wingyellow, I think your comment about ABCs being the most pitiful human beings is way off-base. Though discrimination does exist in the US, I don't think it's as blatant towards Asian-Americans than you would have us believe in your post. Asians, for the most part, have been accepted in white American society even more so than Latinos and African-Americans (particularly in the big cities), and have even been patronizingly referred to as the "model minority." Discrimination towards Asian take on more subtler forms, as evidenced by the dearth of Asian CEOs and Asian film & television characters.
By the way, does the rest of the world still use the term "oriental" to refer to East Asians? In the US, it's politically incorrect to call someone "oriental." I remember my 6th grade teacher corrected me when I innocently described a girl as Oriental. She said, "The proper term is 'Asian' -- 'Oriental' is only used to describe rugs and furniture." The state of Washington even passed a bill outlawing the use of the word when referring to people.
i think she is rude,
the way she expressed her ideas is really rude and shows disrespect..
sorry for saying that but this is unacceptable.
and about your question of having an american accent:
i think it is nice to learn the native-like accent..
you have to work on it yourself with our helpers or paying money for it..
i think that all what you have to do is :
-listen to the accent by the native speakers
-songs
-movies
-have friends or conversate with native speakers
- you may use chatt rooms.
-read more about phonetics and learn more of it.
all that wil help
salaam
ikhllas okasha
www.raay.org/forum
Hey Ben, I 've got your point. And I can sense wingyellow's idea as well. But, the term " the most pitiful human beings" is simply irritating. Don't you guys think so? What I am saying is...a milder term can be used to convey the same idea.
=> Julian
In France, we use both oriental and asian (well, the French words for them, of course).
But we don't use the word "race" which is unappropriate. There is only one human race (just thought I'd say that because the word has been used a lot in this thread).
I didn't know oriental is racist. If I had known, I would not have used it to discriminate against myself.
In Hong Kong, the most popular newspaper is Oriental Daily. If oriental means "eastern", then Chinese call themselves oriental in Chinese.
Some racist terms were not racist at all in the beginning, but evolved into racist terms. Example:
1. Chinese people do not call their country China. If Japanese call China China (Shina in Japanese), it is racist, because Shina was used by Japanese militants in WWII to show that Japan was among the Western developed countries.
2. If you call South Korean "Cho sen", which has been the name of their race for a long long time, they will get angry, because first they think "Cho sen" is North Korea; second, Japanese called them "Cho Sen people" in WWII.
3. Mainlander originally mean people living on a large continent. This word becomes a racist term in Hong Kong against people in China, though they are of the same race.
Actually, I don't know where the words "China", "Japan", "Korea" came from.
Re: "oriental". I think what happened was that a group of militant Asian-Americans objected to the word "oriental" because it was a European term that was at times used in a derogatory or patronizing manner during the colonial past. But I've heard many Asians call themselves oriental, not knowing that some find the word offensive. It's just another example of a perfectly harmless word becoming verboten in these politically correct times. Just like "Hispanic".
Wingyellow I am not pitiful and I am half Chinese. You better know wtf you are talking about before you offend a whole lot of people!!
I also live in California and I am also half-Chinese, though you can call me a GBHCHC (German-Born Half-Caucasian Half-Chinese).
I must disagree with Wingyellow's post stating that Chinese in Americans are pitiful creatures. Heck, the Chinese in my school are considered to be the most intelligent people around! Come to Silicon Valley and see Asian power.
As for Wingyellow's post about how the word "oriental" is generally accepted in Hong Kong, I must agree with it. Some local HK guidebooks even have a section called "Oriental Cuisine". I don't know why Americans are so sensitive about political correctness.
Maybe all my ABC friends are losers. I am sorry for my comment.
If everyone starts to call their dogs American, the American will be a racist term.