User Comments - GilsonRosa

Posted on: National Stereotypes

Hi, Bababardwan! 

You're also a polyglot. I've seen you commenting in others podcasts languages as well. 

What I saíd is related to the jokes people use to make about this Chinese - especially Cantonese - habit of eating dog meat. Everytime I post a pic from a 可爱的小狗 on Facebook or Instagram, there's always someone making these 过时了 jokes. For sure, I hate the jokes and all the stereotyping - sometimes full of prejudice - related to Chinese culture and people. When you choose a country to live - despite all the problems this country has - you kind of get affection for the place you chose as a second home. Of course that I don't agree with many things that happen here, but first I try to understand why things work in this way or that. For instance, some local people eat making a loud sound with their mouths. Instead of just complain about this habit, I tried to know the reason. And the reason's because you can feel the taste of the food better on the tongue. Try it at home.

In Brazil, we use to touch people sometimes in order to show affection, especially after a meeting or being together with some friends. It's a Brazilian way to express that we enjoyed a person's company. Although I've been living in China for 6 years or been in contact with Chinese culture and people for 14 years, I can't avoid touching people, even knowing they won't understand. Of course this habit doesn't happen all the time during a conversation, only when meeting or leaving someone. I feel uncomfortable and find it rude if someone's keep touching me all the time when talking to me.

Another interesting cultural difference between Brazilians and Europeans. The latter are too direct when talking. For instance, If a Brazilian suddenly decide to visit an European friend just because he or she was passing by, if the European is not in the mood for receiving visits, he or she will say directly when you arrive at their place - this is an example before the mobile phones changed our lives. In the case of a Brazilian, although they're not in the mood for receiving visits, some of us would receive the guest and put a broom, in a upside down position, behind one of the house's door. That's kind of a superstition which means the host wants the "undesired" visit to leave soon.

There's one thing I'd like to listen discussed/explained on Qin Wen, it's about the unspoken way of loving in some Asian countries. That one we can see in the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and in the beautiful "In The Mood For Love". One more example can been read in this excellent article about the hard job of translating books: "As a case in point, Chang points to one of his other books, Chengbang Baolituan (Gangsters in the City-State). It is typical of the Chinese story-telling tradition, and this flavor cannot be translated. "It's a book written for Chinese people."

Hsiao Li-hung had a bestseller 20 years ago with A Thousand Moons on a Thousand Rivers. Because the book is filled with references to the subtle rhythms of daily life in Taiwan, it is extremely difficult to translate. Indeed, cultural differences between East and West made it almost impossible to finally give birth to a translated version.

Chi Pang-yuan says that when Columbia University Press first got the book, they responded that they couldn't understand the worldview of the main female character, nor the form of pure love she shared with her male counterpart. The reader of the first draft asked: "If they have things they want to say, why don't they just come out and say them?" But Chi insisted on keeping this book in the series. "This book can communicate the virtue of extreme purity that is part of the way Chinese think and feel."". More of the text here: http://www.sino.gov.tw/en/show_issue.php?search=1&id=2000128912006e.txt&cur_page=1&table1=3&keyword=Translation&type=0&height=1&scope=2&order=1&lstPage=6&num=10. Another good article about the same matter, Translators in the Limelight: http://www.sino.gov.tw/en/show_issue.php?search=1&id=2000128912021e.txt&cur_page=1&table1=3&keyword=Translation&type=0&height=1&scope=2&order=1&lstPage=6&num=10 .

Sorry for the long text. Be careful for not cramping your eyes (lol)!

Posted on: National Stereotypes

Some Chineses think that Brazilians are black and poor people, probably because most of the national football team players are afro-descendents. And also thanks to City of God. On the other hand, some Brazilians believe Chineses are all zen and spiritual people, others think bad about them. In Europe, the same happens to some Brazilians, many have a bad reputation there. Well, all around the world you can find foreigners who make people from their own country lose face.

But what I hate the most are jokes about eating dogs. I can't stand them anymore.

Posted on: Sportswear Brands

@Joerborn I found goose egg on Webster: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/goose%20egg. According to the dictionary, first known use of GOOSE EGG was in 1866.

Posted on: I Changed My Mind

Same as in Portuguese, but the verb to change hasn't the same root: "mudar de idéia".