chu yu ni er bu ran

I think this lesson has by far been the most interesting for me. It was interesting learning about the different ways peoples of different cultures write.

I think it is quite true that people of the Orient mainly write in a roundabout way and the passage that we studied in Activity 2 really brought that out. But I realised that how one views and analyses a passage written in Chinese against the same passage translated to English can be rather different.

Whilst reading Text B (from Activity 2), I remember thinking to myself that the author seemed to be talking nonsense because he was talking about flowers and people in different dynasties, and there seemed to be no link between the two subjects at all. But I do recall that after reading it a few more times I was beginning to suspect that the author wasn't actually talking about.. flowers.

It started off with the sentence "I favor the lotus because it grows out of mud, but is not stained by mud..." I realised that pretty much was a directly translation of the chinese idiom "chu yu ni er bu ran". (I attempted to type that out in Chinese, but I must admit that my Chinese isn't too good)

And it led me to think, that perhaps if I had read Text B in chinese I would have understood the message the writer was trying to convey immediately. Chinese idioms almost always serve as an imagery. It borrows pictures and scenes from life and shows that what we see in nature very often can be used to describe life for the human being. And I think that's the beauty of the Chinese language - that it always leaves room for thought, as we clearly established during lesson.

yeh (yeh yeh)

I have a couple of close friends who are studying in Perth now. One migrated over when we were 13, and another left for further studies after completing O levels in Singapore.

The both of them definitely have developed the Australian accent, and between the 2, A (the one who migrated) has a stronger accent cos she's been there longer, and since a younger age. She came back to Singapore to visit her relatives and friends soon after, and it was hilarious because all of us thought "yeh" was a really funny expression! Not that we haven't heard of the word before, but because it was a part of her vocabulary. Every time we spoke, she'd agree (or respond) by saying "yeh" or "yeh, I get it, yeh" or "yeh, totally". Her "yeh"s came so often (almost after every other sentence) we'd usually pre-empt them and just respond in the same way as she did. Over the years there have been less "yeh"s though. But they're still there nonetheless (:

The change in the way my other friend, K (the one who left after completing O levels), spoke was more obvious and drastic. The "leh"s, "la"s and "lor"s quickly disappeared within a few months of being in Perth and they were replaced by "yeh"s. Not to mention "yeh yeh yeh". Quiet moments when one was speaking were substituted with interjectory expressions such as "yeh" and "ah" and "yeh that's right".

If I knew no better about how English was spoken in Australia I probably would have thought that my friends had turned from polite, courteous girls into rude, ill-mannered and impatient listeners who could not wait for you to be done speaking so that they could start. After all, they seemed to have so much to say when you were speaking! But really, that wasn't what they had intended at all.

It's so important to understand the cultures that people you work with are immersed in. A lack of understanding and a willingness to understand just makes room for conflict and bad relations.

uh ohhh.

As Beng Fong held the hands of the lady he had loved for the past 7 years of his life, he was sweating in all the areas - forehead, back, underarms. He was a nervous wreck, shifting in his seat as he tried to recall the words he had practised to himself in the mirror every single night for the past week. With a furrowed brow, Mei Ling asked him, "What's wrong with you? Why are you sweating??" Immediately, the words left him, and all he could babble was "Please marry me." Caught unaware, Mei Ling's eyes widened. She looked to the ground and did what a man would want at any time but now - she remained silent.

Now everybody say it with me, "UH OHHHHHH." Hahhahaha.

"Uh ohhhh" was my first response when I read that silence was the Japanese lady's response towards her lover's proposal.

Turns out that silence really means consent!! I was totally blown away! If it was a Singaporean man proposing, and all he received from his girlfriend was silence, how he'd feel like he had never been born at all!

It's really amazing how the same response can mean 2 different things in different cultures. And it's interesting and somewhat exciting that studies are actually being conducted on such things.

I still find speech events somewhat.. hard to understand though. Is it that.. simple? Practically every conversation we have is a speech event. It's difficult because we don't notice these simple everyday conversations. And it's even more difficult to recall them (I have really really terrible memory), much less break them down into its different components.

During the lecture, it was said that Americans have a principle of agreement, and hence would agree with you even though they might not. I found this very surprising!

I wouldn't say I agree or disagree with that statement because I don't have actual data to back up my claim. However, Americans areso often portrayed as a people who embrace individualism and naturally, I would assume that they will not hesitate in disagreeing with your viewpoint. Of course we might all be making statements that are too general. Yet, I also find that human behaviour is far too complicated ever categorise people perfectly. There are just too many variables.

So if you were to have a serious conversation with an American now, and if this person agrees with something you say, would you believe him or not?

Or if you were to have a serious conversation with a Singaporean you've never met before, and if this person agrees with what you have to say, would you believe him or not?

There are so many other variables to consider - his tone, body language, motives, etc. Language is powerful and effective in communicating ideas, but really, understanding goes far beyond language.

I guess the best would be for me to have an open mind right now, and to see what else I will learn in this module (: