06-12-2001 09:36									#31
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quote: Originally posted by Sprayber Hey, I live in a small city that is surrounded by rice and cotton farms. It has nothing to do with where you are, but what you have been told about other people.

And let me guess, it insults you to be stereotyped as a brainless idiot who believes whatever others tell them, no doubts as it would offend the rice farmers in remoter regions of China to be reffered to as the same way.

In China as in all places, the are those who mindlessly believe what they are told, but there are far more who question.

	06-12-2001 09:50									#32
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David, Chinese ceased their xenophobism long time ago. Well, maybe not against the Japanese who dropped tons of Anthrax on Chinese villages and towns during the WW2.

	06-12-2001 09:56									#33
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quote: Originally posted by Transcend David, Chinese ceased their xenophobism long time ago. Well, maybe not against the Japanese who dropped tons of Anthrax on Chinese villages and towns during the WW2.

Though its hard not to notice that the Japanese way of life has altered incredibly since that time, and those anatgonisms though justly founded are perhaps outdated and best forgotten.

	06-12-2001 10:01									#34
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quote: Originally posted by Chris 62 Are you sure she wasn't a UR DL?

oh well, I guess anything is possible.


Faboba:

quote: And let me guess, it insults you to be stereotyped as a brainless idiot who believes whatever others tell them, no doubts as it would offend the rice farmers in remoter regions of China to be reffered to as the same way.

Exactly where have I said that the rice farmers in the remote regions of China are anything? If I'm not mistaken I said people are basically the same everywhere and only view things according to how they were taught to. Anyway, this is a fun thread. It has nothing to do with rice farmers here, there or on the moon. It has to do with a very sweet and lovely girl from a Chinese city who doesn't seem to have near as many hang ups as people around here do.

	07-12-2001 00:01									#35
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quote: Besides, she could watch CNN and find out more

Actually, few Chinese can watch CNN on television. CNN.com is blocked by the national internet firewall.

quote: I believe they call non-Chinese "foreign devils"?

That's really a thing of the past. Now we are usually called waiguoren ("foreigner") or sometimes laowai (something like"respected foreigner").

quote: Though its hard not to notice that the Japanese way of life has altered incredibly since that time, and those anatgonisms though justly founded are perhaps outdated and best forgotten.

Forgotten? You must have missed the recent controversies over the latest Japanese history textbook, the Prime Minister's visit to the war hero's shrine, Tokyo's handling of lawsuits involving wartime forced prostitution, etc. The issues are still very much alive for many in China and South Korea. However, young Japanese and Chinese do not seem to be much affected.

	07-12-2001 16:11									#36
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Just got through talking to her about Civ. And I don't even play the bloody game, but I figured that it was easier then trying to explain SMAC to her. She seemed interested in it but I have no idea when it would get there or if you could even get civ2 there or not. Anyway I we didn't talk long, she was sick and had to lay down. It's cool how the computer brings people together from opposite sides of the globe. Oh, and voice chat is great.

She even likes sci-fi stuff.

	08-12-2001 06:18									#37
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quote: Your English is better than my Chinese would be if I studied it full time

Got that right.

Wo shi waiguoren, ni ne?

	08-12-2001 06:31									#38
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"Actually, few Chinese can watch CNN on television. CNN.com is blocked by the national internet firewall."

-I believe I've heard it reffered to as the Great Firewall of China.

	08-12-2001 08:02									#39
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quote: Originally posted by Adam Smith Got that right. Wo shi waiguoren, ni ne?

Ye shi waiguoren. Ni shi naguoren?

	08-12-2001 13:39									#40
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quote: Originally posted by Chris 62 Are you sure she wasn't a UR DL?

Oh, Sprayber was whom my former roommate's bother-in-law's aunt's cousin's uncle's next door neighbour's sister talked to.

	09-12-2001 07:24									#41
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UR:

Ta bu4 shi4 Zhongguo2 ren2??
Wo3 shi4 Mei3guo2 ren2.
Wo3 you3 liang3 ge nu3 hai2zi.
Tamen shi4 Zhongguo2 ren2.
Xingqi tian wo3men xue2 Zhongguo2 wen2.
Wo3 shuo yi2 dia3nr, xie3 yi2 dia3nr, zhidao2 er2 shi2 Zhongguo2 zi2.

	09-12-2001 10:54									#42
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quote: Originally posted by Adam Smith UR: Ta bu4 shi4 Zhongguo2 ren2?? Wo3 shi4 Mei3guo2 ren2. Wo3 you3 liang3 ge nu3 hai2zi. Tamen shi4 Zhongguo2 ren2. Xingqi tian wo3men xue2 Zhongguo2 wen2. Wo3 shuo yi2 dia3nr, xie3 yi2 dia3nr, zhidao2 er2 shi2 Zhongguo2 zi2.

