In this inaugural video your hosts, Ryan and Tayhler, take the student to the streets of Shanghai for some entertaining, and hopefully not too offensive, interactions with Chinese locals. This is a great way to show how beginners of the language practice in an authentic situation. The situational format of the lesson aims to provide the student with an arsenal of phrases and vocabulary to utilize and improvise with a person who is not your teacher and has no idea what level of Chinese you’re at.
WARNING!
There is plenty of accurate Chinese throughout the lesson, however, when the two Westerners give it a shot, there are some tonal miscues and blatant mistakes. This video is made by two guys who are passionate about the language, and who are trying their best. This does not take place inside a classroom or in a textbook, and as a result has tonal errors galore… but hey, nobody’s perfect, especially not us.
[click to watch now! (via YouTube)]
[download in MP4 format via Shanghai server]
Like a New Puppy, We Need Love and Attention!
This is an experiment in a new format, please let us know what you like, tolerate, and/or loath about this first-in-flight. Post comments below, or send us emails at chinesepod |at| gmail.com.
Ryan & Tayhler
Absolutely brilliant, loved it.
Bazza,
I agree…this video is boss, I suggest watching it on your iPod for best resolution.
(Not to mention, it really makes those adult film star outfits worn above stand out)
Well done lads, you are are the business.
Aric
Hi Aric,
I have an ‘Arman -o-’ suit that might fit one of the guys. And to make the deal sweeter, I’ll throw in the ‘Boss’ labeled buttons that came with it. It’s theirs for 200 yuan, lowest price.
For contrast, and perfect tones, go to:
http://www2.kenyon.edu/People/bai/Bargin.html
….after your nap, come back to Cpod!
Great job, hilarious. I gotta try the ‘am I a ghost’ line.
很棒！我笑死了。
I don’t have a video ipod but I think I’ll be able to transfer it to my mobile. I was going to try it this morning but the download server is a bit slow and I didn’t have time to download it before going to work.
Bazza,
We still think you should chuck it all in, sell your belongings (keep all the tech stuff) and come live with us in the Chinesepod flat.
A
This is great stuff. Keep it up. May I suggest an episode with high frequency questions that get asked of foreigners. I also 0really like how after the Chinese person responds the video stops and makes sure you got the jist of it.
This is just great! Give us more of this!
Nope, it doesn’t work on my mobile, it must not fully support mp4, only the sound plays back. 3GP format usually works best on my mobile and do I have a convertor but for some reason it doesn’t like mp4 videos, even though it’s supposed to be able to.
I managed to convert it to 3GP using Quicktime Pro (I had to buy it) and works fine on my mobile and better still it’s only about 4mb in size.
Bazza’s dedication knows no bounds!
I am very pleased to see that soo many others share the same passion about Mandarin that I do. I would love to go to Shanghai and do just what you have done. Are you both pretty much fluent in Mandarin? I mean, it didn’t sound like it from this recording, but then again, you might have been emphasizing each word for the listener. If you could, please e-mail me (danman@pls.org) with some tips and pointers on how you got to where you are now. 谢谢
Wow, that was pretty cool. You know, I didn’t think that video would make a big difference, but I really enjoyed having something to watch rather than just listen to! I guess I’m just a typical mindless tv zombie…!
太好了!!!
Dan, the guys in the video have been in China only for a short time. Thery speak only rudmentary Chinese. Their tones are pretty much wrong a lot of the time, but you can see how they make themselves understood. Full marks to them for this!
We contrasted their pronunciation with standard versions in the preparation, to avoid confusion.
I know the guys had a great time making the video - I wish I had time to do that myself.
We learned a lot from this experience. Hopefully this will be the first of many, so stay tuned.
did you tell/pay the Chinese at the market to not speak English? ?
Doesn’t work with Quicktime Player 6.5.2 on my PC, I get an ‘unknown error’. BTW, the message does tell me helpfully that the number of the error is -8971.
Cheers,
Al
Al, trying upgrading to Quicktime 7, it should work in that.
Excellent, the section on colours especially highlighted how video can compliment audio learning.
There isn’t much suitable video out there for learning Mandarin. I think the chance to have fun with Mandarin and use video is an interesting combination. Colors is an obvious thing, but I think there is much more we could do. As you all know, we’re pretty streteched at the moment, trying to keep up with our normal activities, but I do want to do more video… somehow.
Maybe you can do quick videos in the studio, because lip reading always helps.
