在本周的语言后，我想在今天使用的许多歧视性的表达，以探讨性别的影响，在书面和口头的中国语言和中国妇女的反应。

鉴于大多数传统文化极为性别按今天的标准，这是很常见的，有在今天的语言中的性别歧视元素。 例如，在英语中，有老忌讳什么叫一个女消防员。 与他们的性别declensions拉丁语，甚至更多的问题，点一些大胆的西班牙女权主义者，喜欢写“abogad @”，以支付律师的所有可能的男女。

旧儒家传统在中国是难以性别平等的一个例子，儒家学者和中国几千年的脚本之间的亲密关系，这是很自然的人物应该进行一些重要的偏见。 正如我们将看到，语言是没有任何好转，反映了社会的女人了，即使在老百姓的作用有限。 点击继续»

这是在我的博客的新功能。 它是后续的初始语言和文化的职位，去年，我从现在承诺继续系列，每星期四，我觉得它。 这个想法是张贴有关这些语言的好奇心，我在我的普通话学习中遇到和我抄下，直接在我的书桌。

专业人士喜欢你找到语言日志中要标记之间的语言学家和通晓数种语言的差异，我完全同意。 虽然我是一个语言学，尤其是那些描述类的风扇，我从来没有学过认真的纪律，我不能告诉介词从palmiped。 我只是一个奇怪的语言学习者，我会坚持我所知道的。

阻碍这一思想，我一会儿从语言编写的，考虑了丰富的选择语言学家 博客已经可用。 但转念一想，有一定程度的权利之间的人类学和语言学，空间开阔非专家猜测，生活在语文学习是正规培训的重要。

我指的是语言和文化如何相互影响的观察，和一定的性格和对世界的看法如何进入印的语言，遥远的过去形成化石的过程正在进行即使在今天 。 这是点的语言和文化系列，其中包括以上问题的答案。 下面是一个例子： 点击继续»

十年的战斗，黑暗势力对中国commy政府为非作恶的公司谷歌的一些图像。 今天在Google.cn上的标志下面。 显然，大G发送邮件到中国：我们尊重你，我们挖的古老文化，它仅仅是你的国家，我们不喜欢恶心​​当局。 另一方面，那些我们自己的国家，都很酷...

但更奇怪是的标志出现在Google.com：节日快乐。 这是1月14日的今天，仍有1个月去中国的假期。 我不知道任何其他地方，它是假期今天。 这是否意味着： 以桂枝茯苓丸和净保姆 Ĥ的appy假期？ 那些2应该是一个很长的假期，并永远不会回来了：不，我现在得到它，它是员工节日快乐，G已经发送休假，其所有的中国员工，并致力于他们的标志。 甜！

但迄今为止最有趣的事情，我今天看到的是这个视频是在twitter上流传（感谢汤姆！）。 这是中国的幽默，我将解释那些并不住在这里：百度是中国唯一成功的网站，是不完全的 混乱与长城的特点和风格，在中国互联网的侵入广告。 这是为什么？ 由于百度本身是从一开始就明显模仿谷歌。 视频的标题是：“会发生什么事百度谷歌离开中国时？

和当天的报价：

百度它，你就会知道，谷歌，你就会知道太多...

（来自中国的鸣叫，由一位评论员在加利福尼亚翻译）

UPDATE：另一个有趣的文章 ：

我们这个时代的最后一个伟大的战役正在进行昨晚，谷歌和中国开始面对地球上的每一个生命的东西的控制权而战。 世界上两个最大的权力之间脆弱的停火协议崩溃谷歌指责中国违背协议会看到搜索巨头控制北美和南美和非洲的部分，人们可以负担得起上网本......

首先，请阅读本文谷歌官方博客上发布。 这是所有你需要阅读的时刻，因为那里没有更多的第一手资料。

它被出版了约5个小时前。 它说，在一个相当混乱的方式基本上是：

1. ，谷歌已经检测到的攻击，导致盗窃知识产权，特别是在中国的Gmail帐户，通过谷歌服务器，但只是黑客入侵用户的电脑。
2. ，谷歌有证据证明其他主要西方国家的公司在各行业也发生类似的攻击。
3. 针对性的信息是有关中国的人权倡导者。
4. 是因为这一切，谷歌是不是愿意继续审查 Google.cn上的搜索结果，并说：“我们将与中国政府商讨，如果在所有的基础上，我们可以在法律范围内运行一个未经过滤的搜索引擎，。 我们认识到，这很可能意味着我们不得不关闭Google.cn，并有可能我们在中国的办事处。“

这是非常令人吃惊的消息，它正迅速使世界媒体的两轮。 这里有一些初步的中午休息的想法。 对不起要点，但我太激动了，做真正的散文：

有关消息和意图

• 消息听起来很不一致，对2个完全不同的问题，因为它是抱怨。 1 - 电子邮件的黑客影响许多公司和它不一定由中国当局做，既不是它直接关系到谷歌。 2 -在Google.cn搜索引擎操纵或扫描电镜，我们已经看到了这里 。

• 其他西方国家的公司所涉及的Google显然发送一个信号到他们，他们要么支持谷歌在其困境，否则他们将被提到名称，并承担与公关的后果（G是在做梦，如果它认为，如果他们将遵循化工企业已所剩无几，在这个部门已经失去）

• 无处它的消息说，有证据表明，中国当局是负责电子邮件的黑客。 虽然这可能似乎是显而易见的，在西方文化中有一个推定无罪的申请。 正常的顺序是首先要讨回公道，只有当有关当局拒绝司法然后抱怨。

• 你可以相信谷歌中的“非恶”的，但我们的个人信息处理这么多的公司，这是不完全无私。 非邪恶的G黄金，和世界停止信任谷歌，谷歌应用程序+手机的整个扩建计划的分钟付诸东流。

• 这不是不可能的，涉及到计算站起来向中国，谷歌能够获得更多的学分全球比它失去离开中国，其业务也有可能不是非常有利可图今天。 随着新的谷歌手机，排除高科技世界的战斗是在其高峰期，商誉将是对苹果和微软的重要武器。

• 是谷歌基本上为非作恶，或者是它为非作恶，只是因为它适合其业务？ 是邪恶的狮子，因为它吃羚羊，是一家石油公司的邪恶，因为它给你你想要购买的产品吗？ 哲学问题，这些人将被要求的今天，但我认为有没有这样走下去。 谷歌是一个公司，不是慈善事业，我们首先应该从这个角度来判断它的行动。

• 对于公司试图“改变世界”本身是完全超出范围，它是毫无意义的，它会导致其破产，它相当于以追求政治目的，它有没有合法性。 如果谷歌不希望有审查Google.cn，那么他们有权强制，而是一种“报复”的中国政府黑客活动家电子邮件的是一个完全不同的事情。

