ting hua? shuo hua?
pretzellogic
October 12, 2009, 09:26 AM posted in General Discussionnot quite sure where to put this, but i searched on all the lessons, and I didn't see anything particular to "Tīng huà" or "shuō huà". Our ayi keeps saying to my daughter, Nǐ tīng huà ma? I think this means, "Are you listening?" but then i'm not clear about Nǐ shuō huà ma? any clarifications on what these mean is greatly appreciated.
miantiao
October 12, 2009, 09:59 AMhi pretzellogic,
你说话吗？贬义说法。 意思就是说 你说的话，我没感兴趣。 或者说 你在这里没权说话。用英文来说 children should be seen and not heard 也差不多。
你听话吗？ 意思就是说 你是听我说话的意思，还不是就听我说话的声音？
pretzellogic
October 12, 2009, 10:24 AMChenhua, thanks for your explanation.
Miantiao, thanks for your explanation. I'm only at the elementary level, and I can only read about 120 characters or so, so much of your post went over my head. I did get the part about "children should be seen and not heard".
tvan
October 12, 2009, 11:18 AMpretzellogic, "tīnghuà" means literally to listen, but used in the context you gave, per Niccku means "obey!" A better translation in this context would be "Do as your told!" Very useful for small kids.
"nǐshuōhuàma?" means what you're saying is of no interest. Per miantiao, in this context it means children should be seen, not heard.
pretzellogic
October 12, 2009, 12:20 PMthanks tvan.
miantiao
October 12, 2009, 12:33 PMhi pretzellogic,
i didn't realise.
tvan's explanation is great, children often find it difficult to obey the rules don't they! i guess in english 你听话吗？ could also refer to the difference between listening and hearing, or even selective listening.
chenhua
October 12, 2009, 09:37 AM“ting hua”does not mean“ are you listening”，but means following， if you want your daughter to follow what you said，so you can use this word，“shuo hua”just means speaking