問我anything with tooironic

[oceancalligraphy]

Hi everyone! Our latest participant for 問我anything is tooironic.

(heh, just realized it might be helpful to include a link to user profiles)

 

Here are some questions to start:

 

What was the first item (ie book, software, audio, ect.) that you purchased for learning Chinese?

 

Have you considered learning other Chinese dialects besides Mandarin?

[anonymoose]

I have a question for yst:

 

What's your relationship with this site? I mean, you only have 81 posts, and yet you're starting all these "问我anything" posts. Does anyone else find this weird?

[gato]

Not necessarily weird. It appears that the askees are volunteers who have PM'ed yst. See the first AMA thread below:

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/45916-問我anything-with-shelley/

Inspired by "Ask Me Anything" at Reddit and Tumblr, we are starting a series of topics called 問我anything. If anyone is interested in participating in 問我anything, please message me!

[Shelley]

I think its good that yst has joined in forum activities so soon and with an interesting idea.

 

Anyway questions for tooironic, What do you spend your time doing when you are not involved with something Chinese related.

 

Do you have a favorite genre of books English or Chinese or both?

 

What is your favorite bit of tech? And your favorite app, prog etc.?

[roddy]

That's nothing, yst's very first post had a lot of solid ideas. The relationship is that she seems to enjoy doing this kind of thing, and we enjoy people doing this kind of thing. I also seem to have assumed she's female for some reason. Perhaps as she's so helpful. I look forward to an AMA with YST to look into this in further detail. 

Always happy to hear from people with similar ideas. 

 

Tooironic, where does your user name come from? Which forum members have you met, and which of us would you like to have round for dinner?

[Basil]

 

 

and which of us would you like to have round for dinner?

 

If you were to invite us round to dinner, what would you cook?

[roddy]

Do you think the absence of this site would have made any substantive difference to your study and career? If so, how? Discuss. (20 marks)

[tooironic]

What was the first item (ie book, software, audio, ect.) that you purchased for learning Chinese?
I think it must have been one of those old school Oxford Chinese Concise dictionaries, those little red ones with small writing that were ubiquitous back in the day. I'm talking about the first edition version of this one (I couldn't actually find an image of it online). At the same trip to the local book shop, my dad also bought for me a copy of the 中文字谱 which I thought was the coolest thing in the world at the time. These two purchases were all in preparation for studying Chinese at high school after already learning it for a few years in primary school.
 
Have you considered learning other Chinese dialects besides Mandarin?
Not really. I've always thought Cantonese - arguably the most practical of the 方言 - had a great sound, but after knowing how much it takes to become fluent in Mandarin I've always been hesitant to start learning a third language. Now that I'm learning Chinese history in Xiamen, some of the locals have suggested I pick up Minnanhua, but I don't honestly see the practical application of it, since virtually anyone in China under 60 can speak Mandarin, and almost everyone can understand it.

What do you spend your time doing when you are not involved with something Chinese related?
Believe it or not, I've taken up jogging on a nightly basis at the local track and field. My aim is to lose a kilogram a week. Apart from that, I'm a big reader of non-fiction and news/current affairs, and enjoy meeting new people. I think learning Chinese has forced me to become a bit of an extrovert.
 
Do you have a favorite genre of books English or Chinese or both?
When I was a kid, I read fiction avidly, but now that I'm older I rarely touch novels, as I find non-fiction much more interesting. I love a good biography. This year the two best biographies I read were The Man Who Loved China by Simon Winchester (yes, terrible title, but fascinating story) and The Man Who Stayed Behind by Sidney Rittenberg, both great examples of men who made their own unique imprint on China and the West.

What is your favorite bit of tech? And your favorite app, prog etc.?
Apart from the obvious - Pleco - I think Tunein Radio is a super useful application, as you can listen to radio stations in any language from all over the world for free. But despite all the modern advances we now have, I still prefer good old pen and paper for taking notes and studying.

Tooironic, where does your user name come from?
It comes from Alanis Morrissette's 'Ironic', one of my favourite songs.