• 总之，消息听起来不一致的，即兴的，它是很难相信，它从一个精打细算。 我不知道谁真正写博客，但如果这是真的从谷歌高管很是吓人，特别是从股东POV。 无论谷歌的真实意图，我的第一次评估是该职位是一个错误的决定。

一些更多的想法，在我未来的后果下一篇文章 。

我已经离开了一会儿，因为我所有的假期时间已经由上海的两个有趣的故事，其中的一个电视连续剧，另一种新型吸收。

串行是WoJu，蜗牛的家，愚蠢地翻译成英文为的窄Dwellingness，或任何。 它已经在中国红热，因为其在11月的第一次广播。 爱丽丝刘单位“和“ 优酷Buzz博客最近遮盖。

由于这些博客指出，这一直是最具爆炸性的成功，我们还记得在中国的电视连续剧。 在不到一个月的时间里，它引发了激烈的辩论，在互联网上，吸引了数百万在线和关闭，并用了可怕的手检查员。 其快速成功的原因之一是有关的问题，买房子，正好碰到年轻的中国观众当场的中心主题。

但是Woju是远远比房地产和腐败的故事。 这是一个扣人心弦的戏剧，丰富的次要情节不断发展具有非常现实的字符填充，围绕一个中心三角恋。 近代中国社会的一个尖锐的批评，是迄今为止我曾经看到大陆电视上最好的产品。 最初它是一种新型的中国作家 ，我们应该看未来，更加紧密地溜溜，在2007年出版的。

下面是我的串行的印象，现在我已经完成了第15章。 我将集中在两个主要的兴趣点：希望了解中国的人的信息内容，并独立于其他因素的产品质量。 最后也是我观察，审查和其他相关的一些有趣的事情。

内容

这个序列是中国通，有抱负的中国问题专家的天堂。 任何试图了解中国的人都应该看它。 如果字符是不完全真实（没有小说可以永远）他们的忧虑，他们的问题和他们的动机是一个高保真的扩增，中国移动今天的年轻公民的反射。 它是浓缩了中国的现实。

我们一直在说过去几年的所有元素都存在，不是一个单一的一个缺失：关系建设，干部的二奶（爱好者），上海男人欺负自己的妻子的，谁也看不出他们的婴儿，非法工作的父母高息贷款，开发商和地方官员之间shanghaiers和外界的冲突，一夜之间丰富的温州，新中国的道德，拆迁或“摧毁”，“钉子人”谁抵制，移动之间的相互勾结山寨手机......你说出它。

和所有是如此精确，你甚至可以看到多少的人物都在自己的工作收入，高利贷什么兴趣问，要花多少钱的党的干部要得到他的第一个小二奶（情人）。

肯定有更好的书，描绘了在过去的中国社会，但主体正在发生变化如此之快，他们都是过时的。 我不认为有任何其他的小说今天的工作，更准确地反映在大约2010年的上海社会。

“你好，我是市委局局长宋（我只是shagged你的女朋友）”

如果你正在学习中国，该系列产品是一个伟大的地道的普通话双MUST。 如果你不是，然后站在与英文字幕的DVD，希望海盗一个人翻译这一次与他的托福水平。 这肯定是有市场，如果他们与电影明年政府不制止它，我也不会感到惊讶。

质量

但更重要的是比上述所有产品的质量。 这是很好的小说和良好的娱乐。

故事是由强烈的爱情三角形的中心美丽的女演员扮演，年轻的海藻李念 。 上面列出的所有元素，包括房地产热潮的赢家和输，倾向于解决此爱/恨的故事，在接触了两个不同的世界：laobaixing干部，中国城市的两个类。

但也许是最好的串行方面，中国电视上呼吸新鲜空气，是绝对缺乏对公众的道德教训。 这里没有英雄或恶棍。 贪婪的开发商，难耐徒劳的妻子，缩头缩脑上海的丈夫，神秘，蛮横的上海姑娘李念饰演。 他们每个人只是人类的弱点，并和我们一样的野心。 他们每个人都可以以最好的和最坏的。

即使是贪官，是人之常情。 一个软弱的人在中年危机，在他手中的权力太大，不检查自己的行为和系统。 腐败，象爱情一样，发生的事件的自然过程，一个病态的社会​​和个人的邪恶计划不结果。 和绛州，为上海代表中国谭，是强大的旋风行动，其中的所有字符绝望漂泊。

检查

这并不奇怪，串行一直由政府审查。 然而，它已被审查的方式，罢工我假正经，如果不能清楚地白痴。

因为我现在是在欧洲，我已经能够观看YouTube上的串行和审查一个中国网站优酷上的比较。 有没有对图像的审查以上，其中上海市委官员公然与男友聊天的女孩，他刚刚被强奸免费使用他的政治力量。

相反，下面的图片进行审查：

看到原来的场景，下面审查的版本，在中国所示。

这是第一个串行正确的性场面。 在原始版本中，您会看到在屏幕的四分之一海藻呻吟的脸，而其他的图像对应到各自的妻子和男友，谁是在家里，担心自己的亲人，而他们正在做奥运类的乌龟。

是海藻的呻吟脸更比上面显示的快乐先生宋淫秽？ 画出自己的后果。 同样有趣的是要注意生产者参加在审查过程中，火爆的场面，不仅切出，但编辑和取代其他原稿放大图像在上面的妻子。

其他细节和问题

我会回来当我与串行更多细节，但目前我有2个问题，为市民，特别是许多中国人，我知道是谁已经观看了整个35章：

1 - 串行秀为什么如此显着的海藻“Coogle”shanzhaied电话，它只是使其更现实，或者是报复，因为谷歌拒绝赞助？

2 - 有一个阴谋的一部分，我只是不明白：海藻是处女，当她第一次与宋睡觉，如果她已与男友多年的生活吗？ 这是一个阴谋的差距，还是我错过了一些严重和令人担忧的中国文化元素？

Happy Christmas everyone. Sad Christmas for China, and for all of us who love that country and who believe in freedom, dignity and truth.

Exactly one year ago, on Christmas Day, I published this post about Liu's Charter. I was critical with the initiative for many reasons: it contained contradictions, it was reactive rather than active, and it was not a Charter to unite all the Chinese. But most importantly, the way the document was drafted ensured that it had not a chance to fly.

The initiative was practically born dead, Charter was never a big subject in China even in early 09, it was the crisis and the stimulus that we watched at the time. The party had won the game from day one, so what point in bullying Liu now, one year later? Clearly, just to set an example to ensure that the rest of the signers will shut up, and to avoid new initiatives in the coming years. “Kill the chicken to scare the monkey”, the Chinese tradition says. And that is NOT justice, but a disgusting mafia trick.

