The nomadic democracy
Hi Naula,
I was about to stop the bile criticism and say some thing good about my country. I am craving to do so.Then, I thought to myself :If you guys knew about the unique way of governance we are experiencing in the desert, You would all have asked me to say something about it.
The Mauritanian political distinction among Arab states is down to two folds: First , we have five former presidents living today. This is very exceptional in the Arab world, Where leaders must die first in order to( accept) to leave the power.
Second, the high number of coup d'états we have experienced during the short time we have lived as an independent country.
And the latter certainly has to do with the former.
It is disappointedly amazing to have one coup last year, even after we thought we have had enough coup d'états and thrown that era behind us and believe that they are no longer acceptable in the zeitgeist of the 21century. Especially, after the military leaders on 2007 decided to leave the office voluntarily and organized a transparent presidential election handing out the power to the civilians and promised not to poke their noses in the government any more . When all of the sudden, a new military leader seized the power ,toppled the elected president and organized yet an other election , which he won massively and we are back to the vicious circle. But this what happens when people , who are still far cry from any kind of the individualism, import democracy. A person here is a part of his or her tribe and it is unacceptable even to think out side the clan's concerns.
I find it disturbing that our alliance to our ethnic groups is much stronger than to our country and our parties. Can you imagine someone who got elected to be a senator simply change the party he represents against some money. This is a common act in the Saharan democracy.
Most people here still believe that the government represents their former colony and therefore their arch- enemy. This is the best explanation a person could come up with for citizens who wake up every day to do what ever they can to deplete their own wealth.
Unfortunately, we generally still have a sheer lack of believe in the idea of state and mess it up with the regime that rules the country.
The appointed people for all official portfolios, seem to care only about their clans and relatives and pay no attentiveness to the every day people.
It is almost impossible to get any paper signed at a given department here, without resorting to bribe some if not all staff of the circuit that paper has to go through.
Any of our resources like fishing, or iron ore could simply transform us into a rich state, if only we manage to use it wisely.
Our people, especially our leaders, have chosen to make us very poor .
In fact, we rely mostly on the international aids to survive and many people live on a footy amount monthly. The disparity between the small number of wealthy people and the poor majority is hugely staggering. While the middle class is relatively absent. The officials diligently try to invent new ways to spend their allocated budgets exclusively on themselves and their family. They work constantly on creating new spurious posts that suit their close relatives. The herculean discretion they give there is definitely enough to mitigate the poverty in our country, had them used it properly. But the normal people benefit seems to be out of their minds.
This is the unwanted truth but
I hope all these misconducts going to mutate very soon.
Last month, the new president talked openly, for the first time, about barratry and declared a war against corruption. He also fling some former ministers in jail and order some sacked officials to pay back what they allegedly stolen. More importantly, he vowed that this is going to be a free mischief epoch.
Well, I have my fingers crossed, but I am sure that if he is serious about that, he has to prepare for a long and tough war against too many people who got addicted to corruption.
Now, let me have a try on my home work.
1-But your comments spur me to carry on.
2-Some of them also ask the dead for help and believe that their ancestors still have a great role to play in their own lives; they watch them and protect them from evil.
…3-who must be a religious scholar.
It (slavery) is still a hot debate over here, whether it exists or not
4- I read your blogs both entirely.
5- We passed a law that outlawed to call anyone a slave.
Thanks a lot Nuala, your last corrections really make me pay more attention to agreements and try to keep the whole sentence agree.
I 've just realized that you have added the buskers'pic.
Thanks, again. I have seen this in Montréal-Canada
But I was nosey enough to join them on the stage and asked them about themselves.
They said they had came from outside the Quebec province.
Have a good on
Cheikh Vall
Extension and commets reply
Hello, again,Nula and all commentators,
I have something to add to my last post.
