Hi to all 3 of you (as I am currently the fourth member)!
Already we are a good metropolitan mix as one is from an Arab-speaking country, one from Spain, then our Chinese host, and one from Africa (South)! To be honest, I don't care much about languages as long as I can communicate with others, and English has proven itself as being that conduit required to link us to one another across the globe - incredibly fascinating, I think! So, maybe I don't fit into this group completely, but I didn't want to turn Wing's invitation down! So, thank you for inviting me to join. I may not be commenting frequently as I am quite busy keeping my own groups running with weekly activities. And unfortunately I'm not going to invite you to join as those are closed groups to our students I am teaching! I hope you'll understand!
I am from South Africa and was born when most of your own fathers haven't been born yet ... in 1955! But as I am male, I can tell you this as my understanding from a western perspective is that females don't really do that (and it's also not important as this is luckily not a dating website!)! Currently I am teaching English in Liaoning province in China (please to meet you, Li Yongxin!). I have started my sixth year in China now and my current employer is Liaoning Technical University in Huludao.
Though I am learning the Chinese language, I can still not speak the language! They say (online information) it takes the average foreigner about 8 years of continuous language study before being able to speak conversational Chinese - so, I have around 4 years to go as I'm studying the language around 4 years now! But it is surely more difficult when you are older! I have tried some other languages in my life, like Zulu and Xhosa (South African dialects - the late Mandela was Xhosa-speaking; and the current president is Zulu-speaking), and in 2005/6 I tried Russian; but let me tell you, Chinese is probably the most difficult of all languages in the world! I will never learn to read or write the language as I think one needs a degree in the Arts to write and interpret those characters! Fortunately they've developed Pinyin (system explaining Chinese in Roman letters like our English alphabet) and I hope that would be sufficient to assist me learning the language! I have a Chinese tutor and get two 90 minute classes weekly during the semesters.
About my mother tongue: It is called Afrikaans. The language is closely related to the Dutch language from the Netherlands as most of our ancestors originated from there. We also use the English Alphabet like I understand many European countries do (and other western countries). It is just so convenient if you already know the letters of the alphabet before starting to learn a language! But as my country has once also been a British colony, quite a number of our words have been strongly influenced by the English language. I'll briefly give you a few examples:
Hello : Hallo!
Good morning/afternoon/evening : Goeie more/middag/naand
How are you? : Hoe gaan dit (met jou)?
Thank you : Baie dankie (thanks = dankie)
Good bye : Totsiens
Lastly, I am curious about you! So, pse be so kind and tell Wing about yourselves and I will read too! Who is Estanis, and who is Jasmine?! And I'd also like to know why you have given yourself the English name of Wing, Li Yongxin, as that is not an accepted English name?! Many of my Chinese students have the custom of giving themselves an English name when they have class with a foreign English teacher, but I often have to correct them as they want to introduce the Chinese custom for Chinese names which mostly consist of good-meaning words describing happiness, good fortune, good health, etc. But this custom is not readily being used or accepted in the western culture (though sometimes one does get the odd name like Joy, Summer, and a few others!). So, why did you decide on that name?!
Thanks for reading, if you made it up to here! :)
Replies
Sorry for my late reply but I've been in a small hollidays abroad with family so smartphones, ipad, laptop and so on were banned for us altuough I use to tell them: do what I say, not what I do hahaha...
O.K. My name's Estanislao Piña, you may think I'm Polish or Russian for my name but I'm Spanish and I'm here to improve the language but also to know about other people customs, besides I don't think it's a bad place to know some basic sentences in other language, actually I've just come from visiting Belgium and I wish I had learnt some French sentences before although Flemish is spoken in the north wich is also very similar to Dutch, so you may understand it Johan, by the way, glad that we have a teacher between us :)
Anyway You won't have any communication problems in western Europe if you speak English
Well, I'm not a teacher, I run a small factory in my town and my favourite hobby is travelling so when I save some money I spend part on it, it's my best invest hahaha...
P.S. I have very good memories of your country four years ago Johan. When my football team won the cup :D
Hi Estanis. Yes, there are many similarities with the Belgium language (Flemish) and as with Dutch, we can somehow follow one another in our different languages. However, I heard from a fellow South African that when he'd been to the Netherlands, communication wasn't that easy and they'd preferred to speak English!
