How You Say It Matters!

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Just thought I would share a quick experience :

I had to go through an automated answering service to contact my ophthalmologist. I was prompted to say the name of the department I wanted.

The conversations goes as follows:

Me : “Ophthalmology”

Automated service: “Ok, Dermatology”

Me : “Cancel. Ophthalmology”

Automated service: “Ok, Dermatology”

Me : “Cancel.” ( Shouting)  “Ophthalmology”

Automated service: “Ok, X-rays”

A million years later, it finally clicked …

Me: “Cancel.  Ophthalmology” (In my Pseudo British Accent)

Automated service : “Ok, Ophthalmology ”

Moral of the story: It’s easy to get comfortable knowing that both the US and UK share the same language. However, the inevitable is that you will have to change your accent ( at least a little) if you want clear communication. I was “lucky” that the automated serviced “corrected” me. However, I wonder how many other Brits think I was speaking “rubbish”.

Rubbish = Common British Slang for nonsense

My Viking Valentine’s Day

A Trip to York, England,

Here is the cheesiest Viking smile that i could possibly ever give!

On the Valentine’s day weekend, I went to York with my fellow Fulbright Colleagues. It was certainly a memorable occasion. We celebrated together at a restaurant that looked rather haunted ( There were spider webs on the chandelier ) . It was called the Golden Fleece. However, the food was great and the portions were surprising larger than life!

Afternoon tea at Betty’s tea rooms. It was probably the best tea I’ve ever had ( China rose petal tea) .The rose taste was very rich and went well with my fruit tart dessert.

Betty’s was an extremely popular location for Afternoon tea. We waited 45 minutes in a queue ( a line) and it began to rain during the last 10 minutes of our wait! But it was certainly worth it.

We  also explored York traveling  along its historic walls…

Our day at the   Jorvick Viking Centre was filled with fun information about the Viking way of life. Specifically, customs , trade, food, and battle!

We attempted to uphold the famously fierce Viking spirit by wearing armor. We looked great, but weren’t convincing Vikings at all !  I think we ought to stick to our role as Fulbrighters instead.

Here are some interesting artifacts  archaeologists discovered:

The arrow on this skull reflects an injury to the head. The centre had many skulls and full skeletons that reflected gruesome injuries. No wonder they developed such fierce armor!

The Vikings were described as very creative people. They used animal bones to make goods for everyday needs. Below are combs made from animal bone. I even came across an ice skate also made from animal bone.

On our visit to the Jorvick Viking Museum, the archaeologists showed us an “interesting artifact” . They were able to explore much about the Viking way of life through this artifact.  Can you guess what it is?  Leave a message below.

Finally, we also paid a visit to the beautiful York Minster. Of course the sight was breathtaking. Ok, well it was nice and all but the 275 stairs I climbed to get to the top is what really took my breath. However, it was the best sight to see as the sun started to set.

It felt like the stairs would never end!

Midway, we were able to step outside and get a great view of the great detailed architecture on the Minster.

Finally, we arrived ! The view was gorgeous and I declared that I achieved my workout for the week!!!

=

Happy New Year in Mandarin

As a part of our venture to learn about and celebrate the Chinese New Year, one of the LUIP student ambassadors tried to teach us to say Happy New Year. I’m so grateful that she was so patient with us! It’s certainly not easy learning to speak sounds you’re not accustomed to hearing. I can’t say we all got it right, but the effort was a great reminder of the challenges others may face when learning a new language in a new country.

The video above was taken at Er Mei, a Chinese Restaurant in China Town, London. However, before reaching the restaurant , we were welcomed with an atmosphere ripe with celebration. The streets were crowded with people, vendors  and performers.  The lines for some restaurants weaved around the building’s corner and children ran around throwing “snappers”.

As I traveled through the street, I was given a red envelope. I usually wouldn’t take random envelopes from random people, but given the environment, I was certain that it was associated with the New Year Celebration. The only problem was that I had no idea how to read it ( see below). However, I later found that it meant something similar to, “ Welcome to the New Year, get ready for good luck”.

