Submitted By: Steven Feng

Speaking Mandarin or Cantonese would enhance the experience of the trip. We could interact with more people if we could speak the dialects. Unfortunately, it takes years of practice, and we have less than six months before the trip. Still, we should make an attempt to learn some basic words and phrases or to practice the language for those that already speak one dialect.

I am proposing we have an informal discussion/practice once a week for an hour during the spring quarter. If you are interested, please leave a comment. Include in your comment:

• The language, Mandarin or Cantonese, you would prefer to speak

• The weekday and time you prefer to meet (I figure the following times would be most appropriate, but you could suggest an alternative:  Tuesday 11-12 and Thursday 11-12 on the days we are not in a China lecture)

I will count up the votes, and majority to set the time and language. I looked on the internet for books and the least expensive is about $15 with a CD.

Thanks to Erik Slayter for giving the heads up about this wonderful Wall Street Journal article, “In China’s Offices, ExPats Might Get an Earful.” (See also my related Wei? Wei? post and discussion thread).

I loved this article. It made me laugh so hard I read it twice. It does a great job of highlighting some of the cultural differences between Chinese and Western business offices.

If/when somebody in China tells me that I am fat, due to this article I now have a great comeback – “Why, yes, of course! There is so much good food here!”