When I talked about the role the ancestors still play, I forget to tell you that a noble tribe descendent here gains respect of the people regardless of his or her contribution to the community. Therefore, the common question, people usually ask while striking up a conversation with new acquaintances ( what do you do for life?) is almost missed here or at least, wouldn't reveal the financial class that person might belong to . Because unemployment person from a well-born family can make a hefty chunk of money easily and constantly out of their tribe reputation.
I also want to add that our religious scholars, who generally lead the society here, are being trapped when dealing with the stigma of slavery. Because, they either choose to accept it which could cause them the government support and consequently their job, or otherwise, to go with its illegitimacy which can cause them to lose their followers, who read it everyday in ( the Quraan) the Muslim's Holy Book and know that the Muslims have been accustomed to it through their long history.
Another unusual habit here is that we have a certain class of the society who are exclusively inheriting the music art and are eligible, by unwritten but very strict rule, to enter any house and reveal their personalities as musicians. Then the visited, or extorted, house would have no choice to safe its reputation by give them a significant amount of money.
Now, I think that is too much information to know about a new country like mine. You are all now experts of our culture.
The comments reply: I want to thank you all for the tremendous wellcome that overwhelmed me.
Ana Paula, I read all your 2 blogs, and I liked them. Good luck in your exam. thnx.
-Raquel next time, do not hesitate, join your friend to Nouakchott and you are very welcome.
-Marianna, Thanks a lot for you comments, you bet, I was happy there but not necessarily for the reason you mentioned.
– Olivia, Mizan and Samar, thank you so much. You really made my day with your comments . Olivia, most tourists here are French.
-Beatriz, I don't know much about your country more than , that your country speaks Spanish . Besides I always watch Copa America and support Brasil ,next time i will support you if Ana agree.
-Ola , Merce, Robert , Josephineand Marina. Thanks a lot and enjoy reading this info about us.
-YPW, You are very welcome to my country, come and check Africa out.
-Mara , that is so encouraging . thank you and congratulations for your city win to host the next Olympic games. I hope I would be there.
-Soroush, I have been to your city, Toronto . it is very cold.
-Oly, I hope the pics on my second post helped a bit and next time you are searching the net do not use boobo, just write Mauritanie.
Vinhnt , you are so lucky, whenever you have a problem with any school subject, go to bed and resolve it while you are dreaming.take it easy.aclose look of boobo 
Thank you all again.
Have a good weekend
Cheikh Vall
Living the dream
Hello, Nuala and everyone, 
I was planning to move on to an other topic, but your comments-which I really appreciate and will soon reply to - spurs me to carry on lyrically writing about our interesting customs. Are you ready? ok , you remember the rules,let us go.
Hearing about superstitions is one thing, but living it is an other thing all together. You might have heard about some people who believe that ghosts do exist, but what would be your reaction when you hear others talking openly to them? Any mental disorder here treated automatically as an impact of jinn and it is futile to try to convince any one with an other reason or cause. Some of us also ask the dead people for help and believe that their ancestors still have a great role to play in their own lives even after their death; they watch them and protect them from evil. Therefore, do not get surprise when you meet some guys, who are struggling to make their ends meet, want to chip in to finance a very long trip to visit a graveyard tacked in the dunes or amongst scattered trees to slaughter an animal and catch up with their grandfathers. Secondly,does dream have a meaning to say
? We generally believe so. Moreover, we think that our dreams at night must have prophetic meanings to tell about our fate and our destiny. So, when some guys here see a dream while they are sleeping, they carefully memorize its saga and start looking for an interpreter, who must be a religious scholars, and ask him to find out the sense that the dream ,or maybe the nightmare, had to say . The interpreter would try to show off his impeccable talents, usually by citing some( holy) verses that mention some of the stuff included in the dream' story. Then he'd start elaborating his presentation by educing out the good or bad indications attached to the whatsis stated in the dream. It could be a sign for events that would happen to the dreamer in the near future and accordingly, the interpreter would ask the dreamer to do certain things as precautions. His skills could always be measured with how convoluted conclusion he could come up with based on liaisons between the dream and the verses he recited . An other distinct fad here is that men used to praise women's obesity and prefer overweight wives. Although this gusto has started to die out, there are some girls still getting force-fed to gain weight so that they get married early as their parents think. One last strange thing here, which is a bit more real than superstitions and dreams : People here use their hands for very different activities. One; they use them when they eat their food without forks and you probably have guessed the other one. Right, when they go to the bath room, with water of course but without paper towels.