Even if you don't believe in democracy for China—even if you think (like I do) that the hypocritical governments of the West have no lessons to give here—even if the Charter was probably not the best way to attain the noble principles it professed. Even so, any decent person can see that a document like this should never be a reason for a man to be deprived of his freedom.

The party knows this, and it is again censoring and lying on the internet to hide its dirty deed from the people of China.

Now the story has been picked up by the CNN and it is making some noise. If we are lucky and it goes far enough, maybe even Obama will give us a memorable line. But it will not change anything, because all this is part of the deal with China. And the sentence is nothing more or less than what could be expected of the Chinese government today.

Liu knew this well, and he decided to go on in spite of it. That is because he is an idealist and a hero. He will be remembered.

More on this case here . Also, from my own blog: here , here and here .

These are the principles that 303 brave men published in China in 2008:

Freedom . Freedom is at the core of universal human values. Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, freedom in where to live, and the freedoms to strike, to demonstrate, and to protest, among others, are the forms that freedom takes. Without freedom, China will always remain far from civilized ideals.

不是由一个国家赋予的人权。人权。 每个人与生俱来的尊严和自由的固有权利。 政府为保护其公民的人权存在。 由人民行使国家权力必须被授权。 在中国近代历史的政治灾害的继承是一个政权无视人权的直接后果。

平等。正直，尊严和自由，每个人，不论社会地位，职业，性别，经济状况，种族，肤色，宗教或政治信仰是任何其他的相同。 面前人人平等的法律和社会，经济，文化，公民和政治权利平等的原则必须坚持。

共和，共和，认为权力应政府和利益争夺的不同分支之间的平衡，应送达类似于中国传统的政治理想“在所有的公平性下天堂。”，它允许不同的利益群体和社会的集会，并与人各种各样的文化和信仰，行使民主自治和审议，以达到政府和自由和公平竞争的平等机会的基础上和平解决公共问题。

民主，民主，最根本的原则是人民主权和人民选择自己的政府。 民主具有以下特点：（1）政治权力开始与人民政权的合法性来源于人民。 （2）政治权力的行使通过人作出的选择。 （3）各级政府主要官员职位的持有人有决心通过定期的竞争性选举。 （4）尊重多数人的意志的同时，基本尊严，自由，人权和少数民族的保护。 总之，民主使政府成为一个现代化的手段“的人，由人民，为人民。”

宪政。宪政是通过法律制度和法律法规的实施，是宪法规定的原则规则。 这意味着自由和公民权利的保护，限制和界定合法政府的权力范围，并提供必要为这些目的的行政机构。

我昨晚摆弄一些统计数据，考虑到中国互联网心胸狭窄 ，我们一直在讨论最近的奇怪的想法。 表达本身就是奇怪，因为“互联网”和“与世隔绝”，形成一个矛盾，但你很难注意到这些东西，当你住在这里。 它是土地在社会主义市场经济的正常程序。

不管我们作出的短语，事实是，它每次，无论是讲语言 ， 传媒或政治 ，一切似乎都指向这个方向。 下面的图片是我尝试画一个互联网的世界地图来说明这个岛国，从网站上使用互联网世界统计数据。

这里是我：我与所有国家的统计，超过10万互联网用户，这使得在总共32从中国到摩洛哥的第一个想法。 然后我做了一个Excel图表，每个气泡的面积比例到该国的互联网用户，关键的是，我充满了矩阵码的​​气泡。 结果：世界地图的矩阵：

互联网矩阵的世界地图

在上面的地图中的一个有趣的事情是，亚洲已经是世界上最大的互联网领域。 惊人的，但不是真的，毕竟，它拥有迄今为止世界上人口最多。 这是没有什么比什么来：互联网与中国和印度的增长将是在未来几年亚洲联合。 没有他们，没有命中，将真正全球净。 到现在为止，在网络上的大多数人都从现在大多数发达国家，将来自发展中国家。 我们的社会之间的密切联系，将有在线和离线的重要后果。 也就是说，假如我们真的管理连接。

但是，当我们谈到互联网，它并不太大的意义来看待政治的界限。 有没有这样的边境控制线上，真正团结或分裂人民是文化的东西。 最重要的参数是一个特别的语言：不管你的国籍，作为一个用户定义你的语言你上网，这是为什么我的浏览习惯，更喜欢这个看起来Blogger的不是像有人在我的国家的原因： ESWN，我有完全不同的背景，但我们有共同的冲浪语言。

所以我抬起头来的统计，在互联网上最常用的语言，从英语到韩国10。 这一次，我彩色的气泡与标志，我把他们大约在他们的发言者的社会重心的中心。 结果是地图冲浪语言：

冲浪语言的世界地图

尽管如此，地图不是很大。 许多扬声器在庞大的英语泡沫实际上是印度人，西班牙应该是在美国和欧洲，和澳大利亚是完全出来的照片。 物理距离有没有净的意思，甚至比政治界限。 它变得清晰，地理是我的目的没有多大用处，所以我们不妨转储GMaps实现和坚持气泡。

我的新图看起来像这样，在所有主要的互联网社区的代表一起在云。 我们都是相互关联的，只有坚实的区别是语言。 两个人共享一个爱好，喜欢足球，但他们不走相同的网站，如果他们在不同的语言上网。 媒体和互联网上的资源大部分都没有翻译成其他语言，而是重新编写和重新诠释，由当地部落客/记者，社区之间的边界控制功能。

改进互联网的云世界地图：

我们在云中看到的事情之一是，所有的社区都互相接触。 但我恐怕这不是一个非常精确的图片。 通常俄罗斯不翻译日本的内容，也没有葡萄牙语翻译阿拉伯语。 英语有今天在互联网上的重要作用，因为在大多数情况下，它是通过英语，其余的语言沟通：大多数内容是英语翻译第一，并从那里向其他社区。 英语的泡沫，包括来自世界各地的用户，是互联网的中心。

云的另一个问题是，它显示了所有同样互联社区，这是不太现实的。 谁讲欧洲语言的用户更容易阅读英文。 西班牙社会，例如，包括许多美国人许多他们自己的语言上网的英文网站。 其实，大部分的语言泡沫的与英文泡沫像素的重要组成部分，所以我们可以维恩图的排序为代表的地图：

第二次迭代：维恩图地图

我们看到从上一个新的地图是非常不同的。 现在有一个共享的内容很多西方语言与英语，更多的语言，分享了一下，俄语和阿拉伯语，然后三种语言，形成了今日亚洲互联网的核心集群：中国，韩国和日本。 和你可能已经注意到，我得出中国在其余的距离。

