On my way home today, I noticed a peculiar sign on the bus that caught my attention. I suppose the only reason I noticed it was because I had to stand and my face was more-or-less directly in front of it. It reads, "Please Speak Chinese," or "Please Speak Mandarin."Now, do realize that China is full of dialects and not everyone speaks Mandarin in their homes and workplaces. In Qingdao, they speak a dialect of Mandarin that I have a hard time understanding. A reminder to speak Mandarin may just be out of courtesy to fellow bus riders.
Nonetheless, I thought this sign draws up a rather comical point. Could you imagine a sign on a public bus in the United States saying, "Please Speak English." Think about it.
Okay, so here's what I look like with my volunteer uniform (and sporting the fanny pack)! We had a bit of down time in the office today and so we got our cameras out and did some faux press release photos. In this picture you can see some USA-Switzerland diplomacy with my colleague Francine and myself. Volunteers wear blue and paid staff wear red.
6 comments:
There are signs in restaurants in the States that say "speak english" or "order in english" in one way or another - some not as nicely as others. So signs like that are not as foreign to the US as you may think.
Nice fanny pack. A lady came to work the other day and was wearing a black one - it was her version of a purse.
Oh~Nice observation! We have the "Qing jiang putonghua" sign all across the country. It's unfair that we are encouraged to speak that rather than our mother tongue in public places. But I guess that's the trend. Like what I said to you in Starbucks the other day, 20 years from now, there might only be Mandarin speaking in Chinese Mainland and Taiwan. That's gonna be sad to me!
Your fanny pack looks like the costume of monkey king!lol
What a great call of attention to that SIGN! I don't think it's unfair though, as speaking a mother tongue indicates a mother town, not an international environment like most of China has become.
As China is rising everyday, its people are rising up to a higher standard as well. Be supportive, be a confident and comfortable Chinese!
There might be a bit misunderstanding. I am a confident and comfortable chinese! What I meant is that Mandarin has already been widely spoken and taught but I think the preservation of local dialects and the publicity of Mandarin should go hand in hand.
In my not as wide travels as Derik, I have observed how important mother tongues are. Does the sign mean that you are only allowed to speak Mandarin - even if you are talking to someone who understands your mother tongue? Or is the sign only for addressing the driver of the vehicle etc? If the purpose is for addressing someone who may not know your mother tongue - then its kinda common sense, but if not, it seems ridiculus to tell people what language to speak in a public place if they are not addressing a large group of people. Does that even make sense? (then again, I am coming from my American perspective).
hey, i've been looking at these comments for the last 5 minutes and i still feel like I don't have a good word to add in. i think the sign is just a kind of common sense kind-of reminder. by no means is it a language limiter to riders. that's all i can say for now.
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