The last but certainly not least, I have to mention the worst tradition ever man practice on this planet; slavery . Which is still a hot debate over here, whether is it still exist or not. Although we used to exert it and see it as a normal issue, the government did prohibit it long time ago and last year we passed a law that incriminates to call some one a slave.Why on earth do you do this? But as early as yesterday, unfortunately the UN representative in Nouakchott assured that it is still there.
Now, I want you to know that I am not harsh with my people. In fact I used the pronoun( our-us) at times, to tell you that I am a part of those who are being criticized here. I am not fond of self-flagellation nor I am harsh with my beloved brothers. But Just because I lived for quite a while in the weste, I think I can determine what could be striking for them in our way of life and I want only to tantalize you and give you a chance to hear it from the horse's mouth.
But, if I were to write aiming to interest my people, I would probably be telling them about some parents in the west who kick their children out when they become 18 ,the well- equipped hospitals for animals there or about those who bequest their wealth to their dogs or cats while there are people dying of hunger every minute. Not all that would be so appealing here in Africa.
So, the Saharan also have their side of the human story. I am writing here only about what we have and when you come to Africa you wouldn't probably expect to see the latest invented technology or to watch the last blockbuster film.So, this is what you get.
Ok, I am getting tired. Now I will do my home work.
1-some advice
2-this info
3-exactly, the word I was after was handing
4-I meant by (ridiculed into getting addressing )that it would be ridiculous to fail to write after I apply for it and people can ridicule me for that and make fun of it. Thank you Nuala for your help there and for the pics of the kilt . It is interesting but wait until you know what we wear under the boboo.It is Taya and it is not less interesting. I've just started to learn the ropes of uploading pics, so I want to add some and I hope my computer would not fail me this time.
Best wishes.
Cheikh Vall
Hello from the Sahara desert
Hi, everyone!
I would like to thank all the BBC LE staff and Nuala in particular for the gift, they are handling me by offering this splendid opportunity of blogging here. I am grabbing this great chance with both hands, as we do here in the Sahara in order to show some kind of respect and gratitude. I also want to greet warmly the former student bloggers, the commentators and all the readers. I promise, though I do not consider my self a great storyteller nor a poet, I will do my best to enchant all of you, tongue in cheek. I can't describe my feelings right now? I think I have mixed emotions; I am over the moon, as I will have my writing checked by specialist English teacher and hopefully get some critical advices that could help me brush up on my language. I am also a bit frightened and nervous. Because, believe it or not, I have never had to write even a long letter to a friend ,let alone blogging on a well known site like this one. I feel like I am getting ridiculed into addressing a bunch of people who are more eloquent than me and know exactly what I am struggling to say on this page.
All what I know about blogging is just I need to say a word about myself at the beginning. Well, in the Saharan traditions, we have taught not to talk explicitly about ourselves. Perhaps to encourage us to introduce ourselves to others with what we do rather than what we say. Nevertheless, I will beat myself down and break this rule for you guys. Here we go, I am a 40-year old man, married and working as the international relationship secretary at a Mauritanian NGO called (Together for Development and Awareness) My job is to contact the International Organizations that are interested in reaching out to our country and offer our help and cooperation. I am travling quite a bit and these days i am in Qatar About my studies I learned (Islamic law SHERIA and related themes) for 10 years: at the high school and the university. Therefore, I consider myself-without any boasting- a specialist in Islamic theories and ready to help those –if there is any-who might be interested in Islamic culture. So, I live in the capital of Mauritania. Never heard of it? You are probably not a lone. It is ok. I will tell you about it. Though, we are known in the Arab world with this name (The million-poet country), we are yet to acquire a hallmark that puts us on the international map.