由于种种原因，我们将看到，中国人不使用Facebook或Twitter的，或YouTube或MySpace，或eBay。 他们不读Boing Boing“ 赫芬顿邮报“ ，他们在自己的QQ聊天室聊天。 他们很少收到，我们收到的病毒邮件，反而得到一个和别人一样。 他们所有的事情，我们有一些，但他们建立了他们对互联网的独立包裹并行。

而基于以上的气泡的大小是由一个受人尊敬的收集定量数据源 ，位置才决定由半知情的感觉。 任何读者可能会说，中国不应该是迄今为止对。 有香港，华裔美国人，甚至中国大陆做英语冲浪。 ，我将被迫承认的维恩图是有缺陷的，因为它未能证明了这一点。

但是，在这样一个像互联网世界瞬息万变，位置真的没什么意思。 今天举行的明天可能会有所不同。 什么是真正重要的是动态的方向是中国，以及如何将在10年的上网查查？ 大家都同意，中国互联网社区发展非常迅速，这是自然的。 令人担忧的部分是，它也可能被移动从休息。

第三次迭代：动态地图

因为在西方国家的互联网普及率已经非常高，印度仍然处于滞后状态，在未来10年中国互联网将成为大几乎所有的休息起来。 如果继续偏离，它可能会成长为一个平行的网络，像月亮黑暗的一面，一个巨大的，自给自足的岛屿，政府可以随时切出，里面大多数人甚至没有注意到其中的差别。 这违背了整个构思的www。

不管问题的真实规模，这是大多数观察家认为是中国和互联网的其余部分之间的断开连接 ，并有强大的力量，拉他们远一点。 幸运的是，也有力量平衡，并在未来数年的结果将在很大程度上取决于这些因素如何发挥互相对抗。 这里是我的新的地图现在看起来如何：

互联网的力量

正如我们所看到的这个博客之前，一些主要因素，使从中国独立的世界有以下几种，在图表中红色所示：

• Linguistic , as we saw in this post , where we proved that Chinese language is beautiful and unique in many ways, but it makes it very difficult for Chinese and foreigners to connect.
• Cultural , in the broad sense of the word, meaning that the communities have so different views and values that they cannot understand each other. This includes the problems with the Media.
• Political , the deliberate actions of the CCP in multiple forms, including Nannies, the Great Firewall of China (GFW) and directly arresting people, as we saw here .

And in green the main factors that go in the opposite direction. Here they are in detail, for the optimists to rejoice:

• The growing number of bridge bloggers and other internet uses that work to connect the two communities. These include not only the English language Chinablogs, but mainly Chinese people who translate foreign media and other content on the Chinese internet. From this humble blog I also did my bit against the GFW .
• The post 90s and 80s generations that already dominate the Chinese internet. Their personal tastes in arts, music or cinema will probably be more international, and push them to connect with the World. This point is object of debate though, and some Westerners are very skeptical of the post 80s.
• Business is one of most important factors that link China to the World. Since the construction of the EU, it is no secret that commerce can achieve the most ambitious goals in World Peace, so whatever your take is on those business minded Chinese , they are probably the main force that is still keeping the Chinese Island connected and holding the World Wide Web together.

你觉得呢？ 你有什么想法？

Do you think I am exaggerating? Or is the problem even worse than this? Any factor I missed in the Internet Maps? Internet friends: you are the pixels inside the coloured bubbles, you know all about this World because it is your home: comment and help me improve my Map!

在本系列的前两个 员额 ，我们看到，中国是世界的语言保持了一套完整独立的词汇根和非代表他们的语音脚本，我们可以称之为一个单独的词系统。 出于这个原因，我认为，中国可能是最困难的语言得到充分的流畅性，无论对学生的语言背景。

但也有比单纯的语言的困难，特别是文化和政治的，更有趣的问题。 Because the refusal to use loans and phonetic script is the result of conscious decisions. 的确，有没有在语言本身，禁止进口的外来词或一个字母使用，有目前使用中的直接贷款，写拉丁字母，如DVD或KTV已经有一些例外。

中国有来自世界各地不同的并行的Word系统，以及政府在维护本系统有积极的作用。 However, this policy is not unilaterally imposed from above. 它肯定是鼓励教育系统，但中国的扬声器似乎遵循自然，往往喜欢的中国根，即使没有监督。 这是在与系统的尝试，以保护当地的条件，才发现，人们还是喜欢“电子邮件”，“快递ELECTRONIQUE”在许多国家的情况相反。

Anyone living in China long enough realizes how aware Chinese are of their long history and their status as a different civilization. 这种话语是对西方人的刺激性，因为它提醒太多极端民族主义的信条回家。 但它有一个与那些信仰的本质区别：在中国的情况，这是事实。 正如我们之前所说的 ，中国是有道理的，看到自己作为一个文明的摇篮，它是从世界的主流，直到近代几乎独立生存，只有这样的文化。 This cultural awareness is the main reason for the preservation of the language as we know it, surviving different regimes and even periods of chaos.

当我们研究中国，我们不只是学习另一种语言，我们是一个平行世界的话，词汇的最后一个独立的系统学习和写作，人类仍然有。 这是最类似地球上的另一个星球的语言学习经验。 如果中国确实是这样努力地学习，这应提供足够的动力，任何人尝试它。

政治上的考虑

Mandarin is not in itself a very difficult language, what makes it hard is its complex Word System, which is for the most part not essential (that is, the language could still exist with loans and an alphabet). 该系统使得它很难外国人和中国沟通，这是中国教育的一个严重障碍。 In the last century, development has been the main priority of China in order to recover her past glory, and inefficient relics have been torn down without blinking, just like the Walls of Beijing. 中国的词和字符，最后以保持这些阻塞的纪念碑，是迄今为止最古老的所有。 这是一个奇迹，他们已经存活直到今天。

字符的未来似乎更安全方便的方法，在键盘上输入字符的发明，但他们的持久性是没有保证的手段。 许多著名的语言学家认为拼音作为主要书面语言和消除人物的日常生活，而不是鲁迅，或已故的约翰·弗朗西斯至少使用。 Much as I admire these men and their work, I am completely opposed to their position as a matter of principles. I don't suppose anyone will believe me in this age of economists, even less in the China of the new philosophies , but I have this to say: Efficiency is not a supreme value. In fact, it is not even a value in itself, but just a means. 和悲伤的手段将是恢复中国的伟大，如果有留下什么恢复。

