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。 语法和语音不同，基本上是从词汇中，前两个是无限的情况下适用的规则，而后者则是原始数据。 我们可以打电话给他们的语言代码和数据元素。 代码元素是有限的，而不是增长。 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。 这是因为半专业词汇，如离子 ，J acuzzi或矩阵不包括词汇表，因为它们被认为是太罕见了。 当然这些话是很少使用，但有这么多，作为一个整体，他们其实很经常使用。 这个数据元素是如此之大，不能在教室里的记忆，并获得它的唯一途径是通过多年的浸泡。

• 为什么大多数语言学习者从未意识到这个问题的原因是因为他们是“欺骗”。 在世界上的大多数语言中，这个高层次的词汇几乎是相同的，它并不需要学习。 有一定的限制水平为每一种语言以上的最现代的词是国际和数据是没有更具体的语言。

• 这个词汇衔接的限制水平为每一种语言不同，但它没有这么多的依赖于语言的家庭或原产地域，而是取决于的大小和的扬声器社会的发展。 这是中级以上是非常容易的原因，即使非印欧语系语言，如巴斯克：社区是不是大到足以支持复杂的条款，所有更高的数据是从国际通过。 大多数人往往误解和太重视语言家庭的概念，他们来到这个荒谬的名单，如。

• 国际化的词汇越来越多，在电信和全球化的进展，尤其是因为，英语已成为科研的唯一语言。 在科学发明新的瑞典方面，例如，有小点，当所有的科学界的读/写他们的论文中英文。 通常情况下，尽管在政治努力，以促进本地的词汇，语言的经济恢复更高的数据传输回Internationalese。

• 这是唯一一个在世界上的语言，历史，政治和人口的原因，一直保持这一趋势的一个例外：语言是中文（普通话，粤语或其他人，这里是无关紧要的差异）。 它构成了高层次的数据并行系统，在其余的Word共同很少说话。 日本和韩国是他们借鉴中国和国际体系，但现代的话越来越国际和这些语言的融合，其余部分例外。

• 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

步入下一阶段之前，潜在的学生应该三思。 因为它需要时间的投资比例几乎任何其他语言的研究，甚至等复杂的事业，例如，获得博士学位。 在绝大多数情况下，它没有经济意义，它根本就不是一个理性的选择。 所以，如果你决定去那里，只是确保你有不合理的动机。

在这个阶段中出现的困难，如字符和声调，已优秀的文章 上面 提到的 ，所以我不会赘述。 我只想强调的因素的背景和相互依存的，我觉得有时被低估。 的想法，总结，是这样的：这两个diabolically中国口头和书面的困难代码变得更加困难，因为他们往往​​是不能自我在学生的头脑，但依靠相互学习，然后他们都依赖于上下文的一个很好的协议。

这是该系统的最荒谬的部分，因为直觉人会想象，（半）表意文字的脚本是从语音独立。 事实是，他们不仅没有独立的，但整个系统的效率低下，中国人自己很大程度上依赖于他们的口语语言来解释字符。 这就解释了，例如，为什么它是那么容易提出与字符的平均中国不能读，或为什么他们可以读1报纸知道只有2000 *字符，但你不能，他们成功地使用他们的口语语言要记住/猜缺少的字符。

在其他方向，对书面材料的依赖，学会说话是很常见的任何第二语言，作为能够读取在发音显著的方式的话，使他们更容易记住。 在中国现有的材料，在适当的拼音（与tonemarks拉丁字母）几乎是零，和一些字母和声调的趋势，不同地区之间，使得它几乎不可能学习他们正确只是从听。 更糟的是，自己是中国人的扬声器上的字符来解决歧义，往往是与人民和地方，或当他们解释了一个新词的名称：“我的名字是江，”他们说，“美女子江“，指的字符姜2部分。 含糊不清往往发生在很多像普通话的语境语言，更当一个外国人参与。

这个讲话和写作之间的相互影响，有许多中国特有的其他后果：例如，它是不可能写下来，甚至读外来词，没有一个人物的先进知识，很难理解书面形式，并在谈话中都熟悉的名字。

所有这些因素（以及其他许多我没有提到）为外国人提供的极其困难的学习环境。 这是最主要的原因是不可能达到功能级别后，口头和书面语言上的一种平衡的方法，加上沉浸在中国文化。 它解释了为什么一个字符的渊博知识的汉学家永远不会说话的语言功能 ，也不旧中国双手语文沉浸在几十年的生活。 他们都站在同一条腿比别人短的摇晃平台。