Mauritania is a far flung, West African, mostly desert country. It occupies more than one million KM 2. its border countries are Algeria, Morocco, Mali and we are blessed with almost 2000kl2 on the Atlantic ocean. Our capital Nouakchott is still too young. We start building it on 1960.
Our population is roughly 3 millions, consist Arabs, Barbers and Africans and we are a melting pot when it comes to languages; we speak Arabic French-our former colony language- and three more African dialects. I hope that you don't get bored with all these superficial information. But I will tell you some interesting information about us .You just need to make some preparations that might be useful in order to grasp our nomadic thoughts. Just turn your watch back to the 17th century if you could.Then imagine that you are in a long trip of adventure rambling in the countryside, have pitched a tent and away from all aspects of the modern life. You are also surrounded with few people who are so generous, humble and willingly run your errands. But they are probably see the world differently and radically stick up for their odd point of view and could go rogue for no reason at all. Keep that in mind and welcome to the Sahara desert.
Happy Halloween! You know what? Actually, we neither celebrate Halloween nor our day of birth. Can you believe it? You see.
Talking about Halloween, I think it is the high time to tell you the way we dress here.listen to this prank:
The men here wear Boboo which is a very baggy African dress. On 2000, I was in the US . It was the first time to hear about the Halloween; when the restaurant where I used to work held a competition in scary clothes and masks on that occasion. Amazingly enough, I didn't need to add any changes to our normal Boboo, in order to participate in that contest. And guess what, I didn't win it, but all my colleagues admit that it was so strange and deserve the rivalry. I am getting tired of my maiden writing. I want to thank you in advance
Nuala, for the time you would spend reading this sort of writing. I can imagine what kind of job you have here. But my weak excuse is just what I reiterated here: I am trying to read too much, but I never push myself hard to write. You can use my turn of words as a typical example for those who taught themselves the language without attending schools. My PC failed to apload the pics i wanted to share with you . Sorry for that. 
I can not wait to read your post.
All best
Cheikh Vall
From BBC Learning English
It's November, and that means it's time to say goodbye and thanks to Jin Lu for her fantastic blog (poems and all) and to welcome Cheikh Vall who will be our blogger for November. Hello Cheikh Vall!
BBC Learning English team
A thousand words to say good-bye
A thousand words to say good-bye
by Jin Lu
There are a thousand words to say good-bye
But I can choose none
Snow is white and dark is my hair
And I see something’s there
There falls a snow on my land
As winter comes and autumn’s gone
There’s a name on my Chinese comb
It’s my black hair and my dreamed home
My name, my tongue and my home
Your name, your tongue and your home
I sleep and wake with that along
I read and write them all night long
They call my name and hear my chant
Outside the sky, the sea and my land
They are a thousand eyes in the air
Shining and singing, to see and to share
There are a thousand words to say good-bye
But I can choose none
Because there’s always more to come
Than what’s been read and what we’ve sung.
--Thanks and hugs to Nuala, dear readers and BBC Learning English Team!
Sentence correction and last reply to comments
Sentence correction:
1. declared himself as the new emperor --> set himself up as the new emperor
2. He suddenly halted at one fatal issue --> He suddenly found a crucial question: where should the capital be?
3. Nanjing all failed them. --> Nanjing failed them all.
4. He would just write poems after poems.--> He would just write poem after poem.
5. This Monday I did something I had never done before: going to an audition. --> This Monday I did something I had never done before: went to an audition.
6. …they looked happy like a child when they ate their food. --> they looked happy as a child when they ate their food.
