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Lesson Introduction
OK, everybody lean in, put your hands on your knees or around the person next to you. You in the back, two fingers behind someone’s head please. Now smile and look cute so no one can tell us apart. Say 'Chinese!' In this podcast, a Mandarin lesson for the over-zealous photographers amongst us... and their doomed subjects.
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tsack says
茄子. That's really funny. I've only heard Taiwanese Chinese say "Cheese"January 25, 2008
changye says
郭沫若(1892年11月16日～1978年6月12日） 是中国著名的文学家、考古学家、思想家、 革命活动家、古文字学家、诗人。 http://baike.baidu.com/view/2021.htmJanuary 25, 2008
sushan says
The first time I was in a picture and heard 茄子 I burst out laughing. A bit stronger reaction than the photographer was looking for.January 25, 2008
SiYao says
John and Jenny: Thanks for this lesson! You read my mind, I had been searching for these terms. All the photographer's out there will agree with me, ChinesePod rocks again!January 25, 2008
changye says
Korean people say “Kimchi” when taking photos. In Japan, we say “チーズ (cheese)”, and any other versions in your country?January 25, 2008
mei9 says
woooooooow,the lesson is very very useful.i like photography very much,my friends say that i have a photography mania:) CHANG YE: how r u ?are you from korea???January 26, 2008
tvan says
If I take nothing else away from this lesson, it will be 胜利的手势, the ubiquitous Asian picture-taking symbol. Even third-generation Asian-Americans suffer from this apparently congenital condition.January 26, 2008
bazza says
This was a pretty easy dialogue for upper intermediate.January 26, 2008
tucsonmichael says
Bazza, reading for me was not too hard with the vocabulary help, but listening comprehension without the script, even after having read the script a couple of hours ago, was quite difficult (understood maybe 30%)...我的听力还太不好...所以一直练习...January 26, 2008
soulman2001au says
what is the correct pronounciation of 风. jenny said it regularly in 风景。is it pronounced fong or feng, and which is the correct way. i remember learning it as feng.January 26, 2008
klgardensong says
This lesson reminded me of a cousin who puts the whole family through just this sort of group torture at our annual get-together. Good vocab to have. Soulman, I find it hard to clarify the pronunciation of "feng" in pinyin or other romanizations because the letters themselves get in the way. In my experience, English speakers in particular seem to have trouble with "e" in pinyin - because of the romanization itself. So many people pronounce "wen" like the English "when", when it's actually closer to the English "one". My apologies for not giving examples in all possible languages! KathyJanuary 26, 2008
michfromprovence says
changye Here in France, I've heard some people say "ouistiti" (marmoset), especially when taking photos of young children.January 26, 2008
changye says
Hi michframpravence, Thanks for your info. I think that a marmoset is certainly suitable to children. I have just found a web page which tells me that some German people say “beer” when taking a photo, but I don’t know whether or not henning agree with this. There seems to be a “whisky” version in some countries.January 27, 2008
evelyne says
In France we say : ouistiti (it's a small monkey) or the english word :cheese. When I've been in China I saw every body make the V of victory or peace... why are they all doing that?January 27, 2008
longdehua says
I think the "fong" pronunciation is common in Taiwan from what I've heard. But who says there's a "correct" pronunciation. As long as it's not easily confused with other words I'm sure you're fine either way. For photos, my Chinese friends ask "西瓜甜不甜？“ to which the smiley answer is "甜！！！”January 27, 2008
changye says
Hi evelyne, That is what is called “peace sign”, which is a popular custom when taking a photo among young people in China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan, perhaps. As far as I know, it is said to originate in Japan. As for me, I have been a sporadic practitioner of this “stupid” custom for more than thirty years. I do not think that Chinese people also did this during the Cultural Revolution (1966～1977). This custom is not necessarily nonsense, because you can make you look more pleasant and relax in photos by doing so, although I admit some people might say such photos are not so natural……..January 27, 2008
clay says
soulman2001au, Yes, your are correct. The pronunciation for 风 (wind) is fēng.January 27, 2008
clay says
evelyne, Ha! I know, everyone it seems does this in China. After talking with Connie and JiaoJie, they claimed there is no particular reason why they do it. They just think it is cute.January 27, 2008
jennyzhu says
My dad's cigarette is a fixture in my family photos. He holds it like an accessory. My mom used to nag him about it all the time. Then, along came Photoshop. Now, my dad is simply handless in most photos.January 27, 2008
oolung says
I have a similar photo (ie similar to Jenny's grandfather's photo). I'm in the background, climbing over a fence, and in the foreground there's a small gate and a sign: "please use gate". How was I supposed to know, I was climbing the fence from the other side! :) Family photos have been my horror since childhood: every year the same poses, the same faces, the only thing that changes is maybe the way the Christmas tree is decorated, or the mountain in the background is SLIGHTLY different from the mountain shot in the previous year... So I much prefer to take people by surprise :) Jenny, the story about your Dad and his poor hand sounds like some bloody, Adams-family-style joke ;)January 28, 2008
longdehua says
The peace sign originated in Japan? I thought it was the "V" for victory as waved by Churchill at the end of the second world war. http://bp1.blogger.com/_F2xmLAzQ8Ho/Rw7L6_OCNaI/AAAAAAAABS8/6GijI9iNng8/s1600-h/v_for_victory.jpg Then its association with the end of the war made it symbolise peace and in the 60s/Vietnam war period was appropriated by anti-war campaigners. How it then became compulsory in Chinese photos I've no idea...January 28, 2008