总之，学习中国的努力是类似2，需要并行**追求不同的语言学习。 与这两种语言是一个很大的困难比法国（英语为母语）。

然而，这仍未能打动日本，已经磨他们的武士刀来后，我的头的学生。 我会承认，到了这里，日语仍然有一个很好的机会击败普通话。 移动到下一节看到我的将军。

中国是世界上最困难的语言

现在是，当我们进入第三阶段，在功能级别的学生，没有任何“重大缺点”与母语相比。 至于我担心的是，这个阶段只是假设：我从来没有见过一个外国人到了那里。 我不是说这个人不存在，我只是说，在中国3年后，我还没有遇到任何，就是它是多么难得。

在既定标准的措施方面，我可以词组，它想：我仍然不能满足水平的一个单一的外国人，能说流利的中国竞争，与我在法国自己的水平，这是我的第四语言，作为一个成年人学习在3年内在法国度过的。 我有一个口音和一些人造阿美族 ，但我可以读取和写入，快速和复杂的，任何类似的背景，我的法国同事，我不记得我最后一次在电视上的东西没有得到。 我挑战任何人给我弄一个非中国本土的扬声器，可以说或写，就像我在法国做，甚至在水平相当。 对不起，如果我听起来自大，我只是写，因为它是基础的论点如下。

但是，让我们到这个职位的实际点：为什么中国在世界上最困难的语言？

这种说法的主要依据，做词汇。 我认为，在大多数学习汉语的研究，这个因素已经大大低估。 在我看来，它是唯一最重要的一个学生去功能级别的障碍。 之前，我解释为什么，让我给一些背景：

在原产地，有深厚的文化原因，从事实上，中国作为一个文明的摇篮，其扬声器。 实际上，它可以精确地说，中国是人类文明的摇篮之一，并一直保持一种活的语言，这一天只有一个。 语言学家会说，语言已经改变，因为商代时代完全，但是这是一个纯技术性的反对。 文化上，它仍然是相同的人相同的语言，它是这种感觉的扬声器，这带来了一系列的态度，是中国特有的。

这些“态度”，包括不承认拉丁或希腊文化参考，并推而广之，不接受在英语或其他外国基层创造的新词。 这是问题的核心。 这使得事情，学习汉语的外国人，也为中国人学习外国语言极其困难。 和它的影响超越了语言学习的范围。

关于普通话的学生的实际后果，考虑这个问题：需要获得一个标准的语言水平的积极词汇，例如，最高水平的汉语水平考试，通常需要的词汇，包含不超过几千字，这是更足够日常一般的谈话。 然而，我曾见过的HSK11人甚至没有接近我的法国竞争。

原因是受过高等教育的人，被动词汇真正需要达到的功能水平是比任何能力的标准测试中所需的词汇。 载体 ， 离子或形而上学的思考。 这些话都没有进入，因为在理论上，他们是技术术语，但他们出现在正常的谈话，你承认他们预计，即使你不知道， 真的是什么离子词汇的标准列表。 你一生内的文化生活，通过收购这些话。

那么，发生了什么事，我的法语吗？ 很显然，我刚刚学会相处的几千字，从此它是非常容易，因为已经知道我的大部分专业词汇广大口袋。 ，这是因为，一旦你已经学会了解码语音和语法，并一定程度以上的词汇，所有的语言在世界上成为几乎相同，除了中国，这是。

和作为一个中国这个分化的结果，对于大多数人来说，要实现功能级别的唯一可行的方法是花了一辈子浸泡，以获取那些没有在语言学校学习的所有领域的词汇，只能学到通过经验。 总之，为学生成为功能将采取以下三个阶段以上：

1. 出色的沟通能力，人才和动机。
2. 多年的全日制学习，学习阅读和写作。
3. 10年左右甚至更长的时间 - 分钟吗？ - 100％沉浸在中国。

从本质上讲，我们说的是一名专门向中国人作为一个职业生涯中，谁拥有人才的语言和谁住总多年的中国环境。 这不是不可能的，这个人的存在，我们甚至可能有人在下面描述的意见。 但结合在一个人的3个条件是极为罕见的，为广大学生，在中国的功能水平将永远是遥不可及。