If anyone else would prefer 3GP format, I could upload it to my webspace for others to download. I’m going to tweak the conversion settings a bit though, see if I can improve the quality a bit more, it’s a bit difficult to read some of the text on my first attempt.
OK, that was hilarious. You guys win.
Excellent, I had a great laugh. Give us more! It’s like ChinesePod for your 5th gen iPod. I will be adding some of their techniques to my bargaining arsenal, like “Are you trying to rob me?”
I thought the video was incredibly accurate. I happened to be in the same market last Saturday. My chinese I wish was better but maybe not. Nonetheless I used only chinese and got between 60-70% off the initial asking price. So how did you guys do ? I always go to this market when I come to Shanghai. And all the girls speak fluent English but it is great now that we ( the girls and I) can do the whole thing in Chinese. Actually I think they like it to because it helps keep the price a bit of a mystery from other people trying to figure out how good a deal they can get.
I know I have been ther many times when I recognize almost all of the girls in the video. And to anyone who comes having fun and providing laughs does help. Also helps when the deal is completed money chnaged for the goods, if you ask would they like an ice cream or a coke. I find these markets incredibly efficient, if they don’t have your size a phone call and within minutes the color and size arrives. Also I had not been in the market for about six months I stopped by on Saturday and one of the girls immediately recognized me asked me where my wife was (since she was with me the last time) pointed at two track suits and said there were the ones I bought the last time( she was correct) and that I would want to mix/match with the jacket XXXXL and the pants XXXL, and she remembered the price from before too!
I can’t wait to see where you two dudes go next. I would suggest a very simple place to eat where often the tables are out on the sidewalk with only a chinese billboard hanging on the wall as the menu. See if with the help of the owner/waiter/cook they can figure out if it is fish, meat, veg, soup.. and everything else that goes on eating in these very local eateries.
That’s fun too.
Mike in Jubei (but in Shanghai this week)
That was funny. Very entertaining. I didn’t get the suit uniform these guys are wearing though. I don’t think you’re likely to get top discounts dressed to the hilt like that.
I think they had just bought the suits (for a very good price) before they shot the video!
Very cool!! Funny & entertaining. And I do agree they should practice there tones and put some characters in there. In the meantime I would say yes to that idea. But just make it free. OK?
You’ve got some promo over at www.sinosplice.com
http://www.sinosplice.com/life.....o-podcasts
There’s also a link there to some other funny Chine-life videocasts.
Just another fan posting! This is great, and very instructive. Please keep it up!
When I was living in Japan there was a funny show on TV where the western host would try to ask innocent bystanders on the street to tell a story to the camera. Like “What’s your ‘ I was so lucky today’ story”. First in Japanese, and then repeat it “in English please.” Anyone else knows this show? Would be an idea for the Chinesepod crew to do something similar in Shanghai. As the Japanese have a special kind of humor, would this work in Shanghai? Maybe everyones English is too good anyway.
Hilarious
It was called “Karakuri Funniest English” a segment of “Sanma no Karakuri Terebi”, Sundays on TBS. The western host was Thane Camus. Wonder if the show is still on.
This video is really good and fun. I hope you do some more of these!
I’m having problems playing it, though. I’m using Qucktime 7.0 on a Windows 2000 machine and when I play the MP4 file, I get no audio at all. QT has its volume turned up and I can see the left and right channel sounds displays (lower right hand corner) going. The A/V info says it has audio, but not a peep comes out of the speakers..
The only way I was able to watch it was to run realplayer 10 to play the sound (it ONLY plays the sound!).
So I guess MP4 is still a bit creaky.
I found the video mildly amusing with very little educational value… I realize that there was a disclaimer about the tones, but man… that was really terrible!!! But I also live in Shanghai, so I have the opportunity to practice my Chinese everyday…. Besides most everyone who lives here knows that foreigners get their prices automatically jacked up at least 5 to 10 times the normal price that local Chinese pays… shopping at the markets, like Xiangyang Market on Huaihai lu always requires going with a native Chinese… I read a really good article on shanghaiist.com that gives foreigners a really good guide to shopping at those kinds of markets(http://www.shanghaiist.com/archives/ask_shanghaiist/index.php).
Fai
Fai,
We could do without the negative comments…as you said, there was the disclaimer about the tones, the guys were very humble about it.
So they put all of this work into it, as interns, mind you, are hard at work on another, based on people’s suggestions…and all you can say is “that was really terrible”?!
We have a policy that this weblog is an open forum, and will stand by that…but from now on, please be a bit nicer.
