This is my language buddy, Zhao Yuqin. Her English name is flower. She wants to learn how to express herself better in English. She is a huge fan of the natural environment, and has many fascinating stories about parts of the Beida landscape. She has named me Zhang lan, which means blue sky, ostensibly because I was dressed all in blue I think. Today we went to the lake in the middle of campus which is completely frozen over. In China people ice skate just like you would expect. But they also make use of a wicked-looking chair-based thing. I must have a go! I'll post a pic of that when I do. She also showed me around the majority of campus, including the locations of all the gates in and out. Very useful info!!
What I would like you guys to do is think about the most interesting word in English you can think of that relates to nature and post it here. I will then attempt to teach it to her. The suggestion that is voted the bestest will win some cool
Chinese crap! You have one week, starting... now.
Oh man I want that Chinese crap! Can people enter more than once? So many linguistic choices, a descriptive word? a scientific word? Here are my first cut favs:
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Fecund
Hypohydric
Moribund
Habitat/ Ecosystem
Can't wait to see you skating on the chair?! Keep the new coming Zhang lan.
my word for you to teach Flower... is
ReplyDeleteMilieu
or even better
Macrocosm.
Bring on the "Made in China" goodies!!
Okay... so here's one in Pygmallion... d.r.i.z.z.l.e yes that's right drizzle...a delicious word full of emotion and rich with sound...
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kohunui which mean big mist in Maori. The farm I grew up on was called Kohunui because above the pockets of whispy mist lay thick layers of kohunui... and if it was drizzling you would find me out pretending to be a magic fairy...!
So that's:
drizzle
kohunui
whispy mist ( Yes, yes that 2 words... you know I can't count! The wh in whispy is pronounced with a gentle blowing sound! Of course!)
There'll be more for sure!
Other Pygmallion words:
ReplyDeletedeciduous ...a beautiful sounding word that begs to be taught to a willing learner.
Fragrant flower... What foreign women could resist two words that conjure up a spring garden amongst the chill of winter!
Oh I crack myself up! Enjoy searching for those Chinese goodies Jones!
Pygmy :-)
Okay, the time has come to announce the winner of the 'words for Yuqin' competition.
ReplyDeleteIt was difficult to choose a winner because all the words were pretty sweet. I received entries on the blog, by e-mail and in person, so there was much to choose from! In the end I went for simplicity of spelling and explanation so that Yuqin would have the best chance to understand.
the winning words were: drizzle - "light rain"
and glisten - "when the dew shines and sparkles in the morning."
Congratulations to Pygmy and Cushy Balls. I hope you enjoy your Chinese crap.
That's all for today, folks. Be sure to tune in next time.
Oh I love the word glisten! Beautiful! It's right up there with drizzle! Congratulations to...can I say Cushy Balls (!?) It just sort of feels wrong! Perhaps, if I guess correctly, it's Cushla! And Thanks Josh for picking my favourite word in the world! Hee hee!
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