对不起长后，我写了挫折的一天，当我卡在中间含有离子治疗的句子，部分原因是因为离子，离子（li2zi3）字像许多其他的技术的话，不给你任何线索时，它是物理学方面。 我希望看到日本（谁是相当不错说：“离子”的发音）要回答这个。 将军。

和中国是世界上最困难的语言赢得了可疑的荣誉。

注意事项：

*已经很多讨论关于这一点，数量可能是错误的。 点是，即使当你知道更多的字符比是土生土长的中国人，他 ​​将仍然是能读得更好，比你快。 这是令人沮丧的。

**我使用的术语在这里非常松散，写中国本身并不是一种语言，而是代表了中国。 这是不是真的学习2种语言，但我觉得这比较有用的，需要将你的头存储的原始数据量的感觉。

聚苯乙烯。 如果你感兴趣，在这次辩论中，看到的总结，并希望更明确的岗位在这里 。

第一印象通常是弄错了，但他们也很有趣，因为眼睛是警觉，任何新奇，文化冲突与思想的丰富。 警告：这篇文章包含一概而论。 它采取的是什么，如果你是认真了解日本，你可能想看看别的地方。

我来到日本相当随机的，我想在一个安静和放松的地方度过假期，在中国国庆一周，日本似乎与合适的条件下只足够近的地方。 我准备在本月晚些时候的高级别汉语水平考试，和计划，采取了一天的几个小时来练习我的角色。

我选择了日本南部的目的，模糊的想法，他们很可能是位比在北方较为宽松，因此更适合我的南欧性质。 我很快就发现了我的假设是错误的。 的原因之一，似乎是没有这样的“南日本”的事情。 虽然这个地方显然是在南方，他们称之为西日本。 和这里的人的性格截然相反，我可能已经怀有任何拉丁放纵的概念。

从第一次接触的文化冲击。 这是在福冈机场的护照控制器。 我已经在飞机入境卡，并像往常一样，我很快就充满了一个懒惰的“长崎酒店”的“目标地址”我的箱子。 我不记得酒店的真实姓名，反正这些东西都是从来没有在任何合理的国家检查。 他们是在日本。 ，这是我遇到了我的第二个日本。

督察时，我被带领到他的办公室，说：“那你在这个盒子写？”指着我的卡的地方。

“酒店长崎？”我说。

“有没有这个名字的酒店”。

“不，不，我并不意味着它从字面上，”我解释说，“这是在长崎酒店短。”

“预订收据好吗？”

“呃...... 它是在我的邮箱，我没有把它印出来。“

他们把我带到了一系列的办事处，直到他们找到一个地方，在那里我可以连接到互联网，并产生从hostelworld我的旅馆预订。 这花了大约一个小时，足以说服他们，我是一个危险的离群，所以检查员，使我的搜索部门。

我的第三个日本上了年纪的人做最细致的搜索，我已经看到了我的生活，甚至与他裸露的手指一直我以及经验丰富的旅游袜子的唯一感觉。 他在我的包和我的身体的每一个可能的藏身之处，搜查到，精确的，你只是想象的除外。

所有的同时，他们，我的前三日本 - 严格遵守对待我，不断地微笑着，礼貌点吓人。

是我第一次在商店交易令人震惊的事情，一个是“您好！”的声音，他们发出的所有时间，打招呼，或交给你的东西。 谈到不断准确的，像一个十六分音符定时，穿衣任何一个单一的武术音的人类交流。 但最令人振奋的功能是其绝对的，强迫，清洁肛门的痴迷。 这个国家必须大幅度我在世界最干净的地方。

我来到了这个结论在午餐时间，在一个西方的咖啡馆在长崎，我亲眼目睹了一些特殊的行为。 外面下雨，每次一个新的客户支付完他的命令​​，收银员用干净的组织酒吧走来走去，弯下腰擦拭客户的鞋留下的水滴。 一个完全不合理的行动，甚至为安全起见，因为对方的大门旁边的网吧被永久湿和左unwiped。

唯一的解释，我想通了一段时间后，入口区是由表隐藏起来，收银员视野。 这不是一个安全的程序，它只是，她只是不忍在酒吧门前一尘不染的地板上的水滴的视线，即使是几乎纯净的一尘不染的街道以外的水。

