WeChat
Mar 17, 2017 15:07:06 GMT -5
Post by Doug 周 on Mar 17, 2017 15:07:06 GMT -5
Reminder for those who don’t know, I am Chinese language illiterate.
I have had a difficult time emailing people in Mainland China. I sense this is shared by others on the Forum. Without Chinese language skills telephone calls are problematic. Even with fluent Cantonese translators, phone calls and face-face interactions have not gone smoothly. In truth, I have had some success emailing my cousin in Shanghai and a librarian in Zhongshan, but, both were attuned to western styles of electronic communications. I suspect emails are not monitored by most Mainlanders. The Chinese Firewall probably makes that task harder. Similar in the USA, younger people respond less to emails and voicemail than social media like Snapchat, Instagram, text, and Facebook.
My ignorance and Chinese illiteracy led me, with ginagaladriel , to try WeChat. WeChat works like Whatsapp and Skype. Because of lack of a strong English interface I can not use Weibo. You may have read ginagaladriel ’s recent post about a (WeChat) tombstone photo from 鄭建輝 Fai Zheng, a Zhongshan family historian in (Tai Pang Tou) 大庞头. Help Translating my 11th great-grandfather's tombstone click. ginagaladriel and I have mutual relatives connected with TPT.
China is rather sophisticated technologically. In 2014, one of my many mentors on this Forum has emphasized how advance China was regarding technology.
Post by laohuaqiao on Aug 17, 2014: siyigenealogy.proboards.com/post/14829/thread
This 2017 BBC article reinforces that concept:www.bbc.com/future/story/20170309-why-chinas-internet-reveals-where-were-headed-ourselves
About WeChat
The English version of WeChat is easy to use, especially if you have used Skype or WhatApp. It is not blocked by the government firewall and is the goto App that Westerners traveling within China to communicate with their home country.
The mobile version is more powerful than the desktop version. You are only allowed to have one device active at any time.
I use Google Translate as my default ancillary translation App on Android. Google is more seamless than Microsoft Translate or Baidu Translate with WeChat.
Pictures, videos, links, audio can be shared. Telephone calls and video conferencing are features. There is a WeChat translation module already active, so when Mainlanders send text, merely holding your finger on the desired text will give you the option of translating to English. The Chinese have the option of translating your English text to Chinese, but I feel it is rude to force them to translate my requests for family information.
Before using WeChat, have your information ready. This APP is for advance Chinese family historians who are chasing down leads in Mainland China. You must already have Chinese characters, your family tree as far back as possible, and the name of your ancestral village. No phonetic English spellings allowed.
Finally, you MUST acknowledge Chinese Face 脸面/面子 click and Guanxi 关系 click. ginagaladriel and I were afforded guanxi by douglaslam ’s introduction during his field research visit with Fai Zheng. At that time we did not know how to use WeChat (naively believing email was enough). If you are having people doing field research, remember to get an introduction and consent to contact the local family historian by exchanging WeChat user id.
Cultural/Language Barrier: contributed by ginagaladriel
Many of us may have a language barrier when trying to communicate with persons in China, if you are completely illiterate regarding Chinese, it is good that you prepare yourself beforehand:
I was going to embellish this post with pictures to emphasise the features of WeChat, but this App use will involves only a small number of Forum users who are at the stage of extending their research into the Mainland. Instead, please contact me with your installed WeChat App. (userid)(is)(zhoueysun). Because I have turned off WeChat notifications and do not monitor the App, please (message)(me)(zhoueysun-genealogy)(at)(yahoo)(dot)(com) and we can work on configuring your WeChat.
IMHO
I have had a difficult time emailing people in Mainland China. I sense this is shared by others on the Forum. Without Chinese language skills telephone calls are problematic. Even with fluent Cantonese translators, phone calls and face-face interactions have not gone smoothly. In truth, I have had some success emailing my cousin in Shanghai and a librarian in Zhongshan, but, both were attuned to western styles of electronic communications. I suspect emails are not monitored by most Mainlanders. The Chinese Firewall probably makes that task harder. Similar in the USA, younger people respond less to emails and voicemail than social media like Snapchat, Instagram, text, and Facebook.
