chinese
Buried in Chinese characters…
Thursday, July 15th, 2010 | posts | 1 Comment
I’m sorry for my absence. I made it a priority to blog when I first arrived in Hong Kong. But things started to get busy, as I signed up for two volunteer projects – one teaching English phonics to 10-year-old kids and the other visiting a shelter for battered foreign domestic helpers – and I’ve been stretched in a few different directions. In the last week, I’ve attempted to refocus on my number one priority. This year, that priority is improving my Chinese reading and writing. This is truly a labor of love. It is something I must do every day. And so, I’ve had my head (and hand) buried in Chinese characters pretty much every day. The work is starting to pay off. Yesterday, I read through a Chinese newspaper article without a dictionary and understood it.
Teaching phonics at the elementary school has been really interesting. For one, the kids are pretty badly behaved. You’d think that the Chinese kids are disciplined, respect authority, and are good students. Well, not all of them. In Hong Kong, as the phonics teacher told us volunteers, the students are very different from the immaculately behaved children in mainland China classrooms. In this modern Asian city, perhaps the Confucian idea of respecting your elders is not up kept. Then again, it’s not like the kids in China are that much better these days. I’ve witnessed one too many “little princes” 小王子 growing up in this era of China’s one-child policy.
The kids can get out of control in this classroom of 30 students to 1 teacher. That’s why they have the volunteers. One volunteer to a table of 4 children, to help keep things in control and to help the kids with the phonics training. The boys are rascals. They can’t sit still. There is endless chatter as the teacher speaks. Fights have broken out – punches were exchanged and homework sheets were ripped up. The girls are much better. But the ruckus at the boys’ tables is distracting. The kids have a lot of attitude. It seems to come with the Cantonese culture, and the very language itself.
Still, teaching this is incredibly rewarding. By the second lesson, the girls were calling me “Missy” – which is what the Hong Kong-nese call their female teachers. It helps that I speak Cantonese, because the kids aren’t able to fully function in English. I can switch from Cantonese to English as we fill out the activity sheets or do a dictation. It’s been a stimulating challenge for me.
I’m traveling to Holland this week for a friend’s wedding and a much anticipated reunion with a good number of friends from all around the world who are also flying in for the wedding. I’ll keep twitter updated as much as I can while I’m gone.
Museum of Chinese in America finds new home
Saturday, August 29th, 2009 | posts | 1 Comment
The skylit courtyard at the center of the new museum space. AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
For years, they dreamed of a bigger space to work with.
That dream will come true when their new facility opens Sept. 22.The 14,000-square-foot space, six times bigger than its original home, was designed by Maya Lin, creator of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, and touted by some big-name movers and shakers including “Brokeback Mountain” director Ang Lee, architect I.M. Pei, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and playwright David Henry Hwang.
But despite the big names attached to the $8.1 million project, the museum is run by a small staff of nine, including newly appointed director S. Alice Mong.
“We are a very lean organization,” Mong said. “As you can see there’s no fat.”
For nearly 30 years, the museum has been housed in a 2,000-square-foot space at 70 Mulberry St. on the second floor of a 19th-century schoolhouse. There is no way to feature the hundreds of documents and objects collected over the years, sharing the history and culture of Chinese immigrants in America and the role their descendants played in constructing American society.With the new space, there is more room for the vast collection, a bigger staff and a growing fan base. There are nearly 4 million Chinese Americans in the U.S.
“It’s our story,” said Mong, who immigrated with her family from Taiwan in 1973. “There isn’t another national museum for Chinese Americans. We hope to be a cultural anchor not only for the local Chinese in New York but for Chinese across the United States and around the world.”
The Journey Wall - donors receive a plaque with their family name, where they came from, and where they settled in America. AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
The new museum, converted from an industrial machine repair shop on Centre Street, features a skylit courtyard reminiscent of courtyards found in the center of a traditional Chinese home. In the front lobby is an art installation called “The Journey Wall,” which consists of bronze tiles that show where Chinese American families came from and where they settled in the United States.