日本文化这方面，我留下了深刻的印象，我不知道如何数千名日本人居住在上海的卫生状况有应付。 我想这解释了为什么，是迄今为止最大的外籍人士在上海，我们看到他们的小。 他们都必须坚持自己的古化合物和餐馆，并避免离开该地区，除非它是绝对必要的。

在这里的餐厅的服务是优秀的，准备这么多的照顾，你觉得对不起吃的食物。 日本人喜欢的东西做得很好，他们管理，因为大多数中国人一样，他们是很辛苦的工人。 的动机，但有一个本质的区别：中国对自己的一个梦想，买一辆车或一个更好的房子，或只是为了避免被留下他们快速ecoomy背后。 日本已经有了所有这些事情。 像西方人，他们已经所剩无几的梦想可以用金钱购买。 如此看来，他们的工作的责任和完善了强烈的责任感，工作做得好的缘故。

当我来到日本，我是谁天尊为了找到细致的人。 我认为这将是某种类似德国，那种国家虽然不完全是我的乐趣的想法，它绝对符合我的退休和研究的一周法案。 但日本是德国甚至没有可比性。 至于我所看到的，它更进一步了痴迷的领域中，一个极端的，对于一个新人，一个南方的欧洲，在任何像边缘病理率的感觉。

我不想来判断不同的民族性格。 每一种文化都有其自己的方式，以及只要我们相处。 我只是想知道如果，日本有他们周围建造的效率和完善的小世界，但辛苦的错觉，和某处，如果在他们所有的生产活动中，他们发现的时间去思考什么是重要的和公正的享受。 在这里我感到满足的人，从第四起一个积极和友好的，我没有理由怀疑他们并不满足。

我刚才说，具有博士学位，在电子显微镜是在该领域的世界大会在长崎。 他告诉我，超过一半的参与者是德国和日本，因为这两个国家在电子显微镜的应用规则。 不知怎的，我一点也不感到吃惊。

“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”

I was pleasantly surprised when I booked my last minute flight to Japan, I got a very reasonable price for the 1st October National Day. When I went to Pudong airport I understood why: the streets were empty in Shanghai, nobody flew at that time because they were all at home with the eyes glued to the TV set, watching as thousands of men and women, looking silly in their flowery dresses, marched on Beijing's Chang An Avenue.

I had the chance to watch the parade for 30 minutes as I waited to board my plane. I have to say it was beautiful. Sure enough there were cringeworthy moments, like when the TV showed the communist model peasants, workers and miners , shining like Mario Bros in 256 colours. But of course, a good deal of hypocrisy is always mandatory in these State events, in China and elsewhere. And regarding the execution, I have watched quite a few of the famous mass events in Pyongyang, and I am pretty sure North Koreans are white with envy watching this one, if their state channel even cared to broadcast it.

All this display of patriotism reminded me of the conversation I had last week with little Yi. It was after we watched an advert on TV, the one where the little girl stands on Tiananmen Square squeaking in that ghastly toddler tone: “妈妈我爱你!” (mum, I love you), and a similar girl says the same in Tibetan in front of the Potala temple of Lhasa. The screen then goes white, and a message comes up: “祖国我爱你”. Motherland, I love you. I don't remember which was the company announced, but the advert has been showing continuously for months, and it was the eleventh time I watched it.

I had a delicate stomach that day, and pushed to the limits of resistance, I couldnt help bringing up the subject:

“This is ridiculous,” I said bluntly, “you can't love a country like you love your mother!”

“Of course you can,” said little Yi, “you don't understand the feelings of the Chinese!”

“Yeah, right.”

Babbling toddlers and feelings of the people. That was about as much as I could take before lunch. I regretted I'd spoken at all.

“Our country is like a mother for all the Chinese, ” she continued, “that is what they mean.”

“Yeah, OK, except that it is NOT the same. A mother gives you life, she will always love you and no matter what happens, no matter what mistakes you do or how stupid you behave, she will be there for you. A country, if you fail to comply, will just abandon you or even put you to death ”

“嗯，这是一个不同类型的母亲。 If you fail, the punishment is terrible. If you work hard and succeed, the prize is much greater. It is a mighty mother with higher stakes, what is wrong with that?'

