Dreaming in Chinese (25 page)

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Authors: Deborah Fallows

Tags: #Language Arts & Disciplines, #Translating & Interpreting, #Social Science, #Anthropology, #Cultural

BOOK: Dreaming in Chinese
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All this makes for very slow progress, in a country where life moves very fast. In my real China life, every step I took was about getting things done and surviving the day: How do I buy tickets to Chengdu? Who is on the phone and what are they asking me? Which exit do I take? Tomorrow is a holiday? Is this chocolate or red-bean paste? Where is the vegetable market? Uh oh, this is the toilet? How much should I pay? Is this ice in my drink safe? How do I work the TV remote? The Internet is out; no taxi will stop here; the bank card isn’t working; this zipper needs repair; we are out of ibuprofen; I need a haircut; these plugs don’t fit; all the shoes in China are too small for me; there is no building at this address; but the sign says “open”; and well, the repair shop where I left my shoes was on this corner yesterday …

There are tried-and-true ways to learn another language—be young, stick with consistent classes, immerse yourself in the speaking situation. But life doesn’t always work out in one of these ways, so you have to ad lib. I can finally look back (and look ahead!) at the trial and error of my pursuit of Chinese to see what worked for me and what didn’t.

I learned to triage and lean toward my strengths. That means relying on my ears rather than my eyes. Most people will tell you they do better with either the visual or the oral parts of Chinese. For me, hearing the language and trying to speak it is much easier than seeing the characters and trying to recognize them, let alone write them. So I focus on what I can hear and say. My husband is just the opposite: he can recognize and remember the characters but has a much harder time hearing or saying differences in words. My theo-ry is that having one linguistic strength or the other is like being right-handed or left-handed—you’re just born that way. As pathetic as I feel about my shortcomings with characters, I do find some solace in the fact that keeping up with characters is a lifelong pursuit even for the Chinese. Several of my Chinese friends admitted that, if they let difficult characters go too long, they get rusty about remembering them.

I would have loved to start at the beginning of my Chinese study with a solid classroom program and go on systematically from there. But the logistics of our China life meant we were always on the move, traveling a lot, with no set schedule. Since it was hard to maintain regular school schedules, I mixed it up. At different times I studied in commercial schools, hired tutors, watched lots of TV, followed online courses and podcasts, listened to radio talk shows and Chinese songs, watched Chinese movies, killed time in lines or on the subway listening to other people’s conversations. Everything helps. The personal situations worked best; those Westerners with Chinese boyfriends or girlfriends learned the quickest. For the rest of us, we found language substitutes. Chinese love having “language partners” where you swap Chinese and English practice with a partner. I found a few matches that worked out well, when we could spend hours and hours chatting about this, that and everything. What we lacked in grammatical progress, we more than made up for in useful and funny conversation.

Whenever I could, I also listened to little children, with their deliberate pronunciation, simple words and context-heavy jabber. I wish I could turn back the clock to have a child’s pliable brain—easier to get those accents, and the enviably effortless-seeming acquisition. Alas. On the other hand, the news is not all bad. Being older and more linguistically experienced means you can intellectualize your way through some learning, like recognizing language structure or patterns (for example, if adjectives precede or follow the nouns they modify, or if verbs come before or after the object of a sentence), which make the learning process more efficient. And you can find great gratification, which I craved and desperately needed to survive China, when you say something simple like “
Shūdiàn zài nǎr
?
” “Where’s the bookstore?” and someone will answer—with misplaced and generous praise—“
Nǐ de Zhōngwén hěn hǎo
!” “Your Chinese is very good!”

For me, chipping away at the language not only made China more survivable, it also tipped the daily balance ever so slightly from my being an observer to being a participant in the fray and chaos of developing China. I can’t believe I am quoting Chairman Mao, but he actually said something very good that applies to me! “
Hǎohǎo xuéxí, tiāntiān xiàngshàng
.” This is literally “Good good study, day day up.” Or, more comprehensibly, “Study hard, and you will improve every day.” Practice makes perfect. These are words I live by in China.

I did inch away from being overwhelmed at such a massive, intense, overwhelming country, toward touching a few people one by one, and getting a little closer to their lives, however small the increment. This reward gave me at least the illusion that I belonged, if just for a little bit, in this extraordinary country at this moment in history.

Pronunciation guide

This is a rough guide to help you sound out the Chinese words. In many regions of China, there will be variations on these pronunciations.

