Showing posts with label languages. Show all posts
Showing posts with label languages. Show all posts
Monday, 23 February 2015
Chinese Tales: It's my First Day
This week my story is a bit short because I have been busy and just changed jobs. Yesterday was my first day at my new job. There were lots of great new people and an even greater amount of new things to learn. New names, new systems, new computers, new toilets, new everything: so I'm very happy and very tired. Because work is from 9-6 at my new company, my manager is allowing me to start at 8am and finish at 5pm on Tuesdays so I can go to Chinese class.
~ ~ ~
Zhège xīngqí wǒ de gùshì shì yidiǎn duǎn, yīnwèi wǒ shì hěn máng, gāng huànle gōngzuò. Zuótiān shì dì yī tiān wǒ zài wǒ de xīn gōngsī. Yǒu hěnduō de hǎorén, gèng duō xuéxí xīn de dōngxī. Xīn de míngzì, xīn de xìtǒng, xīn de diànnăo, xīn de wèishēngjiān, xīn de yīqiè: Suǒyǐ wǒ hěn gāoxìng, hěn lèi. Yīnwèi gōngzuò shì cóng 9 diǎn dào 6 diǎn, wǒ de jīnglǐ ràng wǒ xīngqí'èr 8 diǎn kāishǐ, 5 diǎn líkāi, suǒyǐ wǒ kěyǐ qù zhōngwén kè.
Monday, 16 February 2015
Chinese Tales: All of my Trains are Broken!
Once again, before I start, apologies for the English-to-Chinese grammatical weirdness. Also, if I ran the London Underground I probably wouldn't have a go at the government down the phone quite so bluntly: it's been a boring week and I'm literally making up ways for me to use some of last week's new vocabulary!
~ ~ ~
All of my Trains are Broken!
Last week was not very interesting, so I'll talk about the London underground a bit. Last week the underground was really bad. On Wednesday the tube was faulty, so I was nearly late for my dance class. On Saturday the tube was faulty again, so I was late to meet my friend. On Sunday the trains were too slow, so again I was nearly late for dance class. The lessons are important because I have to practise for a show in April- I was not happy. If I was the boss of the Underground, I would call the government and tell them to build a new system, don't fix an old, bad system!
~ ~ ~
Wǒ de Huǒchē Dōu Huài Le!
Shàng ge xīngqí méi yìsi, suǒyǐ wǒ shuō shuō huǒchē/ dìtiĕ yīdiăn. Shàng ge xīngqí dìtiĕ zhēn bù hǎo. Shàng ge xīngqísān dìtiĕ huài le, suǒyǐ wǒ jīhū chídào shàng wǔdǎokè. Shàng ge xīngqíliù dìtiĕ zàicì huài le, suǒyǐ wǒ jiànle wǒ de péngyǒu wǎn. Shàng ge xīngqíiān dìtiĕ tài màn le, suǒyǐ wǒ zàicì jīhū chídào shàng wǔdǎokè. Wǒ bù gāoxìng. Wǔdǎokè hěn zhòngyào, yīnwèi wǒ zài sìyuè de wǔdǎo biǎoyǎn, yào liànxí. Rúguǒ wǒ shì dìtiĕ de lǎobǎn, wǒ huì gěi zhèngfǔ dă diànhuà gàosu tāmen jiànlì xīn de xìtǒng, bù xiū lǎo huài xìtǒng!
~ ~ ~
All of my Trains are Broken!
Last week was not very interesting, so I'll talk about the London underground a bit. Last week the underground was really bad. On Wednesday the tube was faulty, so I was nearly late for my dance class. On Saturday the tube was faulty again, so I was late to meet my friend. On Sunday the trains were too slow, so again I was nearly late for dance class. The lessons are important because I have to practise for a show in April- I was not happy. If I was the boss of the Underground, I would call the government and tell them to build a new system, don't fix an old, bad system!
~ ~ ~
Wǒ de Huǒchē Dōu Huài Le!
