpur intersection. The CNG filling station there has a spelling mistake in its name, ‘Pother Bondhu Filling Station’.

“It was not a regular printed signboard, but rather a poly-signboard with neon lights. We had a chat with the owner and he was very cooperative. He promised that he would change the signboard with the correct spelling in the shortest possible time.”

DSEF’s chairman said correcting all the misspelt words across the capital would be well-nigh impossible in such a short time. “So we thought of targeting the major ones first. For example, we spotted that the big signboard of Nilkhet Bohumukhi Market has a misspelling. It is a signboard of the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC). We urged the city corporation and the owners’ association there to correct the spellings. They have done that.”

DSEF does not have enough funds of its own to correct the spellings or replace the huge number of misspelt signboards on its own. “We mostly raise awareness among the owners of the shops or organisations. In some cases, we spend money from our fund to correct the spellings.”

Hasan added that Chowdhury Serniabat, a media-shy philanthropist, has given them some funding to carry out their work. “All the people who are involved in this are doing it voluntarily.”

DSEF is not taking this initiative just for this February. “We want to do this every February over the next 10 years to correct as many misspelled signboards and banners as possible,” vowed Hasan.

Apart from this campaign, they have also taken up another plan to stop the spread of misspelt signboards and banners.

 

Mistakes on banners and signboards

Mission to spot, correct misspelt Bangla words

Spotting misspelt words on banners and signboards in different parts of Dhaka has become more of a pastime for many than a matter of concern. Very few, after all, actually bother to correct the wrongly spelled words that have already been printed or displayed. To the average resident of the capital, correcting the spellings on banners and signboards would seem to be a futile exercise. Volunteers from Dream Towards Social Empowerment Foundation (DSEF), an NGO, however, think otherwise. In February, the Language Month, DSEF volunteers take a unique and unprecedented initiative to correct the orthography on misspelt banners and signboards across the capital. Their initiative, which has already begun, will continue till February 21, International Mother Language Day. DSEF chairman Mahfuz Hasan Imon said ahead of this February, the members and volunteers of the organisation were planning to do something for the sake of the Bangla language. We sometimes forget that we are the proud speakers of Bangla, the language for which our forefathers have shed blood. In the history of mankind, there was no such event where people have shed blood for a language. Thats why the United Nations has declared February 21 International Mother Language Day. Hasan said on the part of DSEF, they first thought of conducting a month-long Bangla language training workshop in English-medium schools in Dhaka. But they later scrapped the plan because they did not think that such an initiative would achieve the necessary results. Reza Farhad, one of the volunteers with DSEF, then came up with the idea of correcting misspelt words on banners and headlines across the capital. We have all seen these misspellings across the city. They make us laugh instead of making us feel concerned. But we wanted to change that. We took Farhads idea and decided we would work on it throughout February, said Hasan. Hasan said after they decided to launch the initiative to correct misspelt spellings on banners and signboards across the capital, they divided the whole city into 10 zones. To systematically conduct our work, we thought of demarcating these divisions, so that our volunteers can concentrate on particular areas. These zones are Dhaka University Area, Bangshal-Wari, Dhanmondi-Hazaribagh, Gulshan-Banani, Malibagh-Maghbazaar, Shahbagh-Azimpur, Jatrabari-Motijheel, Khilgaon, Mirpur and Sutrapur. DSEF has a total of 30 volunteers working for them. Aside from the volunteers, we have our Facebook page where we ask for snapshots and locations of the banners and signboards that have misspellings from various people. After getting those, we ask our respective volunteers in that zone to go there and talk with the owners of the shops and organisations that have put up the misspelt words. Hasan said the first attempt they made at correcting a signboard was at the Nilkhet-Azimpur intersection. The CNG filling station there has a spelling mistake in its name, Pother Bondhu Filling Station. It was not a regular printed signboard, but rather a poly-signboard with neon lights. We had a chat with the owner and he was very cooperative. He promised that he would change the signboard with the correct spelling in the shortest possible time. DSEFs chairman said correcting all the misspelt words across the capital would be well-nigh impossible in such a short time. So we thought of targeting the major ones first. For example, we spotted that the big signboard of Nilkhet Bohumukhi Market has a misspelling. It is a signboard of the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC). We urged the city corporation and the owners association there to correct the spellings. They have done that. DSEF does not have enough funds of its own to correct the spellings or replace the huge number of misspelt signboards on its own. We mostly raise awareness among the owners of the shops or organisations. In some cases, we spend money from our fund to correct the spellings. Hasan added that Chowdhury Serniabat, a media-shy philanthropist, has given them some funding to carry out their work. All the people who are involved in this are doing it voluntarily. DSEF is not taking this initiative just for this February. We want to do this every February over the next 10 years to correct as many misspelled signboards and banners as possible, vowed Hasan. Apart from this campaign, they have also taken up another plan to stop the spread of misspelt signboards and banners.