Throughout this whole year, strange and unusual things have been happening in and around China.
January / February - An incredible winter storm overwhelmed the nation’s transportation infrastructure. Shanghai had more snow than most natives had seen in their lifetime.
Starting from March - Foreigners are unable to renew visas, or were using back channels and paying lots of extra money to renew
March 15 - Crackdown on protests in Tibet
April - The visa situation gets even worse, maximum of 1-month visa or extension
April - Anger over pro-Tibet supporters and Torch Relay in France & USA spark waves of outrage, violence across China and overseas Chinese communities
May 5 - Bus explodes in Shanghai, killing 3 people, whispered rumors start about terrorism, later reported to be accidental
May 6 - Outside my 16th floor office at about 10pm, there’s a large explosion of which we could see the bright flash and which makes us all jump (and me scream) before every single car alarm for 2 blocks starts going off
May 12 - One of the strongest and deadliest earthquakes in decades hits Sichuan province, exactly 88 days before the start of the Olympics. Note: 88 is considered a very lucky number in China, so people start asking what will happen 44days before the Olympics. 44 is a very UNlucky number to Chinese as it sounds like double death.
In the spirit of language faux pas, here is another funny video. This one is a little…or a lot… closer to China. I think that even if you don’t understand Chinese, its still funny, but read the explanation as you watch the video.
Guy: Well, of course, I’ve lived here for awhile now and I think its really important to immerse yourself in the culture and learn the lingo, which is what I’ve done.
CHINESE: 恩,当然我已经在这里生活了一段时间. 我觉得让自己融入这里的文化氛围,学习一些当地的语言也是非常重要的.我也是这么做的.
Guy: 你好 nǐ hǎo
ENGLISH: Hello
Shop assistant 1: 你好 nǐ hǎo
ENGLISH: Hello
Guy: 你好 nǐ hǎo
ENGLISH: Hello
Shop assistant 2: 你好 nǐ hǎo
ENGLISH: Hello
Guy: 这个是我的同志 。 zhè gè shì wǒ de tóngzhì.
ENGLISH: This is my gay partner.
Error: 同志 tóngzhì can mean comrade, partner, or between two guys: gay lover.
Correction: 朋友 péngyǒu is the normal way of saying friend(s). If a guy wants to indicate he and another guy are close friends (but not gay), 哥们 gēmen or 兄弟 xiōngdì can be used.
Guy: 对. duì 我跟他同房。 wǒ gēn tā tóngfáng.
ENGLISH: This guy and I sleep together
Error: 同房 tóngfáng literally means roommate but implies two people share the same bed.
Correction: 室友 shìyǒu or 同屋 tóngwū are better ways of saying roommate. 室友 shìyǒu is more common, while 同屋 tóngwū is used more commonly in northern China.
Guy to friend: Would you like some tea?
Friend: Yea, a cup of tea.
Guy: Yes, its really good.
Shop assistant 2: New green tea.
Guy: 这个多少钱。 zhè gè duō shǎo qián?
ENGLISH: How much money is this?
Shop assistant 1: 50 grams is 38 yuan.
Guy: 38 yuan. I can get this for you.
Friend: Great!
Guy: Uh, I think I’ve left my wallet behind.
Guy: 我的包皮丢了. wǒ de bāopí diū le.
ENGLISH: I lost my foreskin.
Error: 包皮 bāopí means foreskin. 皮包 píbāo means wallet. The guy has reversed the characters forming a new word with a completely different meaning.
Correction: 钱包 qiánbāo is a better way of saying wallet and doesn’t risk getting mixed up with a different meaning.
Shop assistant 2: 你的包皮丢了 nǐ de bāopí diū le.
ENGLISH: You lost your foreskin.
Guy: 我的包皮丢了 wǒ de bāopí diū le.
ENGLISH: I lost my foreskin.
Shop assistant 2: 怎么会丢了? zěnme huì diū le?
ENGLISH: How did you lose it?
Guy: 不知道 bù zhīdào… 我的包皮 wǒ de bāopí. 我 Wǒ… 我 wǒ… 去 qù.
ENGLISH: I don’t know. My foreskin. I… I… am going.
I made another video for my job, this time showcasing Spanish language faux pas. Yes, it’s a script and yes, it’s meant to be a joke. The explanation is below.
Girl: Oh, you want me to say it in Spanish. Alright. Bueno. Creo que soy bastante fluida.
ENGLISH: Good. I believe I’m quite fluid.
Error: fluida = fluid, not fluent.