My pinyin is definitely worse than yours

I think I got what you're saying after staring at the screen for minutes.

Just some nitpicks:

"yi2 dai3nr" is probably "yi2 dain3" if you want to say "a bit." "Dain3r" is mainly used by Beijingeses (those who were born in Beijing, or those who learned the local dialect).

"Zhongguo2 wen2" is not wrong but not the way it's customarily used. "Zhong wen2" is the standard form.

Shuo de bu cuo

	10-12-2001 04:22									#43
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quote: Originally posted by Urban Ranger Oh, Sprayber was whom my former roommate's bother-in-law's aunt's cousin's uncle's next door neighbour's sister talked to.

Exactly where are you located at?

Speaking of family. She was slightly depressed that she only got to see her family ever so often. This was after I mentioned that I was visiting mine this weekend.

And I'll let all those other things pass without comments since I don't have a clue as to what you are talking about.

*goes off to find a Chinese to English dictionary*

	10-12-2001 08:33									#44
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No, No, No, you mistaken the Evil(and frankly quite moronic) communist government's agenda of taking over the world with what regular chinese citizens want(money).

	10-12-2001 08:43									#45
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Two years ago, I met Chris, a Chinese foreign exchange student to America. They're not suppossed to stay, they're suppossed to return to their home country. . .

He stayed.

He's currently in some New Mexico college or Arizona and doing really well.

He believed that the Dalai Lama was an evil-bandit figure when he came over here.

I consider him a success story.

By the way, does anyone know about the Chinese pyramids?

	10-12-2001 08:47									#46
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quote: Ta bu4 shi4 Zhongguo2 ren2?? Wo3 shi4 Mei3guo2 ren2. Wo3 you3 liang3 ge nu3 hai2zi. Tamen shi4 Zhongguo2 ren2. Xingqi tian wo3men xue2 Zhongguo2 wen2. Wo3 shuo yi2 dia3nr, xie3 yi2 dia3nr, zhidao2 er2 shi2 Zhongguo2 zi2.

Since I'm Chinese, I get to pick out your errors.
nu3 hai2zi means girl. To say 'daughter', you use nu3 er2.
'Chinese language' is Zhong1 wen2 not zhongguo2 wen2
for the last line, you should say 'wo3 hui4 shuo yi2 dianr3' hui4 means 'able to'.
'twenty chinese characters' is 'er4 shi2 ge han4zi4'. 'ge' is the 'counting word' and 'han4zi4' is 'Chinese characters'.

Back to the topic...

So sprayber... have you been talking to her lately? any pics yet?

	10-12-2001 09:19									#47
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haizi! Of course! That makes sense now.

	10-12-2001 11:50									#48
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quote: Originally posted by ranskaldan Since I'm Chinese, I get to pick out your errors. nu3 hai2zi means girl. To say 'daughter', you use nu3 er2. 'Chinese language' is Zhong1 wen2 not zhongguo2 wen2 for the last line, you should say 'wo3 hui4 shuo yi2 dianr3' hui4 means 'able to'. 'twenty chinese characters' is 'er4 shi2 ge han4zi4'. 'ge' is the 'counting word' and 'han4zi4' is 'Chinese characters'. Back to the topic... So sprayber... have you been talking to her lately? any pics yet?

Translate the rest of it for me.

I'm waiting for her to come online now. And yes I have a picture. But I ain't gonna post it.

Hey should I tell her that I am a part of the American imperialist military?

	10-12-2001 11:56									#49
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NOOOOOO U ppl's Pinyi is better than mine

dan1 zan2 wo3 shi4 ben4 dan4, shuo3 yi3 ye3 shi4 zhi4 zan2 de

	10-12-2001 12:30									#50
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quote: Originally posted by Adam Smith Ta bu4 shi4 Zhongguo2 ren2?? Wo3 shi4 Mei3guo2 ren2. Wo3 you3 liang3 ge nu3 hai2zi. Tamen shi4 Zhongguo2 ren2. Xingqi tian wo3men xue2 Zhongguo2 wen2. Wo3 shuo yi2 dia3nr, xie3 yi2 dia3nr, zhidao2 er2 shi2 Zhongguo2 zi2.

Alright Spray, I'll test my failing memory.

"He is not Chinese.
I am American.
I have 2 daughters.
They are Chinese.
Weekdays(?), we study Chinese.
I speak a little, write a little, and know 20 Chinese characters."

	10-12-2001 20:10									#51
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Ewwww...more mistakes than I imagined.
But thanks for nit picks everybody...thats how one learns
BTW, my prior post should have been addressed to Da Shi, not UR.

UR:
Our laoshi is from Beijing. She keeps telling us "if you dont stick an 'r' on the end you will sound like a hick." True, false, or local prejudice?

