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Mark Zuckerberg Speaks Mandarin At Tsinghua University In Beijing
HughPickens.com writes Abby Phillip reports at the Washington Post that that Mark Zuckerberg just posted a 30-minute Q&A at Tsinghua University in Beijing in which he answered every question exclusively in Chinese — a notoriously difficult language to learn and particularly, to speak. "It isn't just Zuckerberg's linguistic acrobatics that make this a notable moment," writes Philip. "This small gesture — although some would argue that it is a huge moment — is perhaps his strongest foray into the battle for hearts and minds in China." Zuckerberg and Facebook have been aggressively courting Chinese users for years and the potential financial upside for the business. Although Beijing has mostly banned Facebook, the company signed a contract for its first ever office in China earlier this year. A Westerner speaking Mandarin in China — at any level — tends to elicit joy from average Chinese, who seem to appreciate the effort and respect they feel learning Mandarin demonstrates. So how well did he actually do? One Mandarin speaker rates Zuckerberg's language skills at a seventh grader's speech: "It's hard not see a patronizing note in the Chinese audience's reaction to Zuckerberg's Mandarin. To borrow from Samuel Johnson's quip, he was like a dog walking on its hind legs: It wasn't done well, but it was a surprise to see it done at all."
I'll say. I was 23 when in seventh grade.
Trolling is a art,
Lets ask Tibet.
I'm chiming in with some more agreement here. I speak and read in a couple of languages, although I think even seventh graders would be unimpressed. But I'm learning Mandarin now and holy crap. Pitch, inflection, and intonation matter so very much; it's like learning a language and an instrument at the same time. Yes, some hyperbole and of course the OP could have qualified it with "westerners" or some such. But assuming that someone is not a pedant, the statement makes sense. Mandarin is difficult for an English speaker to learn. Of course, assuming someone on /. is not a pedant is kind of stupid.
I haven't used Mandarin since I studied it for two years....5 years ago. However, I've been living in Japan for 3+ years now, and I find Japanese *FAR* worse to learn than Mandarin. Yes, the katakana/hiragana makes reading easier, and yes the range of phonetics is simple for a Westerner. However.... the grammar is just totally bonkers IMO. Chinese and English are at least both Subject-Verb-Object languages, and Mandarin's lack of verb conjugation is a godsend. You can build simplistic English sentences in your mind and translate them piece-by-piece (like shifting data into a memory buffer and multiplexing it ....with Mandarin). The result will usually be "close enough". You can't do this with Japanese.
I think the best Asian language solution would employ the Korean alphabet, Japanese phonetics, and Mandarin grammar. Too bad they all hate each other and would never agree to it. :-/
"The best classroom is the bedroom."
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
Judging from your UID, I'm sure it took you that long because they first had to invent seventh grade...
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!