Magores teaches English AND Ironing

So anyway... I have a business meeting type thing tomorrow, so I bought an ironing board.

I already had the iron, but I just jerry-rigged a board the 2 previous times I needed to iron.

When I came home, I left the board in the laundry area (it sounds bigger than it is), while I fiddled with stuff in my room. (The previous posting, specifically.) I came out to iron a shirt, and the roomies asked me, "Zhe shi shenme?" (What is this?")

Soo.... I've spent the last half hour or so, teaching three 17-19 year old Chinese girls how to iron.

I could make all kinds of jokes at this point. But, I won't.

Instead, let me explain "Zhe shi shenma?" / "What is this?"

PRONUNCIATION:

The spelling I show is the "official Pinyin" (without the tone marks). Don't worry too much about what Pinyin is, or what the tone marks mean. If you really care, you can find better explanations online than I could ever give.

In my own special, very unofficial transliteration of Mandarin Chinese, "zhe shi shenma" is pronounced "juh shr shumma". (The "u" in shumma is like the "u" in "jug", not like the "u" in "use".)

So... zhe shi shenma IS PRONOUNCED (sorta) LIKE juh shr shumma.

MEANING:

I've already given away the meaning.

"Zhe shi shenma" means "What is this?"

However, a literal translation would be "This is what?"

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Not too hard to wrap the brain around. So, let extend it a bit...

"I want this one."

Let's say you are at the store buying a chicken.

Meat in Beijing isn't always wrapped in plastic the way it is in the US. You get to choose which dead bird you want.

There's really no better way to explain it... There is a bunch of dead birds in front of you. You choose which dead bird will become food. There is no getting around it. It's a bird. It's dead. You are going to eat it. As an American its easy to forget about the "dead animal" part. It's meat in a styrafoam tray, covered in plastic. It's food.

Don't get me wrong... I'm not a veggie-tarian. I like cooked dead birds, and cooked dead cows, and some parts of dead cooked pigs. Since I've been here, I have learned that I like some parts of dead cooked sheep too.

Nowdays, I just remember more easily what "meat" really is. It's dead flesh.

Anyway, back to the point...

5 dead birds in front of you. You tell the vendor "I want this one".

I want this one = Wo yao zhe ge

Wo = I --Pronounced "wuh"
yao = want -- Pronounced like "Oww! that hurt, but with a "y" at the front"
zhe = this -- Pronounced like "jay". NOT like "juh" as in the previous example.
ge = one (sorta. actually has a bigger meaning) -- Pronounced like "guh"

Still fairly simple?

Okay. Let's extend it a little more.

I want that one = Wo yao nei ge

Wo, yao, and ge are pronounced as in the above example. "Nei" is like what a horse says, "Neigh", or if you are voting against something "Nay"

Wo yao nei ge = I want that one


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So there you go.... Some easy Mandarin Chinese.

1. What is this? - Zhe shi shenme - Juh shr shumma
2. I want this one. - Wo yao zhe ge - Wuh yoww jay guh
3. I want that one. - Wo yao nei ge - Wuh yoww nay guh

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Next time you want to buy dead flesh, you can request the specific carcass you want.

Cool, huh?