This Here Giraffe 长颈鹿

And you hear yourself
Thinking
And you hear yourself
Thinking
This here giraffe, laughed
-The Flaming Lips

After six and half years of living in China, you would think I got this language thing down. Speaking Chinese should slide off my tongue like water off a duck’s back. Sigh...just wishful thinking. I frequently mix up characters and struggle with tones. Is it 空天 (means empty sky) or 天空 (means sky)？And what tone is 空?

Dumpling, on the other hand, after two years on the planet, seems to be mastering language duality with ease. What’s the formula for raising this bilingual toddler? Dumpling hears Chinese daily, interacts with Chinese people and children daily, hears me read (poorly) in Chinese to her daily, and occasionally watches Chinese cartoons. Her young brain is a dry sponge soaking up everything she sees and hears.

She has yet to form a complete sentence, but whether she says “fish” or “鱼”, “ball” or “求”, or “cookie” or “饼干”depends on who is around. Last weekend, she grabbed a toy fish and presented it to one her Chinese aunties screeching with gusto, “鱼!” When she saw a picture of a giraffe on another baby’s water bottle, she said the ---not one, not two, but the three character long word--- for the long necked deer, “长颈鹿.” (literally, changjinglu means “long neck deer). I’m no expert, but I am pretty sure her tones are pretty spot on.

When she was about a year and a half, I would say, “Can you say dog?” She would respond, “狗 (gou)”. Or I would say, “Can you say thank you?” She would respond with her little voice, “谢谢 (xiexie).” Before dinner, we would say, “Let’s wash hands!” and then she would respond, “洗手!” Now she often switches between several Chinese and English words seamlessly.

As far as I can tell, these words include but are not limited to:

• Thank you, 谢谢
• 1-2-3-4, 一二三四
• Cookie, 饼干
• Balloon, 气球
• Fish, 鱼
• Ball, 球
• Dog, 狗
• Cat, 猫
• Horse, 马
• Giraffe, 长颈鹿
• Pig, 猪
• Chicken, 鸡
• Shoe, 鞋
• Eggplant, 茄子
• Flower, 花
• Squat, 蹲蹲
• Jump, 蹦蹦
• Run, 跑跑
• Star, 星星
• Wash hands, 洗手
• Hi and bye, 你好，再见

Everyday her speech is getting more and more clear. She’s using adjectives to describe objects (“green car”), and possessive nouns (“mommy shoes” and “Dumpling coat”). She responds to the question,“你叫是什么名字?” (What’s your name) with her Chinese name, “紫依” (Ziyi). Her response to directives is getting faster and faster. Watching Dumpling develop her language skills is downright thrilling.

birdMAN and I will never, ever, ever, ever, be fluent in Chinese. We can only hope for some competency. If we stick it out in China, however, Dumpling will become our personal translator. Now, that prospect is thrilling.

Chinese Word of the Blog: 长颈鹿 Chángjǐnglù (literally, long neck deer)
English Translation: giraffe

Peppa Pig in Chinese is a Dumpling fave

I think they are talking in Chinese

Talk the Talk 说中文

Talk the talk, start up a conversation
Talk the talk, let me inside your mind
Talk the talk, this could be a revelation
Talk the talk, we're talkin' the talk this time
-Mr. Mister

I was a good Chinese student last week. As my new Chinese tutor recommended, I watched a Chinese sitcom. Once. Twice. Again and once again, pausing the sitcom so I could read the Chinese captions because my hearing and language processing abilities are slower than the dialogue. And what did I learn?

I will never speak real Chinese. Not really.

For an English speaker, the Chinese language presents some major challenges. First, Chinese is tonal. Changing the tone is like exchanging a vowel in an English word. Cat and cot. In and on. Fat and fit. Doing so totally changes the meaning. In Chinese, the word "ma" can mean mother, horse, curse, or be a question particle depending on the tone. Second, English and Chinese speakers use different parts of their mouths and tongues to talk. There are some sounds I just plain cannot make. Getting my tongue and mouth to even remotely say 女 (nǚ girl) and 旅（lǚ travel) correctly feels like my tongue is in a twisting vise. Third, while simple sentences are pretty similar to English like 我给你这个 (I give you this), complex sentence construction and logic is not the same. Constructing a complex sentence in Chinese requires you to rewire your English brain. Not an easy feat for a 36 year old mom.