“Nothing wrong, just that that is not Love”

“It is,” she insisted. “Or don't Christians teach love of God, and isn't He much more terrible, that if you fail to behave even your life is not enough, and you get an eternity of pain?”

“I…,”

I shut up. She had some point there. I don't particularly believe in the Christian god, and besides, 2000 years ago they invented a mother Mary precisely to deal with the rough edges of the Old Testament. But it is true that, in religion and in politics, many people in the West feel that same kind of loving feelings as the Chinese. So this was not really a discussion about China, but a more general one on patriotism.

My problem is that I do not accept the word love to refer to a country. For one reason, because I understand love as a feeling that can only happen between persons, perhaps sometimes with animals, but not with things. And definitely not with abstract and easy manipulable concepts like “nation”. But granted, this is merely a problem of language, and I don't have the authority to prescribe how the word “love” should be used, even less how “爱” is employed in Chinese. Still, there is a more compelling argument against love for the motherland: I think it is not in the best interest of the “loving” party.

Let's look at the facts. Human society has to be organized some way, and the power needs to be held by someone. In the past it was the tribe, the emperor or the feudal lord. Now it is the nation-state, nothing particularly wrong with that. All forms of organization require the respect and participation of the citizens to work, and it is in the interest of everyone to treat them accordingly, once their legitimacy has been established. Therefore, I understand it is important to respect and work for the improvement of one's country, and I try to do it, just like I do for my company or for my university. But love them like a mother?

It might be that I am speaking from a very European perspective–though by no means mainstream even there. Perhaps I am failing to take into account the particular circumstances of countries like China. Europeans used to be the haughtiest and most virulent motherland lovers, until their excessive feelings brought about ruin and destruction. Patriotism in China never caused any catastrophe of even comparable magnitude, and instead worked well to save the people from foreign-imposed sufferings. So the feelings of many Chinese are understandable, if not necessarily beneficial today.

And still, the key question we have to ask ourselves is: are these feelings in the interest of the citizen, and in the interest of mankind as a whole? Can the World really be in peace if the relation between citizens and their countries is one of blind love, like child to mother? When there is a conflict of interests, is the loving child not forced to fight for his beloved to the last consequences? Since conflicts of interests and greedy rulers are facts of life that will not disappear, is not the love doctrine in contradiction with the ideal of World Peace that most of us profess?

I would like to hear opinions about this. Of course, I understand that for many sentimental people the feeling of love for their country is very much alive, and there is little to explain since it is just a feeling . But Chinese tend to be very rational and in control of their feelings, and when they choose to love it is rarely out of blind passion, but rather because they consider it a good option. I suspect their patriotism is in most cases the result of a prisoner's dilemma : if other countries act patriotic, the only rational attitude is to do the same.

But I wonder if people are actually following this logic (ultimately a defensive attitude) or are really so in love with their country and their flag that they don't even think much about it. And if you do think about it, do you actually believe that a peaceful World is possible in the long term?

Perhaps I think too much sometimes. Perhaps the fact that I am writing from Nagasaki, where I have just seen one of the most chilling exhibitions of human-caused horrors, might have some impact on my thoughts today. And still, I stand by all I write here.

What are your views?

(PS. On the same subject, also see this post just published on Chinageeks )

The discussion about racism in China keeps coming back every once in a while, and each time it arouses the strongest passions. This is a post I've been wanting to do for some time, following the interesting comments we had in March, and as a conclusion to the Xinjiang series.

The story that sparked the debate this time is that of Lou Jing , a Chinese half black participant in a TV talent show who has been the object of racist remarks on the internet. I don't think this is in itself significant, netizens of all countries are well known to post outrageous comments that they would never utter in real life. But quite apart from that, it is clear that there is a particular attitude to race in China that shocks many in the West, and this bears some reflection.

Because it is not just immature netizens, but also respected people with names and surnames who support jokes like this , or write comments like this. Of course, in many cases what we see is just a visceral reaction to accusations coming from the West. It is ironic and surely annoying for many Chinese to think that, even in a field where China has always fared better than them, the arrogant, patronizing Westerners still feel justified to give them public lessons.

But after the first wave of heated comments has passed from both sides, it is worthwhile to look at things calmly, and see what is the reality behind these misunderstandings. And the reality is that it is all too common in China to hear such statements as “Uyghurs are dangerous” or “Africans are less intelligent”, or even, surprisingly enough, “whites are more capable than Asian”. All of them rather startling comments to a Western ear, but which Chinese never ascribe to racism.

