Beijing Sounds — 北京的声儿

Ah, language learning. It’s one thing to try to get the accent right. You can work on that every day in Beijing. But it’s another thing to know what to say in particular social situations.Like when you’re introduced to your brother-in-law’s coworker.

In the US: Nice to meet you
Beijing: Nǐ hǎo... [and what else???]

Is there something else to say? Well, maybe, but it’s pretty sure not to be a direct translation of “nice to meet you”. Read the rest of this entry »

Beijingers are the work-hard-stay-quiet type. I have proof. Listen:

That was my subway in the morning a few days ago. I left in the announcer lady just to prove I hadn’t turned down the volume. Granted it was a bit early for Beijing — 7:45 — but the car was pretty full, albeit not thigh-jammed-between-buttocks full. Read the rest of this entry »

Conversing in Chinese, I usually get the drift. But there are some Chinese conversations where getting the drift doesn’t cut it. A recent list:

1. Arguing with the local rep of your overpriced foreign consultant about the cost, deliverables and timeline for your project
2. Clarifying which 17 documents you need from which administrative agencies in order to get your Chinese work visa
3. Talking with ground control to land the airplane in Dalian after the pilot collapses from post binge drinking dehydration

These are the moments when you hang your head low, beg forgiveness, and start asking for translation. It’s an embarassment, and you feel unworthy of employment in Beijing — but the alternative (ripped off, jailed, dead) is worse.

You can’t learn Chinese while you’re trying to get stuff done, so what’s a parttime language student to do?

Here’s an idea: open your ears! It’s Beijing. There’s noise all around. Sure, most of what you hear doesn’t matter, but that’s the point. You gotta listen to it while it doesn’t matter. If you start relying on getting the drift of conversations, you make yourself amusing at parties, but not much of a conversationalist. Get your ears in gear! Listen!

The first time I heard this clip, on the subway home from my first day on the job, I probably didn’t really hear it at all. I was too busy looking frantically for the right stop. (I did manage to get off there but spent the next two hours circling the station, eyes glazed with jet-lag and hunger, trying to remember what the hell the name of my apartment was, or what it looked like…)

I’ve heard it about 47 times since then, but only after the 30th time did I realize I wasn’t really listening. Instead, I was just hearing the name of the subway stop, 国贸, and blocking the rest out.

So I paid attention. And got depressed.

Cuz the fact was: I could only get a few more words out of it when I listened carefully, something about “next stop” and so on. What kind of Chinese student is that, I ask you? Here I had an indisputably authentic Chinese utterance, blared twice daily right in my ear in nice, crisp pǔtōnghuà [普通话 = standard speech -- the official dialect], and I was not only ignoring it — I didn’t even know what it was saying if I paid attention!

So what’s it saying? Kind of what you might think, but with Chinese characteristics. The story is that the Chief Educational Officer at the Bureau of Light Rail Administration saw an opportunity in scripting the subway announcements for 2007: “Hey, you know, Old Wang over at Propaganda keeps harping about all the bad press he got for promising to fine spitters in Beijing. He’ll really owe me if I get the ‘no spitting’ message in at every bloody subway stop in Beijing!”

列车运行前方是国贸．
Lièchē yùnxíng qiánfāng shì guómào.
The next stop is Guomao.

有在国贸下车的乘客请您提前做好准备
Yǒu zài guómào xiàchēde chéngkè qǐngnín tíqián zuòhǎo zhǔnbèi.
For riders stopping at Guomao, please get ready.

乘车时请您不要随地吐痰不要乱扔废弃物
Chèngchē shí qǐngnín búyào suídì tùtǎn, búyào luànrēng fèiqìwù.
While riding, please do not spit anywhere or litter.

国贸就到了
Guómào jiù yào dàole.
Arriving now at Guomao.