I love e-mail. I love getting it. I love answering it. I love saying the word. Come on… say it with me… “E-mail.”
Yeah. Nice, right? Rolls right off the tongue.
You know what I don’t like?
电子邮件
diàn zǐ yóu jiàn
I hate the Chinese word for this. I cannot, no matter how I try, make this stick in my head. And, of course, this is the word that Aggie opens with last night when she called me for my daily review.
“Did you get my e-mail?” she asked. But she asked me in Chinese. (Correct me if I’m wrong, but that would be, “Wo de dian zi you jian shou dao le ma?” Dui bu dui?)
And, man, I just blanked. Total deer-in-the-headlights kind of separation from my higher brain functions. And this is another thing about me that I’ve discovered when speaking Chinese… or rather, when I hear Chinese spoken: the second I hear a word I think I know but can’t remember, my brain freezes on that one word and everything that comes after it is lost. All of my (admittedly limited) brain power is intent on recalling the meaning of that one word. But then, of course, the pressure is on and I choke. Choke, I tell ya!
So that’s how last night’s lesson started. Not the most auspicious note. But the lesson progressed from there and it went well. I’ll say it again… Aggie is a doll. I really like talking to her. I look forward to our daily calls. She’s patient and encouraging and I couldn’t have asked for a better counselor to guide me through my Octagon training.
By the end of the call, I’d taken a giant leap forward in my understanding of Chinese. What was that revelation?
Why, you’ll just have to tune in tomorrow to find out, of course. 
Have a great day, kids!
Technorati Tags: chinesepod
Maybe I shouldn’t tell you this, but young Chinese people frequently use the English word “e-mail” instead of 电子邮件. (Old Chinese people have no clue what either word means.)
So you can cheat!
John - I KNOW!!! Ken and Jenny even said as much in the lesson, but that’s not what Aggie said! ARRGGHHH!
I have also heard just you2jian4 (you are supposed to work out it was email by context) dian4you2 (hey I like that one but I tried it out on someone else and just confused them (drat) also the only phonetic equvilent I could find in a dictionary meant “analine oil”), and just xin4 on its own (”hey I read you letter”) that seems to occur more in written correspondance though, ohh yeah and of course email
On Thursday I intend to attempt swapping email addresses with someone eeek! I have started limbering up already, written my will, boosted the insurance and obtained some performance enhancing drugs from a dodgy geeza at the gymn. I still rate my chances at about 50/50.
Ohhh yeah I also get the brain freeze thing, I find it is not the words you don’t know that cause the most damage, it is the ones you almost know, or think you should know. By the time you figure out the status of the word the person you are talking two has rattled of three more sentances.
What I need ……… is a pause button!
I’m waiting until I’m fluent until I have to the courage to actually talk anyone lol.
Haha, Come on Frank! Let me tell you this secret.
Do you know how wield it was when I said “你收到我的电子邮件了吗”(nǐ shōudào wǒ de diànzǐ yóujiàn le ma?) to you?Sounded more like the lines in an old-fashioned TV show. Haha…It is a word we should know, though.Sorry to make you frustrated.
I love to say “E-mail” as well. It is definitely more popular among the young people. Do you know another nice name for “Email” ? It is called “伊妹儿” (yīmèi’er)which is translated from the pronunciations only. Let’s try this cute “伊妹儿” in the future….
By the way, I really should discover this fantastic blog earlier. I love your articles. They are so interesting! Ummm..it seems the funny “Octagon” is growing very well…haha
Aggie, you may interesting in my new blog as well. I’m attempting to write it all in Chinese.
www.bazzanet.com/blog
Not to be outdone by Bazza
http://mandarin-student.blogspot.com/
I am hoping the posts will get more sophisticated each time, and progress throughout the year, also posting corrections as I go along (any advice gratefully received) most of last year I didn’t really bother at all with hanzi or reading writing so it is an slow start
.
I think is probably more advanced Chris. Most of my posts are very short, mainly because I can’t think of much to write about.
Bazza wo ye shi!
Actually I can think of lots to write about, just don’t know how to write about it yet
Chris - Good luck getting that e-mail address! I hope it works out for you.
Bazza - Let me tell you, peng you, going solo to China cures you of that affliction real fast.
Aggie - Xie xie, lao shi! I’m very flattered that you took the time to stop by! And great, yet another word for e-mail. Just what I needed! Haha!
Here’s another beaut you’ve probably come across: 公共汽车 gōnggòng qìchē - Bus. I’ve heard it’s common just to say Bus in China. I’m glad because I have to make substantial head movements to say gōnggòng qìchē.
I think bus can be shortened to 公车 gōngchē.
Bazza’s right, people normally just say 公车. I’ve heard 巴士 (and I’m pretty sure that’s the name of a bus company in Shanghai as well), but I don’t think its as common.
In Taiwan at least people use 巴士 all the time. Bus lines are marked with this work. They use 公车 (or rather, 公車) too.