7. There were recruiting for the cast. --> They would audition for a cast.
8. He asked if I could accompany him to tour around Beijing. --> He asked if I could see around Beijing with him. (I am not sure if this is a better way, Nuala.)
9. It was a decision I took a long five seconds to make. (I will keep the sentence like this, because I meant even five seconds were long.)
10. I was nearly drowned when younger. --> I nearly drowned when younger. (No one tried to kill me : ))
11. The drama group of English Department of University of Heidelberg --> the Drama Group of the English Department of the University of Heidelberg
12. … I hid in the backstage and voiced-acted for the Juliet (in Romeo and Juliet). --> I hid backstage and voiced-acted for a Juliet (in Romeo and Juliet).
Cooments Reply:
Dear Olya, I’ve just heard from my friends in Beijing that it is heavily snowing there NOW! I really wish to see it with them! Actually nowadays the Qinhuai River area is a famous sightseeing spot where nostalgic tourists come for a flavor of old China. Not many people live in the water-side houses now as it used to be. They’ve moved to the modern buildings as anywhere in the world. Anyways, it’s still nice to preserve those houses and keep us remember where our cultural roots lie. And yes, I’m looking forward to every single day, every day is indeed full of wonder! Best wishes to you!
Dear Lucy, it seems that you are very familiar with Nanjing – I guess you went to college there? The funny thing is that I dreamed to “flee” the city when I decided where to go for college, but now after I’ve been to many places in the world, I’ve found Nanjing still remains dear to me – and even dearer. I have no wish to be a famous poet, except one that writes poetry for her lover and writes stories for her children. This is all I want, and this is already beautiful enough for a short life : )
Thank you Marina! Welcome to China and see it yourself!
Thank you Marianna for sharing your film story with me! Your support to this blog has already been part of my most wonderful experience! Best wishes to you too!
Dear Mizan, I made the painting for a literary course I had last year at Tsinghua University in Beijing. I was writing a term paper on Virginia Woolf’s novel Light House and suddenly came up with an idea of finishing the paper with a painting –a Chinese style of light house. Everyone has their different light house in mind. So why not showing the one in MY heart? If you ever get to read that brilliant book, maybe try to picture YOUR light house as well: )
The tale of a city
Once upon a time, a very unlucky Chinese emperor who had ruled the country for too long finally bored his people (especially the rebellious and ill-treated farmers who then turned their ploughs to weapons) and was driven away. Then, as usual, a new dynasty began.
The head of the rebels declared himself as the new emperor, created a name for the new dynasty, and gained new wealth and men (and women)… When everything else was ready, he suddenly halted at one fatal issue: where should the new capital be?
So, here comes the tale of a city— Nanjing.
It turned out that the new emperor was unlucky too. Shortly after he and his new court had applauded for the smart idea of Nanjing as the new capital, his new dynasty fell apart. Some hundreds of years later, the same story happened again. Another unlucky emperor, nearly defeated by the rebels, decided to move the capital to the southeast—again, to Nanjing. Only a few months later, he was killed with his dying dynasty even before the poor fellow could ever sleep one happy night and breathed any peaceful air.
Perhaps Chinese history is too long and those unwise choices were easily forgotten, another seven emperors (and the first president in the modern time, too) either made Nanjing their capital, or moved the old capital to this city. Unfortunately, Nanjing all failed them.
The only reason why a girl refuses so many suitors again and again must be that she is way too wise and too beautiful. She is too good to be a housewife.
And that’s my prejudiced conclusion of the tale of my dear hometown.
An ancient poet would easily fall in love with (or in) Nanjing.
If he lived in the east of the city, he would walk in the Purple Mountain, treading on the fallen sycamore leaves and meditating for a few lines.
If he lived a bit more west, he would walk on the old walls around the Xuanwu Lake, touching the coarse bricks inscribed with names centuries old and meditating for a few lines.
If he then walked to the south, he would meet a singing girl with her parasol on a stone bridge above the rippling Qinhuai River, and the white water birds flying around made him meditate for some more lines.