我认为这是明确的大多数中国人的今天，他们的话语系统是太珍贵了，为了提高效率，放弃它。 然而，一些合理的让步，可这可能确保系统的长期生存。 特别是，接受外国贷款为新技术的话，可能会促进国外研究和认真开始真正的中国人才外流的外国人才纳入中国的访问。 完全接受了拉丁字母代表语音外国专有名词（已经被用于非正式）也将是对效率的一个步骤，在不牺牲系统的心脏，将所有想学英语的中国有很大的帮助。

Apart from the practical issues considered, no less important is the mentality underlying the Chinese Word System. 所有的语言在世界不断增长的常用词汇有很大一部分，是人类共同的文化和大多数文化的认同，因为这部分只会成为更大的技术进步，合理的解决方法是采取一种共同的语言沟通。 通过决定远离除了这个系统，对中国的语言选择代表世界各地反对的立场，并以某种方式延续了传统的古村，甚至在全球联网的年龄隔离。 中国互联网社区和偏狭的误解 ，从它出现的文化之间，在一定程度上，这种选择的后果。

The part played by the language in China's relations with the World is probably not of the first importance. 但即使在今天，这部分是不是可以忽略不计，在通信技术的进步，没有人知道多么重要，它在未来将成为。 最终，它最多只能到中国来决定他们自己想要的是什么语言。 我们只能等待，看看，希望他们找到一种方式留在我们的连接，同时保留其独特的遗产词。

上星期五，我写了一个很长的职位，我结束了包括太多的想法。 的主要点位了，结果掩盖，但它是简单地此：在学习一门语言，词汇起着至关重要的作用，不仅是因为中国这个极其困难的先进水平，但也越来越难与时间。

我不认为这是开创性的研究，但有趣的是，因为大多数人都没有意识到这一点，也对在悫语言和政治两个领域，我们要培养这个博客的限制其影响。 下面是结论充分的论据，例子和详细信息，请参阅以前的职位 ，其意见：

• 要学习一种新语言所需的主要知识是在三个方面：语法，语音和词汇。 Grammar and phonetics differ essentially from vocabulary in that the first two are rules applicable to infinite cases, whereas the latter is raw data. 我们可以打电话给他们的语言代码和数据元素。 The Code elements are finite and not growing. 几乎是无限的和不断增长的数据元素，它不完全掌握母语甚至点。

• 学习一种语言时，代码元素发挥至关重要的作用水平在初级和中级，但先进水平的通信真正的障碍，因此进步是数据。 例如，在德国先进的学生有时可能会使用错误的词尾变化，并在西班牙，他们可能无法区分“RR / R”的声音。 这些东西往往不妨碍沟通，因为人类的语言是高度冗余。 我永远不会明白“佩罗”（但是）当一位发言者说，“perro”（狗）。 最终，在代码元素的含量口音相同的缺陷：大部分的时候，他们仅作为元数据相关。

• 但同时一定程度以上的代码是高度冗余，数据仍然在每一个级别所必需的。 从这个伟大的文章 ：借用短语“浴池找到有效的治疗静脉炎”是毫无意义的名词一方或双方是未知的。 缺少一个单一的词往往可以掩盖整个段落或文章的含义。

• 被动的话在现实生活中使用的数量远远超过了典型的语言水平标准名单。 This is because semi-specialized words—such as ionic , j acuzzi or matrix— are not included in vocabulary lists as they are considered too rare. Certainly each of these words is rarely used, but there are so many of them that as a whole they are actually very often used. This Data element is so large that it cannot be memorized in a classroom, and the only way to acquire it is through many years of immersion.

• The reason why most language learners never realize this problem is because they are “cheating”. In most languages in the World, this high level vocabulary is practically identical and it doesn't need to be learned. There is a certain limit level for each language above which most modern words are international and the Data is no more specific of the language .

• This limit level of vocabulary convergence is different for every language, but it doesn't so much depend on the language family or geographical origin, rather it depends on the size and the development of the community of speakers. That is the reason why even non indo-European languages like Basque are extremely easy above the intermediate level: the community is not big enough to support complex terms, and all higher Data is adopted from International words. Most people tend to misunderstand and attach too much importance to the concept of language families, and they come up with absurd lists like this one .

• The internationalization of vocabulary is growing with the advances in telecoms and globalization, especially since English has become the only language of scientific research. There is little point in inventing new Swedish terms in science, for example, when all the scientific community are reading/writing their papers in English. Often, in spite of political efforts to promote a local vocabulary, the economics of language revert the higher Data back to Internationalese.

• There is only one language in the World that for historical, political and demographic reasons has remained an exception to this trend: that language is Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese or others, the difference is irrelevant here). It constitutes a parallel system of high level Data that has very few words in common with the rest of the Word. Japanese and Korean are partial exceptions in that they draw from both the Chinese and the International System, but modern words are increasingly International and these languages are converging with the rest.

• 除此之外，中国有一个可笑的困难的书写系统，其功能的语音脚本缺乏独特。 这种化合物的词汇问题：不仅有更多的学习比在任何其他语言的话，但每个字包含更多的信息，因为它需要与其相应的字符相关。

• 此外，因为没有标准化的方式来抄写外国专有名词，甚至地方和个人的名字往往被“翻译”成中文，有时完全离开原来的语音，并成为中国在自己的权利名称。 这增加了在中国的语言已经非常庞大的数据元素。

这一切都需要我们的结论：中国是最困难的语言，在一个高层次的学习，无论学生的起源。

这是特别有趣，因为到现在为止这个问题的正确答案是：“取决于你自己的母语”。 与日本/韩国学生可能是个例外，这个职位需要，中国实际上是别人最难的。 成反比的是，它也很难对中国学习其他语言，虽然这是由其他语言功能的语音脚本的事实减轻。

另外一个有趣的结论：中国不仅很难，它实际上是越来越困难。

随着世界变得越来越相互关联和技术占据了我们的生活更加重要组成部分，新的半专业词汇在日常语言中的增加部分。 参照国际概念，如“垃圾邮件”或“等离子电视”的表达式，越来越多地指的是当地的文化遗产表达的地方。 在这个意义上，我们可以说，在世界上所有的语言都趋同，而中国是一个岛国，其余所有分歧。

再有，我们可以从中得出的政治结论，但我致力于写短职位，因此，我们将离开的第二天。 欢迎评论和更正我的论点以上。

来自于生活的每一个学生的普通话点时，他觉得写的语言困难的呼叫。 时间终于来到了，我的 主人，我会按照路径 。 事实上，我打算走得更远。 我证明，中国是世界上最困难的语言。

我知道我危险的地面上行走，日语学习者节是一定要在我爱上所有其declensions的重量。 为了使这是一个公平的游戏，我会先定义我理解的困难：一个普通人需要的时间没有以前接触相关语言，实现一个功能的水平，其中功能理解为能够执行每一个正常的活动，在普通话没有明显的缺点，如：写论文，举办正式会议，以正常速度阅读，在嘈杂的酒吧聊天。 我以我的法语作为这个级别的标准衡量自己的水平。

