If you’ve ever wondered what our Chinese sounds like to Chinese people, this movie trailer makes a fine dynamic equivalent:
Man I hope they’re selling $1 copies of this on the street soon!
(P.S. – if you can’t see this video, you can try its original YouTube page: Mad About English! – Official Theatrical Trailer 2008.)
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We both write, but Jessica only writes when I bribe her. See all of her posts here.
Pronounced: guó bǎo
Literally: National Security/National Treasure
Means: The two terms are homophones, and "national treasure" often means "panda". A writer at Seeing Red in China explains the rest: "how panda becomes the symbol for Chinese security thugs: Chinese national security (more like secret police) is called 国保 (guó bǎo) for short, and it’s pronounced exactly the same as 国宝, national treasure. Netizens sometimes refer 国保 as 国宝, jokingly, hence Panda, China’s national treasure. Kungfu Panda movies provided the basis for Panda to be a martial character."
With the recent confrontation between Batman actor Christian Bale and some infamous Chinese security thugs, online Chinese are been passing around "Pandaman vs. Batman" jokes, and photoshopping "Pandaman" into all kinds of scenarios, including movie posters and images from other security embarrassments and scandals. See here, here and here for more.
- 2011/12/19
Affordable gadgets vs. Chinese workers' rights
Three recent news articles (and one response) return the spotlight to the mammoth electronics factories in China that make most of our favourite electronics, pointing out what everybody knows and no one wants to think about:
Happy Chinese workers spell the end of affordable tech (ZDNet)
"Human and worker rights reforms in China would have serious negative consequences for the efficiency and cost of the gadget supply chain.
[...]
"Foxconn’s client list reads like a celebrity tech roster that includes Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Intel, Lenovo, IBM, Cisco/Linksys, Netgear, Microsoft, Sharp, Sony, Motorola, Asus, Acer and Vizio... tablet runners and e-reader champions Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Yes, your Kindles and Nooks are also made by the very same companies with the same awful working conditions that make products for Apple."
The dark side of shiny Apple products (CBS News)
"...our most popular electronic devices are largely made by hand ... MANY hands, as it turns out ... hands that often are very over-worked, or so industry's critics contend."
[...]
""I met workers who were 12. Do you really think Apple doesn't know?"
"But what was news were the suicides..."
In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad (NYT)
and
BSR: New York Times’ Apple-Foxconn article contains untruths, inaccuracies, and misleading info (Mac Daily News)
- 2012/02/06
Those aren't Chinese New Year's fireworks; they're "recreational munitions"
From Nankai Rob's Chinese New Year 2012 post "Spring Festival Time. . .Lock and Load":
"...parties are held on a scale so massive that Caligula would have nodded in approval, and enough recreational munitions are set off to make the Battle of Waterloo feel like a suburban bar mitzvah. You’ll notice my careful word choice here: “recreational munitions” rather than “fireworks.” “Fireworks” as a term carries with it more celebratory, even innocent connotations, but you can’t define Chinese celebratory fireworks by the intent behind them. Certainly they’re set off with great excitement and joy, but you can, after all, also lob a grenade into a dumpster with great excitement and joy, and most of what is being set off these days qualifies for inclusion in the dumpster-grenade category. So: recreational munitions."
For more about the genuinely stunning Chinese New Year fireworks phenomenon with photos and video, see:
Happy Chinese New Year!
- 2012/01/22
Tension rising with Mainland students in American universities
Interesting observations at China Law Blog about how Mainland Chinese students studying in the USA -- in contrast to Chinese from other countries -- are apparently generating a lot of anger among the American students: Chinese Students In America. It's Bad Out There.
It seems that Mainland Chinese attitudes toward education don't play well among their American classmates. For example:
"They cheat all the time. It is pretty unbelievable how often I have seen them cheating. I am always complaining to my professors about this, but they usually just act like they are too important to deign to deal with something like this. Just come watch a test being adminstered and it will be obvious. They are allowed to get away with it because they pay the foreign tuition rate."
"One student told me of how all the students not from China agreed not to speak one day to see what would happen. There was no class discussion and the teacher asked them not to do it again."
- 2012/01/11
Canada:
China:
Taiwan:
The States:
Ecuador:
Brazil:
Haiti:
UK:
RSS
fun :)
Yeah. Except that mass English-learning revival meeting scared me a little, like they’re gonna turn loose an army of over-zealous English students. Maybe I should try practicing Chinese at the top of my lungs…
I’ve seen this on TV, but english is such a crazy language, so I kind of feel bad for them.
my computer does not recognize the video here. Can you set up another link?
No problem. I added it to the post. It’s worth watching, as it’s endearing and really funny. And a bit scary in one part.
thanks man. I’d watch it now, but rachel is away with the computer making plans for our wedding that is in 10 days. I’ll be thinking about you guys. Miss you two, but your posts about all this stuff is absolutely awesome. I kinda jelious.
Hey, my dad just got a job flying 747′s out of Hong Kong. Maybe at some point Rachel and I can make a trip and see you guys. Peace.
haha. first, i’m pretty sure you won’t be thinking about us at your wedding! but still, i’m flattered. :) second, if you’re dad is flying to and from HK, and you still get free rides… shoot, man, you seriously need to get over here!
I assume there will be tons of photos and stuff from the wedding somewhere for us to see…?? it kills us to miss that. were super excited for you guys.
I have to get time off from my current job, but we will be seeing you guys in the future. Dude, I love this video. Language learning is brutal for all of us.
you know, marriage is kind of like language learning… ;)
Good video. Enjoyed. I share you thoughts about Li Yang. I’ve done quite a bit of reading on him. He does far more harm than good. In fact, he’s coming very close to being in Beijing’s doghouse. Students of Li Yang soon discover that they’ve wasted a considerable amount of time and money. I never correct anyone’s English. Hell, mine isn’t much better than theirs!
Wow,amazing,after I saw an old man wants to practise his english so eagerly and feels so freely to open his mouth,a sense of self-contempt arosed from my deep heart.What I lack is just such courage.
Well,I don’t think people want to learn english so eagerly in the countryside,coz you may know there exists such a huge difference between the city and the countryside.
Sometimes it can be hard to speak when you know you’ll have bad pronunciation and make grammar mistakes. Some days are harder than others, but you can’t get better without making lots of mistakes. I say incorrect and stupid-sounding stuff every day… several times a day. Normally it doesn’t bother me, but on a bad day it makes me feel like just staying inside and doing book homework.