Gully State
Member
It's not Dragon bun though...it's 籠 which means cage or basket..
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- Thread starter Cybit
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It's not Dragon bun though...it's 籠 which means cage or basket..
Seductivpancakes
Member
I was just wondering what would be a better way to say Zong so non Chinese speakers can understand better.
I refused to call Chinese Tamale since its not like we copied anyone.
Wikipedia has it under Zongzi, or sticky rice dumpling.
Anyway, I have a mountain of it at home from family and family friends. I think that's all I'll eat for a few weeks.
I refused to call Chinese Tamale since its not like we copied anyone.
Wikipedia has it under Zongzi, or sticky rice dumpling.
Anyway, I have a mountain of it at home from family and family friends. I think that's all I'll eat for a few weeks.
Septimus Prime
Member
All you have to do is drop the grass root. Then it's dragon.
Damn homophones, ruining everything.
EDIT: Sonofa...that isn't even a grass root! I should have looked more closely.
It's actually a bamboo root.
Gully State
Member
Yeah, it is "long" like a cage (long-zi), but it's cuter to call it a dragon bun. I call them little dragon buns.
Maybe if we just keep saying it's called a "zhong zi" people will eventually pick it up?
A lot of words in English have been taken from other cultures. Instead of trying to find a way to make our words fit into English, we can ask others to learn a few words for our specific items that are unique to us.
I hate to be the Chinese grammar police here but it's zong not zhong. It's the whole zh vs z , ch vs c and sh vs s thing that I never quite mastered myself. I apologize if it's getting annoying....not my intention.
CapNBritain
Member
Mountain people - aboriginal. They are from the island, so the natives. Called san de ren (mountain earth people).
Chinese - pre KMT. Lived under the Japanese. More of them married the natives iirc. Called tai wan ren.
Chinese - post KMT. Called wai sheng ren. Not to be confused with wai sen ren.
Half of the each of the latter two is called ban sheng ren. Oi han ge. Means taro and sweet potato hybrid.
Really interesting stuff. But political. Would not really get too into it. I just tell not from Taiwan people that my parents are from Taiwan.
I call myself American or Taiwanese.
But, people/classmates can always tell I am from Taiwan and not China, even though I was born and raised here. There must be something about the differences that are obvious, even though my parents are one wai sheng and one ban sheng.
Chamale. I like it
Man I missed out on both the Taiwanese-American and zongzi talk?
I refer to myself as LSS (long story short) Chinese-American. If someone probes, then I tell them that my parents are from Taiwan. Funnily enough people usually either have no idea what kind of Asian I am or know that I am Taiwanese. I have a weird face, that apparently is Taiwanese?
And thanks for the info bunny (and others). My mom's side are tai wan ren and my dad's are wai sheng ren. I always found it funny growing up how my mom's parents acted/looked/spoke Japanese.
And on the topic of zongzi, keep out the gross eggs and beans. Add the chili sauce.
Seductivpancakes
Member
Yeah, it is "long" like a cage (long-zi), but it's cuter to call it a dragon bun
Maybe if we just keep saying it's called a "zhong zi" people will eventually pick it up?
A lot of words in English have been taken from other cultures. Instead of trying to find a way to make our words fit into English, we can ask others to learn a few words for our specific items that are unique to us.
That's a good idea. I'm started telling my friends about the glorious and delicious zhong zi.
Edit: Gross eggs and beans? Why is this happening.
Septimus Prime
Member
...and bamboo is technically a grass, so I'm not technically wrong anymore!
On another note, I've never actually been good with pinyin. In my mind, I always think in English and try to piece things together phonetically.
Gully State
Member
goddamn salty egg crap. I hate it in moon cakes too.
Mountain people - aboriginal. They are from the island, so the natives. Called san de ren (mountain earth people).
Chinese - pre KMT. Lived under the Japanese. More of them married the natives iirc. Called tai wan ren.
Chinese - post KMT. Called wai sheng ren. Not to be confused with wai sen ren.
Half of the each of the latter two is called ban sheng ren. Oi han ge. Means taro and sweet potato hybrid.
Really interesting stuff. But political. Would not really get too into it. I just tell not from Taiwan people that my parents are from Taiwan.
I call myself American or Taiwanese.
But, people/classmates can always tell I am from Taiwan and not China, even though I was born and raised here. There must be something about the differences that are obvious, even though my parents are one wai sheng and one ban sheng.