Fundraising for the new space began in 2004, spearheaded by museum co-founder Charles Lai.
“Having this new facility gives us the legitimacy and the credibility we have always sought,” Lai said. “It allows people to realize that together with our wonderful programs and strong content, we are worthy of a higher level of support.”
Lai said one donor had, for years, contributed $100 annually. When the donor recently learned of the museum’s plans to move into a bigger space, he wrote a check for $100,000.
So far, the museum has raised $12 million, and Mong said it is well on the way to reaching its $15 million goal. Mong said the museum is in good financial shape because fundraising began long before the economy went bad. So far, all donors have come through with their promised pledges.
Mong attributes the success to the museum’s niche cause.
One of the new objects that will be featured in the museum’s main exhibit hall is a wooden replica of the carvings found in the Angel Island Barracks in California. Some 175,000 Chinese immigrants were detained and processed at Angel Island in San Francisco Bay during the first half of the 1900s. During their internment, many carved poems in the walls in traditional Chinese characters, detailing their fear and despair.
“When people come to Chinatown, they are saying, ‘Oh, look there’s the Buddhist temple, the place where the ducks hang from the window and let me get to the place with knockoff Coach bags,’” Lai said. “There is another part of the story. There are complexities and realities in the Chinese American community and we want them (visitors) to experience and understand that.”
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On the Net:
Chinese school in China
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 | posts | 4 Comments
A Newsweek article this month criticizes Chinese language programs for foreigners in China, describing a money-grabbing program based on old fashioned Confucius-style teaching methods (i.e. ME, teacher, YOU underling student), outdated textbooks and an emphasis on memorizing characters as opposed to practical conversation skills.
False false false. I was one of the 100,000 foreigners to “flood” into Chinese campuses in recent years. The tuition was relatively (i.e. very very) cheap compared to US tuition and yes, we did get put in nice dorms (with maid service and our own ensuite), but our teachers in the classroom were engaged, down to earth people who emphasized all aspects of the Chinese language: reading, writing, listening and conversation skills.
I learned a lot while I was traveling in China, but the foundation was built in the Chinese classroom. And let’s be very clear on one thing: it’s a huge advantage to learn a language in the mother country. It’s called immersion and it’s always the better way to go. I’m not sure where this Newsweek writer is getting her information. It seems that, like the alleged outdated textbooks, her information may be out of date.
On Speaking Chinese at Home, a Pulitzer, and more..
Sunday, May 24th, 2009 | posts | No Comments
Earlier this month, when sister-brother team Tammy and Victor Jih won The Amazing Race, I was cheerleading for them, dancing in my room, in my pajamas, in my small NYC apartment.
In the 14th season of the show, in which 11 teams compete in a race around the world, the Jihs – Chinese born Americans and Harvard-educated lawyers – crossed the finish line first to win the $1 million.
They were strong competitors from the start, smart, athletic, dominating many of the challenges and coming first in five legs of the race. The second last leg of the race took place in China (Guilin and Beijing), where Tammy and Victor were able to stay at the head of the game because they could speak Mandarin. The Jihs have credited their mother, an immigrant from Taiwan, as the person who forced them to speak Chinese even though Victor and Tammy were both born and raised in America. They were annoyed as children. $1 million later, they are grateful.
Their language skills came in handy when talking to taxi drivers, booking plane tickets, and in one challenge, pronouncing the names of traditional Beijing dishes to a Chinese chef. And, over and over the siblings exclaimed to amused Chinese locals that they were overseas Chinese in a race and if they didn’t win, their Chinese parents would be embarrassed to death.
A blogger for the Chicago-Sun Times asks if the Jihs had an “unfair advantage”: Was it fair for Tammy and Victor to dominate the challenges in China, considering that they are of Chinese descent and speak Chinese? Especially considering one of the challenges was, um, to speak Chinese?
