ebony
Sophomore
@ebony
Posts: 615
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Post by ebony on Feb 24, 2021 20:10:08 GMT
learn for them
this is offensive and no one could give an answer despite like 90% of the class having chinese names
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Feb 24, 2021 21:59:59 GMT
What a fucking asshole.
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ebony
Sophomore
@ebony
Posts: 615
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Post by ebony on Feb 24, 2021 22:07:22 GMT
when trying to "get with the kids" backfires
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Feb 24, 2021 22:22:54 GMT
when trying to "get with the kids" backfires Hao tong, hao tong.
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Post by Fox in the Snow on Feb 25, 2021 0:06:04 GMT
I admit I'm not that knowledgeable on the differences between Cantonese and Mandarin. But what exactly makes this enquiry offensive, a backfired attempt at "getting with the kids" or makes the teacher an asshole?
Seems like a not unreasonable question.
Would it be like asking someone who spoke French if Italian was difficult?
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ebony
Sophomore
@ebony
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Post by ebony on Feb 25, 2021 0:37:06 GMT
I admit I'm not that knowledgeable on the differences between Cantonese and Mandarin. But what exactly makes this enquiry offensive, a backfired attempt at "getting with the kids" or makes the teacher an asshole? Seems like a not unreasonable question. Would it be like asking someone who spoke French if Italian was difficult? Obviously not intended to be offensive, but just ignorant and chosen because most of the class consists of Chinese international students and those happen to be the two most well-known Chinese languages to outsiders. Mandarin speakers have no incentive to learn Cantonese because of political reasons. Cantonese is just one of many Chinese languages and it's only as popular as it is because Hong Kong was in British hands until 1997 and allowed it to flourish as its official language, and spread overseas through waves of migration. Now that's it's under the rule of the People's Republic of China, the Communist Party is pushing Mandarin in Hong Kong schools, as it did on every part of Mainland China, but this time causing much resistance because of the capitalist vs. communist political divide. One student did offer insights on learning Mandarin as a Cantonese speaker, but you'd be hard pressed to find someone who did it the other way around, especially young students with little or no work experience. My mother has tried to learn Cantonese and that was for professional reasons in the Vancouver area. All this is lost on a teacher whose specialty is European languages. Asking about French vs. Italian is not offensive because places where each of those are spoken are not seen as political enemies.
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Post by Fox in the Snow on Feb 25, 2021 2:42:26 GMT
I admit I'm not that knowledgeable on the differences between Cantonese and Mandarin. But what exactly makes this enquiry offensive, a backfired attempt at "getting with the kids" or makes the teacher an asshole? Seems like a not unreasonable question. Would it be like asking someone who spoke French if Italian was difficult? Obviously not intended to be offensive, but just ignorant and chosen because most of the class consists of Chinese international students and those happen to be the two most well-known Chinese languages to outsiders. Mandarin speakers have no incentive to learn Cantonese because of political reasons. Cantonese is just one of many Chinese languages and it's only as popular as it is because Hong Kong was in British hands until 1997 and allowed it to flourish as its official language, and spread overseas through waves of migration. Now that's it's under the rule of the People's Republic of China, the Communist Party is pushing Mandarin in Hong Kong schools, as it did on every part of Mainland China, but this time causing much resistance because of the capitalist vs. communist political divide. One student did offer insights on learning Mandarin as a Cantonese speaker, but you'd be hard pressed to find someone who did it the other way around, especially young students with little or no work experience. My mother has tried to learn Cantonese and that was for professional reasons in the Vancouver area. All this is lost on a teacher whose specialty is European languages. Asking about French vs. Italian is not offensive because places where each of those are spoken are not seen as political enemies. OK, cool, thanks for the explanation. So the issue was he assumed they'd have an interest in learning Cantonese
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Feb 25, 2021 3:01:39 GMT
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Feb 25, 2021 3:25:20 GMT
I assumed nothing. I know what it means. "Hao tong, hao tong"? Why the mocking repetition of the phrase? Oh, that's right, it's so "ching chong ching chong".
So you don't know what it means. It's a parody of azn, a poster whom both I and Ebony have known for years. I'm quite familiar with the Chinese language as I worked for a Taiwanese corporation and bought raw materials from the mainland. Calm down. How does actual Chinese correlate to "ching chong"? Seems kinda racist. No, I don't know Azn or my relationship to them. I know "hao tong" and some other Chinese from my girlfriend, though she never told me the "don't say things twice" rule. Guess that's one of those Taiwanese corporate delivery boy trade secrets. Eye roll emoji, eye roll emoji.
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Feb 25, 2021 3:51:50 GMT
How does actual Chinese correlate to "ching chong"? Seems kinda racist. No, I don't know Azn or my relationship to them. I know "hao tong" and some other Chinese from my girlfriend, though she never told me the "don't say things twice" rule. Guess that's one of those Taiwanese corporate delivery boy trade secrets. Eye roll emoji, eye roll emoji. It's obvious you've never worked in management. Purchasing and shipping/receiving are both categorized under inventory control. But they are different fields.
But I think my point has finally penetrated your Anglicized head. You don't repeat the phrase "Eye roll emoji, eye roll emoji." in English. You don't repeat the phrase the "hao tong, hao tong" unless you're doing a parody of Chinese, much like azn's "ching ching ching chong.".
