What husband mean in Chinese character

[brett]

The more Chinese I learn the more I realise it's completely non-standard and they're just making it up as they go along. A bit like English I guess.

I keep calling things mei (?), but my teacher tells me off because apparently only big pretty things are mei, small pretty things are hao.

Also I never know which classifier to use, I have to think if I'm talking about something fairly long and sticklike, or has it got wheels or can it be worn on the upper body or is it joined together?

I think all you really need to know is hen hao and bu xi huan and that takes care of most situations :icon_cheesygrin:.

[Neil]

so, would a petite woman be mei or hao?

[Willy The Londoner]

I've learnt about 60 characters now, and I am finding it easier to remember new ones. I can't yet remember how to write many of them, but I can read them.

My spoken Mandarin is ? but my teacher thinks my pronunciation is quite good and it's better than some of the guys in the class. Remembering the words what I have most difficulty with, but it's partly due to the lack of time I have to study. I can recommend going to a Chinese class though, it's a great way to get started :icon_cheesygrin:.

Thats really good Brett. Your pronounciation and spoken word is just as I like it - thousands of miles away. :icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin:

Willy

[ttwjr32]

Be nice Willy or we will have to ban you  hahahahahahahahahah

hahahahahahah

just joking my freind

[Willy The Londoner]

Well if Brett looks on me as a father figure then some that makes him your brother or grandfather -but that depends which street we are in as to which.

Willy

[brett]

Thanks adoptive dad and adoptive uncle!

I am hopeful about Miss Wu 2.0 and she's from Zhongshan apparently. We're only at EMF 1 stage so there's a while to go yet.

I've asked her if she knows Mandarin. It will be a kick in the teeth if she only knows Cantonese, but at least we could write to each other :icon_cheesygrin:.

[David5o]

Brett,

Of course she knows Mandarin, Everyone under the age of i think, 45 knows it because that is the Official language of China!! That is the only Language that is used in all Schools, Collages, and Universities, as well as ALL government offices and about 9/10th's of all TV channels and Radio stations.... That's not to say that those in the South may use Cantonese, as there everyday language, but they will sure know Mandarin

...Now go to Hong Kong, Macao, or Taiwan, and you'd probably be on a loser with your Mandarin, But Mainland China, .....No Problem!!!

David.......

[mustfocus]

David,

You can get along in Taiwan with mandarin.  Just be prepared to deal with a few words in Fujianhua tossed in for good measure.  In Singapore and Malaysia, it'll be mandarin with some cantonese, chiuchow (teochew) and fujianhua words tossed in.

I would suspect in Macao, it'd be mandarin, cantonese and some portugese mixed in.

[Willy The Londoner]

I would suspect in Macao, it'd be mandarin, cantonese and some portugese mixed in.

Probably English in the Casino's same as Las Vegas - even the words will be the same.  'Would you like to take me up to your room for 500' except in Macao they mean RMB whereas Vegas they mean USD.

Of course I have never taken them up on their offers as my price is nearer the 800 mark!!!!!

Willy

[ttwjr32]

800 rmb or pounds?

[David5o]

mustfocus,

I think you'll find from what i remember that in Taiwan is predominantly Fujian Hua/Mandarin.
Not sure about Singapore at all, but in Malaysia and definitely in the Philippines (among the large Chinese society) the main dialect was Fujian Hua. ...Macao is Cantonese speaking, same as Hong Kong.... Sure your going to find other dialects including Mandarin in those countries, but there not going to be that common.....

David......

[Oiler1]

Most Chinese spoke Taishanese (similiar to Cantonese) before 1975 in Canada. In Guangdong a lot of people prefer to speak Cantonese as the main language though most younger peole understand Mandarin. If your wife or girlfriend prefers to speak Cantonese maybe it is not a bad idea to learn Cantonese?

Cantonese and Mandarin have mostly the same words but different sounds and idioms. It's almost like 2 different countires languages.

I always get confused as to which dialect to learn but you can't go wrong if you just learn Mandarin. Due to my background, I prefer to look i the south and learn Cantonese.

[mustfocus]

mustfocus,

I think you'll find from what i remember that in Taiwan is predominantly Fujian Hua/Mandarin.
Not sure about Singapore at all, but in Malaysia and definitely in the Philippines (among the large Chinese society) the main dialect was Fujian Hua. ...Macao is Cantonese speaking, same as Hong Kong.... Sure your going to find other dialects including Mandarin in those countries, but there not going to be that common.....

David......

Singapore and Malaysia are mostly from Fujian.  But they do adopt words from other chinese dialects and malaya and some tamil words as well...  In Singapore, the push has been to speak mandarin, however, you need both because not all of the elderly speak mandarin...  Will be much different in another decade or so.

In the Philippines, they are also racially from Fujian province, but they mix it with tagalog.  I find their fujianhua a little hard to understand, but if I were to spend some time down there to pick up the accent, then I could probably adapt.

One of the funniest things I saw was a siek guy who walked into my aunt's office.  The guy spoke fluent fujianhua and was a riot to talk to.  That guy would have really confused a lot of people...

[chen yan]

Aha,it is a shame,I come from Fujian,but I donn't speak Fujian Hua. mustfocus, I think you are talking about "Ming Nan Hua",Because not all Fujian people speak the same dialect. Only people in the south of Fujian ,Taiwan,some part of singapore,malaysia speak Ming Nan Hua.And it is so funning to watch the singapore movie which mix with Singlish,Mandarin and Ming Nan Hua.

[mustfocus]

Hi Yan,

Yes, fujianhua is similar to minnanhua. :icon_biggrin: I call it fujianhua because there are also other dialects like chiuchowhua (I'm not sure how it's properly spelt) and another one that I know of but don't know the name which are similar.

Then there are also the sub-dialects as many of the smaller places speak their own version of minnanhua. :s very confusing.