Correction: Fluidez is the correct way to say fluent, not fluida.
Girl: Es porque empecé a estudiar cuando estaba en la escuela, cuando era niño.
ENGLISH: This is because I started studying when I was in school, when I was a boy.
Error: niño = boy, not child
Correction: Joven is the correct way to say young, not niño.
Girl: También tuve muchas oportunidades de práctica con mi vecino en mi cama.
ENGLISH: Also, I had many opportunities to practice with my neighbor in my bed.
Error: cama = bed, not house
Correction: Casa is the correct way to say house, not cama.
Girl: Sé que aún tengo muchos errores. Pero de eso se trata el aprendizaje de un idioma. Práctica, práctica, práctica.
ENGLISH: I know I still have many errors but that’s how it is learning a language. Practice, practice, practice.
Girl: Trato de usar mi Español en todas partes, como cuando estoy ordenando comida mexicana .
ENGLISH: I try to use my Spanish all the time, for example, when ordering Mexican food.
Girl: Me gusta chiquita pechos, chiquita fajitos, con un poco de sabrosos huevos. Mmmm . . .
ENGLISH: I like little (human) breasts, little fajitos, with a small side of flavorful eggs.
Error: Pechos = human breasts, not chicken breasts.
Error: What she refers to as fajitos should be fajitas, a typical Mexican dish of grilled meat served on a tortilla.
Error: Sabrosos huevos can be construed as testicles.
Correction: Pechuga de pollo is the correct way to say chicken breast.
Title: italki.com. Aprenda un idioma extranjero
ENGLISH: Learn a foreign language
Girl: ¡Oh! ¿De verdad? Estoy tan embarazada!
ENGLISH: For real? I’m so pregnant.
Error: embarazada = pregnant, not embarrassed
Correction: Avergonzada is the correct way to say embarrassed, not embarazada. (List of false Spanish cognates.)
May 12, 2008 at 12:03 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Today at about 2:45pm there was an earthquake that lasted for well over a minute, maybe even 2 or 3. It seems that people at ground level didn’t feel it. In our 16th floor office, we just felt sort of dizzy or car sick during the quake. The epicenter was in Sichuan province in western China, measuring 7.8.
You’re planning your next internet company, you intend to reach out to a broad audience-the whole world, so where do you base it-West Coast of the US, Europe, or China? (This is by no means a comprehensive analysis of this topic.) These are a few thoughts I have on the relative advantages of each location, based on what I know about the SNS (social networking) for language learning industry, including my Shanghai-based employer.
Huge market, the Chinese love their interactive, instant gratification web apps
Entrepreneurial spirit, try anything, wild west gold rush mentality
VCs (Venture Capitalists) may be looking more at China’s internet players because China now has the most internet users in the world, and China’s internet players have more solid histories of revenue flow than Western internet players
Western students will intern for free just to say they’ve worked/interned in China, ‘the hot new place to be’
Proximity to a lot of tech conferences where you can meet VCs, influential bloggers, potential partners
Ample opportunity to get your message out because of proximity to influential tech related media
Europe has similar advantages as the US, but not on the scale they exist in the US. There are some tech conferences in Europe, there are VCs in Europe, but the media coverage for tech stuff is relatively limited in Europe.
America’s & Europe’s distinct Disadvantage–
High costs of labor, office space, infrastructure, etc
In conclusion, Europe seems to offer the fewest benefits. Not surprising, the cost differential makes China a very attractive place to base your start up. The US is the best for getting very influential and widely seen English-language media coverage.
Perhaps the optimal solution is to have the marketing/PR person (or firm) in/near Silicon Valley, the technical team, led by a capable Western project manager, based in China, and the executive going back and forth.
If you thoughts on aspects I’ve overlooked or other ideas, please post them in the comments section below.
Funny, and just plain wrong, English translations continue to plague East Asian (and many other) countries. Here are a few from my travels around China–
This is a common poster in bars and restaurants in Shanghai.
Don’t feed on monkeys, they don’t taste very good
Make sure your urinating is civilized
Dear Old Tourists, we’re not PC but at least you’re free
Don’t prostitute oneself, wench!
More Chinglish from around China. This may not be the funniest collection you’ll ever see but some of these are from pretty high-profile places: the Great Wall, Grand Hyatt-Shanghai, the Three Gorges Dam…
Digg/USCfemme
Flickr/tofflerann
Facebook/Toffler
Linkedin/Toffler
Twitter/TofflerAnn
YouTube/USCfemme
italki.com/Toffler