h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Yeah... but like I said, I'm used to the accent of my neighbors.

Llamas in pyjamas

Duolingo Spanish pronunciation is in a generic South American accent. That is where they say 'j' for 'll' and 'y'. My son lives in Madrid so I would prefer Castilian, but it's no problem; Duolingo accepts my pronunciation in the speaking tests.

I visited China once, to see the eclipse in 2009. Fascinating country (understatement of the year...)

I did learn a few key phrases before I went - I didn't try to read or write it, but I was able to manage hello, goodbye, thank you, I'm Irish not American, and I don't speak it very well.

The tonal inflection is an unusual feature, but that apart I found it a fairly logical language.

Thanks, Recumbentman. That makes sense now that I think about it. I don't often hear Castilian accents so I was just assuming, but now I can recognize the accent as similar to Sophia Vergara's.

The China Girl has returned - El is home from China for a few weeks' holidays.

I asked her about the pronunciation of the capital city name. She says in Cantonese, which is spoken in Hong Kong and a small region around it, the capital would be pronounced "pay-king". This explains the old spelling of the name, as Europeans mainly dealt with people from that area.

In modern Beijing pronunciation, the name has two consonants that don't occur in English, making it hard to write down.

The "b" represents an unvoiced, unaspirated p sound. This sounds to us like a b or a p depending on context, so you're best just treating it as a "b".

The j is similar to the j in the English word jingle, but with the tip of the tongue further back, on the roof of your mouth rather than no the ridge just behind your teach.

The closest English pronunciation is in fact bay-jing. But not bay-zhing as many people seem to say.

El came home via a week in Japan. She says Japan is really weird compared with Europe or China.

[Danish pronunciation is weird.] Recumbentman

I find it quite natural

"Aint nothin natural about this gig" ~The Pointless Man

El is in the process of choosing a Chinese name for herself at the moment. European names are too long for the Chinese and contain many unpronounceable features. In addition, they don't mean anything.

Chinese names are all short - two or three syllables in total. Surnames are usually one syllable and "forenames", which come after the surname, are one or two syllables. The name has to mean something, should not be the same as that of anybody else you know and ideally should include some sort of pun. It's best to get a native speaker to choose your Chinese name as you might end up with some combination which suggests something awful.

A wise precaution.

El has gone back to China for the second half of her year's English teaching job.

Japan is certainly different!
My son lives there & I've been studying Japanese for some years. Still flounder if anyone asks me a question. I think Chinese must be much harder.

El has now booked her flight home. She'll be coming back from China three months from now, having completed her 11 months of English teaching. She still has a bit of travelling around China to do: she wants to see Tibet and Beijing before she leaves, and she has two more trips to Hong Kong planned to see friends. But at this stage she's starting to think about how she's going to get all her possessions home.

Finnair fly direct from the city she lives in, Chongqing, and they allow her to bring three large suitcases, so she's flying from Chongqing to Helsinki to Dublin, which is also the shortest route in distance. Leaving China at 10am, she'll be home in Ireland before 6pm (with a 7 hour time difference so it is a 15 hour journey).

It's been a long spell away, and although it is still three months to go, we are really looking forward to her coming home.

I once saw an interview with an Italian woman who had been taught English as a child by James Joyce in Trieste. She said "You had a politician in Ireland--Parnell?"

It makes sense: talk about your passion and you connect with the student.

What is El teaching China? "You have two conservative parties in Ireland, who find things to appear to disagree over?"

The English she is teaching is at a very basic level. The topic of food is very popular in Chongqing. Many of the students put "I like food" on their personal summaries.

I can imagine Joyce telling his pupils all about Parnell in excellently-chosen basic English. Therapy for him and communication for them.

El is not allowed discuss politics with her students.

Few words missing there Gnomon: El is not officially allowed to discuss Chinese politics. For many years I answered questions on life in the UK which implied a comparison, but I agree it would have been difficult if their English was elementary.
I used to start similar conversations in Ethiopia in the late 60s with "Thanks to the wise and gracious leadership of His Majesty the Emperor...." which was how the local English medium newspaper started most of their articles and which lulled the chap sitting at the back with a large rifle so that he didn't report me to the authorities.
Make the most of your time with El, as TEFL nurtures the wanderlust.

One of the previous teachers got into trouble because he taught them about the countries of Europe using a world map that showed mainland China and Taiwan as different countries.

Don't mention Tibet!

*Tibet was never part of China*