ə is the sound of the “a” in the word “about,” or the “e” in “taken,” or the “i” in “pencil.” In phonetic terms, it is called schwa.
ō is the long “o” sound, like the “o” in “no” or “toe.”
zh sounds similar to the “j” sound in “edge,” but the tip of the tongue touches a little farther back on the roof of the mouth.
ao is the vowel sound in “now,” “how” and “Mao.”
ai is the vowel sound in “hi,” “my” and “eye.”
ü as a sound in English is closest to “u” in “unit” or “use.” It appears in German words, as in “
über
” or French as in “
sucre
.”
Chapter 1
wǒ ài nǐ = wō ai nee
Uighur = wee gər
Xīnjiāng = sheen jyahng
zuótiān = dzwō tyen
chànggē = chahng gə
zài = dzai
Chapter 2
bú yào = boo yao
zuótiān = dzwō tyen
jīntiān = jeen tyen
míngtiān = ming tyen
hòutiān = hō tyen
bú yòng = boo yōng
méi yǒu = may yō
bú shì = boo shər
bù kěyǐ = boo kə yee
xià chē = shyah chə
wèi = way
fúwùyuán = foo woo yü en
màn zǒu = mahn dzō
gěi wǒ yán = gay wō yen
qǐng = ching
xièxie = shyeh shyeh
zuò = dzwō
xiū = shyō
máfan = mah fahn
kàn = kahn
yi = yee
ma = mah
zǒu = dzō
wánr = wahr
Chapter 3
shī, shí, shǐ, shì = shər
nǐ = nee
hǎo = hao
ma = mah
kuài = kwai
chī = chə
fàn = fahn
mǐfàn = mee fahn
Pǔtōnghuà = poo tōng hwah
Hànyǔ = hahn yü
Zhōngwén = zhōng wen
xiàngshēng = shyahng shəng
sì = sə
bā = bah
fā cái = fah tsai
zhōng = zhōng
fú = foo
dào = dao
chéngyǔ = chung yü
shǒu zhū dài tù = shō zhoo dai too
xiàn xué xiàn mài = shyen shüeh shyen mai
xīn = sheen
xīnnián = sheen nyen
de = də
kāi = kai
Chapter 4
dǎbāo = dah bao
huānyíng guānglín = hwahn ying gwahng leen
qípáo = chee pao
yǒu = yō
hóng = hōng
yóuyǒng = yō yōng
jiǔ bā = jyō bah
Chapter 5
lǎobǎixìng = lao bai shing
tóngzhì = tōng zhə
tóngzhìmen = tōng zhə mən
Chóngqìng = chōng ching
Guǎngdōng = gwahng dōng
rénmínbì = rən meen bee
Chapter 6
Nǐ hǎo = nee hao
Wǒ jiào = wō jyao
Mínyì = meen yee
Fāng Fēi Jié = fahng fay jyeh
jiè bǐ = jyeh bee
Wáng Míng Yuán = wahng ming yü en
Wèixīng = way shing
Zhèn shēng = zhen shəng
Aoyùn = ao yün
Yǒnghóng = yōng hōng
Jiànguó = jyen gwō
Àipíng = ai ping
Jiànmín = jyen meen
Shèbǎo = shə bao
Mínyì = meen yee
Héxié = hə shyeh
Fènduī = fən dway
Guǎngzhōu = gwahng zhō
Shēnzhèn = shen zhen
Chén = chən
lǎoshī = lao shər
Huáng Hùshi = hwahng hoo shə
Lǐ Yīshēng = lee yee shəng
Zhāng Sījī = zhahng sə jee
Zhōu Shīfu = zhō shə foo
gēge = gə gə
mèimei = may may
ōu bā mǎ = ō bah mah
ào bā mǎ = ao bah mah
fēi ěr pǔ sī = fay ayr poo sə
bù shí = boo shər
lǐ gēn = lee gən (hard g as in reagan)
shā shì bǐ yà = shah shə bee yah
luò shān jī = lwō shahn jee
niǔ yuē = nyō yü eh
hǎo lái wù = hao lai woo
Shānxī = shahn shee
Chapter 7
dōngběi = dōng bay
xī běi = shee bay
dōngnán = dōng nahn
jiǎo = jyao
xià = shyah
shàng = shahng
lóu = lō
fēijī = fay jee
shān = shahn
Xiàmén = shyah mən
zhuōzi = zhwō dzə
shàng Xīngqī èr = shahng shing chee ahr
ge yuè = gə yü eh
cì = tsə
fēngshuǐ = fəng shway
Shěnyáng = shən yahng
Chéngdū = chung doo
Urumqi = oo ruhm chee
Hángzhōu = hahng zhō
Nánjīng = nahn jing
Kūnmíng = kuhn ming
Bówùguǎn zài nǎr = bō woo gwahn dzai nahr
xièxie = shyeh shyeh
Chapter 8

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