Interesting that you have engaged in the learning of English, but you are neither teaching nor studying! But I guess English would always be good for businessmen as that proved to be he international communication language. And of course, you need the language to enjoy your hobby! You should start learning Chinese too as the aim is to get the world to speak Chinese in 20 to 30 years from now (but it's my guess that English would be the other international language)!
About 2010 ... Haha, that was a good year and though I was in China at the time, I didn't miss any of the matches on TV (fortunately the Chinese also like the game)! I didn't support a specific team, but I must admit I have fancied your national team as they always play such exciting football! My favourite player was also playing for your team (Fernando Torres), but my other favourite player was Dutch ... Wesley Schneider (the one with the tear in the eye after the game ..)! This year ... your guess is as good as mine (though I can believe that you'd like to win again!). But to be honest, I do favour the Dutch this year (though I wouldn't be unhappy should Brazil take the Cup as a kind of consolation prize for the hardship the Brazilian people had gone through to be the host)! ;-)
Hi Zakumi, and thanks for your comment.
I don't want to argue, but i admit maybe this group is not so proper in this site coz most of you guys are coming here to learn / teach english. The focus of this site should always be English ?! And even i used to one of you, but now i changed a little bit. That is not because i doubt/ deny the importance of english, but because i think every language, including national ones and local dialects, deserve respect and being valued. Personally i am fan of languages, but as i said (maybe not here), i only want to say hello in many many languages , want to know more about culture and i think language is one important aspect of every culture. I know it takes very long time to know and speak a language, but it depends how you think about it, a little bit, daily communication, fluent, advanced, etc. It depends on what is your purpose and goal.
i admit that i never received any formal education of "western" style. and i don't know the rules of giving names in English. So could you tell me why they will choose those "accepted" english names automatically like "Sam" "Tom" "John" ? Are there any special meanings in these names? if not, then why can't we use sth new like Wing, or just whatever english word? And which names can be "accepted" in western society and what can be "unaccepted"? And i have to say sorry, Zakumi because i cannot agree with some of your teaching as "correct them as they want to introduce the Chinese custom for Chinese names ... But this custom is not readily being used or accepted in the western culture". Are you trying to teaching them english culture or what? Maybe you could "introduce " sth but not "correct" because i think when it comes to culture nothing can be justified as "wrong" and need to be "corrected". All in all, my purpose of this group is CULTURE AND LANGUAGE EXCHANGE EQUALLY! Sorry if what i said annoys you.
As for giving names in China, we have family name from father side ( like my LI), then the first name(my Yongxin ) can be whatever mostly chosen by parents. Generally parents will choose some chinese character with special meaning, like my Xin=happiness in chinese. Influenced by the Hong Kong tv series and society and globalization, we begin to learn english at the age of 10 or so with only chinese local english teacher. Then we may have english native speaker teacher in high school and college, who "often" say "oh your chinese name is too hard to prounounce. Do you have an English name".
As for my choosing Wing, the reasons are as follows:1. it shares similar proununciation of Yong in cantonese, my mother tongue, spoken in Guangdong, HK, Macao. 2. it measn freedom to me, and i do wanna fly away someday . 3.most importantly, i want to protect my dear families and friends under my wings. So some chinese choose their english name for its special meaning or just want to be called simply.
Hope my answer would satisfy you. and thanks for reading.
Wing
Thanks for your very informative reply, Wing! Well, it may be that your group is not directly about English, but I don't think it really matters. The moment Tara or Josef has approved it, it means they support the aims of the group. The important thing is that we speak English here and we are therefore still in line with the aims of the website! As I mentioned before, I don't think I would contribute much in future in this group (though I'll check out the posts and comments and would know when I have to participate!), but I am glad you have started it as it's nice to make a few new friends (but thanks to you for the invitation to join!). There is a place for this group on this website, I am sure!
About the names ...! Haha, I am not offended neither annoyed about you disagreeing! We may disagree (to make the world more interesting!). I don't have to defend what I said, but I guess it is not completely clear. The 'accepted' English names I was referring to, are the traditional English names. Most of them, I understand, have meanings, but I don't even know (or care)! I however have a list of male and female names with their respective meanings and when students ask me for names, I let them look at it and decide themselves.
