Posts Tagged ‘languages’

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The Benefits of Being Multilingual

January 3rd, 2011 by Manda | 5 Comments | Filed in Travel

While eating at a restaurant in Guangzhou two weeks ago, my friend and I attempted to flag down the waiter to get the bill for our meal. In mainland China, it is customary to shout “服务员!” (fú​wù​yuán / waiter/waitress) to get a server’s attention. Sometimes, depending on how busy they are or how much attention they are paying to you, you have to shout “服务员” several times before they notice you need attending to.

In Guangzhou, two languages are spoken: Mandarin Chinese (standard) and Cantonese (dialect). English is limited. Because my friend and I both look white, we were usually addressed with either simple Mandarin (你好 [nǐ​hǎo​ / hello], etc) or limited English. No one ever suspected we speak pretty decent Mandarin, thanks to our studies in Beijing, or that I have a working fluency in Cantonese.

After shouting “服务员” several times, we finally got a waiter’s attention. But not before I overheard the manager grumble in Cantonese, “服务员, 服务员. That’s the only Chinese those white people know.”

Clearly, the manager had no idea I knew Cantonese. Or that both of us knew Mandarin.

(Regular text is for English, bold is for Mandarin, italics is for Cantonese.)

Me (to friend): Manager lady just said the only Chinese we know is 服务员.
Friend (to manager): Excuse me? You think the only Chinese we know is 服务员?
Me (to manager): You don’t really think we’d be traveling in China if we didn’t know Chinese, do you?
Manager (to coworker): Did they hear what I said?
Coworker (to manager): Well, they’re speaking in both Mandarin and Cantonese. I’m pretty sure they heard and understood you.
Friend (to manager): Damn straight we heard what you said.
Me (to manager): Just because we’re not Chinese doesn’t mean we can’t speak the language, you know.

I think the manager will think twice before talking about her customers to their faces again, regardless of what language she chooses!

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Non-Immersion, or More Immersion?

October 23rd, 2010 by Manda | 4 Comments | Filed in School

I am studying abroad in Beijing for the year, right? Well, my initial plan was to study in the intensive language immersion program in the fall, and then take the non-immersion track in the spring. Essentially, that meant I’d be intensively studying only Chinese in the fall; in the spring, I’d be taking content courses taught in English and continuing my Chinese studies non-intensively.

This was all fine and dandy until I started thinking about the kind of progress I’ve made so far during my intensive language study, and how easy it is to slip behind and lose all that progress. When I went on vacation for a week to go climb Huangshan, I came back and one could obviously tell that I had lost some of the improvements I’d been making, particularly when it came to my speaking ability. And this was only after a week, and I had been speaking Chinese in Huangshan!

After this discovery, I started to worry. What would my language ability be like after winter break (aka over a month without studying Chinese)? Would I be able to improve my language skills at the rate I have been in a non-intensive environment? Should I opt out of taking the content courses and continue the immersion program? Would I be able to graduate on time if I decided to do that?

I did some research and talked to a lot of people, and this is what I’ve come up with:

  • If I continue the immersion program next semester, I will be able to graduate on time. Somehow. I’m not really sure how it all manages to fit, but it does.
  • As an immersion student, I will not be able to do an internship in Beijing. (This is an option for non-immersion students.) Internships are really valued in my field of study, so… this is a minus.
  • Even if I took immersion next semester, I would have the option of taking one content course as long as it did not clash with my immersion schedule. This is a DEFINITE PLUS. If I could take a content course that would count towards my major’s graduation requirements, that would ease a little bit of my courseload for senior year.
  • This one is kind of obvious, but I’ve only got one shot at such a fantastic opportunity to learn a language. I’m not sure if the English language content courses can compare with that kind of opportunity. But interning in Beijing might be able to compare…

Now that I’ve figured out the pluses and minuses for both choices, it’s time for me to sit down and really figure out what I want and what is best for me. I’ve got a little time to figure it out, but I want to make sure that whatever decision I make, I won’t regret it. If only someone could tell me what the right choice for me is!

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The Language of Kissing

October 18th, 2010 by Manda | 2 Comments | Filed in Friends, Life, Relationships

Chinese is a tonal language; a simple change in inflection can change the entire meaning of a word. Tones are hard for any non-native Chinese speaker to learn, for obvious reasons. It’s particularly embarrassing when you intend to say something completely harmless and innocent but instead say something suggestive or inappropriate!

Once, my friend and I essentially told each other we should start making out in the middle of class. What we meant to say was “ask,” but we butchered the tone for “ask” so instead of wèn (问) we said wěn (吻). So instead of saying “We should ask,” we said, “we should kiss.”

No wonder our 老师 (lǎoshī / teacher) stared at us in shock when she overheard us. It’s probably not the first time I’ve said something inappropriate due to mangling the tones, either. I swear, these tones will be the death of me!

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