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misslinguistic

Founder: Meridian Linguistics (Asian Language Data Services).
Spare time: Learning languages, 📸 my drink
Current📍: China
Links and bio ⬇️

#todaysoffice, can’t complain! Today I tuned int

#todaysoffice, can’t complain! Today I tuned into a conference on the future of work in China.

No big shockers here…the Chinese panelists (from a good range of industries) talked about hybrid/remote work, digital nomadism, AI, automation, and climate change.

How about your country? What does the future of work look like where you are? Has the pandemic changed or updated that vision?

I am wrapping up a few months of joyful dabbling -

I am wrapping up a few months of joyful dabbling - after 16 months focused only on Chinese, I had so much fun learning more of the languages out here in China. Just look at Mongolian! What a gorgeous script.

I’ve also really enjoyed learning a bit of Turkish, which was mostly to help bootstrap me towards the languages of China’s West.

The next language I’d like to learn is used right here in Beijing, as well as throughout China. It isn’t part of the Sino-Tibetan, Turkic, Manchu, Mongolian, or Austronesian language families.

In fact, it shares a lot of features with languages spoken in the US, France, and Malaysia.

Any guesses? If you follow the rest of my socials you might have already figured it out…

The Gulou hutongs of Beijing are our “hood away

The Gulou hutongs of Beijing are our “hood away from hood” as my husband of exactly five years likes to say ❤️

(swipe)

We don’t deserve dogs. Truly. I love that in Ind

We don’t deserve dogs. Truly. I love that in Indonesian, the word for dog is “anjing”. In Mandarin, “anjing” means “peaceful”.

How do you say “dog” in your language(s)?

Unpacking in our new place (still in Beijing), I c

Unpacking in our new place (still in Beijing), I came across my “trip to the US” bag which is where I keep metrocards, BART cards, gym and coworking cards, keys to my parents’ house, punch cards for my coffee and beauty spots, etc.

Crazy that I used to pull out this bag at least twice a year…and now I haven’t used it since 2019…and that trip was super spontaneous, to make last-minute visa arrangements. I am now so thankful for that extra time I got to spend with family and friends!

This last year and a half has truly been and adventure in so many ways, but I am still feeling pretty grateful. Even when things got tough, China has (at the very very least) been a constant source of inspiration and wonder.

Who else out here is living “abroad” or had to unexpectedly change their life plans in 2020-2021? I know many of you have ended up on some pretty wild rides!

Swipe for step 2 and 3. In Chinese there are a fe

Swipe for step 2 and 3.

In Chinese there are a few words for bread, including "bao" (a fluffy bun) and "bing" (more of a stuffed flatbread, like a Salvadoran pupusa). These words possibly derive from Portuguese "pão", which you might also know through Spanish "pan" or French "pain". Korean and Japanese both also have a very Portuguese-sounding pronunciation ("bbang" in Korean, "pan" in Japanese) which is no surprise given their trading history with Portugal.

Moving westward, though, you find different words for carby goodness - by Xinjiang, you start hearing the word "nang" which you might recognize as being related to Hindi "naan", Burmese "naan bya", or Persian "nan".

But how about the "mo" in Shaanxi's famous "paomo"? This soup consists of crumbled "mo" bread in a rich lamb broth. In this case, the "pao" doesn't actually mean bread, it means "soaked", and the "mo" is the word that means bread (you'll also find it in the dish "roujiamo", a delicious "hamburger" consisting of shredded meat and fat stuffed into a thick, flaky bun.)

But I can't find any etymology for "mo" anywhere! Does anyone know which language family this word belongs to? If you don't know, I guess I'll keep looking…once I stop drooling…

Out here in Xi’an the main language is Guanzhong

Out here in Xi’an the main language is Guanzhong hua, a variant of Mandarin that I’m sure native Mandarin speakers understand, but I’m pretty confused most of the time!

It is funny how when you first start learning Mandarin, tones feel so extraneous. Now, if you vary up the tones just a little bit, I’m lost. And out here even when they’re speaking Standard Mandarin they use Guanzhong tones. Oh well, I just point at the paomo or roujiamo (next post) and I do just fine!

Swipe for the tuk-tuk view!

My dog can DEFINITELY tell the difference between

My dog can DEFINITELY tell the difference between different human languages. Whenever I start speaking a language I don’t habitually speak at home, for example on Zoom with a new tutor, she trots over to my office door and peeks her head on the doorway, giving me her best skeptical look; before trotting away. Juuust checking if mom has gone bonkers.

She is also very much not a fan of middle-aged women speaking Korean. They must remind her of something in her past, before she was adopted. Chinese-speaking men and women, great! Korean-speaking men, the BEST 😂🐶

What does your dog think about human languages?

I’ve lived in a few countries now with very diff

I’ve lived in a few countries now with very different approaches to health. I’ve unlearned a lot of bad habits and probably picked up some new ones!

I no longer track outside germs around the house by wearing shoes indoors. But I still drink ice water in the summer (a big no-no in China). Actually, asking for ice is huge telltale sign of an American pretty much anywhere!

I’m not worried about leaving a fan on in a closed room (no-no in Korea). But I do incorporate a lot more pickled veggies in my diet now, and strongly believe in the revitalizing power of a seaweed soup and a good snail mask 🐌

Spain taught me to eat slowly, and to sit down to drink my coffee (if you’re carrying it, “you’ve not planned out your life very well and stress will kill you before anything else”). Ok, I haven’t been great at that one lately. Too many tempting coffee options on my walk to the office in Beijing!

But anyway, the important question: have we decided wine is healthy yet or nah?

And what health tips have you picked up from going abroad or getting to know other cultures?

The Ningxia Hui Autonomous region is home to many

The Ningxia Hui Autonomous region is home to many of China's Hui Muslim minority. Funnily enough, it is also home to China's best wine!

I'll be completely honest that I did not go with the highest expectations, I was just planning on enjoying the food and the scenery. But I was blown away by how good the wine was!

A little bit of wine was also crucial towards understanding the Lanyin dialect of Mandarin - which to be honest, was usually beyond my abilities. Not that it ever stopped anyone: I met so many friendly locals that were completely happy to carry on a mostly one-sided conversation!

Fun fact: While Lan-Yin Mandarin is usually written with Chinese characters, the Hui also write it using the Arabic script!

(Swipe for more)

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