User Comments - Grambers

Posted on: National Stereotypes

I wondered about the deliberateness or otherwise of the line. To be fair to the dialogue writer, I'm sure it was included with a knowing chuckle, but - that said - I can easily imagine this line being spoken without a trace of irony but any number of Chinese acquaintances.

Posted on: National Stereotypes

Ah yes, a classic, no doubt, but now we've doffed our caps or removed our bowler hats, let's discuss the substantive point: African stereotypes in China. Orrrrrr, perhaps we shouldn't...

Posted on: National Stereotypes

Phew, I'm jolly glad you guys didn't get on to the African stereotypes. 

Posted on: National Stereotypes

Sorry bodawei, can't resist jumping in here....as someone who has spent time in China, I am astounded you'd claim not to have noticed Chinese doing more stereotyping that 'Westerners'. The powerful response I can offer comprises three little characters: 外国人。Explaining where the urge comes from to lump every non-Chinese into one catch-all category comes from is tricky. You've probably got to dabble in a spot of communist politics and a huge amount of imperial history. However, the manner in which this urge is NOT being resisted, even despite the astonishing amount of foreign engagement China now has, is - to my mind irrefutable. For reference, see Jenny's previous comment. Talking of the world in binary - 国内 and 国外 - terms happens all the time in China. Yes, some educated, well-travelled Chinese may occasionally add some subtlety and nuance, but - again (and sorry Jenny, for picking on you) - but Jenny seems educated and is demonstrably well-travelled and her previous comment is testament to the fact that there is something instinctive and very deep-rooted about the tendency to treat China itself as a land of an infinite number of gradations, and the outside as, basically, the same.

I realise your fundamental point was that Chinese do not do this any MORE than 'Westerners'. The term 'Westerner' - which I myself use when I'm not being careful - imitates this Chinese mindset, and is clearly problematic. Leaving that aside - and in reference to the UK, the only country which I am semi-qualified to speak about - I'd say three things: 1) Education matters. High standards of education do allow people to probe beneath the surface and question the simplifications that politics and economics insists upon. China still suffers in this regard. 2) Irony matters. Yes, we have heaps of Chinese stereotypes in the UK but there are very often (though not always) deployed with irony for the purposes of humour. I'm sure the same could be said of China, though I've felt this is the case much less often. There's an earnestness about the strereotype (and Dilu herself admitted in the dialogue). 3) History matters. China's multicultural days (genuinely multicultural days) are ancient history and occured in a time when class was stratified and modern comms didn't exist. The UK is a genuinely multicultural society. I'm not claiming superiority for this. Multiculturalism is born of colonialism which had its horrors, no doubt. Indeed, modern-day multiculturalism, despite delivering huge benefits, has created some huge social problems that have yet to be solved. However, I do believe it has allowed us, as a nation, to get over the worst of our previous stereotyping.

Posted on: National Stereotypes

The Englishman-as-gentleman stereotype is entrenched in China. I cannot tell you how many times I've heard it. And while I like to think my debonair and ever-kindly manner contributed directly to the perpetuation of this stereotype - naturement - I still found myself wishing I had an easy translation of: "You wanna get yourself down Southend/Oldham/Basingstoke on a Saturday night, then we'll talk about 'gentlemenliness'"!

Comparing it to the Aussie stereotype, I guess I shouldn't moan.

Posted on: Driving in China

Sorry folks - one last point before I shut up for the day.

I genuinely thought I was a long way past having to worry how to actually pronounce any Chinese word until I came across this in the Expansion...奢侈品

I've had about five informal attempts to myself, sitting here at the computer, and not one has sounded right. What a mouthful!

Posted on: Market Prices for Seafood

Thanks Jiaojie and Guolan. Detecting subtle sarcasm is a high-level skill, I reckon, and one I've not developed yet, alas.

Jiaojie, could I ask, is 市场价格 a legitimate expression? If so, how should it be used?

Posted on: Driving in China

Would it be fair to say that 再 is used much like 无论 or 不管? Is there a difference in WHERE you put the word? Could I express the dialogue sentence - 车技再好有什么用 - the same way by saying "无论车技好不好没什么用"?

Posted on: Driving in China

At the risk of spreading fear and panic, I should point out that Chinese driving habits, much like its people and wealth, are not confined to China itself. I'll never forget watching a suspiciously Chinese-looking youth driving straight through a red light onto a major dual carriageway just outside Oxford, England, in one of the most suicidal (and, ironically for Oxford, 'stupid') manoueveres I ever expect to witness (and I've witnessed plenty in China itself). Needless to say there followed a cacophony of beeps and screeches and it was a minor miracle none of the four or five people in his car (all of them young and Chinese-looking) were hurt, nor anyone else for that matter. The chief problem in Chinese drivers getting behind the wheel overseas, as I see it, is speed. You can very often afford to do things that are wreckless in China because, should the worst happen, it's gonna result in a low-speed bump. There were cars driving at 80mph down that dual carriageway and a collision would surely have been fatal.   

Posted on: Driving in China

Apologies in advance for what will probably sound like a very awkwardly-expressed comment; it's kind of a semi-formed idea, but I wanted to throw it out there.

I sensed a real verve and vigour in John's Mandarin delivery in this dialogue which got me thinking about language learning cycles. I can remember, during my time in China, going through periods where speaking was a grating, self-conscious process, and other times where, despite my Chinese being more fluent, I found myself, essentially, speaking foreign words in a voice that was entirely my own. However, there were other times - magical times - where, for whatever reason, I was able to tune into the language around me, and took real pleasure and pride in accurately mimicking it. I took on the Chinese 'voice', if you will. I don't mean to disrespect John's general level; his Mandarin is, obviously, very, very good for the vast majority of the time. But, as a foreigner learning Chinese, there are days where your tone fours, for example, don't go 'high-to-low' in that confident, native manner, but rather 'quite high to a little bit lower'. Today there seemed something vital, authentic and semi-native - if you will - about John's delivery. I'd obviously be very interested to get John's take on this, rather rambling, idea. Does this resonate with anyone else?