Shàng ge xīngqí méi yìsi, suǒyǐ wǒ shuō shuō huǒchē/ dìtiĕ yīdiăn. Shàng ge xīngqí dìtiĕ zhēn bù hǎo. Shàng ge xīngqísān dìtiĕ huài le, suǒyǐ wǒ jīhū chídào shàng wǔdǎokè. Shàng ge xīngqíliù dìtiĕ zàicì huài le, suǒyǐ wǒ jiànle wǒ de péngyǒu wǎn. Shàng ge xīngqíiān dìtiĕ tài màn le, suǒyǐ wǒ zàicì jīhū chídào shàng wǔdǎokè. Wǒ bù gāoxìng. Wǔdǎokè hěn zhòngyào, yīnwèi wǒ zài sìyuè de wǔdǎo biǎoyǎn, yào liànxí. Rúguǒ wǒ shì dìtiĕ de lǎobǎn, wǒ huì gěi zhèngfǔ dă diànhuà gàosu tāmen jiànlì xīn de xìtǒng, bù xiū lǎo huài xìtǒng!
Sunday, 8 June 2014
Quasi-Multilingual Adventures
My status update from Facebook, 31st May 2014 (last week):
Brussels Chinatown = speaking French AND Mandarin today. 'Bonjour, 早上好!' Chinglish. Franglais. Franglese. Ow my brain.
It's awesome to know other languages, even if only a little. I can't understand three types of people: people who don't like animals, people who don't like music and people who don't believe in learning a little about another country's language before visiting.
You can't learn a language fluently just like that, but you'd be surprised at how just learning a few words and phrases can do, and how that in turn makes you familiar with the structure of another language, making you instantly feel a little less like an alien on someone else's planet.
Last week, I went on the trip to Brussels I won from the Godiva Chocolate Challenge (you can read all about the trip and all the lovely things I ate on my blog Tashcakes!) and I got to exercise some of my language skills. I was nervously looking forward to dusting off my rusty French, having done well at it at school up to GCSE level, after which I dropped it to take sciences instead (a regretful decision in hindsight, but you can't go back in time). Even so, although all I could only remember basic conversational French, I felt secure in the knowledge that I wouldn't have to know how to converse with someone about something like politics or global warming.
As a result, I was able to visit restaurants that the locals like, and experience more warmth and smiles from strangers (after all, people do in general appreciate if you try to speak their language even a little). In fact, I ended up barely speaking English at all to anyone aside from my non French-speaking mum (my travel companion for the trip) and occasionally the hotel staff.
What I wasn't expecting was getting the opportunity to put the Mandarin Chinese I've been learning into practise.
I've been taking evening Mandarin language classes once a week for nearly a year now, having decided that it's high time I learn how to converse in the common language of one half of my heritage. It's been going well- I impressed my Chinese family when I went to Malaysia earlier on this year (okay, more like entertained, but at least I was understandable when I spoke), and my fellow classmates often tease me for being the 'teacher's pet'. However I've only been able to practise in 'safe' environments- up until last week.
We ended up stumbling into Brussels' unofficial Chinatown on the second day of the trip, and to my delight the common language of the community was Mandarin. London's Chinatown seems to have more Cantonese speakers, my Chinese friends are all Cantonese speakers and my Chinese family primarily speak Hakka and only a little Mandarin, so I don't often get to practise with others outside of the classroom.
So, I went to a Chinese supermarket and spoke a little to the cashier in Mandarin, who to my relief understood me through my surely glaring Western accent. Best of all, mum and I decided to test our Mandarin skills at a little Chinese restaurant, where they literally only spoke Mandarin and a bit of French (at one point I asked our waiter- in Mandarin of course- if he spoke any English. He said no, and looked a little panicked, but relaxed when we continued in Mandarin). Both my mum's and my own Mandarin skills are a bit basic, but between us we were able to order, ask if they had Chinese tea, ask for extra utensils to share one dish and handle the bill.
