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Q: Do you put more value on learning the Chinese language, Chinese culture and traditions, or neither?
I am tone deaf in my hearing. So, learning the language is nearly impossible for me. So, I have placed my efforts into learning about the culture, traditions and other society factors of China. I found that by doing this, I have a better understanding of why Chinese do things that goes against my western sensibilities and understanding.
I have picked up a few Chinese words in my two years here, but often they are useless since I can not get the tones correct. I thought it was a silly problem that I had until I went on vacation with a Chinese friend. He is from Beijing. When we visited Guilin, he was often stymied by the dialect of the language there and could not understand some things. It is not like a New Yorker and a Californian speaking. They can still understand the words and meaning. But, In Chinese, the dialect makes it hard for even Chinese to know what their fellow countrymen are saying.
I too have a hearing issue... no way I will ever get this language. I thought a couple years living in it and working at it would do it. 6 months in and I gave up. 3+ years now and I know quite a few "words" that my immediate family understand. My neighbors haven't got a clue what I am saying. Wife often tells me, she doesn't understand what somebody is saying... i.e. it's not putonghua or guangdonghua.... some other dialect. here it is often leizhuohua ... how in the hell am I supposed to know this? I GIVE UP!!!
BHGAL:
And for you Scots and Brits and Aussies and Kiwis, why in the hell don't you speak English properly like me? eh?
Language by far, because it's a gateway for all those other things. Whereas those other things are not a gateway to language itself. And while most Chinese assume that foreigners cannot understand the likes of Chinese language, history, and tradition; not everybody in China actually has or understands Chinese traditions either. But most people can understand Pu Tong Hua. And if you wanna pick up women, then Poon-Tang Hua comes very useful too. Poon-Tang Hua is a derivative of Pu Tong Hua.
AladinSane:
...Imagine having to learn a second language just to pick up women.
jetfire9000:
Is that what you're doing? You must have it pretty bad mate!
I too have a hearing issue... no way I will ever get this language. I thought a couple years living in it and working at it would do it. 6 months in and I gave up. 3+ years now and I know quite a few "words" that my immediate family understand. My neighbors haven't got a clue what I am saying. Wife often tells me, she doesn't understand what somebody is saying... i.e. it's not putonghua or guangdonghua.... some other dialect. here it is often leizhuohua ... how in the hell am I supposed to know this? I GIVE UP!!!
BHGAL:
And for you Scots and Brits and Aussies and Kiwis, why in the hell don't you speak English properly like me? eh?
At one point I made a significant effort to learn the language and made some progress- I have a decent level of Mandarin but not close to fluent. In terms of the culture - I'd say the only way that can be "learned" is through experiencing life in China on different levels. The more diverse groups of people that you can meet and get to know on a more than superficial level, the more you will come to understand the culture. The culture definitely interests me and I'd say I'm pretty good at observing different situations through the "Chinese lens". Now, I find a lot of aspects of the culture and traditions quite disdainful including materialism, lack of respect for personal space both physically and mentally, lack of appreciation for the arts and education, etc. Now Chinese history can be quite fascinating - I took a class in college and forgot a lot of the details and I've been meaning to start learning more about it again in my spare time. So looking forward, I should improve my Mandarin level but probably won't by a whole lot but I'd love to learn more about China's history.
