Chinese/Japanese

Guest   Wed Aug 16, 2006 9:09 am GMT
Understanding Japanese doesn't require understanding Japanese society any more than understanding any other language requires understanding the societies that use that language.
renate   Wed Aug 16, 2006 9:16 am GMT
i totally agree with GUEST above .
so Perineal
why don't just watch movies made in their countries respectively ?
and go their websites to see the characters
mike   Wed Aug 16, 2006 10:15 am GMT
>>Understanding Japanese doesn't require understanding Japanese society any more >>

I read an article saying that because Japanese is Japan's only official language and there are few foreign Japanese speakers the language is heavily tied to Japanese culture and vice-versa. There are many Japanese words describing certain Japanese cultural ideas traditions and customs which do not have corresponding words in other languages.

.... That might be right, or might be not.
Presley.   Wed Aug 16, 2006 8:35 pm GMT
«Also, the Japanese are just a strange people...»

What is that supposed to mean??!!

«There are many Japanese words describing certain Japanese cultural ideas traditions and customs which do not have corresponding words in other languages.»

So, so true.
LAA   Wed Aug 16, 2006 9:09 pm GMT
Presley, being that you are of Japanese descent and you like historical fictions, I would really reccomend a book by James Clavell called, "Shogun". It is 100 times better than the mini-series they made for tv in the early '80s.
Nightingale   Thu Aug 17, 2006 5:33 am GMT
Psst, *whispers to Mike*...

The counter for "che" (car) is "bù" or "liàng", not "ge" (i.e. "zhe bu che" or "zhe liang che" = this car). Just a wee tip =p

I know, I know... unit/counter words in Chinese can be a pain. Native Chinese speakers also use the wrong one quite often.
Presley.   Thu Aug 17, 2006 5:44 am GMT
Hey thanks, LAA.

I will be sure to look for it next time I go to Barnes and Noble!

...it's a little um, strange, that you know that I love reading historical fiction...I don't think that I've made that known here...whatever.
mike   Thu Aug 17, 2006 6:52 am GMT
To nightingale: You are right; but, you know, in some cases "ge" can replace other measure words especialy when not certain about the correct one, but not always. Grammatically, we should say "Zhe bu Che hen piaoliang" or "Zhe Laing Che..." , but from what I hear almost everyday from native chinese, in situations where a car is passing by someone and just want to make a quick comments about that car, they will just say "Zhe ge Che ...". I guess it is a matter of being used to say so, just like in english the "who and whom".
lu   Thu Aug 17, 2006 9:19 am GMT
hehe Mike you have a close observation there.
Nightingale   Thu Aug 17, 2006 1:21 pm GMT
Haha, yes, Presley. Very true =p

Sorry I can't break the habit of correcting people on these things... it comes from being incessantly corrected by my mum whenever 8-year-old me said things like "zhe ge che" or "zhe ge chuan" ("zhe shao chuan" = "this boat").
Nightingale   Thu Aug 17, 2006 1:26 pm GMT
SORRY!

Wrong person...

I meant to say:

Haha, yes, MIKE. Very true =p
mike   Fri Aug 18, 2006 4:08 am GMT
Nightingale: have you learn't the chinese language, or it was born with you?. same with englihsh: have you learnt the english, or it was born with you?
analizador   Fri Aug 18, 2006 5:06 am GMT
listen learn japanese, chinese is too hard, pronounciation in japanese is much clearer. it sounds better too. look if you learn mandarin you pretty much learn half of chinese, because cantanese is also important in china. there are many hundreds of dialecs in china
lu   Fri Aug 18, 2006 10:02 am GMT
analizador you're wrong
cantonese is not important at all in china. it's popular only in guangdong and hongkong, and the people there can speak mandarin as well.
casanova   Fri Aug 18, 2006 7:49 pm GMT
japanese is more pleasant to the ear, while chinese not really.
i would prefere japanese, its an important language.