source: standardmandarin.com
Medan is a city in Indonesia. To be exact, it is in Sumatera Island in the west side of Indonesia. It is the capital city of North Sumatera. Medan is one of the top 5 biggest cities in Indonesia.
Just like most of the cities in Indonesia, the residents that make up a city are very diverse. In Medan, we have Batak Karo (they are known for the word "Horas!" to express their greeting and will be good if it is accompanied with a raised fist to show your high spirit) , Javanese, and Chinese. Overall, Medanese is not very delicate when we speak Bahasa Indonesia. For example, we perceive the word "Kau" which means "you" as something common and not impolite. While people from other cities will think it is the uneducated form kind of "you" in Bahasa Indonesia, so they will choose to use words like "kamu", "anda" for more polite version of "YOU" in bahasa Indonesia or People in Jakarta choose to use "elo/loe/lu". It is a slang that commonly use among youngsters now, that has spread to Sumatera too. The word has to be pronounced with certain accent so that you sounds cooler and make you feel superior. (Ops! Am I being sarcastic?)
Okay move on...
It is something about Chinese Medanese.
I would always advise beginner to learn and practice the language properly from the very start. WE do not want to get into the habit of certain pronunciation or use of grammar, furthermore we have to understand that correct use of tone is crucial so that people can understand you. To avoid the trouble from having to unlearn the learned, let's just do it right from beginning. No point getting into certain higher level, but no one can understand you when you speak.
Most Medanese' Chinese know a little Mandarin because most of us understand and speak one of Chinese dialects known as Hokkien (福建话) , despite our family background. There is a little big of similarity in the structure of the language (not exactly the same) as well as the vocabularies. Also, in hokkien, we know that there are difference in tone. For example, when we say "tu", if we use the first tone in Chinese, we know it means "pig", 2nd tone means "cupboard", 3rd tone is normally used as preposition in phrases or sentences, and the 4th tone means "meet". So, we can definitely relate more and can pronounce the words in Chinese more accurately. That's the advantage that Chinese in Medan has.
However, there is always the downside of that. In the 60s, there are still Chinese schools around Indonesia. My parents attended that kind of primary school. I believe they taught the traditional Chinese. Along the way, my parents pick up the simplified Chinese which are widely used now. I do not how or why, but I notice one particular big difference in the Chinese that they know and the Chinese that we learn now is that they do not recognize the phonic "r" used in "rang", "ren", instead they pronounced it as "rang" or "jen".
Furthermore, they see no difference in "zh" and "z", "sh" and "s" and so on. That is one of the problem with the Mandarin that most Medanese, especially those who re it heir 50s or 60s of age.
So for people who speak that kind of Mandarin at home, there will be a challenge to break the habit and speak the correct version.
Another aspect that isn't always done properly in Medan is the use of vocabularies. There are words that we try to translate literally from Bahasa Indonesia, however it doesn't always work that way. One of the common example is: "up to you" or "do as you please". In formal Bahasa Indonesia, it means terserah kamu", however we often use "suka kamu" in our daily conversation. "Suka" means like. It is like saying " I don't have any preference, you can choose/do what you like." So many of us will end up translating "up to you" as "喜欢你" xi huan ni. This phrase has totally different meaning in Chinese. It means that you like the person whom you are talking to. Youngsters may use that phrase to confess their feeling to someone they like. You see how inappropriate that can be if used in certain situation.
Would you like to find the correct translation for "up to you" OR "do as you please" in Pleco?
Answer at the bottom, match with what you have found!
In summary, in learning a language, it is not always who start early. If you start young and learn it in the correct way, you definitely have so much advantage compared to others who don't. However, if you start young but do not do it in the right way, then you should know how difficult it is to get it right later on. It is not impossible, just need lot of effort and a broad open mind! Why the trouble right?
Happy Weekend,
Linda Tan
Answer:
The Mandarin for "up to you" or "do as you please" are 随你 sui ni / 随便 sui bian / 随你的便 sui ni de bian
No comments:
Post a Comment