Language

[Operator 1,927]

Hi my name is Chris and I’m in a long distance relationship….Hi Chris.

So next week will mark the 5 month anniversary of our K-1 petition (before anyone jumps on me that is not a complaint) and I’m killing time by haunting these forums.

We plan on living in the US once she gets her visa and then at some time in the future we’ll probably move to China. I’ve been traveling to China on a regular basis for about 7 years. It was only within the couple of years that I made any real effort to become conversant in Mandarin; not an easy task for someone of my IQ and study discipline. She tells me often that she loves me but my Putonghua “is #######”. Good thing she’s fluent in English.

So now the point of my ramblings, who has successfully learned there better half’s native tongue since they met? How has it improved your life? And, what’s your most embarrassing moment demonstrating your new talent?

Also, good luck to all! (here I am Karma)

[Juan & Nan 12]

Hi my name is Chris and I'm in a long distance relationship….Hi Chris.

So next week will mark the 5 month anniversary of our K-1 petition (before anyone jumps on me that is not a complaint) and I'm killing time by haunting these forums.

We plan on living in the US once she gets her visa and then at some time in the future we'll probably move to China. I've been traveling to China on a regular basis for about 7 years. It was only within the couple of years that I made any real effort to become conversant in Mandarin; not an easy task for someone of my IQ and study discipline. She tells me often that she loves me but my Putonghua "is #######". Good thing she's fluent in English.

So now the point of my ramblings, who has successfully learned there better half's native tongue since they met? How has it improved your life? And, what's your most embarrassing moment demonstrating your new talent?

Also, good luck to all! (here I am Karma)

Well, I haven't, by far, succesfully learned my fiance's language (Thai), but I have been trying very hard. She speaks English, so she has been teaching me. Also, I bought the Thai version of Rosetta Stone. Before I didn't understand nothing, but now I pick up on certain words. I think learning her language is important because I want to be able to communicate with her family better. Also, when we have a child, I know she will teach him or her Thai, and I just want to be able to know what my kid is saying to me.

My embarrasing moment: So there we are, in a public transportation boat in one of Bangkok's canals. The boat is packed. My fiance and I are talking about what we are going to do my last two weeks in Thailand, so I told her I wanted to go to Hua Hin. Apparently, when I pronounced the "Hin" part, it sounded a lot like (translation..."a woman's private part"). Of course, I didn't realized what i just said. My fiance turned red, everyone around me, just kind of looked at me. My fiance covered my mouth and told me to be quite and to stop speaking Thai until we arrived home. I asked her "What did I say wrong?", but she insisted that I stayed quite. After we arrived to her house, she explained to me what I said and what it meant. I felt so bad for her. See, I wasn't embarrassed because I didn't know I said anything wrong, but she is the one that paid for my misspronounciation of the Thai language. I love her to death. I am sure that someday, when she arrives to the US, she will return the favor somehow...of course, not on purpose.

[Operator 1,927]

Yeah, family communication is a biggie. I spent Chinese New Year with her family and met 6 of her uncles, none of them speak English. I spoke what little I can and it makes a big impression.

What really always gets me is when I speak to someone in Chinese and they look at her and ask what I said. I may have said it perfectly but they just aren't used to hearing it come out of a westerner's mouth. Once they get over the shock I'm usualy ok.

I've said things that sound like things I shouldn't say and get the elbow in the ribs, that always turns them red.

[Chamy and Gatita 3]

Hi there,

Yes I've been trying to learn Spanish- my husband's language, and i thought it was going to be easier and faster than it has been. :-) My expectations were wildly out of line with reality. I picked up so much so fast in the beginning, but that stopped as soon as i stopped spending as much time abroad.

After spending many hours being studious with books, CDs, tapes, etc etc, I would think I was making sense but I was really making my husband laugh, which is still a good thing. :-) My favorite thing to do is to make up words that sound Spanish, which really makes him laugh.

As for my husband, his best mistakes range from ordering a "jack ahn #######" to reading a street sign "Happy Pines" as "Happy #######". I wish I had written down all of his best mistakes, because some were fabulously entertaining, that had us all in tears. I think this part of international relationships can be unexpectedly fun.

[TBoneTX 46,387]

Whether I'm in Ecuador or Mexico, I'll try to say something in Spanish, and (without fail) the listener will look very alarmed and point me toward the nearest bathroom, si man.

Funniest was when I was in my favorite Mexican border town. I entered a pharmacy to look for some shampoo for Mrs. T-B.'s curly hair. With difficulty (despite previous rehearsal), I managed to say "Quiero shampoo para serpientes" ("I want shampoo for snakes" [colloquial for curls]), and I twirled my finger in circles near my hair in case I wasn't understood. In perfect English, the pharmacist said, "Here, we call them 'curls,'" and he pointed me toward the correct product.