It's a unique, amazing feeling to be able to speak to someone in a language other than the one you grew up with, and an even more amazing feeling to do so in another country. To many English people and Americans believe that they don't have to try learning another language before going on holiday because 'they'll probably all speak English there anyway'. I've even known some people who believe that everyone should know English when you go to another country. I believe this is just arrogance and laziness. Maybe I only believe this because I'm a linguaphile, and I find the variety of languages on this planet beautiful and interesting. Even so, people often forget that English itself is a patchwork mishmash of other languages that has been developed over a very, very long time.
Besides: when you go to a friend's house, you respect the fact that they have a different way of doing things, don't you?
Brussels Chinatown = speaking French AND Mandarin today. 'Bonjour, 早上好!' Chinglish. Franglais. Franglese. Ow my brain.
It's awesome to know other languages, even if only a little. I can't understand three types of people: people who don't like animals, people who don't like music and people who don't believe in learning a little about another country's language before visiting.
You can't learn a language fluently just like that, but you'd be surprised at how just learning a few words and phrases can do, and how that in turn makes you familiar with the structure of another language, making you instantly feel a little less like an alien on someone else's planet.
Last week, I went on the trip to Brussels I won from the Godiva Chocolate Challenge (you can read all about the trip and all the lovely things I ate on my blog Tashcakes!) and I got to exercise some of my language skills. I was nervously looking forward to dusting off my rusty French, having done well at it at school up to GCSE level, after which I dropped it to take sciences instead (a regretful decision in hindsight, but you can't go back in time). Even so, although all I could only remember basic conversational French, I felt secure in the knowledge that I wouldn't have to know how to converse with someone about something like politics or global warming.
As a result, I was able to visit restaurants that the locals like, and experience more warmth and smiles from strangers (after all, people do in general appreciate if you try to speak their language even a little). In fact, I ended up barely speaking English at all to anyone aside from my non French-speaking mum (my travel companion for the trip) and occasionally the hotel staff.
What I wasn't expecting was getting the opportunity to put the Mandarin Chinese I've been learning into practise.
I've been taking evening Mandarin language classes once a week for nearly a year now, having decided that it's high time I learn how to converse in the common language of one half of my heritage. It's been going well- I impressed my Chinese family when I went to Malaysia earlier on this year (okay, more like entertained, but at least I was understandable when I spoke), and my fellow classmates often tease me for being the 'teacher's pet'. However I've only been able to practise in 'safe' environments- up until last week.
We ended up stumbling into Brussels' unofficial Chinatown on the second day of the trip, and to my delight the common language of the community was Mandarin. London's Chinatown seems to have more Cantonese speakers, my Chinese friends are all Cantonese speakers and my Chinese family primarily speak Hakka and only a little Mandarin, so I don't often get to practise with others outside of the classroom.
So, I went to a Chinese supermarket and spoke a little to the cashier in Mandarin, who to my relief understood me through my surely glaring Western accent. Best of all, mum and I decided to test our Mandarin skills at a little Chinese restaurant, where they literally only spoke Mandarin and a bit of French (at one point I asked our waiter- in Mandarin of course- if he spoke any English. He said no, and looked a little panicked, but relaxed when we continued in Mandarin). Both my mum's and my own Mandarin skills are a bit basic, but between us we were able to order, ask if they had Chinese tea, ask for extra utensils to share one dish and handle the bill.
It's a unique, amazing feeling to be able to speak to someone in a language other than the one you grew up with, and an even more amazing feeling to do so in another country. To many English people and Americans believe that they don't have to try learning another language before going on holiday because 'they'll probably all speak English there anyway'. I've even known some people who believe that everyone should know English when you go to another country. I believe this is just arrogance and laziness. Maybe I only believe this because I'm a linguaphile, and I find the variety of languages on this planet beautiful and interesting. Even so, people often forget that English itself is a patchwork mishmash of other languages that has been developed over a very, very long time.
Besides: when you go to a friend's house, you respect the fact that they have a different way of doing things, don't you?
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