Love of language opens up opportunities
Now is the time for people who want to move their knowledge of China past fried rice and wontons.
Mooncakes, calligraphy, dance troupes and craft classes are some of the activities that make up New Zealand Chinese language week.
Hamilton’s celebrations started with a talent show on Saturday.
In the 2013 Census about 2100 Waikato people said they spoke a north Chinese language – which includes Mandarin.
Nationally the figure is about 52,300, although more people living in New Zealand speak other dialects such as Cantonese.
The number of Mandarin speakers is what convinced Waikato law student Jasmine Retief to have a go at learning.
‘‘It was about a fifth of the world that I knew nothing about. I thought ‘Well, how can I break this barrier?’.’’
She started learning about two years ago and recently returned from a six-month stint studying Chinese law and language in Shanghai.
Even the man who made her coffee there knew a lot about New Zealand, and Prime Minister John Key’s visit to the country made prime-time news, she said.
The pictorial element of Chinese characters is one of her favourite points.
‘‘There’s a part of the character that’s what it’s about... and there’s another part of the character which is how you pronounce it.’’
One of the hardest bits is the tones – say the same syllable with a different one and the meaning could change from horse to mother.
‘‘Everything’’ struck Retief as different in Shanghai but a few things stood out.
‘‘The Chinese take friendship very seriously. Once they’ve made their mind up they commit to it,’’ she said.
And where Kiwis might go out drinking, the Chinese were keen on karaoke sessions. Meanwhile, learning Mandarin happened ‘‘almost by accident’’ for law student Sarah Thomson.
She started for an AIESEC exchange to Beijing, where she taught English.
‘‘I just really arrived there and in order to survive started to learn some Mandarin and fell in love with the language after a while.’’
While she’s now fluent, there are some words that don’t translate well. One is guanxi, which she said was an important word in China.
‘‘It means relationships, but it’s used a lot in regards to if you want to get a good job or further your career or get a business deal you have to use the relationships around you.’’
Another is reqing: ‘‘That kind of expresses people being warm and friendly and enthusiastic and helpful. All those things rolled into one but we don’t have a good word for that.’’
Post graduate finance student Zhixia Zhao, also known as Candice, is from the Zhejiang province in eastern China and is one of the organisers of Hamilton’s language week.
‘‘It’s a good opportunity for Kiwis... to know some more about the Chinese culture and language,’’ she said. And, as some Maori pronunciation was similar to Chinese, te reo speakers could have an advantage.
About 24,000 Kiwi primary schoolers and 4200 secondary school kids learned Chinese in 2014, according to research by the Asia New Zealand Foundation.
But that was still a small percentage of the school-age population, the foundation said.
Chinese language week events: Friday, September 11, Chinese film night, 7pm, Metro by Hotys. Email hcsa.nz.co@gmail.com
Saturday, September 12. Chinainspired craft, 10am, 171 Peachgrove Rd, Hamilton. Email admin@waikatoweekly.co.nz. Mandarin classes for kids, 2pm, Waikato Institute of Education, 48 Ward St, Hamilton. RSVP weiweismile2011@hotmail.com.
Sunday, September 13, Traditional Chinese music, 3pm Waikato University Academy of Performing Arts.