Being able to speak one of the most popular languages in the world is, of course, an advantage. It’s not only an advantage in The Amazing Race, but in many of life’s experiences — for getting into a good school, getting a good job, traveling. So why an unfair advantage? If it were a Spanish speaking team won in Spain or French speaking team won in France, would we be asking the same questions? If the Jihs were white and could speak Chinese, would that be an “unfair advantage” too? In one challenge that required the teams to swim laps in a pool, Tammy (who was smart and planned ahead) had taken swimming lessons before entering The Amazing Race. Does that give her an unfair advantage because other teams didn’t know how to swim?
No doubt, the Jihs had an advantage in the China leg, but they dominated the entire race and therefore demonstrated their strengths (besides their Chinese language abilities) throughout. To question whether the Jihs really deserved the prize is really applying double standards. It’s time people got with the program and recognized that being bilingual, even in America, is normal and acceptable these days. *rolls eyes*
Today, I’m at my parent’s home in Canada, and as I type, I listen to the sounds of the house; kitchen dishes clanging, water and soap in the laundry machine swishing, a smooth mix of English and Cantonese. I grew up speaking both languages. My parents, both university-educated here in Canada, are fluent in both English and Chinese. Having educated parents who speak and write in English has been a blessing, but it has also allowed me to get away with using English a lot over the years.
Hence, my sub-standard Chinese.
Having been away from China for almost a year now, I have been witness to lapses of what I will call temporary amnesia. It makes me feel better to classify this forgetfulness as temporary. Inside my head, the bank of Chinese characters I had painfully memorized and locked away safely after hours and hours of studying in Beijing, seems to be slipping away. There’s a leak somewhere. And I need to patch it up. Last week, I tried to write the word “apple” in Chinese. 苹果 . I couldn’t remember how. My pencil hovered over my piece of paper for a few seconds before I had to look it up on the computer.
The patch can be applied in a number of ways.
Point 1) Self Study
Counterpoint – Can’t find time and discipline to sit down and do this during my “free” time.
Point 2) Get a tutor
Counterpoint – When I’m reporting for the Associated Press this summer, will I really have the time? I know I won’t.
Point 3) Return to China.
Within hours of returning to Hong Kong or China, it all starts coming back. So, I think, that’s what I’m going to do.
Last week, at my Columbia graduation, I was awarded a Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship. I can travel anywhere in the world and write stories. So, naturally, this was the perfect opportunity for me to get back to China. !!! I didn’t think I’d make it back to the motherland so soon. I am super excited. Now to find a great story to write about..
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(To watch an interview with Victor and Tammy Jih, see them here on Regis and Kelly)
Two stories worth hearing today..
Thursday, May 7th, 2009 | Photos, posts | No Comments
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Courtesy: Brooklyn Historical Society
A new exhibit about Chinese immigration to Brooklyn is opening tonight at the Brooklyn Historical Society.
The exhibit, “Living and Learning: Chinese Immigration, Restriction and Community in Brooklyn, 1850 to Present”, will weave together a story about Chinese immigrant life in Brooklyn, showcasing historical newspaper and periodical articles, oral histories, caricatures and photographs.
I’ll be at the opening tonight to talk the curator, Brooklyn resident Andy Urban, who is completing his PhD in History through the University of Minnesota.
The exhibition will be on display between May 8 and August 30 at the Brooklyn Historical Society; 128 Pierrepont St. (at Clinton St.); Brooklyn, NY 11201.
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A new documentary debuts on HBO tonight, documenting the sorrow and rage of parents in Sichuan who lost their children when schoolhouses collapsed on them during the Sichuan earthquake almost one year ago.
I was able to screen this amazing film - China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province - at the Columbia Jschool, and blogged about it here.
For me, I was holding back tears throughout the film. Struck by the raw testimony given by the grieving parents, but also inspired by their striking resilience. Poor, ordinary citizens, willing to stand up, demand answers, and hold their governments accountable. The film spoke to the strength of Chinese peasants, who continue to endure many hardships and sufferings in the midst of China’s race towards modernization.
China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province airs on TONIGHT – Thursday, May 7 at 8pm on HBO.
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suzannebma[at]gmail[dot]com
Suzanne Ma is a multimedia reporter
currently based in Hong Kong.
She is the recipient of
the Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship.
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