Let’s study Chinese language, culture, history…
Back then, when I had chosen sinology for my study, many people almost fainted or stayed open-mouthed and said no question rather than extremely long-lasting: ”Why”?? By now, still many people are not really familiar with the term ”sinology”. It is usually explained as: ”…the academic study of China primarily through Chinese language, literature, philosophy and history”. But it can be so much more. Sinology expands your mind and change the way of thinking, which may also influence on your personality.
China, Suzhou
Here I collected most common questions I hear when meeting new people and the conversation comes to the field I work/studied:
- So… You speak Chinese…? Fluently?.?
Well, no. Or yes. Or maybe. Or it depends on the day. And on the topic. What shall I answer? If non-mandarin-expert hears me talking Chinese, it might sound pretty impressive. But… It really depends on the day and on the topic I speak about. You know, Chinese language is a bit complex. If you don’t know the word, you can’t even read it. Or sometimes, you know the meaning of the word, but forgot how to read it. Or you can read it but you’re not sure about the meaning. And here are the tones… You know, that they are really important, right? Using the wrong tone, the meaning of the word can be really completely different. For instance, you can call your mama a horse. - Oh, can you say something in Chinese?
This is how the dialog usually goes:
Me: ”Sure I can. What do you want me to say”?
Person: ”Anything”…
Me: ”Well, just say a sentence and I will translate it into Mandarin”.
Person: ”What? Ok, well, wait… let me think… Ehm… Can you say ”My name is… XY”.
Me: ”Ok. 我叫XY”.
Person: ”What? OMG, soooo hard. Can you repeat”?
Me: ”Sure: 我叫XY”.
Person: ”No way, I would never be able to learn it.” - How many Chinese words then you speak?
To tell you the truth… I have no idea. Still not enough, I am expanding my vocabulary day by day. But for a normal conversation, 2500-4000 are necessary. - How can you learn their alphabet?
I can’t. Chinese language does not have the alphabet. It has characters. - Oo, China. No. Not for me. I really don’t like Chinese restaurants. They are all so dirty.
Here my answer depends on my sympathy to this person. If I feel the little and short education would cause good to her/him, I spend some time to take a deep breath and take my time trying to put this topic into wider specter and show some specific examples from the persons neighbourhood, where garbage and dirtiness can be found more nearby than Chinese restaurant. But usually I feel no sympathy to such kind of comments and I just reply that even some Slovenian/Italian/etc restaurants can be dirty too. - Have you been to China? I have a friend, who went to Tokyo/Seoul/Bangkok…
Really? Well, that’s nice. I went to China, yes. Several times. And I haven’t been in Japan, South Korea or Thailand. - My friend just got himself a brand new tatoo with Chinese character. Can you tell me what does it mean?
I usually stare… And usually I cannot read. But I guess some people have really wide broad of imagination and Mr. Tatoo maker seems like he was a bit in an artistic mood when he tried to put the character onto the skin. - I have heard Facebook is blocked in China. Poor people.
You know what… They don’t even feel something in their life is missing in this matter. They have much better apps than Facebook. Tell me the reason, why they would like to use Facebook, if they have f.e.: WeChat. They can pay and order things, food, coupons with WeChat. They can send money with WeChat. Of course, they can talk to their friends using WeChat. And they can share their favourite moments with public or their friends. They can scan people with WeChat… And you know what? Mark Zuckerberg speaks Mandarin. He just recently gave his speech in Beijing, entirely in Chinese. So, how about that? 😉 Check this video, if you don’t believe me: Mark Zuckerberg speaks Chinese. - Hahaha, Chinese… Oh my, they are all so small and tiny… Oh… Have you ever had a relationship with Chinese?
Wow, your English is so good. Have you ever dated an English person? - Can you say my name in Chinese?
Unless your name is some of the most common names (Peter, Mary, Mike etc.), which already have the Chinese versions, I can’t. Please, ask Chinese native speakers, who will find out a name for you. The Chinese version is usually a combination of the meaning of your name/personality and/or phonetic translation.
Binka 