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Post by FayChee on Jun 22, 2013 3:17:11 GMT -5
That's great news Ngkokweng! Looking forward to hearing and seeing your story............life is great!
Fay Chee
PS- I just bought "Pimsleur Instant Conversation : Mandarin Chinese 8 CDs, 16 lessons" and am determined to learn something before I make my first trip to China.........
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Post by lachinatown on Jun 22, 2013 9:27:51 GMT -5
What about your Cantonese Fay Chee?
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Post by FayChee on Jun 22, 2013 10:00:57 GMT -5
Oh no Lachinatown! I was wondering which one to pick, Cantonese or Mandarin........so I guessed Mandarin since I thought someone said that people no longer speak Cantonese and my nephew in Tennessee said that they don't speak either one. I'm sure that what ever they speak (Toishanese?) would be even harder to learn. I guess I'll order the Cantonese CD's too so that I'll have both.....
Fay Chee
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Post by lachinatown on Jun 22, 2013 11:01:50 GMT -5
Yes Fay Chee, you need your root and Cantonese is your root.
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Post by FayChee on Jun 22, 2013 11:02:09 GMT -5
OK! my Cantonese CD's should arrive June 26th! Thanks for the advice Lachinatown........
Fay Chee
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Post by Doug 周 on Jun 23, 2013 10:33:21 GMT -5
...which one to pick, Cantonese or Mandarin... Sorry to be late to the thread. As a non Chinese speaker (and at the risk of getting flamed), I would have recommended Mandarin. My dwindling supply of betz cells demands I choose something simple like the official (universal) language. As a child, my parents tried to teach me Lung Du, my ancestral dialect, and then would mix in Cantonese (Sam Yup, not Sze Yup or Taishanese). That confused me despite having more neuroplasticity. When we visited Guangzhou 2 years ago, my wife (who is fluent in Sam Yup) could not speak to a number of people because they spoke Mandarin. IMHO
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Post by FayChee on Jun 23, 2013 11:19:08 GMT -5
Doug, Thanks for your input. I will try and learn both, I have been playing the Mandarin CD in my car on my way to work (over an hour each way), but can only say 'Hello' and 'No' (I think). The chance of me being able to say more at my age, is slim. I will try the Cantonese CD's when they come next week.......but more likely than not, I will give both to my brother and just use the translator APP on my cell phone to communicate a word at a time. I think there may be a device that will translate what I say in English into Chinese and then speak it for me........maybe I won't have to burn out my last few memory cells.
Fay Chee
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Post by Doug 周 on Jun 23, 2013 13:10:44 GMT -5
Fay Chee,
I saw on Shark Tank an entrepreneur offering a start up service where they offer translators over a cell phone (while on speaker phone) for tourist and business people. I have never liked the speed and accuracy of machine translations. My most current examples are when Forum contributors offer a link to a Chinese websites. Even with Google Translate, I have a hard time navigating the site.
At work I use a certified translator over a telephone. The translation is so good that I prefer to use the 2nd-person-grammatical-point-of-view in my conversations.
Whereas it is good to train your ear (with your purchased CD's) to the Chinese diction and cadence, consider researching if such a service is available for subscription to back up your android app.
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Post by FayChee on Jun 23, 2013 13:43:53 GMT -5
Doug, I will research what is available and let you know. That 30 min lesson wore me out both mentally and physically (trying to pronounce things)............
Fay Chee
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Post by Doug 周 on Jun 23, 2013 14:15:10 GMT -5
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Post by FayChee on Jun 23, 2013 15:01:55 GMT -5
OK, I created a new thread...........somewhere...........called Translational Technology Research.............
Fay Chee
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Post by Angela on Jun 26, 2013 7:49:42 GMT -5
Congrats ngkokgweng!! I know exactly how you feel. But I believe you have found way more than I could have, which is really good. I unfortunately cannot trace my ancestors.
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Post by ngkokweng on Jun 27, 2013 9:06:22 GMT -5
During the mid 1800s, my great-grandfather spent his time in a village in Kaiping where he had two sons, Cheng Ho and Cheng Mao. Little is known about his life. A 1.5’ x 2.0’ wood-framed black-and-white portrait reveals a stoical figure. Attachments:
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Post by ngkokweng on Jun 27, 2013 9:52:49 GMT -5
Fay Chee,
I am impressed with your enthusiasm to learn Cantonese/Mandarin. It must be challenging to learn it from the CDs you just bought. It can be dry and monotonous. Besides interest, it needs a lot of endurance to sustain over time. You need to practice it and people to converse with.
To supplement your learning, it may better to watch some Hongkong drama series. They have English subtitles and you can choose to listen in Cantonese or Mandarin. These drama series also give you a feel of the culture and some are hilariously entertaining.
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Post by ngkokweng on Jun 27, 2013 10:10:34 GMT -5
Doug, I am sorry. I missed out your name in the Thank You list in my earlier post. Silly me! A big Thank You to you too.
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