Re: Electric Kettle, was: Hello and Thank You


Space Cowboy wrote:
You're suppose to recognize the 'radical' in each character which is
the starting point to look up the character in a Chinese character
based dictionary. The online Unihan dictionary uses 214 radicals.
Then you get to look down possibly 100's of characters based on the
radical. In either case it is easier if you recognize the stroke count
of the radical or the derivative. For me it is the brute force
approach. It's plain easier to ask someone who speaks the language in
this group. I'm in awe of bilingual people no matter the language. If
I was running a company everybody would be bilingual in something.

Jim

My dictionary goes by stroke count, so that is really all I use. I am
aware of the radical business, but I have yet to get into that heavily.
Mainly because I have predominently Korean friends, and Korean is a
whole nother animal. I actually got most of my love for languages from
my grandfather who spoke over 10 languages fluently. I can hang in 4 or
5, but none are Asian languages (English, Italian, Spanish, German, and
some Portugese). My Chinese, Korean and Japanese are solely centered
around basic greetings and tea/food... but what else matters? really :)
I can say "Hi" "How much?" "I'd like that" (knowing if it is chicken,
beef, pork, tofu, vegetal, dog, goat, or horse based) and a pot of tea,
and then "Thank You" and "Goodbye."

I think people who speak a couple languages are better grounded and
tend to have a bit more insight. I'm always amazed at European kids who
speak 3-4 fluent languages, when I've struggled to be capable in about
the same number for a lifetime. It is also the one thing I hated in
college (required to take 4 years of a language, to fluency) but am
eternally thankful for now as it has been the one thing I've used more
than anything from college. I mean I take derivatives of logarithms,
draw Euler trails and discuss the formation of human civilization along
the Nile daily too, doesn't everyone?

- Dominic
Drinking: Xiaguan Pu-Erh

.

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