---

Funnier in a different way was when Mrs. T-B. and I were in Nuevo Laredo (another excellent border city) and we stopped in at a small restaurant. It was mid-afternoon and not many diners were there, so we had the entire staff of waiters (6 guys) almost to ourselves. With menu in hand, Mrs. T-B. (of course in perfect Spanish) kept asking "What is a chimichanga? What is this? Is it spicy? What is this -- do you have a sample?" I could see the waiters becoming increasingly bewildered. After we finished and I was heading out the door, I mustered 99.44% of my Spanish vocabulary and said to one waiter, "Mi esposa es una Ecuatoriana" ("my wife is Ecuadorian"). His eyebrows shot up in amazement followed by immediate comprehension. "Ah! Si!" he exclaimed, and then he rushed to inform his colleagues.

I correctly perceived that they were confused why a perfect Spanish-speaker had no clue about Mexican-restaurant menu items, si man.

[Darnell 8,479]

Hi Chris !!

For free resource -

--get a county or city library card, go online, check out the online/downloadable version of Pimsleur Mandarin.

For free Practice -

find the local Chinese Student Association in your area, at the big university, make all the meetings and functions, make some new friends, invite them to your house TO COOK ! (Most not have any kitchen, most have cooking skills, most miss to cook, much) and then practice yer mandarin with them.

[Operator 1,927]

Hi Chris !!

For free resource -

--get a county or city library card, go online, check out the online/downloadable version of Pimsleur Mandarin.

For free Practice -

find the local Chinese Student Association in your area, at the big university, make all the meetings and functions, make some new friends, invite them to your house TO COOK ! (Most not have any kitchen, most have cooking skills, most miss to cook, much) and then practice yer mandarin with them.

Hi Darnell,

I've got Pimsleur and it's working pretty well except everyone says I sound Beijingnese.

I tried to send you a message a couple of times but for some reason it says you cant recieve messages. I've got some questions about Jane's document collection for P3 and translations and notary stuff. Seems like the GUZ website has some disparity between the Mandarin and English. Is there a forum were I could ask you questions directly?

[Operator 1,927]

Hi there,

Yes I've been trying to learn Spanish- my husband's language, and i thought it was going to be easier and faster than it has been. :-) My expectations were wildly out of line with reality. I picked up so much so fast in the beginning, but that stopped as soon as i stopped spending as much time abroad.

After spending many hours being studious with books, CDs, tapes, etc etc, I would think I was making sense but I was really making my husband laugh, which is still a good thing. :-) My favorite thing to do is to make up words that sound Spanish, which really makes him laugh.

As for my husband, his best mistakes range from ordering a "jack ahn #######" to reading a street sign "Happy Pines" as "Happy #######". I wish I had written down all of his best mistakes, because some were fabulously entertaining, that had us all in tears. I think this part of international relationships can be unexpectedly fun.

Spanish always got me in trouble. Chinese always gets me strange looks. Language is a fun and exciting part of the relationship. I'm lucky that Jane is fluent but on her first trip to the US she struggled with the southern drawl that's common here. She thought some of my neighbors were British because of the southern accent.

[Operator 1,927]

Whether I'm in Ecuador or Mexico, I'll try to say something in Spanish, and (without fail) the listener will look very alarmed and point me toward the nearest bathroom, si man.

Funniest was when I was in my favorite Mexican border town. I entered a pharmacy to look for some shampoo for Mrs. T-B.'s curly hair. With difficulty (despite previous rehearsal), I managed to say "Quiero shampoo para serpientes" ("I want shampoo for snakes" [colloquial for curls]), and I twirled my finger in circles near my hair in case I wasn't understood. In perfect English, the pharmacist said, "Here, we call them 'curls,'" and he pointed me toward the correct product.

---

Funnier in a different way was when Mrs. T-B. and I were in Nuevo Laredo (another excellent border city) and we stopped in at a small restaurant. It was mid-afternoon and not many diners were there, so we had the entire staff of waiters (6 guys) almost to ourselves. With menu in hand, Mrs. T-B. (of course in perfect Spanish) kept asking "What is a chimichanga? What is this? Is it spicy? What is this -- do you have a sample?" I could see the waiters becoming increasingly bewildered. After we finished and I was heading out the door, I mustered 99.44% of my Spanish vocabulary and said to one waiter, "Mi esposa es una Ecuatoriana" ("my wife is Ecuadorian"). His eyebrows shot up in amazement followed by immediate comprehension. "Ah! Si!" he exclaimed, and then he rushed to inform his colleagues.

I correctly perceived that they were confused why a perfect Spanish-speaker had no clue about Mexican-restaurant menu items, si man.

After thank you and hello, the first phrase I learned was Ni hui shuo Yingwen ma "do you speak English?" Just to avoid your shampoo situation.

[Darnell 8,479]

Hi Darnell,

I've got Pimsleur and it's working pretty well except everyone says I sound Beijingnese.

I tried to send you a message a couple of times but for some reason it says you cant recieve messages. I've got some questions about Jane's document collection for P3 and translations and notary stuff. Seems like the GUZ website has some disparity between the Mandarin and English. Is there a forum were I could ask you questions directly?

Sounding BeiJingese is no problem, la - wei - me too !