Understand now? ::gay eyes::
I just did repeat the phrase "eyeroll emoji, eyeroll emoji" in English? Likewise, I was thinking of Gollum when I said "it hurts, it hurts". Not that speaking an actual language is automatically parody on this or any other planet. Maybe you should have screwed the caps on those raw materials tighter.
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ebony
Sophomore
@ebony
Posts: 615
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Post by ebony on Feb 25, 2021 4:11:41 GMT
Obviously not intended to be offensive, but just ignorant and chosen because most of the class consists of Chinese international students and those happen to be the two most well-known Chinese languages to outsiders. Mandarin speakers have no incentive to learn Cantonese because of political reasons. Cantonese is just one of many Chinese languages and it's only as popular as it is because Hong Kong was in British hands until 1997 and allowed it to flourish as its official language, and spread overseas through waves of migration. Now that's it's under the rule of the People's Republic of China, the Communist Party is pushing Mandarin in Hong Kong schools, as it did on every part of Mainland China, but this time causing much resistance because of the capitalist vs. communist political divide. One student did offer insights on learning Mandarin as a Cantonese speaker, but you'd be hard pressed to find someone who did it the other way around, especially young students with little or no work experience. My mother has tried to learn Cantonese and that was for professional reasons in the Vancouver area. All this is lost on a teacher whose specialty is European languages. Asking about French vs. Italian is not offensive because places where each of those are spoken are not seen as political enemies. So this becomes a human rights issue of local control against Beijing's authoritarian repression.
I'm not quite sure which side you're taking here. But with decades of Chinese oppression and ethnic cleansing in Tibet; the imprisonment of the Uighur minority in re-education camps; and resistance in Hong Kong to civil rights curtailment and the homogenization of identity; the preservation of the Cantonese language takes on new importance.
I'm all for the preservation of every language the CCP has tried to eradicate. But as much as China has no right to push Mandarin on Hong Kong (or anywhere else), Cantonese is in no danger at all because it had the advantage of free speech and being connected to the western world. I side with Hong Kong politically, but linguistically they speak a foreign language to me.
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Post by Morgana on Feb 26, 2021 8:56:25 GMT
Obviously not intended to be offensive, but just ignorant and chosen because most of the class consists of Chinese international students and those happen to be the two most well-known Chinese languages to outsiders. Mandarin speakers have no incentive to learn Cantonese because of political reasons. Cantonese is just one of many Chinese languages and it's only as popular as it is because Hong Kong was in British hands until 1997 and allowed it to flourish as its official language, and spread overseas through waves of migration. Now that's it's under the rule of the People's Republic of China, the Communist Party is pushing Mandarin in Hong Kong schools, as it did on every part of Mainland China, but this time causing much resistance because of the capitalist vs. communist political divide. One student did offer insights on learning Mandarin as a Cantonese speaker, but you'd be hard pressed to find someone who did it the other way around, especially young students with little or no work experience. My mother has tried to learn Cantonese and that was for professional reasons in the Vancouver area. All this is lost on a teacher whose specialty is European languages. Asking about French vs. Italian is not offensive because places where each of those are spoken are not seen as political enemies. So this becomes a human rights issue of local control against Beijing's authoritarian repression.
I'm not quite sure which side you're taking here. But with decades of Chinese oppression and ethnic cleansing in Tibet; the imprisonment of the Uighur minority in re-education camps; and resistance in Hong Kong to civil rights curtailment and the homogenization of identity; the preservation of the Cantonese language takes on new importance.
I agree. My grandfather was Cantonese and I wish I had learnt the language but he died when I was young. He did teach me a swear word though - or he said it was a swear word but he told me never to say it to anyone so who knows what it meant.
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loofapotato
Junior Member
@loofapotato
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Post by loofapotato on Feb 26, 2021 17:25:38 GMT
Well from what I heard, Mandarin has 4 tonal sounds but Cantonese has 9 tonal sounds. And because of this, it's harder for Mandarin speakers to learn Cantonese. While its easier for Cantonese speakers to learn Mandarin.
Cantonese is much closer to how Chinese used to speak 1000 years ago, or what linguists call Middle Chinese instead of ancient Chinese because there is a whole other language spoken 1000 years previously to that. While modern Mandarin had influences from Southern vs Northern Chinese, communist pinyin form, and European linguists romanizing the pronunciations.
So really I don't think the professor was being offensive. It's a valid question. Very few Mandarin speakers would willingly learn or understand Cantonese.
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Post by quagsjonny on Feb 26, 2021 23:08:03 GMT
That's horrible. My city is now about 50/50 Cantonese/mandarin, but it was 90% Cantonese when I grew up. It is not harsh. That is BS. Why not also attack people who speak 'Quebecois' instead of proper French, or those who speak central or south American Spanish? Cowards, bought and paid for.
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Post by Morgana on Feb 27, 2021 8:30:28 GMT
I agree. My grandfather was Cantonese and I wish I had learnt the language but he died when I was young. He did teach me a swear word though - or he said it was a swear word but he told me never to say it to anyone so who knows what it meant. It's funny how swear words are the first ones we learn when we pick up a language on the street, not in a classroom. Yes, and it's weird how my grandfather taught me a swear word but nothing else. Maybe he thought I might need it one day if anyone called me a bad name.
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