This is a little something I posted on the Red and White Kop forum for Liverpool a few days ago. I got on Liverpool's Chinese website and decided to see how their webmaster translated some of the players' names. Some of them were actually quite interesting, and even if you have no interest in Liverpool FC whatsoever, it's still kind of interesting to see the characters and the meanings they use to put together Western names. I thought Steven Gerrard's and Jose Reina's were particularly fitting, seeing as Gerrard is considered the heart and soul of Liverpool, and Reina is the keeper.
Liverpool
利物浦
利 Li (advantage, power, rights), 物 wu (things), 浦 pu (water’s edge)
Rafa Benitez
拉法.貝尼特斯
拉 La (pull), 法fa (the law), 貝 Bei (money), 尼 ni (phonetic), 特 te (special), 斯 si (phonetic, cultured)
Steven Gerrard
史蒂文.杰拉德
史 Shi (history), 蒂 di (roots), 文 wen (culture, language), 杰 Jie (outstanding), 拉 la (pull), 德 de (moral, virtue)
*When Liverpool went to HK, the name on the jersey:
謝拉特 (http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/02192BDavm42J/340x.jpg)
謝 Xie (thanks, gratitude), 拉 la (pull), 特 te (special)
*I don’t speak Cantonese, but the pronunciation is likely totally different than in Mandarin
Xabi Alonso
哈維.阿隆索
哈 Ha (phonetic, laugh), 維 wei (support), 阿 A (phonetic), 隆 long (prosperous), 索 suo (rope)
*When Liverpool went to HK:
艾朗索 (http://redsports.sg/wp-content/uploads/Image/+challengerRF11.jpg)
艾Ai (to end, protect), 朗lang (bright, brilliant) 索suo (rope)
Jamie Carragher
杰米.卡拉格
杰 Jie (outstanding), 米 mi (rice), 卡 Ka (card) or Qia (choke), 拉 la (pull), 格 ge (standard)
Fernando Torres
費爾南多.托雷斯
費Fei (to spend), 爾 er (phonetic, sometimes means ‘only’ or ‘like this’), 南 nan (south), 多 duo (many, much); 托 Tuo (request), 雷 lei (thunder), 斯 si (phonetic, cultured)
Daniel Agger
丹尼爾.阿格
丹 Dan (red), 尼 ni (phonetic), 爾 er (phonetic), 阿 A (phonetic), 格 ge (standard)
Jose Reina
何塞.雷納
何 He (what, which, any), 塞 se (block, impede), 雷 Lei (thunder), 納 na (receive, welcome, control)
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Chinese words
Chinese is exceptionally complex in that every character is unique, and one line or one dot can change the entire meaning of a character. But in some ways it is also very logical, and I think this is most evident in how new words like Internet and television have been integrated into Chinese. For example: the Chinese word for 'internet' is 網路. The literal translation? "Net road." Another example: the Chinese word for 'movie' is 電影. Literal translation: "electric shadow." While some languages, like Japanese, and to a lesser extent, Korean, have simply adjusted foreign words to their own pronunciation (i.e. kom-pyu-ta for computer), Chinese tends to use already existing words to try and explain new words. Of course there are a lot of instances of phonetics taking precedent. For instance, "New York" becomes "niu yue" and "Starbucks" becomes "xing (star) ba ke."
And then of course, there are the rare instances in which phonetics and meaning converge. The best example of this is "Coca Cola." In Chinese: 可口可樂. Literal translation: Delicious and happy. Marketing doesn't get much better than that.
Here are a few other words that I find particularly creative in the way they use already-existing Chinese words to describe the function/use of the new word:
電腦: "electric brain" = computer
火車: "fire car" = train
直升機: "straight-rising machine" = helicopter
風潮: "wind tide" = trend
明信片: "clear letter card" = postcard
牛仔褲: "cowboy pants" = jeans
變色龍: "change color dragon" = chameleon
洗手間: "wash hands room" = bathroom
And then of course, there are the rare instances in which phonetics and meaning converge. The best example of this is "Coca Cola." In Chinese: 可口可樂. Literal translation: Delicious and happy. Marketing doesn't get much better than that.
Here are a few other words that I find particularly creative in the way they use already-existing Chinese words to describe the function/use of the new word:
電腦: "electric brain" = computer
火車: "fire car" = train
直升機: "straight-rising machine" = helicopter
風潮: "wind tide" = trend
明信片: "clear letter card" = postcard
牛仔褲: "cowboy pants" = jeans
變色龍: "change color dragon" = chameleon
洗手間: "wash hands room" = bathroom
Friday, January 9, 2009
Proficiency
When I was formally studying Spanish, I remember there was a point at which I realized I was thinking in Spanish, and that that step of first thinking in English and then translating to Spanish had disappeared. I think I've finally hit that point with Chinese, and let me tell you, that is a thrilling realization.