Which forum members have you met, and which of us would you like to have round for dinner?
I've meet Anatoli and Imron, since all of us live (or used to live) in Melbourne - it's a city which attracts linguists and language learners, it must be said. Their Chinese is bloody good. As for who to have around for dinner, I think Roddy would make for a good conversationalist, his one-liners always have me in stitches.

If you were to invite us round to dinner, what would you cook?
I can't cook. Maybe I would buy something from a restaurant and pass it off as my own creation.

Do you think the absence of this site would have made any substantive difference to your study and career? If so, how? Discuss. (20 marks)
At the risk of being 骂ed at, no, because my passion for learning Chinese was already there before I discovered this site, and I would have found a way to engage with the language regardless. Still, there's no denying what a treasure trove this site is for language learners and people visiting China as well. I think it's pretty obvious, even to a casual Googler, that no site really comes close.
 

[oceancalligraphy]

Now that I'm learning Chinese history in Xiamen

Is there a particular dynasty or period in Chinese history that interests you the most?

[Lu]

These two purchases were all in preparation for studying Chinese at high school after already learning it for a few years in primary school.

How come you started learning Chinese so early?

[roddy]

Man, those little red dictionaries. I kind of wish I'd kept mine for sentimental reasons. 

[imron]

I still have mine.  It's falling apart though and I haven't looked anything up in it for ages.

[gato]

Any update on your studies at Xiamen University? Looking forward to any updates you may have in the other thread.

[AdamD]

my dad also bought for me a copy of the 中文字谱 which I thought was the coolest thing in the world at the time.

 

I carted this around everywhere for more than two years. The best.

[tooironic]

I still have my old red dictionary, it's in a box somewhere in Melbourne. I couldn't bear to throw it out.

Is there a particular dynasty or period in Chinese history that interests you the most?
Not at the moment. Part of the reason I chose to study Chinese history is that I know so little about it. I mean, of course, I can tell you all the dynasty names, and some other basic information, but I'm still wholly ignorant of some of the most important parts of ancient Chinese history. Modern Chinese history is a different story though, as I've read extensively on the subject, I find it easier to grasp since it is closer to the present. I will have to decide on a research direction soon for my graduate thesis, but I have a feeling it will be related somehow to Ming-Qing since there are so many more sources available; the early Chinese dynasties present a huge challenge to historians since there is so much less material available to work with.

How come you started learning Chinese so early?
I learnt it from Year 5 to 7, then in high school attended a language immersion program where we were taught four of our subjects (Social Science, Mathematics, Information Technology and LOTE) in Chinese with Chinese teachers. I was incredibly lucky to have this opportunity as it ended up fuelling my passion for the Chinese language.

Any update on your studies at Xiamen University?
Not too much to update you on. The first month has been pretty hectic in dealing with Visa and University bureaucracy, and I got really sick in the first week. But I'm slowly starting to adapt to my new living environment. It's also been good to attend lectures from a variety of different teachers, to see their differing teaching styles. Overall I'm quite happy with the courses I've chosen. Ultimately though it is up to me and only me to do the hard yards - to put in the amount of reading required to do a decent job for each course. The reading list is immense, and I will also have to put in extra hours to improve my 文言文. It's a long road ahead but I'm up for the challenge. Either way, I am told that it is almost impossible to fail a university course in China once they let you in the front door. But of course that's not the point - I'm here to learn as much as I can, and my goals and expectations are naturally different to the local Chinese students.

[roddy]

Asides from history, which you're already doing, if you could take several months to look at one aspect of Chinese in detail - maybe a 方言, or a part of literature, or a skill such as public speaking or short-story writing - what would that be and why? 

[yueni]

Aside from academic considerations, what has been the most difficult adjustment that you have had to make now that you are in Xiamen? Is there anything you would do differently when you first arrived, now that you've finally finished up most of the first-arrival/admin crap?

 

What are you enjoying about Xiamen thus far?