longdehua says
A ha ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_sign#Asia_and_the_V_sign_in_PhotographsJanuary 28, 2008
lostinasia says
What makes me laugh are the photos where the V-gesture is the other way around--with the palm facing in, the fist facing out. All these cute Asian kids are giving (substantial parts of) the world the finger but they don't even know it. (Didn't Bush Senior get in trouble for this once in Australia?) COOL link longdehua. I had no idea. What I like is how the Japanese for "peace" sounds a great deal like "pis* *ff". I don't know if anyone here has had the "pleasure" of looking through a group trip photo album in Asia... you'll see dozens of photos of the whole group of 30 people (company, class, whatever) in front of famous spot A, then famous spot B, then famous spot C. Or there'll be 10 copies of basically the same picture, with a different person missing each time--whoever kept rotating in and out to take pictures. Such photo albums may even be worse then the posed family shots from my childhood visits to Disneyland and Europe and the like, and I didn't think that was possible. Then again, many of my Asian friends think my photography is boring because there aren't enough pictures of me in front of famous places D, E, and F.January 28, 2008
trevelyan says
Like Changye, I'm an absolute convert to the power of the peace sign. It solves the problem of what to do with your hands during group shots, and gets people to smile. Guys look less sullen and girls look more beautiful. That said, I think the whole approach comes off best if you manage to leave the viewer uncertain if you're doing it tongue-in-cheek.January 28, 2008
rjberki says
Peace sign? When we were kids we always would put up two fingers, but behind the guys head in front of us to create rabbit ears on the guy in the picture without his knowledge. That was the joke. It is the same configuration as the peace sign but a different purpose. The peace sign didnt come about until the 60's. I am wondering if there was not some misinterpretation here that led to the "peace" sign being popular in pictures in China. Victory is a different story and was Churchhill yes. Maybe NIxon brought the peace sign to China. He was often photographed doing his double peace sign (yea like he was a hippie).January 28, 2008
kimiik says
Dave, For next group photo of the Cpod team, remember to make the peace sign. Let's see how clever you could look with it. ; )January 28, 2008
shadwulf says
这课很有意思而且比较容易听懂。 帮助我的自信！ ：)January 28, 2008
sfrrr says
About rabbit ears on the kid in frontof you in grade school--we in Chicago believed we were making horns of the devil (and, when we were older, the cuckold) sign. As for feng1, I have had Mandarin teachers teache me guo yu (Taiwan) and putonghua (China), and I thought both were pronouncing feng, meng, teng so that the E was halfway between eh and aw. Then I realized they're pronouncing that sound as fehng, mehng, tehng. Listen to it. It's not e/o; it's eh/uh with the emphasis on the eh. At least that's the way it sounds to my California ear.January 28, 2008
changye says
Hi longdehua, Thanks for your comment. I understand what you would like to point out. I also know about Churchill and his historic victory sign. But what I wanted to say was about “peace sign in pictures” in East Asian countries, which is a strange, nonsense, childish and completely “nonpolitical” gesture when taking photos mainly among young guys. Some Japanese say this custom might be a by-product of leftist/student movements around 1970 caused by the Vietnam War. Incidentally, when you say “peace”, both in English and Japanese, the shape of your mouth is almost the same as that when you say “cheese”, therefore it looks like this gesture/custom is not completely nonsense.January 28, 2008
sldorward says
主意 的主，是第二声还是第三声呢 谢谢January 29, 2008
princeroy says
well, regarding the feng vs. fong issue, in Taiwan it is pronounced 'fong'.January 29, 2008
connie says
Hi sldorward “主”是第三声。 第三声的字和其它字一起读的时候要变调。所以，在读“主意”这个词中，“主”要变调。January 29, 2008
sldorward says
主意， 在这是第二声对吗 谢谢January 30, 2008
nicolas says
Hey guys, be honest: Who didn't figure out why Changye wrote about 郭沫若 ?January 30, 2008
changye says
Sorry, I forgot to mention that in my post. The photo was taken in front of the birthplace of 郭沫若.January 30, 2008
nicolas says
changye, if you give the answer, there is no game anymore !January 30, 2008
changye says
Hi nicolas, Wow, sorry again!!! I am a large wet blanket. I could not sense the meaning behind your post. How clumsy I am!January 30, 2008
cassielin says
在中国，人们喜欢在照相的时候做V的手势，特别是年轻人和小朋友，我也不例外。但是请大家不要误会，我们做这个V的手势并不带任何的政治色彩。 人们只是想要表达一直开心，喜悦的心情而已。 没有什么东西是永久不变的，不同的文化随着时间的变化也在变化发展，就像在对待V手势这个问题上，我们应该看到它的含义的演变过程，而不是把它单纯的局限在过去。January 31, 2008
lailaash says
We also put two fingers behind people's hands as kids, but to make them look like devils with horns rather than rabbits. To each his own, I guess.February 1, 2008
cologre says
I am sorry, I don't know if anybody is experiencing the same problem but the podcast of this lesson is like three times the average speed and I can't hear anything, could u check and fix it?February 6, 2008
arthas86 says
the audio for this lesson seems to have problem :S anyway happy chinese new year guys! Gong xi fa cai :DFebruary 6, 2008
clay says
arthas, can you specify the problem? thanks, and happy new year to you. -clayFebruary 7, 2008
arthas86 says
i couldnt hear clearly the audio for this lesson. like Cologre mentioned earlier, the speed of the audio is too fast, as if i am clicking a forward buttonFebruary 7, 2008
clay says
wow, the chipmunks came back. Ok, we regenerated the files. All better now.February 13, 2008
kimiik says
Hmm, Dave where are your hands ??? ; ) img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2260/2264150248_9fd2c618f2.jpg">February 14, 2008