Stewart Lee Beck's Blog, page 4

“Gross Emergency” – Chinese Language Speaking Ambiguities

In “Gross Emergency” the China Simplified team plays around with possible misunderstandings of the common Chinese term 应该没问题 yīnggāi méiwèntí meaning “should be no problem.” This ambiguous term can be interpreted in a variety of ways depending on how its pronounced.

Yīnggāi means should or ought to. Méiwèntí means no problem. Ironically, when these two phrases, both ensuring some degree of certainty, are bundled together, things can seem to be less certain and more sus...

“Killing The Panda” – Mandarin Chinese Tone Mistakes

The China Simplified team acts out a short comedy showing what might happen if you use the wrong tones for the word熊猫xióngmāo(panda).

One slip of the tongue and you’ve just said胸毛xiōngmáo(chest hair), earning yourself a place with other language students in the Chinese tone mistakes hall of fame.

Our book China Simplified: Language Gymnasticslight-heartedly refers to Mandarin as “the easiest (and hardest) language in the world.” What makes it so hard? Besides learning...

“Gross Emergency” – Chinese Language Speaking Ambiguities

The China Simplified team plays around with possible misunderstandings of the common Chinese term 应该没问题 yīnggāi méiwèntí meaning “should be no problem.” This ambiguous term can be interpreted in a variety of ways depending on how its pronounced.

Yīnggāi means should or ought to. Méiwèntí means no problem. Ironically, when these two phrases, both ensuring some degree of certainty, are bundled together, things can seem to be less certain and more suspicious. So how do yo...

China Simplified Attends BookExpo America

In New York City this week, Stew participated in BookExpo America and the China Global Market Forum, connecting publishing professionals and content providers to discuss Chinese media developments and emerging opportunities.

He noted several interesting trends being discussed:

China is realizing its digital leadership, serving the world’s largest and fastest growing online population, which overwhelmingly connects via mobile devices. (source: Clay Stobaugh, Wiley) China’s women curren...

“Killing The Panda” – Mandarin Chinese Tone Mistakes

In “Killing the Panda,” the China Simplified team acts out a short comedy showing what might happen if you use the wrong tones for the word熊猫xióngmāo(panda). One slip of the tongue and you’ve just said胸毛xiōngmáo(chest hair), earning yourself a place with other language students in the Chinese tone mistakes hall of fame.

Our book China Simplified: Language Gymnasticslight-heartedly refers to Mandarin as “the easiest (and hardest) language in the world.” What makes it so...

Living Happily Ever After Through Chinese Idioms

Can anyone love someone forever? Or does selfish human nature eventually reassert itself? Either way, we’ve got you covered in this week’s post exploring relationships through Chinese chéngyǔ (idioms).

In some ways, life was much easier in the old days, when the marriage decision and life partner selection was outsourced. The traditional relationship process had just two basic steps:

STEP ONE:
The village matchmaker reviewed profiles on behalf of the parents and the lucky young couple is told...

The Mystery of Silk and the World’s First Intellectual Property Theft

Silk was once such a prized commodity that an entire trading network spanning 4,000 miles to connect Europe, the Middle East and North Africa with China was named after it. In fact, Europeans coveted silk before they were clearly aware of China’s existence.

Classic Chinese silk arises from caterpillars which feast on mulberry leaves then spew liquid silk from glands in their head to form a cocoon, a miraculously simple process running contrary to ancient Roman and Persian beliefs surmising t...

What the hell happened to this language gymnast?

In this soon-to-be-released short comedy produced by China Simplified, one of six video trailers for our Language book, we play with what might happen when an unaware foreigner delivers the wrong gifts to his Chinese girlfriend.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been busy creating a series of 1-minute clips for your viewing pleasure. Each video brings to life a common language blunder or cultural misunderstanding — ambiguous phrases, numeric superstitions, tone mistakes, words with hidden meanin...

China’s Real Life “Game of Thrones”

The ongoing battle between the Cao and Sima families during China’s Three Kingdoms Period was as complex and unpredictable as HBO’s hit TV series Game of Thrones, based on George R.R. Martin’s book series A Song of Ice and Fire. The Cao and Sima conspiracies and betrayals of China’s third century contributed to the most well-known, history-based Chinese epic Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

The two families started off with sufficient trust and goodwill. Cao Cao as a warlord had proved his mili...

Will We All Be Speaking Chinese In The Future?

Yes, learning characters and mastering tones is a major challenge. That said, it’s far too early to discount the future potential of Mandarin. Let’s explore three reasons why Mandarin may never overtake English, along with three reasons why Mandarin could surprise us to become the lingua franca of the 22nd century.

First we must ask ourselves: what constitutes “speaking” a language? Can we claim Lithuanian proficiency if we banter with a taxi driver in Vilnius? Is negotiating the purchase of...