He would just walk and walk and write poems after poems. One day he would walk to the very northern corner, and write more poems for what he saw: the roaring Yangtze River, which ran all the way from the Tibetan mountains to the fertile plains of East China, galloping with her eternal vitality into the sea.
He would then go there and write poems there in every season.
Springs in Nanjing made him full of good dreams, the long willow leaves stroking the pond, the peach blossoms wildly clustering in his garden.
Summers’ heat made him sleepy, yet pleasant with beautiful vegetables and fruits served to his table.
Autumns he liked the best, to the Qixia Mountain to pick some maple leaves, and with them he could decorate his bamboo fans in his pavilion.
When winter came and rivers froze, he painted, with his finest ink and brushes, the plum blossoms budding in the snow, and anonymously sent it to the singing girl.
There, in Nanjing, an ancient romantic poet would find everything he dreamed of as an ideal world: wealth of nature and culture, affluence of rains and grains, richness of beauty and romance.
Those unlucky emperors loved Nanjing for the same reasons, so did their subjects and soldiers. But they all forgot that a capital city in a great land as China meant much more—political struggle, military discipline and historical gravity, which Nanjing could never bear on her beautiful and delicate shoulders.
When their court soon became greedy for food and women, and soldiers all turned romantic, you know, it’s time for a new dynasty.
Warum nicht?
Hello Nuala! Welcome back! Now that you are a master of Chinese, why not try some German too! Can you guess what this German title means?
Why not? You just said it! :) So before I update you on my recent life, why not revise my sentences first?
1. You can hardly judge if it's still autumn --> You can hardly tell if it’s still autumn.
2. I have several intimate friends --> I have several close friends
3, I have been offered a perfect chance --> I have been offered an ideal chance… (I think “ideal opportunity” is also right but not as good as “chance”, right?)
4. I… have turned out a faithful soul --> I have turned into a faithful soul.
5. Jin Lu sounded too wrong to be a baby name --> Jin Lu would sound awkward as a baby name.
6. It’s now reasonable to assume that his parents might have called him “Ming Ming” when he was a little boy – the kind of cute baby-name I wanted but could never get because apparently, Jing Jing, as an official name, also possessed all the essential features of a baby name.
--> His parents might have called him “Ming Ming” when he was little. I wanted a cute baby-name like that too, but could never get one. Because Jing Jing, as an official name, could also be used as a baby name.
7. But they have been, in a quiet way, very important and indispensible. The time and situations they appeared never allow a baby name.
--> But they are already part of me now. There was never a right time for a baby name, but maybe I just never needed one.
One more thing, Nuala, I clicked the link you put there and the “Nuala should work more and talk less” comment was so mean! What did your parents say when they saw it? Did they have a good laugh, and then start to cultivate your interest in debating? :) You know what was on my first kindergarten report: Our little girl Jing Jin is very clean.
Now, back from kindergarten to my college life.
This Monday I did something I had never done before: going to an audition. The drama group of English department at University of Heidelberg will be presenting a play by Agatha Christie next summer and they were recruiting the cast. It was just a small flyer precariously stapled on the bulletin board but it attracted me when I passed by. I hesitated for a while then thought WARUM NICHT? Why not? Maybe they wanted a mysterious girl from the east; maybe they wanted someone very slim and small and with straight black hair. Maybe they would want me.
It was a decision I took a long five seconds to make. It should’ve taken no time at all.
I have never done any drama before. I was never a talented actress in school. The furthest I went was a Best Voice Actress award in high school when I hid in the backstage and voice-acted for the Juliet (in Romeo and Juliet). I wrote a few screen scripts too, but have never really been the one that is in my story. Nonetheless I always wish I could do drama: what could be more magical than giving life to the silent words?
There were about 12 people that night in the audition room. Most of them were experienced actors and actresses. Since no one would like to go first for the audition, I filled my name on the top of the list. I had hope but no expectations. It was more for fun and simply a wish than for competition.