Let me give you some examples extracted from the popular Chinese sitcom, 家有儿女 (Home With Kids). The following sentences come from Season 1, Episode 1, with word for word English translation:

1. 我的手被虫子给咬了！My hand by bug give bite.
2. 人八十天把地球都换游一周。People eighty days take earth all around travel one cycle.
3. 你们难道不想问点什么吗？比如说，我刚才干吗去了？You really not want ask little what? Example say, I just now do went?

Did you get that? I am sorry, let me put that in better English for you:

1. A bug bit my hand.
2. People can travel around the earth in eighty days.
3. Don't you want to ask me something? Like what I have been doing?

I mulled the first phrase, "我的手被虫子给咬了"， over for a few days. This sentence is in passive voice, or "My hand got bitten by a bug." Passive voice is usually a big no no for me. The more simple, concise and direct, the better. So I asked my Chinese friend if I can say, "虫子咬了我的手” (The bug bit my hand). She said sure, but you sound like a foreigner.

Yep, I will always be a foreigner. I cannot undo the thirty plus years I spent exclusively speaking English. My brain is dull and slow, frequently forgetting the tones and unwilling to connect with my old and tired tongue. And I have to train my brain to think in passive voice, I mean, my brain must be trained by me to think in passive voice.

Chinese word of the blog: 说中文 （shūo zhōngwén)
English translation: speak Chinese

Quick! Press pause...My hand by bug give bite ???

Autumn Almanac

From the dew-soaked hedge creeps a crawly caterpillar
When the dawn begins to crack, it's all part of my autumn almanac
Breeze blows leaves of a musty-colored yellow
So I sweep them in my sack, yes, yes, yes, it's my autumn almanac
-The Kinks

  

Autumn has arrived! The nights are cooler, the days not so sticky hot, and the kids are back in school. While birdMAN is back to teaching English, I have achieved my lifelong dream of being a housewife. Even though I am jobless, I am by no means bored or unproductive. Now I just have more time to dust all that Beijing grime off the furniture and increase my Chinese speaking skills.

I have several methods for study:

1. I listen to ChinesePod mp3s while running, cleaning, riding the subway or bus, walking to the store, etc. ChinesePod is great for oral expressions like “Wake up lazy bug!” (哎，懒虫，醒醒!) and “Whatever!” (放屁吧你!)
2. I read English and Chinese versions of the same books and magazines. I then make flashcards of words I don’t know along with sample sentences. I carry these flashcards with me and review them whenever I have a few minutes. Example words in my stack include “romantic” (浪漫) , “good qualities” (长处) and “discreet” (睿智)
3. I have an oral Chinese lesson book that I read aloud. I bought this book at a Chinese language school at which I plan to take classes. Maybe next week I will enroll.
4.  I talk to anybody who speaks Chinese. Fortunately, Chinese people are everywhere! Hello, free Chinese lesson. Just muster up courage and go for it. People love to talk here, and they love foreigners.

The last method is the most daunting. It sort of goes like this: Me: “Hi, are you from Beijing?...Where are you from?...Are you a student?/What is your job? …Do you have any children?...Do your children live with you?...How old are you?...You look so young!...The air pollution is so bad today...I am from America…My hair is black because I am half Chinese…I don’t have any children yet…I have been in China for one year…I have been learning Chinese for one year…my Chinese is terrible...can you say that again?...what does that mean?...can you say that again?”

Asking a million and one questions is not offensive to a Chinese person. Also, Chinese people are extremely hospitable and proud of their heritage, eager to introduce China to foreigners. Occasionally, this means a dinner invitation to eat special Beijing food. A few times I found myself at a Chinese restaurant discussing all kinds of topics I don’t have the vocabulary for including American politics, guns, boyfriends, and the meaning of life. Meanwhile, I get to eat all kinds of delicious and not-so-delicious dishes that I would not ordinarily order.

So what is my autumn plan? Buy some more sweaters for the long, cold winter that quickly approaches, and of course, hit the books! And then hit the streets and find someone for a chat.

Happy studying!

Chinese word of the blog: 放屁吧你 (Fàngpì ba nǐ literally, “fart on you,” meaning “Your words are nothing more than farts.” Use with caution. This is trash talk and nice girls don’t say this.)

English translation: Whatever!

So are you from Beijing?

1 foreigner + 2 Chinese guys = Great Fun!

Chinese hospitality may mean you get to try cow stomach

Made friends with Lili's mom in a dishware shop

Home cooked Chinese meal? Yes, please

What's so funny? Come on girls, is my Chinese THAT bad?

These guys aren't talking