I really don’t understand things like this.
Aric
Fai, lighten up. Yeah, their tones could use some (ok, lots of) work, but let he who speaks Putonghua with a pitch-perfect Beijing drawl cast the first stone. It certainly won’t be me. I figure they should get a lot of points for being brave enough to do it in the first place.
These video lessons would be *AWESOME* at the advanced level, with all Chinese natives talking at speed.
Greetings Earthlings,
Thanks for all the feedback, both positive and negative. The criticisms help us reach our goal of a better video, and the encouragement assures us that it is something that is valuable and enjoyable. Please keep the comments rolling in, and we’ll do our best to work on our tones. Hopefully the next one will be better than the first. We’ve got some great ideas, but we are always open to suggestions. So feel free to send us your interesting ideas!
Sunshine and Lollipops,
Tayhler and Ryan
I have a couple of requests for the next video you do:
1) Could you include tone marks on the on-screen pinyin?
2) Could you please also include the hanzi?
By the way, I was able to get Quicktime 7.04 to play the sound on the video too, by turning down my sound acceleration from Full to Regular. You can get to that control from QT7.0 -> Edit -> Preferences -> Audio -> Sound Playback - Advanced -> Perfomance tab. You can also go via the Win XP Control Panel.
Great fun. And encouraging. If those people could understand Ryan and Tahler (spelling??), I have nothing to worry about.
I give you odds that I, at least, will remember the phrases and vocabulary quicker and deeper than with audio alone, which is infinitely better than reading and writing alone.
You guys (and gals) are the greatest. All of you.
Thanks,
Nice work Gentlemen and Herro!!!
Its good to see a couple of GC’s minting in the land of the iron clad red fist. I enjoyed the video, however I thought that the video could use some structure from the scholastic standpoint. Perhaps some headings describing what the student could expect, so that they could track his or her learning a wee bit better. Other than that loved the humour, great job introducing Canadian personality onto a mundain task such as shopping!!
Go Canucks GO
For those that prefer 3GP format, I’ve made it available for download here: http://www.bazzanet.com/videoh.....Market.3gp
Size is 3.8mb, the quality isn’t perfect but I think that’s the best I can do.
Hi guys!
Great job! I really liked the format of the lesson. Having a native speaker give us the tones and pinyin first, then watch the guys try it, and a pause to let us figure out what the girl’s answer was — that really worked well. Don’t worry about the tones for the guys, that’s what the native speaker is for. The show was a lot of fun! The related vocab at the end was also a nice touch.
Suggestions:
1. Why isn’t this on iTunes? It would be easier to find if it were with your regular iTunes listings. Or you could make it a separate listing if you like — I’d subscribe. You could even charge a little bit for it, for folks who aren’t subscribers, and have a page where you could download the files for free for subscribers.
2. Providing an alternate format for people with low bandwidth would be nice. Bazza, your 3gp file is small and I think has good enough resolution for a mobile. I think you should still offer the MPEG4 because folks with good bandwidth and a desktop would probably like the better resolution, but that’s not for everyone.
3. In the section on the supplementary vocab (Colors, Sizes, etc.), I would like a short pause before the pinyin and speaker make their appearance. I’ve listened to color lessons already and would have liked the chance to see if I remember them. Even for new vocab, it’s useful on subsequent viewings to have a short pause.
4. I agree with those requesting characters and pinyin with tone marks, if the technology allows. (I’m fairly sure the technology allows Chinese fonts, I’m not so sure about pinyin fonts.)
Thanks again for all of your hard work! The video was fabulous!
Briefly, about indicating the tones on the screen - we couldn’t figure out how to do it. Next time round, we mauy have a solution.
I loved the video! I was linked to it through sinosplice.com otherwise I probably wouldn’t have known about it. I really cracked up with the choice phrases you used with the vendors (calling them crazy and asking if they were robbing you…good stuff). Looked like everybody had a great time and as long as future videos retain that humorous aspect, I’ll keep on watching. I appreciate the strong will it takes to be able to laugh at one’s mistakes and still come back and try it again and again. Learning Chinese is a task indeed, even if certain “proper” scholastic aspects are wanting at this point, people can still learn a great deal about how you have to be willing to try your new language and make a fool of yourself. It’s part of the process and you have to be willing to sacrifice your dignity…well,..at least however much is deemed legal.