当然，这个标准和“重大缺点”的整体概念是主观的和难以衡量，但对这个职位的目的，它应该是足够的。 请注意，这里的关键因素是实用工具 ：我特意关注较少，如口音方面只要在正常的沟通方式，因为它没有得到支付。 原因是，我考虑到语言作为沟通工具，而不是一个标志的状况，出身或其他可能的功能。 在中国，任何可能使用模仿口音失去了大多数外国人，因为五官立即给他们带走。

除了口音，像中国古典的重要领域给予我的“功能性”的定义，重量很少，原因很明显。 它是真实的，通过这个定义，我削弱我而言，最困难的语言，但我们可以负担得起的，因为我们最强大的武器仍然在储备。

还有一件事之前，我继续：这次演习已经试过很多次了，喜欢这里 ， 在 这里和这里 。 我忽略了以前的结果，因为他们这样作为老师的看法或某些常规参数没有任何在现实生活中的使用比较标准。 每名学生可以自由选择他自己定义的困难和功能水平，但在我看来，在这个岗位，总结，大多数人自然会是一个“ 的水平，需要在本地环境中使用的语言无缝”接受。

我的论点如下通过3个阶段的学习中文的过程：首先，我证明，中国是容易的，然后我证明，这是很难的。 最后，我会放弃的原因，中国是世界上最难的语言。 如果您已经熟悉学习普通话，你可能想直接跳到第三章。

中文是容易

简单的汉语语法和单词的第一个列表在一个基本水平，容易发音和记忆（音）在非常温和的学习曲线。 我已经多次在西班牙学习西班牙语的学生比较，几乎总是在中国普通话的学生更快地开始使用简单的句子。 除了语言本身，我怀疑，对中国的好奇和健谈的性质是它的一个重要组成部分。

如果你已经在中国已经足够长的时间，你可能已经看到一些学生，了解到中国在1年的奇迹。 我会见了一些他们自己，并在某​​些情况下，我对结果感到惊讶。 这些人基本上是自然的传播者，他们并不需要的色调或人物，因为他们使用普通话，这是上下文中非常强大的工具。 他们的语调和身体语言的信息渠道万吨，使他们能够受理带几个小时就结束中国的成人，而你坐在那里恨恨地想知道哪里放了。 这是一个真实的故事，顺便。

当然，不是每个人都可以成为这样一个伟大的传播者，但这里的要点是：一个人的某种和为某种目标，中国其实也可以在浸泡时了解到一个简单的语言。 这是一种肤浅的层面上被称为当你听到有人说：“他讲14种语言的流利”。 它只是最基本的字符，几乎没有语法和长期无音记忆的日常词汇列表。 这是行不通的，甚至靠近我的功能级别的定义，但它是有用的，有益的，对于大多数人来说，这是他们所需要的。

正是出于这个原因，每个外国人来中国，特别是好奇和交际的，我强烈建议学习中国的谈话没有字符。 在这第一个层次，它具有经济意义，他们认真研究。

由于长时间暴露在说普通话的环境，一个喇叭没有字符可以去很长的路要走。 然而，严重的学生普通话，非字符的路径是不可持续的。 除其他原因，因为它会使其无法读写，有效地离开了限制大面积的知识。

中文是难

The potential student should think very carefully before stepping into the next phase. Because it requires an investment in time that is out of proportion with the study of almost any other language, or even with such complex undertakings as, for example, obtaining a PHD. In the vast majority of cases it does not make economic sense, and it is simply not a rational choice. So if you decide to go there, just make sure you have irrational motivations.

The difficulties that appear in this phase, such as characters and tones, have already been described in the excellent articles mentioned above , so I will not go into details. I will just stress the factors of context and interdependence, which I feel are sometimes understated. The idea, summarized, goes like this: Those two diabolically difficult codes that are spoken and written Chinese are made even more difficult to learn because they tend to be not self-supporting in the mind of the student, but relying on each other, and then both of them rely a good deal on context.

This is the most absurd part of the system, because intuitively one would imagine that a (semi) ideographic script is independent from Speech. The truth is that not only they are not independent, but the whole system is so inefficient that Chinese themselves rely heavily on their Spoken language to interpret the characters. This explains, for example, why it is so easy to come up with characters that your average Chinese cannot read, or why they can read a newspaper knowing only 2000* characters but you cannot, as they successfully use their spoken language to remember/guess the missing characters.

In the other direction, the dependence on written material to learn to speak is common to any second language, as being able to read words in a phonetically significant way makes them much easier to remember. In China, the existing material in proper pinyin (Latin letters with tonemarks) is practically zero, and the tendency of some letters and tones to vary among regions makes it almost impossible to learn them properly just from listening. To make matters worse, Chinese speakers themselves rely on the characters to solve ambiguities, as is often the case with names of people and places, or when they explain a new word: “My name is Jiang,” they say, “the beauty-woman Jiang” referring to the 2 parts of the character 姜. Ambiguities tend to happen a lot in contextual languages like mandarin, even more when a foreigner is involved.

This mutual influence between speech and writing has many other consequences unique to Chinese: for example, it is impossible to write down or even read foreign words without an advanced knowledge of characters, making it very difficult to understand familiar names both in writing and in conversation.

All these factors (and many others I haven't mentioned) provide an extremely difficult learning environment for a foreigner. This is the main reason why it is impossible to reach functional level without following a balanced approach on spoken and written language, plus immersion in Chinese culture. It explains why sinologists with a vast knowledge of characters never get to speak the language functionally , and neither do old China Hands living for decades in language immersion. They both stand on a wobbly platform with one leg shorter than the others.

In short, to study Chinese the effort is similar to learning 2 different languages that need to be pursued in parallel**. And each of these two languages is a LOT more difficult than French (for an English speaker).

This however, has still failed to impress the students of Japanese, who are already grinding their katanas to come after my head. I will admit that, up to here, the Japanese language still has a good chance of beating Mandarin. Move on to the next section to see my checkmate.

Chinese is the Most Difficult Language in the World

Now is when we get to the third phase, that of students at a functional level , without any “significant disadvantage”compared with native speakers. As far as I am concerned, this phase is just hypothetical: I have never seen a foreigner who got there. I am not saying this person does not exist, I just mean that after 3 years in China I haven't met any, that is how rare it is.

