I think dreaming in Chinese was a very good read; it was entertaining and I learned a lot about the country and language through the authors experiences. The way the Fallows describes it language is telescope to the country, which I think turns out to be very true.
- The Grammar of Romance
I never realized that love had a compatibility between cultures I always just thought love was love and that was a universal emotion, but this is not true. In English love does have different tenses so to foreigners I guess that could imply that love is a time limited thing, however, it is more just a default of the English language. In Chinese however, love has no tense and is viewed as like a being, situation, or circumstance and is a form of existence. Fallows describes that there are 3 versions of love in China the political love, the love-love, and the arranged marriage kind of low. The hold hand and cuddle in the park kind of love is forming with the new generation. It is interesting that the change in tenses can cause a barrier that is so misunderstanding. Like when she says she loves her husband for now, and the author cant figure out if she is just being cold hearted, trying to specify that she is in love with her husband, or trying to clarify for the American sake because we have so many tenses of the word love. It seems that love just really does not mean the same things to the two cultures though, because they ask her which kid she loves more, which in America you would never ask a question like that.
2. When Rude is Polite
In china people are naturally rude without meaning to be it is just the natural etiquette of the streets. I think this is fascinating, because in California you often will hear complaints about Chinese always being rude, using a harsh town, or their abruptness as impatience/rudeness, but in reality this is just a part of their culture. I understand how they could take saying please and thank you as a formality, but it seems like someone is not a true extension of yourself no matter who they are and so therefor manners should be required. It is pretty weird that doubling the word can soften the impact; in English this usually has the exact opposite effect.
3. Language Play as a National Sport
The concept of Chao Yuen Ren’s poem is hilarious, but is mind blowing you can have 96 characters that do not have the same meaning, but can all be pronounced the same. I do not mean to be judgmental, but it seems like the 400 syllabus only policy is not a very good one. you know the system is not a very good one because you often have to clarify which syllabus you are using since they have double meanings, and such. I do not think that I could learn all the different syllabals and their meanings, They would all start to blend together to me I think especially if they end up being homophones and are said the same.
4. Why the Chinese Hear Tones
It is crazy how much different the tones are emphasized. In Chinese when you use the wrong tone it could be completely different word, which I think is very crazy. The tone is a dead giveaway if someone is a foreigner. In English tone just changes a statement to a question, or adds emphasis. This is something that Chinese struggle with learning English and something English people struggle with learning Chinese. I am pretty sure I would have a lot of trouble with this especially since barely any of the tricks they try and come up with seem to work. They just say Chinese are born to hear tones so it something that comes easy for them.
5.China’s Ordinary Joe
The laobaixing is the ordinary person in China this is a word that is commonly used so the author was curious what people felt that the word meant exactly. The interesting thing was depending on who you asked yo got a slightly different answer on what groups are included to be considered laobaixings. In general though it seems to be a ordinary person that is not a high ranking official, is not famous, and most likely not rich. One thing they did all agree on was that the author was not a laobaixing. This word was used in dynastic time to compare those that have the power to rule vs. those that do not. During the cultural revolution Mao used the word to refer to his political insiders. People used to use the word “tungzhi”which means comrade, but now the word means gay or die hard communist. Perhaps the most interesting part of this was how she describes the common people are not concerned about freedom of speech and uncensored internet as we Westerners are . According to the government and the brain washed Chinese all they need are toilets that flush refrigerators, color TVs, and mobile phones. I was talking to my grandmother who went on a retreat in China and she was saying how they are all brain washed and it is often hard to discuss political things such as them wanting freedom of speech because it is not something they have been told they should wan basically. The end of the chapter describes how the village receives this washer machine, which was the dream of the village.
6. A Brief Introduction to Chinese Names
You are not a person in China until you have mobile phone and a Chinese name. Unlike in the United States phones are very cheap and the service plane are even cheaper. People often text more then they talk because that is even cheaper. The current naming system in China is very complex, most children have a last, middle, and first name, however, with the one child policy this might change because the extended families will not be very big so people will not need middle names to distinguish who is who. The parents are given 30 days to name their kids after they are born; this is mainly because people are named after events and milestones so people are given time to figure this out along with the name has to follow the following rules: name has to sound good together, consider if the 3 names together mean anything, does the name have auspicious meaning, or sound like another auspicious meaning word, the characters have to look good together, and a 6 year old needs to be able to learn to writhe the characters. This is a lot of things to consider when naming a child and the kinda ironic part is that many kids in the same generation born around the same time end up with the exact same names, sometimes even last names. In news papers they will refer to people by last name, but since there are only like 100 last names the author is often confused how the Chinese know who they are talking about. To try and help with this titles are important, nicknames help too, and they love to have Western names!
7. Finding Your Way in China – the Semantics of Time and Place:
Fallows describes a gap between Western culture and Chinese culture when it comes to the physical world, which means order, place, direction, and even time. The Chinese language was originally written in a way where it is read top down then left to right, but for the most part has been changed to be read like Western texts. In china they focus on things from big to small and not the other way around like we do like family last name comes first then your personal name, in an address it goes: country first, city, street number, then apartment number, and the date is written year, month, day. East to west is the predominant axis. This makes directions and maps confusing, but in general the Chinese do not really use maps so they were inconsistent and unreliable. Fallows describes how no one knows how to give directions really either, her friends tells her this is because when you grow up in a village you just know where to go you do not need directions, but they do often get lost in new places. She does give the maps the benefit of the doubt so many of them are off because the street, layouts, roads, and businesses are constantly changing. In general, a lot of things from there culture to ours would be considered backwards: ask where and get how long, walk backwards to go forwards, up in space also means behind in time and down in space means ahead in time.
12. Rules to Follow and Rules to Break
China has a lot of rules and the author stats the Chinese have a inner compass that tells them which rules to follow and which to ignore, but this is something that she/foreigners will often struggle with. Her friend describes that it is impossible to regard their rules “normal” in a way that we would regards rules. Even the Chinese agree that there are too many rules, but they say they are ready arsenal for the authorities if they choose. Many people will break the rules just because they can. Fallows notices that she starts to understand the system better with time and her attitude starts to change and she starts to break more rules as well. There are a lot of rules however that people always follow and it is not something that you should break. Don’t hug, don’t point, beckon fingers pointing down, only same genders should hold hands, bow slightly when showing respect, raise hans to chest and give a few shaves to signal “good fortune” , and when audience applauds applaud back. The one child policy should be followed, hometown registration system that gives you benefits, foreigners are supposed to carry passports always, no indoor heating south of the Yangtze River in schools. A quote at the end of the chapter is “Ask not for permission, but for forgiveness” this quote is pretty funny because it basically is saying do whatever and just ask as though you regret it after.