Chamale. I like it
People in Taiwan had no discrimination against marrying Mainland Chinese before this political identity bullshit. But what do I know lol. My mom is from HK and my dad is from Taiwan. I have identity crisis...
whaaaaaaat that's like the best part.
On a related note, I just got my wife to try a zhong and she's not having any of it. Just means more for me.
Gully State
Member
When I was in middle school, I used to have zongzi for breakfast almost every morning.
I'm surprised there are young people that are fans of the moon cake egg yolk. I dunno anyone in RL except for my parents and older that liked that stuff.
I'm surprised there are young people that are fans of the moon cake egg yolk. I dunno anyone in RL except for my parents and older that liked that stuff.
Let's just go back to ethnic groups! Are you Han Chinese enough?
this is gonna go down a shitty rabbit hole isn't it
I don't think my family or relatives care about that kinda thing. There are quite a few of my relatives that aren't of China or HK nationality. Some friendly teasing from all sides of course. lol
xplicitone
Member
First post here! I never ventured outside of Gaming until the NBA finals and even that was rare. So hello AsianGAF!
whaaaaaaat that's like the best part.
On a related note, I just got my wife to try a zhong and she's not having any of it. Just means more for me.
Give it to her after you put mounds of sugar on it
I used to eat them like that when I was little, but stopped using sugar once I had developed a taste for it.I think there's a good chance a lot of people that were born outside of China or in the peripheral provinces aren't "100%" Han Chinese. I'm definitely sure that I'm not, since my grandmother's side is Tanka. At least, I think it's Tanka since she mentioned growing up on boats before the war. That, and her side of the family don't look like most Cantonese people.
milkham
Member
you could say.. it was your destiny
xplicitone
Member
RapidCancel
Member
All this talk about zongzi makes me really want some, I haven't had any in a while. Might have to swing by my parents house to see if my mom made any this year.
Welcome.
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
milkham
Member
CapNBritain
Member
whaaaaaaat that's like the best part.
On a related note, I just got my wife to try a zhong and she's not having any of it. Just means more for me.
Egg yolk is terrible and all of you should be ashamed for perpetuating its inclusion in Asian delicacies.
My dad told me that if you have an evenly split crack running down both your pinkie toes then you are 100% Han Chinese. Everyone in my family has that, although we're also dark as shit, so I dunno. He has also been known to lie.
I've seen some people looking down on non-Han minorities here in America, although they were usually first-generation immigrants.
"You're Hakka? Are you a minority?"
Welcome!
"You're Hakka? Are you a minority?"
Welcome!
We require pictures of food as tribute.
Septimus Prime
Member
Not a big fan of egg yolk. It tastes fine, but it's too dry for me.
Also, Arkham Knight is really good, guys! I'm hearing the PC version is riddled with bugs, though, but the PS4 one runs smoothly, at least. I don't think I like the Batmobile parts, but the Batman parts are great.
Also, Arkham Knight is really good, guys! I'm hearing the PC version is riddled with bugs, though, but the PS4 one runs smoothly, at least. I don't think I like the Batmobile parts, but the Batman parts are great.
From what I've heard/read/been told, the PC port was outsourced, and no one has said anything pleasant about it. It's got every conceivable performance issue possible.
Yah, and my bad I mean color, haha
Depending on when you were born; the secret ninja handshake comes from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, for maximum irony.
As an Asian person, a lot of people (even among other Asians) ask me or seemed surprised that I can't speak any languages besides English. I mean sure initially they might not know that I was born in the U.S, but then even after I told them I was born in the U.S, they still seemed surprised.
Its been getting kind of annoying being asked. I mean are people still surprised about the fact that Asians CAN be born in the U.S. They aren't all immigrants...
Its been getting kind of annoying being asked. I mean are people still surprised about the fact that Asians CAN be born in the U.S. They aren't all immigrants...
Seductivpancakes
Member
Yea. My Cantonese isn't that amazing and I only know how to say "I don't have money" in Mandarin.
Its hard when family make fun if you for not being able to speak your native language well, but it's worst when strangers get super shocked you don't speak anything but English. I've been told I have a New York accent. Is it really surprising English is the only language I speak?
I been trying to learn Chinese but it is extremely difficult for me. The writing system and the tonal differentiations can get really tough. I can understand why many ABCs don't know how to speak Chinese because it is a tough language to learn. I been doing the strokes over and over again, but I still tend to forget the letters. I did make an effort to learn, but I had to drop the class because I was afraid it would put a dent on my GPA.