In terms of the measure standard established, I could phrase it like this: I have still not met a single foreigner who is fluent in Chinese at a level to compete with my own level in French, which is my 4th language, learnt as an adult in 3 years spent in France. I have an accent and a few faux amis , but I can read and write as fast and complex as any of my French colleagues with similar backgrounds, and I can't remember the last time I didn't get something on TV. I challenge anyone to get me a non-native Chinese speaker that can speak or write like I do in French, or even at a comparable level. Excuse me if I sound cocky, I am just writing this because it is the basis of the argument that follows.

But let's get to the real point of this post: Why is Chinese the most difficult Language in the World?

The main basis for this assertion has to do with vocabulary. I think that in most studies about learning Chinese, this factor has been greatly understated. It is in my opinion the single most important obstacle for a student to get to the functional level . Before I explain why, let me give some background:

In the origin there are deep cultural reasons, that come from the fact that China is seen by its speakers as a cradle of civilization. Actually, it can be accurately said that China is one of the cradles of civilization, and the only one that has kept a living language to this day. Linguists will say that the language has changed completely since the times of the Shang, but this is a purely technical objection. Culturally, it is STILL the same people and the same language, it is felt like this by the speakers, and this entails a series of attitudes that are unique to Chinese.

These “attitudes” include not recognizing Latin or Greek as cultural references, and by extension not accepting English or other foreign roots in the creation of new words. This is the heart of the matter. This makes things extremely difficult for foreigners studying mandarin, and also for Chinese studying foreign languages. And it has implications that go beyond the scope of language learning.

Regarding the practical consequences for the student of mandarin, consider this: the active vocabulary required to obtain a standard level of language—for example, the vocabulary required for highest level of HSK— typically contains no more than a few thousand words, which are more than enough for everyday general conversation. And yet, the HSK11 people that I have met were not even close to competing with my French.

The reason is that for people with a higher education, the passive vocabulary really needed to attain a functional level is much larger than the vocabulary required in any standard test of proficiency. Think of vector , ion or metaphysical . None of these words enter the standards lists of vocabulary because in theory they are technical terms, and yet they appear in normal conversation and you are expected to recognize them even if you have no idea what an ion really is. You acquire these words through a lifetime of living inside a culture.

So what happened with my French? Obviously, I just learned the few thousand words necessary to get along, and from then on it was extremely easy… because the vast pockets of specialized vocabulary were for the most part already known to me. And that is because, once you have learnt to decode phonetics and grammar, and above a certain level of vocabulary, all the languages in the World become almost the same—except for Chinese, that is.

And as a consequence of this Chinese differentiation, the only practical method for most people to achieve functional level is to spend a lifetime in immersion, in order to acquire the vocabulary in all those fields that are not studied in language school and can only be learned through experience. In summary, for a student to become functional it would take, following our three phases above:

1. Exceptional communication abilities, talent and motivation.
2. Years of full-time study to learn reading and writing.
3. Even longer – min around 10 years? – in 100% immersion in China.

Essentially, we are speaking of a person who is dedicated to Chinese as a career, who has a talent for language and who lives in a total Chinese environment for many years. It is not impossible that this person exists, and we might even have someone in comments below who responds to this description. But the conjunction of those 3 conditions in one single person is extremely rare, and for the vast majority of students, functional level in Chinese will always be out of reach.

Excuse the long post, I wrote it out of frustration the other day when I got stuck in the middle of a sentence containing ionic treatment, partly because the word for ion, 离子 (li2zi3) like many other technical words, does not give you any clue when it is out of the context of physics. I would like to see what the Japanese (who are pretty good at saying “ion” phonetically) have to answer to this. Checkmate.

And Chinese has won the dubious honour of being the most difficult language in the World.

NOTES:

*There has been much discussion about this and the number is probably wrong. The point is that even when you get to know more characters than a native Chinese, he will still be able to read much better and faster than you. This is frustrating.

** I am using terms very loosely here, Written Chinese is not in itself a language but a representation of Chinese. It is not really studying 2 languages, but I find this comparison useful to give a feel of the raw amount of data that needs to be stored into your head.

聚苯乙烯。 If you are interested in this debate, see the summarized and hopefully more clear post here .

There are some beliefs that, although not originally from China, were embraced so thoroughly by the Chinese that they became part of the local culture. One example is Buddhism, imported from India in ancient times. Another one, I have found out, is the teaching of the modern management gurus, imported from the USA.

It is interesting how analysts of China continue to explain all the social phenomena with the Confucian tradition, when it seems to me that the Johnsonian and Golemanian thought must be at least as influential nowadays. Walk into any Chinese bookshop or check out the local pirate's tricycle to see that self-improvement and cheese management titles rule supreme. The glossiest and most liquid books on the front table are the likes of: “Train yourself to start the next Google”, “How I changed myself from a complete idiot to a Fortune 500 CEO”, or “How I built a company that acquired the company of the idiot in the previous book”.

Now, I have to warn you at this point: the titles mentioned may not be 100% exact, I am illiterate in the field of self-improvement. As a conceited, self-styled free-thinker I cannot help an almost classist repulsion towards those works, and I frown even on the tricycle that sells them. During my years in the old Europe I happily managed to stay away from the rites of personal productiveness. But ever since I moved to China, the new philosophy is lurking at every turn of phrase, and all resistance is in vain.

One of the concepts that appears most often in conversation is that of EQ, or emotional intelligence, coined by D.Goleman in his 1995 best-seller . After dozens of Chinese spin-offs over the years, it has become an everyday expression here. It is not surprising that an idea like EQ should be so popular in the highly competitive Chinese system, where it provides some much needed comfort: don't worry if you didn't make it into a top Uni – the books say – because it's not IQ but EQ that will determine your future. The pair IQ/EQ is also known in Chinese as 智商/情商，(zhishang/qingshang), although I find that the English abbreviation is more commonly used.

Whenever EQ comes up in conversation I like to point out that the concept is unscientific , especially in the loose form in which it is used here. But my wikipedic erudition always fails to impress the locals, and I have seen my EQ summarily analyzed in multiple occasions. The first time this happened to me was during a lunch with my colleague Jia, an otherwise bright engineer, in the first year of my stay in China. I can remember it almost vividly:

- Uln, your Chinese is getting pretty good.
- Thanks - I ignored it. The comment is standard icebreaker in mandarin.
- You have a very good IQ – he continued.
- Hm, thanks, you are also not bad.
- Yes, but.
- But? -

He looked me intently in the eye. It must have been the expression called “frank positive emphatic” in page 362 of the emotional book. When the look had been established, he proceeded:

- IQ is not good enough.
- No?
- No, you should watch your EQ.
- You mean, Ah Q, by Luxun?
- No, I mean EQ.
- So who wrote that one?
- Nobody did.
- It's not a book?
- It is many books.
- Is it any good?
- Listen here. EQ is what explains why some people with lower IQ get further in life than others with higher IQ!
- You mean, like guanxi.
- No, like emotional intelligence.
- Ah, I thought…
- Guanxi is just a part of it. EQ is about your skills to get on in life!
- I see.

