There’s a super-interesting article at Slate about exit signs in America versus in other countries. It mostly focuses on the fact that we use a text-based exit sign (which is now so ubiquitous that we may see it more as a symbol) rather than the ISO pictogram of the running man on the green background.
This is one of those things you don’t think about until you’ve traveled outside of America – which isn’t all that many of us, all things considered. The first time I ever traveled outside of America was when I went to Japan with my best friend Kat. I want to say that it was in 2000 or early 2001. None of the signs were familiar, and that was a pretty intimidating experience in and of itself. At that time, I’d also only had one semester of Japanese language and had been out of school for a couple of years, so being able to actually read signs that were in Japanese was out of the question. It actually took me an embarrassingly long amount of time to realize that the green running man meant that there was an exit to be found.
Of course, now that I know that the green running man means there’s an exit to be had nearby, I’ve got that information stored in my brain and I’ll never lose it again. But like I said, it was actually pretty difficult to figure it out at first, and I think that’s because I want exit signs to look like our exit signs. That’s what I’m used to, if nothing else. If you should me a black sign with illuminated text on it, even if the text wasn’t in English, I’d automatically assume that it must be an exit sign.
The same thing goes for road signs. I don’t think anyone would disagree that our road signs are insanely wordy. But it’s easy for us, since we read English and have been around these signs our entire life. I am still incredibly confused by the traffic signs in England or in Japan, as well as the road markings, since they’re just so different. I still remember when Mike moved to the US; he was just baffled by our signs and had a couple wonderfully ranty moments about how stupid some of them were. However, I think if you took Mike and plopped him down in Japan, and then were crazy enough to give him access to a car, he’d be able to drive just fine. Whereas I’d be a gibbering mess in the corner, because not only do they drive on the wrong side of the road, I wouldn’t even know what the stop signs look like.
It’s just a small, interesting way that we’ve accidentally isolated ourselves from other countries. Going to a place where you can’t speak the language is an intimidating proposal to begin with. Once you get there and realize that you can’t even recognize something as simple as an exit sign or a stop sign just really drives that discomfort home.
One reply on “International signage”
Combined with the fact that all you, as an American (or British) driver need to do to drive in Japan is pay AAA $20. No need to learn the road signs, no need to practice driving on the left. $20 to AAA is all it takes. And for Canadians, Brits, and Aussies, all they need to do to get a real Japanese license is take a 10 question T/F test in English! Americans at least are forced to take a road test.
Myself, I was pretty confused the first time I went to Europe and first encountered “WC”. There is certainly a point to be made for both having standard international signs, and for thinking to take the time before you travel somewhere to familiarize yourself with local signs you’re likely to encounter.