When I ask a Question?
So I am currently studying mad amounts of chinese for my final, which means that I am writing all kinds of ?? out to try and learn them all 250+ of them before the final. So, for someone who doesn’t speak any chinese until this semester, that’s pretty hard! Today I was at home studying when my ex girlfriend (???) Kelly, who is from Shanghai (??), and in theory can speak Chinese (??), English (??), and Shanghainese (???), sent me an IM to say hi or whatever:
(17:34:51) KelLy: howz it going
(17:34:54) liten fugl: I am well.
(17:35:12) liten fugl: How about you?
(17:35:41) KelLy: still at work..but i’m tired
Naturally, since I am trying to write Chinese, and actually retain it, I ask her what the top radical of the characters I am currently writing mean. Those being ke ? and ?:
(17:41:24) liten fugl: Do you know what the radical on the top of ke and jia means?
(17:41:30) liten fugl: it’s three strokes…
(17:41:30) KelLy: yea?
(17:41:39) KelLy: huh?
(17:41:46) liten fugl: keren de ke, dajia de jia
(17:41:56) liten fugl: there’s a common radical on the top
(17:41:59) liten fugl: what is it?
(17:42:05) KelLy: uh…baseball hat?
(17:42:11) liten fugl: LOL
(17:42:16) liten fugl: I guess it looks like that.
(17:42:21) liten fugl: What is it, and what does it mean?
(17:42:39) KelLy: redskin?
(17:42:43) liten fugl: ….
(17:42:48) liten fugl: mian, meaning roof
(17:42:57) liten fugl: ok, dictionary > kelly
(17:42:58) KelLy: uh…rain and roof?
So, two lessons to be learned here, mostly about ex-girlfriends. Why on earth can’t they still be at least friendly and helpful if you have the most basic question? Why can’t they respect my desire to learn Chinese? A lot of my friends actually look down on me because I’m taking Chinese, and I get called “egg” or “asian fetisher” or who knows what else. I just want to learn the world’s oldest and most widely spoken language, get in on the next China boom, and enjoy the thrill of the structures themselves. Is that bad? To have academic passion?
It seems to me that the China’s great red wall hasn’t come down entirely. It may no longer be officially closed off from the west of the world, but there are Chinese people who themselves are unwilling to help foreigners learn more about their country, language, or culture. To me, this is a great shame, Kelly!
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4 Responses to “When I ask a Question?”
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I am glad that you are taking Chinese now. I think you are mixing two different issues here. You know it’s awkward to talk to you ex-bf or ex-gf, and I suppose that’s why she was rather reluctant to talk to you. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that she doesn’t want to help you with Chinese. If you are not Elliott, she may be very happy to help you with Chinese.
Ahhh…The case of the bitter ex. hahah.
Good luck with Mandarin, baby. ; )
Two different issues, as one previous comment indicated. Hm.. I agree. But I can’t help but to notice that perhaps she really didn’t know how to answer your question. =p I am a Chinese, but sometimes I really can’t “remember” or figure out some of the characters…
My best bet for the top 3 strokes, symbolize the roof. Family is under a roof, and guests are invited to be under a roof as well. As the way I learned it, it’s called “bao gai tou” ???, which even makes less sense really. =)
Anyhow. Have fun with Chinese!
Why do ppl look down at you?
Don’t get it…