Once I dreaded speaking English in front of many people because I would look even smaller, but one day I saw the English debating club in my home university debating against Sydney University, and the debaters looked just fabulous. I suddenly decided. Why not give it a try?
Once I would faint standing in a swimming pool because I was nearly drowned when younger, but one day I realized what a great swimming pool we had only 3 minutes away from my dormitory and it was cool in summer and warm in winter. I suddenly decided. Why not give it a try?
Once I disliked Korean food because Kimchi was too spicy and I could not handle the heavy silver chopsticks, but one day I met my Korean friends, and they looked happy like a child when they ate their food. I suddenly decided. Why not give it a try?
Once I was so annoyed by this person in my college, because he talked too much and in bad mandarin, but one day he asked if I could accompany him to tour around Beijing because he was not from the mainland and felt lonely. I was not from Beijing and I was alone too. Suddenly I decided. Why not give us a chance?
Now, my favorite activity, sport, food and man : ) would all have been bubbles in dreams if I hadn’t given it a try – if not for a simple phrase: Why not? There are many miraculous things we don’t know yet in our lives. I give them some light, and wait for their blooming
Comments Reply II
Dear Lucy, that was really a sweet burden :) But here I have noticed many young mothers carry their babies with them everywhere, on the bus, to the store and even hiking! When your baby is a bit older, maybe it’s a good idea to take him/her out sometimes: )
Dear Mizan, glad you like my German pictures :) keep reading the blog and more pictures from China will come up! Oh I would love to tour around Asia, including the south west part of it. (Pity is that as Asian I have never been to any other Asian country before…)Bangladesh is definitely an ideal destination! And as for your idea of “if someone's mind and intuition shape something, he/she should head towards to execute”, I find it very correct. I also realize that encouragement along the way is of great importance—thinking if my parents had not been supportive by buying books for me and encouraging me to write, it would have been a totally different story. By the way, I can tell you read a lot too!
Dear Ramilton, one of the German girls living in my dormitory has just returned from Africa! She said it was wonderful and has brought back many interesting and exotic souvenirs. Hope you will have a wonderful journey too!
Dear Ravindra, I’m ashamed now that I’m replying you (and others) so late and my posts are not that active…I have a lot that I want to write, but always get disturbed by my school assignments…anyway I will do my best and big thanks to your support!
Dear Rocio, I hope you have found my answer to your choosing-literature question satisfying:) I admire you so much for your courage and persistence on foreign language learning. After mastering German, my next ambition is Cantonese (well that’ s still Chinese, but the speaking part is entirely different from Chinese mandarin which I speak) Korean and French…and maybe that will be another ten years…Yet it is never too late to learn! Keep up your good work Rocio!
Dear Israel, as I was learning the Bible as a literary text (I’m not Christian) the other day, I realized Israel was originally a man’s name, then a people’s, then the country’s. Is that right? There is indeed story behind everyone’s names！
Dear Rabail, thank you for enjoying the pictures! The scenery was just so wonderful that every normal click would produce a post-card picture! Big thanks for commenting on my entry too, that gives me huge motivation to write! Speaking of my course of World Englishes, it is getting more and more interesting. We started from American accents last time, which made me realize even within a speaker (like J. F. Kennedy), the rendering of a certain phoneme (such as “a” and “r”) could be inconsistent. I will be doing a presentation on colonial Englishes soon, mainly about Cameron and Hong Kong. I agree with you that people’s English accent is influenced by their native language. Have you noticed that their penmanship is so too? i.e. The way Chinese people write Chinese characters will very likely form the way they write English letters, even the two writing systems are very different.
