Bizarre Textbook, Bizarre Professor, and Bizarre Eyes
New Vocab and Odd Example Sentences
Okay, so first of all, today in class we were learning some new grammar and what not, nothing different from any other day, really. My professor was writing on the board and saying different examples of the new pattern we were learning, when I looked down in the book to see what example they listed. Here is the translation:
Zhang: If he had been on that flight, he would have died, too.
Wang: Yeah - fortunately he did not take that flight, otherwise he would have died, too.
Does anyone else see some problems with that? Could they not have thought of anything else? Surely there are a number of much better examples. I was almost about to say, "Fortunately we are in Taiwan and not Thailand, otherwise we might have died, too." in class just to stay on par with the upbeat tone of the text.
The other thing that was funny from the book today isn't the book's doing, just the Chinese language in general. They have too many words for relatives. Here is a list of some of the new words from this chapter:
jiu4jiu - mother's brother
jiu4ma1 - wife of mother's brother
biao3di4 - yonger male cousin on mother's side or paternal aunt's side
biao3ge1 - older male cousin on mother's side or paternal aunt's side
biao3jie3 - older female cousin on mother's side or paternal aunt's side
biao3mei4 - younger female cousin on mother's side or paternal aunt's side
So, I have a Jiu4jiu Murray, Jiu4ma Joyce, Biao3ge1 Pat, Biao3jie3 Martha, and a Biao3jie3 Susan.
There is another set of words just like this for the father's side, and it extends into grandparents and so on. The words themselves are not that hard to learn, because there is sort of a logical pattern - the hard part for me is going to actually have to think for once where all of my relatives fit in the family tree. It was also funny to see these because last week I was telling Alison and her friend Poppy about these words and how I can never keep them straight. Then again, when am I actually going to have to talk that much about my extended family to make use of these words?
Random Questions
I am certain my professor must think I am such a horrible Chinese student because I almost always stare blankly at her when she asks me a question - but I swear it's not my fault. She always asks the most random or bone-head easy questions, so I end up convincing myself that I actually did not hear what she just said and have to ask her to say it again and again until she finally gives up and says it in English, or moves on to someone else. For example, today I had to work one-on-one with her because we had an odd number of people. We were going through the new vocabulary words and make sentences with them. Between using the word "to admit/accept" and the word "to complete", she asks me, "Do you work out?" I was completely certain that this time I was not just being a weirdo, and I actually did misunderstand her, so I asked her to repeat the question. She said it again and did this arm movement as if she were lifting weights. I didn't really know what was going on, but I was sure I understood her. I said no, paused, asked why, and she replied with "you arms are so big, you must work out." ...oookay, you freaky mamma, you.
Part Thai?
A few summers ago, I had a lot of people ask me if I was part Asian, but namely part Korean. Since then, I haven't been asked that question too many times, but it did come up from time to time. Randomly, though, I have been asked it twice in the past twenty-four hours, sort of. Last night, this guy on the internet who found my Taiwan journal emailed me and asked if I was "part thai, or anything asian at all". Then, today, as I was walking back from class I ran into one of my flat-mates, Steve, on the street. He said, "Whoa! Are you awake yet?" I had no idea why he would say that, but he followed it up with "How can you walk with your eyes closed? You need some sunglasses!" The funny thing is that my eyes weren't shut...they are just actually that squinty. Now, I address my parents - Am I the Asian milkman's kid? Did we even ever have an Asian milkman? Did we even ever have a milkman? If not, I would like an explanation or something. Perhaps just rub my head and remind me that I'm special. That usually works, as you know.
Okay, so first of all, today in class we were learning some new grammar and what not, nothing different from any other day, really. My professor was writing on the board and saying different examples of the new pattern we were learning, when I looked down in the book to see what example they listed. Here is the translation:
Zhang: If he had been on that flight, he would have died, too.
Wang: Yeah - fortunately he did not take that flight, otherwise he would have died, too.
Does anyone else see some problems with that? Could they not have thought of anything else? Surely there are a number of much better examples. I was almost about to say, "Fortunately we are in Taiwan and not Thailand, otherwise we might have died, too." in class just to stay on par with the upbeat tone of the text.
The other thing that was funny from the book today isn't the book's doing, just the Chinese language in general. They have too many words for relatives. Here is a list of some of the new words from this chapter:
jiu4jiu - mother's brother
jiu4ma1 - wife of mother's brother
biao3di4 - yonger male cousin on mother's side or paternal aunt's side
biao3ge1 - older male cousin on mother's side or paternal aunt's side
biao3jie3 - older female cousin on mother's side or paternal aunt's side
biao3mei4 - younger female cousin on mother's side or paternal aunt's side
So, I have a Jiu4jiu Murray, Jiu4ma Joyce, Biao3ge1 Pat, Biao3jie3 Martha, and a Biao3jie3 Susan.
There is another set of words just like this for the father's side, and it extends into grandparents and so on. The words themselves are not that hard to learn, because there is sort of a logical pattern - the hard part for me is going to actually have to think for once where all of my relatives fit in the family tree. It was also funny to see these because last week I was telling Alison and her friend Poppy about these words and how I can never keep them straight. Then again, when am I actually going to have to talk that much about my extended family to make use of these words?
Random Questions
I am certain my professor must think I am such a horrible Chinese student because I almost always stare blankly at her when she asks me a question - but I swear it's not my fault. She always asks the most random or bone-head easy questions, so I end up convincing myself that I actually did not hear what she just said and have to ask her to say it again and again until she finally gives up and says it in English, or moves on to someone else. For example, today I had to work one-on-one with her because we had an odd number of people. We were going through the new vocabulary words and make sentences with them. Between using the word "to admit/accept" and the word "to complete", she asks me, "Do you work out?" I was completely certain that this time I was not just being a weirdo, and I actually did misunderstand her, so I asked her to repeat the question. She said it again and did this arm movement as if she were lifting weights. I didn't really know what was going on, but I was sure I understood her. I said no, paused, asked why, and she replied with "you arms are so big, you must work out." ...oookay, you freaky mamma, you.
Part Thai?
A few summers ago, I had a lot of people ask me if I was part Asian, but namely part Korean. Since then, I haven't been asked that question too many times, but it did come up from time to time. Randomly, though, I have been asked it twice in the past twenty-four hours, sort of. Last night, this guy on the internet who found my Taiwan journal emailed me and asked if I was "part thai, or anything asian at all". Then, today, as I was walking back from class I ran into one of my flat-mates, Steve, on the street. He said, "Whoa! Are you awake yet?" I had no idea why he would say that, but he followed it up with "How can you walk with your eyes closed? You need some sunglasses!" The funny thing is that my eyes weren't shut...they are just actually that squinty. Now, I address my parents - Am I the Asian milkman's kid? Did we even ever have an Asian milkman? Did we even ever have a milkman? If not, I would like an explanation or something. Perhaps just rub my head and remind me that I'm special. That usually works, as you know.