Chinese is, in some ways, easier than languages like Spanish or French because there are no verb conjugations, no past, present or imperfect tenses. In many ways, however, it is much more difficult, from the tones and pronunciation to sentence structure and characters. I think the most difficult thing about Chinese is the fact that you have to readjust the whole way you think about language. It's not just different words, it's a whole new way of conceptualizing communication, of thinking about the meaning and significance of words. Up until very recently, when I wanted to figure out what someone was saying, I first had to listen to their pronunciation and call up the pinyin (the romanization) in my head. Then I had to match characters to the pinyin, and then figure out what those characters altogether meant. The process got faster with more study, and I think at the very end of my semester in Nanjing, I was starting to get to the point of eliminating at least one of those steps.
But it wasn't until just recently that I realized I'm thinking in Chinese, and no longer jumping between English-pinyin-characters combinations. When I say "wo chi bao le," in my head I see "我吃飽了." It's actually slightly difficult for me to read pinyin now, because I'm so used to seeing characters.
I'm not saying I'm in any way satisfied with my level of proficiency. My tones still suffer greatly, especially with characters that I learned a long time ago and, until recently, got away with pronouncing in less than standard manners, and my sentence structure and grammar still tend towards English patterns. But most of my conversations are in Chinese now, and I don't feel uncomfortable or nervous about going into a store or a restaurant and having to negotiate a bill or reserving a seat. I'm sure that says something about my level of self-confidence and carefree-ness about making mistakes too, but I think there is noticeable improvement in my Chinese, and I hope I can really solidify that improvement over the next few months, so that when I return to the States, I can tell potential employers that yes, I can speak Chinese.
Chinese is, in some ways, easier than languages like Spanish or French because there are no verb conjugations, no past, present or imperfect tenses. In many ways, however, it is much more difficult, from the tones and pronunciation to sentence structure and characters. I think the most difficult thing about Chinese is the fact that you have to readjust the whole way you think about language. It's not just different words, it's a whole new way of conceptualizing communication, of thinking about the meaning and significance of words. Up until very recently, when I wanted to figure out what someone was saying, I first had to listen to their pronunciation and call up the pinyin (the romanization) in my head. Then I had to match characters to the pinyin, and then figure out what those characters altogether meant. The process got faster with more study, and I think at the very end of my semester in Nanjing, I was starting to get to the point of eliminating at least one of those steps.
But it wasn't until just recently that I realized I'm thinking in Chinese, and no longer jumping between English-pinyin-characters combinations. When I say "wo chi bao le," in my head I see "我吃飽了." It's actually slightly difficult for me to read pinyin now, because I'm so used to seeing characters.
I'm not saying I'm in any way satisfied with my level of proficiency. My tones still suffer greatly, especially with characters that I learned a long time ago and, until recently, got away with pronouncing in less than standard manners, and my sentence structure and grammar still tend towards English patterns. But most of my conversations are in Chinese now, and I don't feel uncomfortable or nervous about going into a store or a restaurant and having to negotiate a bill or reserving a seat. I'm sure that says something about my level of self-confidence and carefree-ness about making mistakes too, but I think there is noticeable improvement in my Chinese, and I hope I can really solidify that improvement over the next few months, so that when I return to the States, I can tell potential employers that yes, I can speak Chinese.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Long-overdue update
So I effectively dropped off the face of the blogging planet for the past few weeks or so. Apologies to any of you who have been checking here for updates. I've got a job now, which has been taking up a lot of my time, and add homework to that, and there's not a lot of time left for zoning out and doing other stuff. To be honest, it's good to be busy, it forces me to manage my time better, and I find I'm more productive when I'm on some sort of a schedule.
The holidays went pretty well here. Christmas was a very low-key affair. I did get to go to church with Jessie, and the service was up on Yang Ming Mountain, which was really peaceful and nice and a wonderful way to get out of the city a little and really feel the true sentiments of Christmas. I have to admit I got a little choked up during some of the carols because they reminded me so much of Lynnhurst, my old church back in Minnesota.
New Year's Eve was a pretty big deal here. I went over to Taipei 101 (after much transportation hassle and irritation at the unbelievable number of people out in the streets) and watched the fireworks, which were well worth the hassle and frustration, even though the show only lasted about 4 minutes. They literally shoot fireworks off the building, and it's sort of like a cascade effect, with all these colorful sparks just kind of flowing off the building. I shot a video of the show. It's here if you want to watch.
