Finally! Precious Friday is upon us yet once again! How we all have waited for this day. How all the expectations and hopes of the passed week are so nicely focused on the three magical letters in the calendar: Fri.
It indeed is a glorious day again!
For the next few weeks my daily routine will be a little disrupted by a friend coming from Finland. This, of course, is a most welcomed event and it shall be interesting to tour around Hong Kong again with someone who has not yet been here. Also, today is the ETA Two-weeks for my Finland trip! A lot of stuff happening and I can't complain. It will be fun getting in touch with friends and family in Finland again.
Today I will go out again with the nice girl I've been seeing for a while now. We're going to see the new Harry Potter movie (can't even remember the name, hah) which ought to be fun. I'm not a Potter fan as such but the movies are ok. I suppose the books could be really good too, but for some reason I just can't seem to find any motivational factor within me to read those books. I don't really care much for the plot, the characters or the general world they live in. Of course these kind of opinions are quickly changed but as for the time being, no, I will not read the books. The movies offer me enough entertainment.
Talking about books, in fact, I've been reading quite a lot of them since I came to Hong Kong. I got bored of just sitting in the metro when traveling to and from work so I decided to try a book.
I began with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams which I found at one bookstore on sale. I read it in a week or so and found myself quickly wanting to read more.
So I went to a bookstore again, looking for the next book.
Originally I wanted to read something from Pratchett but I couldn't find anything from him at the bookstore I stumbled into. However, I found books from Michael Crichton. I looked at his books in the shelf: Congo, Jurassic Park, Sphere, Eaters of the Dead (13th warrior), The Lost World, Rising Sun, Andromeda Strain, etc. I realized I had actually seen most of these books as movies already, never realizing they actually were based on books, from a single author. So, I decided I should give his books a go. I took Congo (based on the fact that I didn't like the movie much and I assumed the book would be better (since I thought the movie also had a lot of potential which it never lived out)) and started reading. I was instantly hooked and it didn't take me more than a few days to finish it. So I bought more and more. Now I have almost all Crichton's books in my shelf.
Once I'm finished with Crichton, I think I will finish up with Adams. I only read the first part of the Trilogy (of five books) so I think I should read them all. After all, I saw it as a movie first too.
Oh, and if someone is looking for a good book to read, try Crichton's State of Fear. And in general, if you liked the movies based on Crichton's books, please read the books as well. They are so much better in every way possible.
Ok, moving on.
I have made up my mind about learning the Cantonese language now.
This will be my written proclamation.
I will not be taunted by kung-fu-speaking people, nor will I be taunted by the impossible number of different tones and ways of pronunciation. I will prevail, I am supreme!
I have lived in Hong Kong for more or less 1½ years and still I can't even engage in basic conversation... except maybe amuse locals by shouting random insults and taking part in their conversation by agreeing (basically just repeating: "haia haia haia") with what has been said. It always gives a few smirks and outright smiles.
I will start with the previously mentioned:
"Yiu-ng-yiu daai ngawn-chewn-mo aa?" (do I need a helmet?), move to;
"Tai-fun-gay sik-jaw ngaw jeung kaat." (the ATM took my card), and then;
"Siu haa hing-sung haa gay ho aa." (it helps to have a sense of humor)
Once I will master those immortal and all-important one-liners, I can move to the actual language. Pronunciation is the key to learning the language. The biggest obstacle comes it, and if I can get it right, it should be easier to learn. Grammar in Chinese is rather easy and as such should pose no problem. It is just the problem of getting my message across, like mentioned in the earlier post about this topic.
NOTE: The sentences I just wrote down may look easy, but I didn't include the tones. If you just pronounce them like that, it is likely no one will understand what you said. You may get some words right by accident, but it's not enough. Either you have to get all of it right, or at least enough so rest can be deducted from context.
I have some study books with audio-CD's and I have a few phrase books. I also have that nice local girl, who is already teaching me some of the basics, which is nice.
I will concentrate on speaking and listening, not the written language. Written language, at this point, is not so important and would probably only distract me from the most important thing: being able to communicate in Cantonese.
Thus ends my written proclamation. I will learn the language, I am determined now.
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