When we want to say that something is almost impossible, we say: "This is Chinese to me!" Well, our latest student of the Chinese language shares with is great language:
"I'm studying Chinese at a university in the mainland China. The 16,000 students in the Campus are much younger to me. This helps me take this responsibility very seriously. China has many languages and dialects, but the national language is Mandarin. I've already spent a year and a half to study the language, but I still have much to learn. Most interesting are the tones of the language. All words have a certain tone and syllable can mean very different things depending on the tone in which it is said. For example, the syllable "ma" has five different meanings ... and you can call 'horse' your mom if you do not use the corresponding tone! Moreover, The Chinese language is so loaded with traditions that even an ordinary conversation will throw up Chinese proverbs, which an outsider will take a long time to understand. Oh! The Chinese culture is locked in its language! He exclaims. He is determined to learn it for one more semester.
The Chinese Catholics
Fr. Jijo shares his experience:
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Guangzhou, China
I chance upon every now and then a student wearing a cross around one’s neck. Early this month, I met a guy wearing it in the bus. He was wearing a cross. I befriended him and asked why he was wearing the cross. He started telling me that he was a catholic! His hometown has a church. He has a request to officiate his marriage! I went to the ‘Stone Church’ a beautiful old cathedral in Guangzhou city. When I reached a large group of Afro-Americans had gathered for a catholic charismatic prayer in hall adjacent to the church, while a Korean group was having a mass inside the Church. China is more catholic than I had imagined.
1 comment:
Glad to know that you are mastering language and culture at one shot. So many students! All the best.
Fr. James cmf
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