As for any forum - I like this one -> http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/94-china/

alternatively - come join us at http://www.chinafamilyvisa.com

[TBoneTX 46,387]

After thank you and hello, the first phrase I learned was Ni hui shuo Yingwen ma "do you speak English?" Just to avoid your shampoo situation.

I rely heavily upon "no comprendo mucho Espanol" -- which, combined with my thick Gringo accent and definite Gringo looks, makes everybody more alert for hand-signals (Charades, anyone?), pidgin Spanish, and mutually trying to find ANYone who's remotely bilingual.

[caly 48]

Hi Chris !!

For free resource -

--get a county or city library card, go online, check out the online/downloadable version of Pimsleur Mandarin.

For free Practice -

find the local Chinese Student Association in your area, at the big university, make all the meetings and functions, make some new friends, invite them to your house TO COOK ! (Most not have any kitchen, most have cooking skills, most miss to cook, much) and then practice yer mandarin with them.

Oh my, I should sign my husband up for this! He's been trying to learn mandarin but is terrible at languages! According to him, he can't hear the difference between the four tones. So for example, he'll say something like xiē-xié for thank you, I would try to correct him and he'll say "but that's what I said!"

Thankfully, we have no trouble with communication besides some nuances between british and american english. (He laughed at me the first time I called a car "trunk" a "boot". ) He also had no trouble communicating with the english speaking members of my family (including my parents) once he got used to their accents. Some of my older relatives still speak and understand only mandarin and chinese dialect though.

As for local chinese associations, he lives in a relatively small town and the only chinese people I've seen work at the two "chinese" restaurants in the area. One of which is owned by a chinese family who were from Hunan province. They serve more american chinese type food, but they apparently have a special menu for their mainland chinese clients that they do not advertise. Didn't get a chance to ask about it, so needless to say, we will be back to find out when I join my husband there.

I wonder if they will take special orders for mooncakes during mid-autumn festival. Mmm.. salted egg yolks!

Sorry for digressing.

[PurpleSky 19]

HA!!!

I'm always so amused that there's such a big difference within my FH's family. For instance, his brother has been here in the States (married to my cousin) for 8 years. While they speak English, my FBIL/CIL has a high voice and speaks very quickly so my family is always asking him to repeat himself. When the relationship with FH started, they'd already mentally prepared themselves for more of "huh? what did you say?". They were quite surprised when although heavily accented, they understood just about everything FH said.

Funny story...

Nigerians have a habit of adding "o" to the end of words and sentences. One time FBIL/CIL was talking to me and he said "I don't like this baby doing this o". (He was referring to his son, 6mths at the time, pulling anything hanging...jewelry, hair, scarves, etc). One of my younger cousins (7yrs old) turned to look at me with a shocked expression. I asked her what was wrong. She said "Why is he trying to speak Spanish?!" I guess the combination of him speaking so quickly and adding the "o" at the end, confused her.

[aminah 6]

My husband's native tongue is Arabic but he speaks French fluently also. When we first met he began teaching me some Arabic so I could communicate with his family. He taught me to say "I love you with all my heart" in Arabic. When I said it the word heart (kabi)it came out as if I said the word for dog which is very, very close in sound. I couldn't then nor can I now say the word heart correctly. I guess I love him with all my dog LOL

[웃 910]

Whether I'm in Ecuador or Mexico, I'll try to say something in Spanish, and (without fail) the listener will look very alarmed and point me toward the nearest bathroom, si man.

Funniest was when I was in my favorite Mexican border town. I entered a pharmacy to look for some shampoo for Mrs. T-B.'s curly hair. With difficulty (despite previous rehearsal), I managed to say "Quiero shampoo para serpientes" ("I want shampoo for snakes" [colloquial for curls]), and I twirled my finger in circles near my hair in case I wasn't understood. In perfect English, the pharmacist said, "Here, we call them 'curls,'" and he pointed me toward the correct product.

---

Funnier in a different way was when Mrs. T-B. and I were in Nuevo Laredo (another excellent border city) and we stopped in at a small restaurant. It was mid-afternoon and not many diners were there, so we had the entire staff of waiters (6 guys) almost to ourselves. With menu in hand, Mrs. T-B. (of course in perfect Spanish) kept asking "What is a chimichanga? What is this? Is it spicy? What is this -- do you have a sample?" I could see the waiters becoming increasingly bewildered. After we finished and I was heading out the door, I mustered 99.44% of my Spanish vocabulary and said to one waiter, "Mi esposa es una Ecuatoriana" ("my wife is Ecuadorian"). His eyebrows shot up in amazement followed by immediate comprehension. "Ah! Si!" he exclaimed, and then he rushed to inform his colleagues.

I correctly perceived that they were confused why a perfect Spanish-speaker had no clue about Mexican-restaurant menu items, si man.

Chimichangas are not authentic Mexican as far as I know. It is 'americanized' Mexican food. They have them at most of the Mexican restaurants in the state but I am surprised they had them in Nuevo Laredo.

Funny first story about the 'shampoo para serpientes'