Da Shi:
I think I said "Sunday we study Chinese."

	10-12-2001 20:30									#52
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quote: Our laoshi is from Beijing. She keeps telling us "if you dont stick an 'r' on the end you will sound like a hick." True, false, or local prejudice?

Hi, Adam!

To answer your question from a Shanghai perspective: Local prejudice. I wonder if your teacher knows that many Shanghainese consider Beijingers themselves to be "hicks" - or "uncouth bumpkins" in the words of a friend of mine. This line of thinking has it that the people of Beijing are largely Hubei peasants who still hawk and spit all the time, speak coarsely, have bad teeth, etc - the exact opposite of the Shanghainese image of themselves as China's sophisticated urban elite.

One of my teachers here in Shanghai said that the "southern version" of Mandarin (without all those r's on the end) is actually spoken by more Chinese, and that the notion of a Beijing accent being so-called "proper" Mandarin was nothing but a bit of lingo-centrism on the part of the ever self-important Beijingers.

- mindseye

	10-12-2001 20:49									#53
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quote: Originally posted by ranskaldan [/b] shuo yi2 dianr3' hui4 means 'able to'. 'twenty chinese characters' is 'er4 shi2 ge han4zi4'. 'ge' is the 'counting word' and 'han4zi4' is 'Chinese characters'.

"Two" is er3, not er4.

"Zhongguo2 zi3" is fine for "Chinese characters."

Then again, I am not 100% on what the numbers correspond

	10-12-2001 20:55									#54
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quote: Originally posted by mindseye quote: Our laoshi is from Beijing. She keeps telling us "if you dont stick an 'r' on the end you will sound like a hick." True, false, or local prejudice? Hi, Adam! To answer your question from a Shanghai perspective: Local prejudice. I wonder if your teacher knows that many Shanghainese consider Beijingers themselves to be "hicks" - or "uncouth bumpkins" in the words of a friend of mine. This line of thinking has it that the people of Beijing are largely Hubei peasants who still hawk and spit all the time, speak coarsely, have bad teeth, etc - the exact opposite of the Shanghainese image of themselves as China's sophisticated urban elite. One of my teachers here in Shanghai said that the "southern version" of Mandarin (without all those r's on the end) is actually spoken by more Chinese, and that the notion of a Beijing accent being so-called "proper" Mandarin was nothing but a bit of lingo-centrism on the part of the ever self-important Beijingers. - mindseye

That's not really true since Beijing was and still is considered the cultural capital of the country. Sure, there are a lot of "mobile population" but they don't speak the Beijing dialect

Anyway the standard Poutonga is spoken without the "er" at the end.


Adam,

What he said, mostly

	10-12-2001 20:58									#55
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quote: Originally posted by monolith94 By the way, does anyone know about the Chinese pyramids?

What about them?

	10-12-2001 21:02									#56
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quote: Originally posted by MORON NOOOOOO U ppl's Pinyi is better than mine dan1 zan2 wo3 shi4 ben4 dan4, shuo3 yi3 ye3 shi4 zhi4 zan2 de

Nah, my pinyi is totally bad, have to look up half the characters

I can write in Chinese better



Adam,

You have two adopted daughters?

	10-12-2001 22:40									#57
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Yes, ages 4 and 6, both from Changzhou, in Jiangsu Province.

	11-12-2001 00:17									#58
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quote: "Two" is er3, not er4. "Zhongguo2 zi3" is fine for "Chinese characters." Then again, I am not 100% on what the numbers correspond

it's er4 and zi4
1 - high
2 - rising
3 - dipping
4 - falling

quote: Our laoshi is from Beijing. She keeps telling us "if you dont stick an 'r' on the end you will sound like a hick." True, false, or local prejudice?

That's coz she's from Beijing.
Beijing Chinese, just like American English, is characterized by excessive 'r's. An American would tell you to pronounce the 'r's or you'd sound like a stiff Briton.
Southern variants of Mandarin is characterized by a lack of 'r's, just like British English. A Briton would tell you to not pronounce any 'r's or you'd sound like a Yankee.

quote: Anyway the standard Poutonga is spoken without the "er" at the end.

That depends on what your definition of 'Putonghua' is.

	11-12-2001 07:55									#59
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quote: Originally posted by Adam Smith Yes, ages 4 and 6, both from Changzhou, in Jiangsu Province.

Ah, a beautiful scenic city. Have you been there?

	11-12-2001 08:10									#60
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Last night I only got to talk to her for awhile. Her internet access wasn't going so great. She had to get off for awhile and try another place or something.

How reliable is the internet access over there. I don't want to imply anything, but just wondering how widespread it is for the people. She is a student so I can understand her having access. Also, how much is restricted over there. She was able to see many of the sites I could including Yahoo.