YouTube is pretty cool, I’ve made a little video of a model clock I’m currently making if anyone’s interested.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tHp2G05-9BA
I just had an idea how to easily represent the tones in the videos, simply have a different text colour for each tone. All 1st tones could be blue, all 2nd tones green, 3rd tones red, 4th yellow and neutral tones just white. Blue, green, red and yellow are in alphabetical order so they’re easier to remember.
That’s a good idea Bazza, but I think people would have trouble relating the two while also trying to soak up what they’re saying. It would be a tough transition for students to go from seeing tones to seeing colors that represent tones. Maybe take the slides into paint and just paint on the tones.
Hey, if you want me to be the one to paint on the tones and host them via a hosting website, contact me at danman@pls.org.
Loved it, loved it! You guys might be pioneering a new comedy genre here. Having already pioneered a new education genre ;^)
“My hovercraft is full of eels” (future episode?)
Great fun, thanks guys!
As a beginner, it was very liberating to see someone speak Chinese imperfectly without collapsing from embarrassment. Look, they did OK, even got responses, and good deals, so maybe I could try speaking to people too! I saw no risk of learning the wrong thing, since it was said correctly first. In fact, any tone differences became a good student exercise in spotting the difference. So don’t put these guys down, I want to see lots more of this bold “learner’s Chinese” please.
The little mouse was great too. Those images for small and large are permanently welded to the Chinese words in my brain now, though that might occasionally cause the latter word to be confused with posterior
All of the the non-human images were well chosen and presented.
Yes a smaller file would be very welcome, although the mp4 played beautifully on my unix computer (first video I’ve tried) and should work on my mp3/mp4 player.
As for the pinyin, what on earth is wrong with just bunging a tone number digit at the end?
I don’t need characters in this context (others might) but I do want tones, in some manner.
Kudos to the two guys for being so thick skinned. Being an utter coward it took me 6 months of living in Beiing before I’d open my mouth outside the classroom for anything other than eating… However my (by now irritatingly bilingual) 5 year old son wandered by while I was watching the video and asked (in English) to “see the bit with the expensive lion again…”
I think for beginner level, demonstrating that basic communication (even with poor tones) is not too difficult to attempt has to be a good thing. One of the things that inhibited me from speaking initially was constant (albeit justified) criticism of my tones and constant warnings that no-one would understand a word I said. Personally though, I’d like to see Intermediate and Advanced modules in video format too as one can also learn appropriate body language to go with the speech.
hahah, gread podcast.!
I apologize for my previous comments… I really didn’t want to come off as being negative as I’m actually a very upbeat and optimistic person… I just wanted to leave some constructive criticism… I’m a huge supporter of ChinesePod and I just thought that although entertaining, I didn’t really get much out of it and thought it was such a huge contrast to your great podcasts with Ken and Jenny… I’m really sorry, I realize all of you guys do alot of really hard work and that’s why I signed up for a premium subscription with you guys… Keep up the great work!!!
Fai
I want to personally apologize to Ryan & Tayhler… I just realized how harsh my words were and I didn’t want you guys to feel badly about what I said, because actually I have no right to criticize you guys as my Chinese isn’t very good either… You guys seem really cool and funny… I’m an ABC expat living in Shanghai… let me know if you guys want to go out to the jiu ba’s sometime… I have alot of Shanghaiinese friends, so we can have one huge language exchange over a few beers!!!… it should be good times!!!
Fai
Fai,
Relax… Our feelings weren’t hurt that bad. After one long night of tears and consoling, we find ourselves with a renewed zest for life, especially after offers of apologietic beverages. We understand where you are coming from, and appreciate the kind jesture. The next Hotpot will be better and more accurate, we hope…
Salutations
Heath and Jake,
A very educational video, and entertaining as well! I must say that it was a pleasure seeing two men interact with each other in such a comical, tender and passionate way. I’ll be waiting for your next video!
I’ve just had a preview of the second video and they’ve made it so much better in terms of quality, format, etc (Yes, it has the tones on the pin yin, too).
These youg fellahs will go far at this rate.
I’ll push to finsih it by Friday.
I know that this 2nd video is already in full swing… but for the next video I request… (I was in Chinatown, Flushing, NY yesterday and my friend and I wanted to find out where the grocery store was… it was tough)
—Asking for directions—
include:
-Right and Left
-Cardinal directions as well as N,S,E, and W. (Compass directions)
-Key places, such as “A friend’s house”, “the food store”, “a mall”
-Calling a taxi, a train and what not
-expressing frustrations such as “I am lost” (had to do that a few times, hehe)
Thank you
… oh, this video is so funny that it reduced me to tears of amusement… love it and will watch many times! As I have an expat Chinese (from Shanghai) friend, who is every Chinese learner’s nightmare, constantly making fun of my attempts to practice Chinese and making ridiculous puns out of my words, I was beginning to wonder if I had a thick enough skin to do this… But now I’m armed with a handy retort, “Wo kan ni feng le!” And now I know that I can speak and understand basic interchanges thanks to the video.