My ignorance and Chinese illiteracy led me, with ginagaladriel , to try WeChat. WeChat works like Whatsapp and Skype. Because of lack of a strong English interface I can not use Weibo. You may have read ginagaladriel ’s recent post about a (WeChat) tombstone photo from 鄭建輝 Fai Zheng, a Zhongshan family historian in (Tai Pang Tou) 大庞头. Help Translating my 11th great-grandfather's tombstone click. ginagaladriel and I have mutual relatives connected with TPT.
China is rather sophisticated technologically. In 2014, one of my many mentors on this Forum has emphasized how advance China was regarding technology.
Post by laohuaqiao on Aug 17, 2014:
After more than 10 years that this siyigenealogy forum has gone on line, I hope one impression people have gotten is the land where our ancestors came from is no longer some remote, mysterious place. Mobile phones are very common, even among folks in rural villages. In some ways China is already ahead of the West, in Taishan city, for instance, you go into a hole-in-the-wall restaurant and you can get free wifi there, no need to look for a KFC, or McD, or Starbuck. A lot of information, including genealogy info, are being posted on Chinese websites, ...
This 2017 BBC article reinforces that concept:
Based on raw statistics, China has been at the forefront of internet access for almost a decade. Having overtaken the US in 2008, there are now nearly 700 million Chinese users online today – many with high-speed connections. And although a majority of those users come from the country’s big metropolises, around 178 million of those users can be found in rural towns like Anshan, whose population numbers just 6,000….
About WeChat
The English version of WeChat is easy to use, especially if you have used Skype or WhatApp. It is not blocked by the government firewall and is the goto App that Westerners traveling within China to communicate with their home country.
The mobile version is more powerful than the desktop version. You are only allowed to have one device active at any time.
I use Google Translate as my default ancillary translation App on Android. Google is more seamless than Microsoft Translate or Baidu Translate with WeChat.
Pictures, videos, links, audio can be shared. Telephone calls and video conferencing are features. There is a WeChat translation module already active, so when Mainlanders send text, merely holding your finger on the desired text will give you the option of translating to English. The Chinese have the option of translating your English text to Chinese, but I feel it is rude to force them to translate my requests for family information.
Before using WeChat, have your information ready. This APP is for advance Chinese family historians who are chasing down leads in Mainland China. You must already have Chinese characters, your family tree as far back as possible, and the name of your ancestral village. No phonetic English spellings allowed.
Finally, you MUST acknowledge Chinese Face 脸面/面子 click and Guanxi 关系 click. ginagaladriel and I were afforded guanxi by douglaslam ’s introduction during his field research visit with Fai Zheng. At that time we did not know how to use WeChat (naively believing email was enough). If you are having people doing field research, remember to get an introduction and consent to contact the local family historian by exchanging WeChat user id.
Cultural/Language Barrier: contributed by ginagaladriel
Many of us may have a language barrier when trying to communicate with persons in China, if you are completely illiterate regarding Chinese, it is good that you prepare yourself beforehand:
- Write what you want to say, just to have your ideas in order.
- Keep your colloquialism at a minimum. Keep sentence structure simple.
- Use translators APP’s like Google, Microsoft, or Baidu Translate.
- Learn common Chinese courtesy, how to open a conversation, how to introduce yourself, the tone and formalities (so you don’t sound rude on your first attempts), and of course be polite (as always) 16 Must-Know Etiquette Rules for Your Next Trip to Chinaclick.
- Have in mind that there are cultural differences you may not be aware of, so educate yourself as much as you can, e.g. ask friends or family that know about proper ways of communicating and/or what not do.
- WeChat will translate (at your behest) what the other side is texting you, which comes really handy.
I was going to embellish this post with pictures to emphasise the features of WeChat, but this App use will involves only a small number of Forum users who are at the stage of extending their research into the Mainland. Instead, please contact me with your installed WeChat App. (userid)(is)(zhoueysun). Because I have turned off WeChat notifications and do not monitor the App, please (message)(me)(zhoueysun-genealogy)(at)(yahoo)(dot)(com) and we can work on configuring your WeChat.
IMHO