I think Chinese is considered the 2nd hardest language to learn after English. I don't know if it still have that spot though?
Septimus Prime
Member
Are you Japanese, by any chance? I think there are lot more 3rd and 4th gen Japanese here, and I've definitely noticed that it's more common among them to only know English.
EDIT: Nevermind. You answered right as I posted.
Right, so to answer your question about 2nd generation Asians purposely not wanting to learn Chinese? I don't think that would be the cased.
It is the difficulty and how time-consuming learning another language is that is putting off the 2nd generation from doing it. There are articles that indicated the benefits of learning an Asian language like Chinese, Korean or Japanese. Something to do with a character intensive language like those that enhance some cognitive abilities that have to do with math.
How long did it take you to be somewhat proficient in Chinese?
Thank you
Seductivpancakes
Member
For me, none of my experiences in which people are surprised, have included any conversation about my family history.
When i was in school, its usually "What does that say?", and I'd be like idk.
I'm second gen, and I can't read/write Chinese. I can speak my family's dialect enough to hold a casual conversation though. That's about it.
This is really annoying though. haha
2nd generation here. I used to use a mix of English and Chinese with my parents, but I switched to full Chinese around junior high to argue with them better.
It felt like when I used English arguments, they would be purposely obtuse with me. Can't dodge me in Chinese, though!
Since then, I've only been speaking Chinese with them. Paid off when I took a 3 year work transfer to Asia.
It felt like when I used English arguments, they would be purposely obtuse with me. Can't dodge me in Chinese, though!
Since then, I've only been speaking Chinese with them. Paid off when I took a 3 year work transfer to Asia.
Seductivpancakes
Member
I went to schools in the lower east side of Manhattan. Mostly Hispanics and Blacks.
The other Asians in my class was mostly Chinese. They were in the same boat as me so we never really made fun of, or shocked each other.
We didn't mingle with the Chinese kids in the bilingual classes. I admit, at times, I've felt like we were better cause we spoke English. A really shitty mentality to have.
Are you trying to learn traditional or simplified? Simplified Chinese script is relatively easier to learn than the traditional script.
Also, I find it much easier to learn a language if you approach it from a conversational angle rather than a strict grammatical one. That way, you'll have an intuition as to the sequence of words and characters before delving into the complicated parts.
edit: I'm between first and second gen, since I came to Canada early enough to forget all my schooling and had to relearn everything
Haha, kind of similar for me too. I picked up more Chinese later in life because it was frustrating to communicate in English...
It is traditional. My school only offer classes on Traditional.Are you trying to learn traditional or simplified? Simplified Chinese script is relatively easier to learn than the traditional script.
Also, I find it much easier to learn a language if you approach it from a conversational angle rather than a strict grammatical one. That way, you'll have an intuition as to the sequence of words and characters before delving into the complicated parts.
edit: I'm between first and second gen, since I came to Canada early enough to forget all my schooling and had to relearn everything
Haha, kind of similar for me too. I picked up more Chinese later in life because it was frustrating to communicate in English...
I'm at least 3rd generation (well, my Chinese half anyway), maybe more. I don't think my dad speaks Chinese at all, and I've never heard my popo (grandmother) speak it. I know my ancestors came to Hawaii to work on the plantations sometime in the 1800s (I saw a picture and one of them looked almost exactly like my dad, it was fucking crazy/weird), but I dunno how far back exactly.
RapidCancel
Member
2nd gen here, I speak an ok amount of Cantonese (IMO, pretty shitty amount). Enough to get compliments about it whenever I speak to someone from HK, so I guess that's something. Most of my friends speak very little of their asian languages, mainly since the only time any of us would really use it is when speaking with our parents. The main words everyone always knows is for different dishes of food, though. Can't be missing out when it comes to grubbing.
I don't think it's all that surprising that language skills are lost with successive generations, and I don't think it's necessarily a conscious/willful rejection of the parents' (and older) language to better assimilate with normal/mainstream culture.
Not unlike learning a new language, constant use is necessary just to keep up language proficiency. The most natural way is immersion, but that's next to impossible in the US unless you live in one of the major ethnic clusters where you can get by without speaking any English whatsoever. Otherwise you have to dedicate a large amount of time to studying/consuming foreign language content.
It's also easiest to teach to very young children who are still developing their languages and whose brains are extremely receptive to learning language. Language development after that phase is a monumental uphill struggle.