Anyway I love chinesepod.com… xie-xie mucho for all the effort you put into it, it’s the best learning resource I’ve found so far! (being the “elementary veteran” of 7 beginning audio courses and 1 unhelpful Shanghainese friend)
I think you guys did a great job! How ’bout some more? 太棒了！
Gentlemen, kudos. Fully enjoyed the video. I had no problems understanding anything, learned a few new phrases (”ni qiang qian a?” was my fav) and was even entertained.
你们两个都太好了！
I just wish i had thought have doing it while i still lived in China.
Cheers boys and please keep em coming,
seAn
Damn, that was some pretty funny sh**!! I laughed so much seeing this video and so did some of my friends who are just starting to learn chinese. I think for real beginners this idea is awesome! I was shopping this weekend and used some of the phrases (like, are you trying to rob my ass??!!?) and we were all just crying of laughter. Anyways, good stuff, keep up the good work, as we always remember things better with a visual support and especially when it’s funny.
Where are you guys from anyways?? I admit we can’t really tell with the tones… If I were you, I’d really stick with the suits all the time, it adds sooooo much comedy to the situation. Nimen zhende hen lihai!
Peace
I loved it. SO MUCH FUN. And you guys’s Chinese is so bad it made me feel better about mine.
Here’s a transcript of the first Video Hotpot (The Market)
Please inform me of any typos. 多谢。
The Market - Episode 1 Essential Market Phrases
我想买些衣服，但只买便宜的。 Wǒ xiǎng mǎi xiē yīfu，dàn zhǐ mǎi piányi de. I want to buy some clothes, but only if they are cheap. 便宜的? 便宜的可以。有很多。 Piányi de? Piányi de kěyǐ. Yǒu hěn duō. Cheaper? We can do cheaper (cheaper is OK). We have many. 那个很漂亮。 Nèige hěn piàoliang.
That one’s beautiful.
这多少钱？
Zhè duō shǎo qián？ How much is this (how much does this cost)? 这个? 这个给你两百块 。
Zhège? Zhège gěi nǐ liǎng bǎi kuài . This one? This one I’ll give you for ¥200 (200 rmb).
实在太贵了！ Shízài tài guì le！ That is way too expensive! 这个？ 贵吗？ 不贵！ Zhège？ Guì ma？ Bú guì！ This one? Expensive? (It’s) not expensive! 我希望能扁宜很多！ Wǒ xī wàng néng piányì hěn duō！ I want this for much cheaper! 便宜很多? 是吗？ 可以！ Piányi hěn duō? Shì ma？ Kěyǐ! Much cheaper? Right? OK! 告诉我最底价。 Gàosu wǒ zuì dǐ jià. Tell me your lowest price. 这个？ 就是…最底价…八十五块。
Zhège？ Jiù shì … zuì dǐ jià … bā shí wǔ kuài (For) this one? Well…the lowest price is…¥85 (85 rmb). 这是我的最高价。 Zhè shì wǒ de zuì gāo jià. This is my highest price. 五十块？ 不可能。 Wǔ shí kuài？ Bù kěnéng. 50 yuan? Impossible! An now, to the lighter side… 我看， 你疯了！
Wǒ kàn， nǐ fēng le！ I think you are crazy! 你有毛病。 Nǐ yǒu máobìng. You have something wrong with you.
你看我疯了?! 那我不疯！ Nǐ kàn wǒ fēng le!? Nà…wǒ bù fēng! You think I’m crazy? Well…I’m not! 你抢钱啊?! Nǐ qiǎng qián a?! Are you robbing me?! 你买给鬼啊！ Nǐ mǎi gěi guǐ a！ Only a ghost would pay that!