Chinese New Years is coming up next, in late January. I'm looking forward to it, although I've actually heard that Taipei is kind of quiet, since a lot of people leave to go south and visit relatives. We'll see though. I'm sure a lot of people stay around here too, and I've seen the long strings of firecrackers hanging up in doorways around the city, so I'm sure I'll be in for some noise come the last week of January.
Funny story. Was walking back from work a few nights ago along this side street between the main street in front of campus and the bridge that takes me home. I looked down, and running along the curb next to me is a rat. Good sized one too, just trundling along, minding his own business. No one else seemed to notice him. Frankly, rats don't freak me out that much. The thing is, a few nights before that, I was out with my roommate and some friends visiting from Japan. We were walking along that same road, and all of a sudden we hear a big commotion break out on the other side of the road. We look over and see people jumping off the sidewalk and squealing and carrying on, and then, from behind the row of motorbikes, a big rat comes scampering out. He didn't look too fussed, and I think he was probably enjoying the fact that he was able to clear the whole sidewalk for himself just by showing his face.
Has gotten a bit chilly here in Taipei. The worst part is that it's wet and rainy, which means you get chilled really easily if you sit still for too long. I find I'm comfortable if I'm up and around, but if I sit still for too long, I get really, really cold and uncomfortable.
In football news, I watched Liverpool demolish Newcastle United last weekend, and it was an awesome match to see. I think it was the clinching evidence that everyone's been looking for to show that Liverpool can really put in a title challenge this year. Won't say much more, don't want to jinx it, but Liverpool are playing some brilliant football right now, and I believe they have a great shot to bring home the title this year.
And in completely unrelated events, I just finished reading The Kite Runner. What a fantastic, heartbreaking book. I couldn't stop reading it. Once I started it, I read it straight through in about two and a half days. I was even reading on the metro to and from work. If you haven't read it, read it. It's thoroughly amazing.
The holidays went pretty well here. Christmas was a very low-key affair. I did get to go to church with Jessie, and the service was up on Yang Ming Mountain, which was really peaceful and nice and a wonderful way to get out of the city a little and really feel the true sentiments of Christmas. I have to admit I got a little choked up during some of the carols because they reminded me so much of Lynnhurst, my old church back in Minnesota.
New Year's Eve was a pretty big deal here. I went over to Taipei 101 (after much transportation hassle and irritation at the unbelievable number of people out in the streets) and watched the fireworks, which were well worth the hassle and frustration, even though the show only lasted about 4 minutes. They literally shoot fireworks off the building, and it's sort of like a cascade effect, with all these colorful sparks just kind of flowing off the building. I shot a video of the show. It's here if you want to watch.
Chinese New Years is coming up next, in late January. I'm looking forward to it, although I've actually heard that Taipei is kind of quiet, since a lot of people leave to go south and visit relatives. We'll see though. I'm sure a lot of people stay around here too, and I've seen the long strings of firecrackers hanging up in doorways around the city, so I'm sure I'll be in for some noise come the last week of January.
Funny story. Was walking back from work a few nights ago along this side street between the main street in front of campus and the bridge that takes me home. I looked down, and running along the curb next to me is a rat. Good sized one too, just trundling along, minding his own business. No one else seemed to notice him. Frankly, rats don't freak me out that much. The thing is, a few nights before that, I was out with my roommate and some friends visiting from Japan. We were walking along that same road, and all of a sudden we hear a big commotion break out on the other side of the road. We look over and see people jumping off the sidewalk and squealing and carrying on, and then, from behind the row of motorbikes, a big rat comes scampering out. He didn't look too fussed, and I think he was probably enjoying the fact that he was able to clear the whole sidewalk for himself just by showing his face.
Has gotten a bit chilly here in Taipei. The worst part is that it's wet and rainy, which means you get chilled really easily if you sit still for too long. I find I'm comfortable if I'm up and around, but if I sit still for too long, I get really, really cold and uncomfortable.
In football news, I watched Liverpool demolish Newcastle United last weekend, and it was an awesome match to see. I think it was the clinching evidence that everyone's been looking for to show that Liverpool can really put in a title challenge this year. Won't say much more, don't want to jinx it, but Liverpool are playing some brilliant football right now, and I believe they have a great shot to bring home the title this year.
And in completely unrelated events, I just finished reading The Kite Runner. What a fantastic, heartbreaking book. I couldn't stop reading it. Once I started it, I read it straight through in about two and a half days. I was even reading on the metro to and from work. If you haven't read it, read it. It's thoroughly amazing.
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