But I didn't see. That human relations and non-technical skills are essential in one's career was one obvious thing, that I should check my parameters like a cranky old motor was quite a different one.

- Your IQ is Okay - he insisted – but you should watch your EQ.
- Like what?
- Like there are open positions in HQ, that would be a good move for your career.
- What?
- A corporate level position is the way to leverage your expat experience .
- But I don't want to live in Paris!
- You see, that is EQ.

I was beginning to feel a bit annoyed by the philosophy. I weathered another “empathic positive penetrative” while I plotted my counterattack.

- So, why don't you apply to go to Paris yourself? – I said finally.
- What, me?
- Yes, of course, you have much more experience!
- But I am not an expat!
- So what, it's not required.
- You know, Uln – he paused slightly – I have my children to take care of.
- There are family packages.
- She would never let me, my in-laws would kill me!
- Hah! –I said victorious – You should watch your EQ!
- But I already do!!

And this time he quickly looked away, forgetting the EQ looks, as if to hide some shameful thought. But too late, I had caught him already. It was my turn to pull the thread.

- Jia?
- Yes?
- You are pretty serious about this EQ, right?
- Er, I … do what I can.
- Building good connections in the company is a good strategy, right?
- Er.. you might say that.
- Like having a friend in the HQ, for example, right?
- Huh? No, no, of course I didn't say that..I wouldn't…
- Jia?
- Well?
- You have an excellent EQ, Jia, you know that?
- Oh, haha, no, no, thanks, you have an excellent IQ…

First impressions are usually mistaken, but they are also interesting because the eye is alert to any novelty, and the culture clash is rich with ideas. Warning: this post contains sweeping generalizations. Take it for what it is, and if you are serious about understanding Japan you might want to look somewhere else.

I came to Japan quite randomly, I wanted to spend the holidays in a quiet and relaxing place, and in the week of the Chinese National Day, Japan seemed the only place near enough with the right conditions. I am preparing for the high level HSK later this month, and the plan was to take a few hours a day to practise my characters.

I chose the South of Japan on purpose, with the vague idea that they would probably be a bit more relaxed than in the North, and therefore more suited to my Southern European nature. I soon found out my assumption was wrong. For one reason, there seems to be no such a thing as “South Japan”. Although this place is clearly in the South, they call it West Japan. And the character of the people here is diametrically opposed to any notion of latin indulgence I might have harboured.

The cultural shock came right from the first contact. It was the passport controller at the airport of Fukuoka. I had been given the immigration card in the airplane and, like usual, I had quickly filled my “address on destination” box with a lazy “Hotel Nagasaki”. I couldn't remember the real name of the hotel, and anyway these things are never checked in any reasonable country. In Japan they are. And that is how I met my second Japanese.

“What did you write in this box?,” said the inspector when I was led to his office, pointing at the place in my card.

“Hotel Nagasaki?” I said.

“There is no hotel by this name”.

“No, no, I didn't mean it literally,” I explained, “It is short for 'a hotel in Nagasaki'.”

“Reservation receipt please?”

“Er.. it is in my mailbox, I haven't printed it out.”

And they took me to a series of offices until they found a place where I could connect to the internet and produce my hostel reservation from hostelworld. This took about an hour, enough to convince them that I was a dangerous outlier, so the inspector led me to the searching department.

My third Japanese was an older man who did the most meticulous search I have seen in my life, even feeling with his bare fingers all along the sole of my well seasoned travel socks. He searched into every possible hiding place in my bags and my body, except for that precise one that you were just imagining.

All the while, the three of them -my first three Japanese - treated me with scrupulous respect, constantly smiling, and polite to the point of scary.

One of the things that was shocking in my first dealings in the shops is the “hi!” sound that they emit all the time, to say hello or to hand you something. It comes constantly and accurately, timed like a semiquaver, dressing any human exchange with a singular martial tone. But the most awe inspiring feature is their absolute, compulsive, anal obsession with cleanliness. This country must be the cleanest place I have seen in the World by a large margin.

I came to this conclusion during lunch in one Western cafe in Nagasaki, were I witnessed some peculiar behaviour. It was raining outside, and every time a new client finished paying his order, the cashier walked around the bar with a clean tissue and bent down to wipe the drops of water left by the client's shoes. A completely unreasonable action, even for safety purposes, because the other side of the cafe next to the entrance door was permanently wet and left unwiped.

The only explanation, I figured after a while, was that the entrance area was out of the field of vision of the cashier, hidden by the tables. It wasn'ta safety procedure, it was just that she just could not bear the sight of some drops of water on the spotless floor in front of the bar, even if it was almost pure H2O from the immaculate street outside.

I am impressed by this aspect of the Japanese culture, and I wonder how the thousands of Japanese living in Shanghai cope with the hygiene situation there. I guess this explains why, being by far the largest foreign community in Shanghai, we see so little of them. They must all stick to their Gubei compounds and restaurants and avoid leaving the area unless it is strictly necessary.

The service in the restaurants here is excellent, and the food is prepared with so much care that you actually feel sorry to eat it. The Japanese like things well done, and they manage because, like most Chinese, they are very hard workers. But there is an essential difference in the motivations: Chinese exert themselves for a dream, to buy a car or a better house, or just to avoid being left behind by their fast ecoomy. Japanese already have all those things. Like Westerners, they have little left to dream that can be bought with money. So it seems that they work for the sake of work well done, out of a strong sense of duty and perfection.

When I came to Japan, I was prepared to find meticulous people who revere order. I thought it would be somehow similar to Germany, and although that kind of country is not exactly my idea of fun, it definitely fitted the bill for my week of retirement and study. But Japan is not even comparable to Germany. As far as I have seen it goes further in the field of obsession, to an extreme that for a newcomer -a Southern European one, at any rate- feels like borderline pathologic.

I don't want to judge the character of the different peoples. Each culture has its own ways, and all is well as long as we get along. I just wonder if the little world of efficiency and perfection that the Japanese have built around them is not but an exhausting illusion, and if, somewhere in the middle of all their productive activity, they find the time to think of what is important and just enjoy. The people I am meeting here–starting from the fourth one– are positive and friendly, and I have no reason to suspect they are not contented.

I have just been speaking with a PhD in electro microscopy who is in Nagasaki for a World congress in the field. He tells me that more than half of the participants are German and Japanese, because these two countries rule in electro microscopy applications. Somehow I am not surprised.

“It is a good thing we have Japanese and Germans,” I told him, “Otherwise we would be in trouble to wipe the dust between the atoms”