不贵不贵! 很便宜给你! Bú guì bú guì hěn piányì gěi nǐ! No, it’s not expensive! I’ll give it to you for cheap! 再加一点！ Zài jiā yī diǎn！ Add (pay) a little more (please)! 她很厉害！ Tā hěn lìhai！
She is very fierce! Vital Vocab 有意思的颜色
yǒu yìsi de yán sè Fun (interesting) Colors
1. Pink 粉色 fěn sè 2. Orange 橘色 jú sè
桔色 3. Grey 灰色 huīsè 4. Brown 棕色 zōng sè 5. Blue 蓝色 lán sè 6. Red 红色 hóng sè 7. Green 绿色 lǜ sè 8. Yellow 黄色 huáng sè 9. White 白色 bái sè 10. Black 黑色 hēi sè
酷毙了的衣服
kù bì le de yīfu Cool (neat) clothes
1. Jeans 牛仔裤 niúzǎikù 2. T-shirt T-恤衫 T-xù shān 3. Sweatshirt 线衫 xiànshān 4. Shoes 鞋子 xiézi 5. shirt (blouse) 衬衫 chènshān 6. Underwear 内衣 nèiyī 7. Socks 袜子 wàzi 8. Jacket 夹克 jiákè 9. Glasses 眼镜 yǎnjìng 高矮肥瘦
gāo’ǎi féishòu Various Sizes
XXS 特特小号 tè tè xiǎo hào XS 特小号 tè xiǎo hào Small 小号 xiǎo hào Medium 中号 zhōng hào Large 大号 dà hào XL 特大号 tè dà hào XXL 特特大号 tè tè dà hào 好好学习, 天天向上! hǎohāo xuéxí, tiāntiān xiàngshàng! Study well and improve daily!
Sorry about the lack of formatting on the transcript. How does one preserve at least paragraph marks? Perhaps hit return twice?
The two videos so far are just great! I would definitely like to see more of them. I like seeing the interactions between foreigners and real Chinese people–my class in college is unfortunately only one day a week (but with a Xi’an native exchange teacher), so I do most of my studying with my nose buried in books or flashcards. This was very refreshing. I was able to understand almost all of the dialogues, and the supplemental vocabulary at the end really caps it off nicely. You are doing a FANTASTIC job at chinesepod.
Please make more videos! The first one at the Market is great! Where is the second? I can’t seem to locate it on YouTube. And where is the latest video you guys mentioned the other day on a Podcast, featuring the departure of your Canadian interns? Keep up the good work!
You can find the videos in the wiki.
There is a really good video coming soon. It’s my favorite so far. Watch this blog on Friday.
Well I was about to ask (until Administrator answered my question)
我们的 两 电影明星在哪里？
although I don’t think 两is right because spellcheck wouldn’t take it!
And “na li” probably means “where are they situated” but anyway…
“Where are our two movie stars?!!”
movie star is dian4 ying3 ming2 xing1 according to the chinesepod flashcards and of course Ryan and Tahyler came immediately to mind.
Their long-awaited release will debut… Friday, tomorrow??
Signed,
大饭
(that’s supposed to be “big fan” but I think it came out as “big meal,” maybe I shouldn’t transliterate “fan” into Chinese)
I just want to say I loved the short films. I laughed and I laughed and I’m still laughing….
I’ve been learning Chinese for sometime so I’m familiar with the situations and know enough phrases to survive, but still I learnt some new ones. Great!
Hi CatherineNC,
I’m a big 迷 of all your hanzi-writ’n these days!
我们什么时候去吃’大饭‘？
wǒmen shénme shíhòu qù chī ’ dà fàn ‘？
I am goofing off a bit at work today and was watching part of a Chinese movie. The title in English is translated as Big Feet. In Pinyin ‘ Meili de dajiao” 美麗 的大腳. It is about an older school teacher in Northwest China and a young teacher from Beijing who comes to take over. The younger teacher tries to teach the older teacher some English and the old teacher pointing at the words on the blackboard says ” Good, good study day, day up!” Which is amost exactly as Ryan and Tahyler end their Hotpots with 好好學習天天 向上 .
So I was amused since I enjoy when words are repeated. And it was funny to hear one in Chinese try to apply their thinking to English. Also the expression must be something the boys (Ryan and Tahyler) learned from Aggie or Jenny or who? Is it something drilled into the cute little heads of all Chinese kids in school ?
By the way the movie is excellent and I will watch if from the beginning to the end tonight. Now sadly I must work 一 點
Mike in Jubei
Mike,
As far as I know the quote was a revolutionary exhortation to the youth of China from the Great Helmsman, Mao Tse Tung. Mao was a man of letters and fancied himself as something of a poet.
This Chinglishism is well known across China as the kind of thing that is funny when you translate Chinese word-for-word into English, like when you translate ‘hao jiu bu jian’ as ‘long time no see’.