One more reason why you should learn Chinese

sebastian
 June 06, 2008, 11:16 AM posted in General Discussion

Edit (June 6, 2008):

The link I posted before is dead, but you can still find the video I was talking about here. Click on the picture that shows the face of a Chinese woman (3rd pic in second row) and enjoy.

 

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sebastian
 May 16, 2008, 04:21 PM

Mm, something went wrong with the link... http://www.dennisaliu.com/img/video/commercials/berlitz.mpg

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sebastian
 June 06, 2008, 11:18 AM

The links I posted before are broken, so I updated my original post.

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nuevacarpeta
 May 16, 2008, 05:10 PM

Now that was hilarious. Really a good reason to learn another language. Just, what is it about underwear? ;-) I got the same astonished looks form a Chinese couple when I tried to explain to them in Mandarin that the peppers they were about to buy were more expensive than expected. 非常贵啊... 你们真的要买它们吗? Picture the situation which took place at the Viktualienmarkt in Munich - a tiny, wrinkly lady attempting to speak Chinese after having studied it for five weeks and two Zhongguoren who wouldn't cease to stare at her. Fortunately I succeeded in getting my point across.

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bazza
 May 16, 2008, 07:30 PM

哈哈 :)

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bazza
 May 16, 2008, 07:34 PM

Is 气尾 a slang term?

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maxiewawa
 May 17, 2008, 01:24 AM

Should it be 气味?

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sebastian
 May 16, 2008, 04:22 PM

Here is my transcription of the Chinese part: Girl1: 看男孩子呢？ 他帅啊. 气尾很可爱. Girl2: 哎呀! 你不要这样子啊！ Girl1: 干嘛了你? Girl2: 那你让他看你内裤吧! Girl1: 也许啊. Guy: 真的吗?

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sebastian
 May 17, 2008, 02:33 AM

I think 气尾 refers to 气尾管 (a car's exhaust pipe).

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nuevacarpeta
 May 23, 2008, 06:56 PM

@auntysue The last time I could give my age as being 5* was some twenty years ago. I hope I will live long enough to become reasonably fluent in Mandarin. Might take a few decades, my brain is horribly slow. (When I was younger, I would learn a language within less than two years, although my studying conditions were abysmal. I was taught English by a US soldier after WWII...in exchange for cigarettes, mind you.) I probably should consume more olive oil and veggies to see that day. Should I ever become the oldest woman alive: if asked what has enabled my to hold so tightly on life I shall answer - I haven't grasped that Chinese grammatical construction yet. ;-) Actually, concerning my "confidence" - I have an unfair advantage. I spent 8 months in China when I was younger, as member of an engineering committee sent there by the GDR. China was completely different back then. My Chinese is darn rusty, though (as is my English).

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michele
 May 23, 2008, 09:17 PM

nuevacarpeta, your last words give us all (especially those over 50) some little more hope! the first hypothesis of the mere existence of anybody being able to make conversation in Chinese, exclusively, after only five weeks of studying was quite frustrating to contemplate; in that case, AuntySue's post should have been even too much fair...

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wei1xiao4
 May 23, 2008, 10:48 PM

The link keeps saying "error" so I can't see it. What is so funny?

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kimiik
 June 06, 2008, 10:39 AM

Here is a good reason to learn at least some very basic chinese :

- avoid beeing ridiculous on chinese TV !  :D

 

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AuntySue
 May 17, 2008, 02:09 AM

nuevacarpeta, what a great story! Good on you! It's nice to see that I'm no longer the only... ahem... woman over 50 here, and I'm rather envious of your skill and confidence after only five weeks, you're amazing! After two years I'm still a knee-knocking chicken in public, and now it is also clear that I cannot use age as an excuse for my tiny vocabulary. Whatever you're doing, keep it up!