Dear Soroush, an amazing thing: a couple of weeks ago when I was on the castle of Heidelberg, I saw SNOW! It was barely visible but I saw it! The weather went normal again till now. I guess the winter of Heidelberg will be just as interesting as in Toronto. I’m really looking forward to Christmas now And Bingo! You are absolutely right about Chinese names: 1) The baby name is used only within the family, when parents call the child. This may continue to the child’s adulthood. And official name is what’s written on your passport, school transcript, etc. and called by people outside the family. 2) The last name (or the family name) comes first, which makes the first name (or the given name) come second. The common Chinese names you may have heard of like Wang, Chan, and Liu are actually family names. Now, do you know how to address, for example, me (Jin Lu)-- Miss Jin or Miss Lu? (I’m sure you do!)
Thank you Ana Paula, I’m up to my neck in work too, school work though. But writing this blog is the last thing in the world I would ever give up! Thanks for reading it and being so encouraging
Dear Diema, yes it’s a happiest thing to study what one really wants. Some of my friends don’t get to do that, which is very unfortunate. But it’s also possible that I will end up doing something entirely different from what I study in college, which is fun too. Who knows?:)
Dear Marianna, your comment is so informative and insightful. Sorry, firstly, for the confusing sentence: I meant that German university is not entirely different from my university in China. Secondly, absolute agreement with you on treasuring our meaningful and beautiful languages. Even I study and use English intensively I still find myself most attracted to Chinese (and ancient Chinese). I know little about the writer you mentioned, but I’m sure he was profound in mind and determined in life. Glad you enjoy the Bronte sisters’ works as well. Hope reading helps you get better
Thank you Asma for being so kind and encouraging! I am actually very optimistic and happy indeed It just bothers me sometimes that I will never get to read up ALL the good books in the world! …well just joking: ) Anyway reading is so much fun and hope you enjoy it too.
Dear HYOSHIL, I have just made up my mind to pick up my Korean and hope I will be able to speak it one day! Maybe I will go live in Korea for a year or two and get to know an authentic Korea. I did see a fortune-teller one time in an old temple in a mountain, but it turned out to be funny…he said that math was my strongest subject in school and I would have many troubles with English learning, which was apparently the other way round…I just had a big laugh (well not in front of him though). Speaking of fortune-teller, it is interesting that Chinese restaurants in foreign countries always give people fortune cookies, but in Chine NEVER. I hadn’t seen anything like that until I was in USA one time…
Dear Sahimeh, welcome! And you are already helping me and yourself in learning English by writing a comment. Keep reading, I hope you will find our communication helpful :) Best wishes!
Dear Van, thank you for the encouragement! I once intended to read the Chinese translation of the Jane Austen Club but never finished it. I think of two reasons:1) everyone has their Jane Austen Club story so I was always interrupted by my own story and could not continue within the book 2) the Chinese translation was not good enough. Both reasons make me feel more determined to learn English well, because there seems to be something always untranslatable from one to another, language or life story.
Thank you Mateo! I am actually writing a long story for my writing course at Heidelberg University and enjoy it very much. But I’ve never thought about making writing a formal career. Not only because I’m far from good, but also that it would be so stressful considering the commercial side…Anyway I will never stop writing, that’s for sure : )
Well, Silvia, the reason is dull. There was a girl who had the same first and last names as mine in my class, (this situation is common in China) so it caused huge inconvenience for everyone. Then my dad decided to give me a new name. He happened to like the anchorwoman I mentioned, who had the name of “Lu”(of course with a different family name). And there was my new name:)
Dear Vladimir, I wish I could be like Jack London, but mentally and physically I CAN’T. I am definitely the latter type: I write when I feel like it. I do have an idea in mind when I start an piece of writing, but usually the idea gets lost and distracted by something else that comes along the way, and the piece ends up being something different or even opposite! I wanted to write about the house I’m living when I started the “A world of words” entry, but see, it apparently went far away… But life is so much more interesting with a wandering mind, ha: ) There is little chance I will be a professional writer, but if I ever publish anything, then the name of the author will be JIN LU. Always, I promise you.
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