Why do I say the students shouldn't introduce Chinese custom when it gets to giving English names? It has a simple explanation! If they plan to go abroad one day, I suggest they choose the right name from the beginning and keep that name. Amongst others, it'll help them to remember their English name. But if the name doesn't sound like an English name (let's say, Rain, or Hope), I would discourage them using that name as I know we foreigners would think it is a funny name and probably laugh about it. You will be surprised what funny names the Chinese students can come up with! It may sound special to them in Chinese, but definitely not in English. If they insist after me explaining why I object to the name, it's their choice. As long as I know I warned them. It is one of my ways to protect my students. If they can't except my good intentions, I can't help for that. Such names may work in Chinese culture, but it surely doesn't go off well in foreign culture! Oh, and by the way, I am not trying to teach them English culture (which is not even my own culture!), but I guess you would realize that by now! One can't change anyone's culture, I believe; a person has to decide her/himself to change their culture and then do it themselves!
Another thing I may mention, is that I know there are foreign teachers that insist that their Chinese students have English names in their English classes. I don't agree with that personally as we don't have the right to do that. I believe they should have the choice themselves (some Chinese students don't want to do that; so, respect them for that). In my classes I write their names on a name card and each keep the name card on their desks. As I can read Pinyin, it is then easy for me to address them by their names. Later I start remembering some of the names (even some Chinese names!). Btw, your Chinese name is easy to pronounce, Wing (Li Yongxin)!
Oh, and lastly, if I may comment on your English name ...! The reasons you mention for choosing that name are very noble, but what I have explained about the 'strange' English names some Chinese students use, applies to your name too! Of course you can keep the name if you like the name that much! And please don't change the name because of my explanation; if you are happy with it, keep it forever! Just bear in mind what I said about how some English people would perceive it when hearing your name when you, for instance, visit a foreign country. They may not show you what they really think (out of respect, maybe), but I know enough of English culture (which is very close to my own culture, I think) to know what they may think in their hearts! But, we shouldn't make an issue of it. I explained to you why I feel like I do about English names. It is a personal opinion, and as I mentioned, I am glad we all have different opinions to make a boring world more exciting! ;-)
Have a good weekend. Johan
Sorry for my ignorance but then, Pesian people are not Arab? Or you might be Chaldean?
Hope I don't bother you, if so please let me know :)
Hi Jasmine. Thanks for the reply. I have nearly mentioned your name in my post as part of those English names with different meanings than the more traditional ones, but I decided against that as I thought the examples I supplied would suffice! Jasmine is a beautiful English name, by the way! So, you made a good choice!
And thank you too for the short lesson in Persian culture! I am of the opinion not many of us in the west have good knowledge of Persian and Arab cultures and would probably mix them up. So, sorry for that (though it doesn't look like I have offended you!). When I read what you said, I just remembered that I read that, before the Iranian revolution (I think it was in 1979?), there was a Shah of Iran who was supported by America and he was then overthrown. And if I remember correctly, the Shah's were always from Persia! And I have also learned that Farsi is the language (or one of them?) they speak in Iran (but of course, I didn't know you were from there!).
Thanks for accepting the friend request. You are my first Persian friend on this website (and which I have ever had)! Though Wing mentioned (below) that this group may not completely fit in here, I am glad she's started it as it is nice to know a few new friends (and me and Wing have also communicated already). Most of my Chinese students chose to become my friends, but as we see one another in class weekly, we don't communicate here in the same manner as with other members (and of course they comment on the weekly lessons I post and I often reply to them).
Well, I'll stop here as I still want to reply to Wing's comment! If you have time, maybe you can tell me another thing I want to know: If you are a member of this website, it tells me that you either want to learn English (or improve your language skills), or you are a teacher of English and have joined for some reason. So, which one is it - learner or teacher?! And if you are a learner, I am curious about Iran ... Why do you learn English?! Do you have dreams of going abroad some day; or what motivates you to do it? It would be interesting to hear! :)
Zakumi (or Johan, or John as being called by my students)