Happy New Year

I thought the mixing of the languages on the signs in the shopping mall was cool.
It’s strange but even without knowing the Chinese character I always read it as if in English without realising it.
Have a good Year of the Rabbit.

So much to learn…

Last night was “Queen Night” on the “X” Factor and it got me thinking again about how much in life that seems just perfectly natural to me means absolutely nothing to Amanda because she “wasn’t there”.

So here is a list of some things, people, events etc that are just a normal part of life to me but will need explaining to Amanda…..

Queen Freddy Mercury (God rest you Freddie) ABBA The Beatles the lunar landings Falklands War World War II (the European part) the Normandy beaches The Battle of Britain Remembrance Sunday New Year (Western as opposed to Chinese) Top Gear Top Gun Top of the Pops “Ghost” (I’m looking forward to explaining some of that…) Heaven Can Wait (…. have I got a morbid streak ?) Blondie J J Cale Love Actually Last of the Summer Wine Porridge The Two Ronnies Monty Python (God help me !……) the Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy (… and again !) Slartibartfast (well, one has to start somewhere ) wedding receptions summer holidays I’m ****ing Matt Damon Trevor Senior, Jimmy Quinn, Martin Hicks, et al… Elm Park Reading 2 – Brighton 0 Ally McBeal (spot the link between the last two ! ) Maggie Thatcher (where am I going with this ? …..) Radio Luxembourg The Ashes the Barmy Army Lord’s (Mecca) bunking off work to go to Chesterfield to see Middlesex play, only to find you get caught in a close-up on tv with a tinny in your hand ….. ! I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue Humph Samantha Mornington Crescent (there’s an easy one, won’t take long…) The Commonwealth “Dr. Livingstone, I presume ?” India The whole of the Roman Empire, and everything it has meant to everyone in the Western world ever since……. Henry VIII Blackadder Manuel from Fawlty Towers the Eurovision Song Contest (I don’t even understand that myself !) Wogan Galway Bay the old Wembley Stadium American Football Snow (although actually, Amanda spent 8 months studying in Minnesota, so she already knows what snow is !) French Knickers Amaretto Elvis Morecambe & Wise Benny Hill Croatia Florida The summer of Love If you’re Going To San Francisco 99 Red Balloons Richard Branson VW Beetle (my Dad and I both had one at the same time) The Masters the 7th at Pebble Beach Minestrone Soup Double Cream Wizzard Rag, Tag and Bobtail (I used to get so scared that one of them would get lost :-S) Postman Pat the Old Man of Hoy the National Trust Badminton Horse Trials Hickstead Billy Connolly Parkinson James Bond Sean Connery the Isle of Skye Norse Mythology The Blue Danube snooker Torville & Dean Bolero package holidays Woolworth’s Motown IBM AS/400

 

How many is that ?

I hope she’s a good listener…. this may take some time…

Does anybody have any more suggestions ?

Why learn a language which is “too stressful” to speak ?

I happened upon a headline over the weekend, on Yahoo I think, which said that the Oral part of GCSE language exams for school children in the UK learning foreign languages may be phased out because it was considered to be “too stressful” for them.

Lost in Translation (1)

Have you ever tried to translate from Chinese to English using computerised translation tools ?  What a laugh !