Drunken Weshmen and variations in Mandarin

Have you ever attempted conversation with a drunken Welshman? I did one evening after getting well prepared at the Rugby Sevens. We supposedly shared English as our native tongue. However, I found him almost unintelligible. A view shared by a polyglot French friend who’d joined us earlier before abandoning us in search of a conversation spoken in a version of English he could understand. The oddly musical lilting melody of even a sober Welshman is often melodically entertaining and reminds me of the tones and pitch changes of Putonghua. But to my ear, neither are effective communication tools.

Back at Easter, I’d ambitiously set off to Beijing with my family, following this with a solo week in Qingdao, Shandong. I was armed with all that MSL can do to assist slow learners, with only a marginal affinity for language, I felt optimistic and full of fresh hope for glimpses into the meanings within the cacophony that surrounds me everywhere in China.

Perhaps I was overly ambitious or simply delusional…certainly I was ill-prepared. In hindsight, it’s obvious that the regional variations of Mandarin should be at least as numerous and extreme as those we find amongst English-speakers. We’ve all been told in class of the overuse of and emphasis on “r” in Beijing. Easy enough really, sounds curiously engaging and quaintly regional but quite manageable.

Qingdao was once a de-facto German colony or trading enclave. Interesting Teutonic or middle-European architecture remains downtown and in the old suburbs of the port city. As does a more emphatic use of the “r” than even Beijing has combined with some very difficult guttural sounds that I was not able to reproduce for fear of being arrested for hawking and spitting. The Olympic sailing events are coming there in ’08, so the new east) city is cracking down on such old traditions.

…..But, it’s not just the sounds…..another test is hidden for the unwary Mandarin neophyte. Tones!!……never a strength of mine or most English-speakers, I suspect. In Qingdao, it seems, a 1st tone is changed to a 3rd (high/level becomes falling/rising) and a 2nd tone becomes a 4th (rising becomes falling). I’m sure this is challenging even for good students and native speakers of Mandarin. I’m told the bright side is that 3rd and 4th tones remain unchanged. However, I can’t attest to that, since I couldn’t tell which were meant to be unchanged and which were uttered as pure Putonghua.

I wish they’d had a sign at the airport warning me of this when I arrived. Although I’d have lost my catch-all excuse for errors and conversational offences. On reflection, conversations with drunken Welshmen are now on my list of useful preparation activities before my next trip to deepest China.

From Easter weekend to Tomb Sweeping Festival

Long and nice Easter weekend is now over. If given the chance, I would vote for the more holidays the better!

As a Chinese person, I didn't grow up with celebrating Easter, not mentioning get four days off as public holidays. It was later in my life that I learned why there is a good Friday and then easter Sunday. And I realized the Chinese translation of this holiday is so close to the original event.

In Chinese, Easter is translated into "fu4 huo2 jie2" (the numbers here are symbols for tones). "fu4 huo2" means "bring back to life" or "resurrection", and "jie2" is "festival". In English, "Easter" doesn't convey all these meanings to people like me. I also learned that Easter is also a symbol that spring starts, and that's why it is associated with bunnies and eggs.

This get-clearer-in-translation also happened in translating Chinese customs. There's one coming next week. It is "qing1 ming2", literal meaning "pure brightness". Chinese people consider at the time of "qing1 ming2", chilly weather will be gone for good, in stead, wonderful warm spring weather comes together with blooming flowers, and a little rain sometimes. And also it is time to sweep the tombs of your ancesters. Some people translate it into "Tomb Sweeping", and since it's a public holiday, add a "Festival" at the end. It is therefore very clear on what Chinese people do on 5th of April.

It's good for most people that after a long weekend break, there is one more coming so quickly.

Did you know Chinese people don't say "please" and "thank you" to their mothers>

Topic: Did you know Chinese people don't say "please" and "thank you" to their mothers?

MSL presents a "Do you know..." series of seminars featuring Chinese culture, history and more!

Equipped with knowledge of both East and West, our teacher, Grace will take you on a fascinating ride through a diferent, unique, and sometimes shocking Chinese cultural landscape.
With her sense of humor, you will not only understand why "please" is not essential vocab in most Chinese people's language, but also appreciate why.

Location: MSL Learning Center
Date and Time: April 12, 2005, 2:30 - 3:30pm
Admissoin: $50 per MSL student, $100 per non-MSL student

Call 2854 3039 or e-mail mslinfo@netvigator.com to reserve your seat before Mar 31.
Limited number of seats available.

Do you want to do an intensive Basic Level A course?

A fellow student, Jo Reddy, an attractive busy law teacher travelling from U.K. to H.K. and back to U.K. all the time. She has finished both Intro Level A and Intro Level B, and she really wants to continue to Basic Level A.

If you have your afternoons free for the peroid of 18 Apr to 6 May, she would love to study Basic level A course with you in these three weeks! It will be two hours every afternoon from 2:30 - 4:30pm.

Sounds good? email mslinfo@netvigator.com and joreddy@btconnect.com

Subtitles sometimes is amusing

I watched a DVD movie this Sunday with Chinese subtiles. My English is not that good, so sometimes I need to read subtitles to help me. Here is what I think is funny:

When a girl in the movie said something about her horescope, and the subtiltes translated into 'horse hut'!

Sometimes I find it amusing when I spot one or two errors like that.