This of course fits perfectly with the New Year theme which is a time for ,”good fortune, happiness, wealth and longevity” (read more). In fact, the red envelopes traditionally are given with money included. However, that was not my luck. My envelope had a coupon to save money on kikkoman soy sauce!

We then went on to enjoy lunch at Er Mei and later explored the various performances  throughout China Town.

Street performance from children from a local school that instructs in Mandarin

Finally, if one happened to forget that 2014 was the Year of the Horse, there were many people dressed to remind us of this!

So with that said,  Xin Nian Kuai-Le !!!!

Link

Learning About the Chinese New Year

Learning About the Chinese New Year

           Aka “ Lunar New Year”

Here are a few preliminary facts:

Dates : January 31, 2014 – February 6, 2014

Called : Year of the Horse

Celebrated :  Anywhere there are significant Chinese populations. Ex. Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand,Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Philippines It is also celebrated in various parts of  London, but particularly in Chinatown, London. ( More to come on this in another post). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year).

Purpose:   Is a time for good fortune and wealth for an individual and their family.   This New Year celebration was traditionally done in to “honor deities as well as ancestors” . Some express that it is also a time to enjoy a time festivities with  family . (The following come from Wikipedia as well as conversations I had with others at the festivities.)

 

My Chinese New Year Celebrations at the “China Dream” Chinese New Year Gala CSSA UK  

Located at my University, Institute of Education

 

I felt lucky to be invited to an exclusive event from London Universities International Partnership  in celebration of the Chinese New Year. I’ve always heard of the Chinese New Year celebration but didn’t really know what it was. As such, I did not know what to expect at this celebration. All I knew was that most of the program would be in Mandarin.

Upon arrival , I listened to two men do  “crosstalk” comedy. Though the act was done in Mandarin, it was clear that the comedy was similar to slapstick comedy. Here is a similar  link from youtube that depicts this.

Example : Two young boys do Crosstalk 

The night followed an assortment of performances. Here are a few highlights:

1: I  Listened to an rearrangement of the song “Dear friend” and a composed song called “ Goddess”. This performance was done using an instrument called an  Er Hu.

To hear what an Er Hu sounds like

 

Other Performance Pictures :

 

2. During the intermission, there were three women wearing a dress in a design and pattern that I was very familiar with. However, while there, it dawned on me that I did not know the name of this dress. Given that this dress has become popular fashion in the United States even among non-Chinese populations, I thought I would ask what the name of this dress was. I was told it is called a Cree Qipao. It is also called a Cheongsam.

According to a Wikipedia article, this dress originally become popular in the 1920’s by “socialites and upper class women”. Read more here 

3. During the intermission, I also met another woman adorned in traditional dress. I was informed she was dressed in preparation for a “Pecking Opera” performance. It appears that  I missed this part of the performance, so here is a short description I found online.

“Peking opera or Beijing opera  is a form traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance, and acrobatics”( read more here).

Below is the woman I met:

4. The rest of the evening was filled with an assortment of acts. There were breakdancers from Oxford University,  dancers from Cambridge University ,  a pianist from the Royal Observatory of Scotland  performing a type of tango, the Manchester Chinese Society performing an Eastern and Western influenced dance called  “ Falling Petals” ,  a vocalist singing Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” and a variety of other traditional Mandarin  vocalists.

University of Cambridge Performers 

 

Some Thoughts 

The various performances allowed me to “open” my ears to different types of tones and sounds in speech and song. Given that I did not understand the language, I relied heavily on following body language. I found that I was able to find “meaning” in some of the expressive body language when  the performers were singing or joking. In a room filled with  at least 500 people who understood Mandarin, it was interesting to see the crowds’ excitement and appreciation of the festivities. Though I could not share in the meaning of the jokes, the pride in the air was unmistakable. This has been yet another experience in London that has opened my understanding about the complexity and beauty of human diversity.