I would wager the children of most immigrants start out being fluent (or at least very passable) in their parents' native tongue, growing up in it during that developmental phase, but don't keep it up and slowly lose it because everything outside of the home uses English. There's basically no immersion, and here I would contend that most kids aren't continuing their native language learning at home, whether out of choice/rejection, lack of time/aptitude from parents to teach it, or lack of appropriate/meaningful content.
Not unlike learning a new language, constant use is necessary just to keep up language proficiency. The most natural way is immersion, but that's next to impossible in the US unless you live in one of the major ethnic clusters where you can get by without speaking any English whatsoever. Otherwise you have to dedicate a large amount of time to studying/consuming foreign language content.
It's also easiest to teach to very young children who are still developing their languages and whose brains are extremely receptive to learning language. Language development after that phase is a monumental uphill struggle.
I would wager the children of most immigrants start out being fluent (or at least very passable) in their parents' native tongue, growing up in it during that developmental phase, but don't keep it up and slowly lose it because everything outside of the home uses English. There's basically no immersion, and here I would contend that most kids aren't continuing their native language learning at home, whether out of choice/rejection, lack of time/aptitude from parents to teach it, or lack of appropriate/meaningful content.
I'm 2nd gen speaking cantonese. From what I can tell, my accent is indistinguishable, it's just that my vocabulary it pretty limited. I went to chinese school on sundays for a bit in both elementary and high school but I didn't make it past 3rd grade, so I basically only know what's commonly spoken around the house. The reason being I didn't really care about learning chinese until high school, and that only lasted until I went to college. If you asked me about business/science/tech related things I wouldn't know what you're talking about.
It helped that my grandma came over and lived with us as I grew up so in order to even communicate with her I needed to speak cantonese. With my parents it's definitely what I would call chinglish since it's a mishmash of the two. Though now if my wife is around I try to keep it pure english so she can understand everything since she feels left out otherwise.
My younger sister immersed herself in cpop and tvb growing up and knows way more than me. My younger brother knows more too, though his accent is terrible. He improved on both vocabulary and pronunciation when he went to beijing for a summer, and now to speak cantonese he translates it from what he knows in mandarin lol.
HK Cinema needs to get back to being good so I watch more Chinese movies imo. Alternatively, does anyone watch chinese soaps and know of a good one? That's probably the best way I can learn more at this point haha.
It helped that my grandma came over and lived with us as I grew up so in order to even communicate with her I needed to speak cantonese. With my parents it's definitely what I would call chinglish since it's a mishmash of the two. Though now if my wife is around I try to keep it pure english so she can understand everything since she feels left out otherwise.
My younger sister immersed herself in cpop and tvb growing up and knows way more than me. My younger brother knows more too, though his accent is terrible. He improved on both vocabulary and pronunciation when he went to beijing for a summer, and now to speak cantonese he translates it from what he knows in mandarin lol.
HK Cinema needs to get back to being good so I watch more Chinese movies imo. Alternatively, does anyone watch chinese soaps and know of a good one? That's probably the best way I can learn more at this point haha.
FallingEdge
Member
Same here. Cuban/Korean and I only speak English. It really is a damn shame.
CapNBritain
Member
I am 1st Gen and have the Mandarin speaking skills of a 5 year old, despite taking 11 years of Chinese school. Being forced to go to Chinese school made me actively hate having the speak/learn the language. I was never great at learning languages either, so that's probably a part of it. Spanish was the only class I couldn't get an A in during High School and my attempts at learning Japanese when I was dating a Japanese national never worked either.
Lack of immersion also hurt my Chinese retention. I didn't really speak a lot to my parents and didn't speak Chinese with any of my friends who were Chinese. All the media I consumed was also in English as Chinese media seemed very boring to me, outside of martial arts movies.
My two younger sisters both have much better Chinese due to years of watching various Taiwanese dramas. My fiancee, who grew up speaking Cantonese, also retained her Cantonese knowledge and gained her ability to read/write in Mandarin from TV dramas.
Lack of immersion also hurt my Chinese retention. I didn't really speak a lot to my parents and didn't speak Chinese with any of my friends who were Chinese. All the media I consumed was also in English as Chinese media seemed very boring to me, outside of martial arts movies.
My two younger sisters both have much better Chinese due to years of watching various Taiwanese dramas. My fiancee, who grew up speaking Cantonese, also retained her Cantonese knowledge and gained her ability to read/write in Mandarin from TV dramas.