▶▶2016
15. Joining Forces to Improve Beijing’s English: 2014
David first spotted “Chinglish” in the 1990s, with many more to come in the 2000s and 2010s. Frustrated that China couldn’t get its English in order, he decided to author a book to solve the situation — and in contrast to overseas writers, whom would merely poke fun at erroneous signs, he would actually go the extra mile and suggest corrections.
This book made ripples across the language community. Within around a year of being published, he would be introduced for a new radio programme (to start in 2013), based on the content from his new book.
Also as a result of this book, in late 2013, David was given a task to translate and proofread a new book published by Radio Beijing and the Beijing municipal government. He was also one of the voiceover artists for the final version. Later in 2014, he would lead an English Inspection Team to some of the city’s most well-known sites — the Bird’s Nest, Water Cube, as well as (on previous trips) the city’s CBD — just to be sure public signage was using the correct and proper English.
15. 2014 年：携手改进北京市英文水平
冯琰第一次发现“中式英文”，已是 1990 年代的事情了，但随着 2000 年以来他开始使用数码相机，能真正做到“发现一起，抓拍一起，记录一起，改正一起”，他对“中式英文”问题的关注自 2000 年代起，更加明显。2011 年，他决心，将自己发现的上千多案“中式英文”组层一本汉语图书，力争通过这种方式，刹住“中式英文”，普及正确英文。
与同类书籍作者不同，冯琰没有借用这本书向“中式英文”单单取笑，而是坚持“逢错必纠”，给出具体的修正建议。因此，这本书受到普通读者和语言学专家的关注。冯琰因此书而被请到电台，自 2013 年开始和当地主持人一起做节目，每周一期，大部分为现场直播，重点关注“中式英文”和国际英语环境。
此外，因冯琰出此书的原因，他于 2013 年也开始翻译另一本书，重点关注并改善北京普通百姓的英文水平。该书由北京市人民政府外事办公室、北京市民讲外语活动办公室，及北京人民广播电台外语广播联合出版，冯琰除了翻译和核对译文，还担当了英文配音工作。2014 年，他还因此会带领更多学生在朝阳区重点区域（包括中央商务区和奥林匹克公园）检查公共双语标牌工作情况。