More to come  soon….

What’s in a word?

(Photo : Photo : http://www.npr.org/2012/06/25/155706549/taboo-revival-talking-private-parts-in-public-places)

As I reflect on my youthful years, I chuckle as I think about the language differences I experienced as a child of Caribbean parentage in America.  Though my parents both spoke English and raised my siblings and I in an English speaking country, our English at home had its own quirks. In a sense, I became bi-lingual as I understood that the English words I used at home would not always translate the same in public. Since my parents’ upbringing and hence language were influenced by their experiences in London and St. Lucia, I was never really certain where their phraseology came from. Furthermore, they both speak French Creole and that complicates the matter even more. However, since I’ve been in London , it’s all starting to make sense.

In a recent conversation with someone, the individual said, “there will be loads of cars “Choc-a-block in the streets today”. Immediately, I said, “wait you use that word too?” I had always reserved that word “Choc-a-block” for my home vocabulary with family because I never heard any of my American peers using it. Immediately, I looked up the definition of the word to find its origin and exact meaning. Until that day, I didn’t know it was a formal term. I just learned how to use it appropriately.

Apparently, it is a British phrase with a formal definition of :

Choc-a-block  ( adj) : “crammed full of people or things”.

Other words I have come across while in London that remind me of the language used in my household are :

Gherkin : aka as Pickle in America

Walloping :  aka Spanking in America

Other words commonly used here and sometimes used in the States have been : Naughty ( as in bad behavior), Rouge ( as in red blush or lipstick).

However, there have also been great differences.

Pants:

I have learned the word “pants” means “underwear”. I always knew the term trousers was used in the UK, but I was never aware that pants referred to underwear. I’ve been corrected a few times as speaking about one’s underwear is not polite conversation.

Fanny-pack:

I have the feeling that this is a relatively dated term used in America, but I was recently reminded not to use that word again in public in the UK. Apparently, the term fanny does not refer to one’s behind as it does in American. In contrast, it is a relatively rude or derogatory term used to refer to a woman’s genitalia!  The appropriate term here in the UK is “ Bum-bag”.

Words that caught me off guard:

Afro Hair:

In America, you may hear many women using the phrase “natural hair”. This simply means that the person’s hair is not chemically processed. However, in the UK, saying one has natural hair is not as common. Instead, people often say “Afro Hair”. When someone recently described my hair as Afro hair, I paused in response for several moments because my hair was in a bun and not an Afro. However, seconds later I grasped that she was referring to texture and not style. I have since included this word in my vocabulary.

 

Meter  / Metre:

Now, there is nothing special about the word meter as it is used in American vocabulary and in our school curriculum. But unless you use this measurement system on a regular basis, you may not get much use of that word in your vocabulary. According the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the United States stands as the only industrialized nation that has not formally institutionalized the use the metric system ( NIST, 2002).

Hence, when a professor in my class was recently folding a few pieces of beautiful fabric that I was staring at, she asked “would you like a metre” in response I gave a blank stare. In fact, I was like a deer in headlights. In those few seconds, my brain just could not process what she was saying. I asked her to repeat herself twice before it clicked. I suffered some minor embarrassment during those seconds that I was sure she was speaking alien. I mean, how can I not understand what this English speaking person is saying to me, I speak English too! Nonetheless, it is clear that there is great power in word association. Had she said “would you like a yard” I would have grasped it right away. While this does not “measure” with my peers who do not speak English as a primary language, I got a very small glimpse of what it must feel like to not understand what someone is saying to you.

To learn more about English Slang :  http://www.effingpot.com/slang.shtml

Cited Info :

National Institute of Standards and Technology ( 2002)
Photo : http://www.npr.org/2012/06/25/155706549/taboo-revival-talking-private-parts-in-public-places
. http://www.nist.gov/pml/wmd/metric/upload/1136a.pdf