User Comments - bababardwan

Posted on: Can You Use Chopsticks?

Good on ya mate for stickin to your word..good sport.Well it is the year of the tiger after all,hehe.

Jeepers,after being mauled by the tigers,I hope that bee in your bonnet doesn't add insult to injury and sting you.Did you ever see that movie attack of the killer bees? They went to a footy stadium in the end and turned the temp right down....chilled em out you might say,hehe.

Posted on: Finishing Work for the Weekend

Do you mean in the UK ,the US ,or in the English speaking world in general?

Posted on: Getting to Know CPod Teacher Helen (and exciting content news)!

"Doesn't mean I shouldn't have a bee in my bonnet though!"

哈哈....oh no please continue mate,it's all very entertaining.

Very interesting about the Serbian Croatian situation.Thanks for that...good points.

I can't answer your questions because I don't know enough about them.From the little I've seen of Cantonese though,aren't a lot of the words somewhat similar sounding [like for example the Cantonese equivalent of 恭喜发财...even though not similar enough to be mutually intelligible with Mandarin? There seems to be a relationship there ,though I have heard it is as wide apart as English and French if not wider.

Posted on: Hobbies: Music

thanks bodawei,good info mate.

Posted on: Finishing Work for the Weekend

"zeitgeist"

..hmm,good word mate,don't think I've struck it before.Is that common in the US?...I see it's from German and means spirit of the time.

So what do the telecommuters say?

Posted on: Getting to Know CPod Teacher Helen (and exciting content news)!

ah,it's great to see everyone so excited and interested already.It should make for not only fascinating lessons that should round out our Chinese education a bit more,but some interesting lively discussions and debates,so bring it on.

I know very little about Cantonese or how much overlap there is with Chinese except an impression that they use the same characters in the writing,and that there are some common origins and similarities,an impression that there is a strong relationship there [but so is English and German or French for example which also has cognates for example....which tends to mean it's easier to learn a language related to your own...the closer the relationship presumably the easier],but that for the most part they are not mutually intelligible.I would agree with Changye though that the lines between such things are usually blurry,and I tend to think most things have shades of gray.It comes down to semantics,but in the end though it's an interesting discussion,I feel it is what it is and I'd be interested in knowing difference it makes if we decide to call Cantonese a dialect or a separate language.

Posted on: The Shanghai Literary Festival

"we just need to be clear what we mean"

...jiushi.That's why a good chinwag can be so important.So oft folk are actually talking at cross purposes.

It is what we call 'culture' (learned behaviour) is where the differences lie

...quite right mate.

Hey ,thanks again for our discussion mate..much enjoyed and I always learn something from you.Jiayou !!

Posted on: The Shanghai Literary Festival

bodawei,

hehe,thanks mate,you're too kind.Actually I think we're pretty much on the same page on this one as it turns out.

"The victims of any botch up would be deeply enraged and perpetrators shamed,"

..aha,thankyou for confirming what one would presume.So really our reaction is no different.So it seems the Chinese themselves can be more than unimpressed with what transpired but folk get very touchy when outsiders take the same view.I wish people could look beyond race and culture and see us as a brotherhood of man,all advocating for the best.

from Westerners I read a message more along the lines of 'what do you expect in a country like China, with an authoritarian uncaring Government with a policy of desperately covering up every mistake?' It is a comfortable stance for the West - in a way it makes us feel good about ourselves. Thank God we are not like them. Almost a sense of pity.

...right,I see what you're on about now.Yes,I have seen that too sometimes.I don't think that was going on here on these boards and I can certainly assure you that is not my stance.

'hiding behind cultural differences'

...I think understanding other cultures is extremely important and requires a lot of tolerance patience and understanding.But I think some things are fundamental and I don't think anything in this world is beyond question,or that just arguing that one wouldn't understand because one is from a different culture always holds water.This would bring us to an examination of what is culture? Basically it has been handed down to us from our ancestors.Does this mean everything that has been handed to us cannot be improved upon? I certainly think that there are many things in my own culture that are questionable,but that's a whole other story and we're here to learn Chinese,and also I do like to celebrate the many cultural fruits we have inherited.Anyhow,in this case,as you have confirmed,the culture would not support such an outrageous practice as withholding treatment from the poor victims.

"rather I like to bring the cultural differences to the fore, to help understand what is going on"

...good stuff mate,keep it coming.

"I am equally disappointed by both (a) the 'aren't we all just the same under the skin?"

...why? I mean I think there are some wonderful differences and they are worth celebrating and make life interesting and rich n all that.I remember reading once about the increasing diversification of cultures up to a point around 1500 when the Europeans went off to conquer the world and that was the turning point and it has been increasing homogenisation since then.What a pity in that respect.I'd love to go to that time when folk all dressed in traditional garb,when many cultures were largely unaffected by the outside world.How wonderful that would be.This is also one of the big attractions of Chinese culture today...not only it's many fabulous aspects but also because it is still quite different to western culture.But I think deep down there are also still many fundamental things that are the same.We share the same emotions,share the same need for love,have insecurities ,deng deng.I think these similarities are also very important.We share a human bond.Anyhow,sorry I'm ranting on a bit hey,hehe.

(b) 'what else do you expect from the Chinese?' complexions of opinion.

...yeah,I hate patronising attitudes like this.I have a tremendous respect and affection for Chinese people I've met.

Thanks for your insights...I really appreciate them,as I'm pretty ignorant in a lot of these cultural aspects and that's why I'm mainly asking questions here...oft not to call something into question so to speak,but genuinely to learn.

Posted on: Guilin Mifen

我知道。。我同意。。。这些是非常好。我觉得不太可能出现更多的因为Matt是较少参与这些天。

Posted on: Getting to Know CPod Teacher Helen (and exciting content news)!

。。而，祝大家爱因斯坦节快乐