Posts Tagged Cantonese

6 results.

Working towards fluency!

by on August 25, 2014 at 6:00 am
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Wai, dim-a?

As anyone who’s read any of the comic for any length of time probably knows, I’m slowly picking up bits and pieces of Cantonese to be able to converse whenever I take visits back to Hong Kong. However, I’ve never had formal lessons, nor have I ever learned from family. Since I have no natural talent for languages, this has set me back in my acquisition of fluency, somewhat.

Imagine how thrilled I was when a friend pointed me towards the Fluent Forever kickstarter. I just received my book, and even though I’m only a little bit into the learning it offers, I’m already picking up useful notes on how to get the learning to stick. read more

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Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, everybody!

by on October 1, 2012 at 6:00 am
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Happy mid-autumn festival everyone! Hope you did something appropriately Chinese and had plenty of mooncake. Remember, westerners, if you get the bit of the cake with the salted egg yolk in it, it’s a GOOD THING.

It’s at times like these that I miss being with my family. I’m constantly forgetting about mid-autumn festival, and various other festivals, and I don’treally have many Chinese friends around here with whom I might share a Chinese meal on these occaisions. Chinese New Year is something that I always get to celebrate, though, what with the massive celebration that goes on in Chinatown here; It’s one time I truly feel part of a community. read more

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Chinese Comedy

by on May 14, 2012 at 6:00 am
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I’ve been thinking about something: Why don’t we have a Chinese comedy show here in the UK? (Non-UKians, consider the following shows required watching as they are HILARIOUS) Indian and Pakistani humour’s been represented by Goodness Gracious Me, Scottish Humour’s had an excellent run with Chewin’ The Fat and Still Game; Why don’t we have a sketch show involving Chinese humour?

It’s not as if we’re a small minority. Most every large city here has a Chinatown, and a sizeable portion of any office (stereotypically enough, especially technical and scientific offices) will be of Chinese extraction. read more

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On the use of the word ‘Gwailo’

by on April 9, 2012 at 6:00 am
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It’s been a couple of weeks since it was actually discussed near me, but the issue came back to me in the shower this morning (not sure why but hey, let’s roll with it!)

Somebody at the Drink and Draw meetup had commented on how they had recently begun finding the word ‘Gwailo’ a bit awkward, having previously thought it a quaint nickname. For those of you not in the know, ‘Gwailo’ is the term used by Hong Kong Chinese to refer to white westerners, usually in an affectionately disparaging way (bear with me on this). read more

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Britishness, what.

by on March 12, 2012 at 6:00 am
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So, as I wandered through Chinatown on Friday, I got to thinking: Am I actually British? It says so on my passport, one of my parents is from the UK and I was born in a British colony. By all rights, I should be as British as the Queen.

However, I just don’t feel British. If asked, I would first answer that I was Scottish, and later on would clarify that that in fact comes via Hong Kong. If somebody starts waxing lyrical about the Union, I sort of zone out and let my mind wander. If I’m told that I’m supposed to care about something FOR BRITAIN, I begin to actively dislike it (probably more to do with a general problem with being told what to do, in truth). Case in point, The Olympics. “It’s going to be great for Britain!” we’re told. Yet, in true British fashion, we hear nothing but the problems, the corruption, the sheer greed and opportunistic nature of those involved either directly on the periphery. A convoluted and expensive ticket system? Check. Landlords raising rents to ridiculous amounts during the Olympic season? Check. Taxi companies planning fare hikes. Triple check. read more

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Gung hei faat choi!

by on January 27, 2012 at 6:00 am
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Forgot to wish you all a happy new year on Monday, so I’m doing it now! Ngoh di pang yau, gung hei faat choi! The reason why I sort of let it slip on Monday is that in Manchester, the focus (as a community) tends to be on the Sunday after New Year. There’s a big festival in Chinatown and it is quite awesome, especially coming from Glasgow where we didn’t seem to have anything like that (although having said that, I did get to spend New Year with my family).

I was quite jealous of one of my friends, who got to spend New Year in Hong Kong, a pleasure I have not entertained since I was very young indeed; I’d love to go back for a big holiday like that. Hell, I’d love to go back to work there (There’s only so much winter one person can take!) read more

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