In fact, most seem to follow the simple logic: “there is no problem in China because, unlike Westerners, Chinese are not racist”. This idea clearly comes from the fact that the large majority of Chinese have no experience with different races other than the studio material produced by the propaganda department, where nations are smiling children in colourful costumes. And behind it all is the “Union of the Peoples” inherited from the communist doctrine, which still stands on what might be described as the center of the country:

Mao: “For the union of the peoples of the World, hurrah”

I am not implying that this communist ideal was not sincere. It was, and it probably still is for many people. The problem is that, while some decades ago this surely was in the vanguard of tolerance and respect, in the globalizing World of today it just doesn't cut it anymore.

Because sure enough, the Chinese are right to say that it is not for Westerners to dictate acceptable racial attitudes. But neither is this a prerogative of the Han. Ultimately it is the peoples that feel discriminated, be it Africans or Uyghurs, who should have a major say. For in any dispute, it is not the offending, but the offended party who decides (within some reasonable limits) what words or attitudes are insulting.

Ultimately, the development of new racial attitudes in China will have important consequences for the whole World, and in particular for its own national interests. The process is still in its initial steps, but already some key challenges are apparent: internally, as more minorities are questioning their treatment by the Han; and externally, as China tries to expand its influence in strategic regions like Africa and South America. All the soft power obtained in these areas will be worthless if the Chinese fail to show convincing respect to the peoples living there.

And again, is China racist?

So is there really a problem, and if so, what can be done to solve it? As some Chinese would have it: Is it wrong just because we say that Asians are better at math and black Americans better at basketball? In other words, is China racist?

From my own observation, China is in essence no more racist than most other countries. Which is to say, very much indeed. Because that is how most of the World is today, and how it has always been. If there is a notable difference between China and the West, it is just one of appearance: we are better at hiding our prejudice.

Indeed, in the West we censor ourselves to a point that it is hardly even acceptable to ask questions like the one in italics, which boils down to: “Do different races have on average different sets of skills?” The non-prudish answer to this is obviously yes, as can be learned from simple observation. Different races, just like different genders, tend to have slightly different characteristics, and this diversity has never been a problem for honest, open minded people, but rather the opposite.

问题是当钝个人选择部分重点对这些差异，然后他们理论中的一种方式，以satisfiy一些低的心理需求。 And at times such individuals have even convinced enough people to be able to rule their country, invariably leading it to ruin and to shame. From old Sparta to imperial Japan, history shows that short-sighted ideas of ethnic purity do not yield best results, groups based on those premises consistently falling behind the creative power of diverse societies.

So, knowing that in every country the obtuse are legion, what has the West done to prevent those outbreaks which oppose diversity and “brought untold sorrow to mankind”? Recognizing that human stupidity knows no bounds and cannot be eliminated, Western societies have instead learnt to sweep it under the carpet. And in an amazingly short period of time, in the second half of the XX century, they have developed a series of norms to regulate speech, enforcing them through the power of the socially acceptable. This non-written code, derisively known as PC, ensures that individuals can remain as prejudiced as ever, but will refrain from making it public, or else face social exclusion.

In the meantime, China's insular society has never really felt up to now the need to develop these restraints, and so its racial prejudice is able to run free in conversation, shocking the sensitive ears of the occasional foreigner, and earning little goodwill from the peoples they are supposed to befriend.

Should China follow the West?

There is a natural resistance from the Chinese to adopt any kind of PC solution, mostly because they don't feel the problems described apply to them: in the history of racist madness, they were mostly on the receiving end. And it is fair to say that, as a people, Chinese have always been one of the most tolerant, accepting different religions and cultures at a time when their counterparts in the West were already going berserk to eliminate the infidel. Why would such a civilized society need to apply the same rigid standards of restraint as the wild West?

It should not, in my opinion, and China is right to ignore upfront many of the Western over-reactions. In a healthy community there is nothing essentially wrong with calling a black “black” or a yellow “yellow”, like Chinese and other peoples do. The complex, guilt-ridden American style PC is best suited for the conditions of that particular country, and should not be forced onto the Chinese.

But this is not to say that the system should not be improved. From my observation of some of the affected communities in China, it looks like the present state of affairs is far from ideal. Chinese should work to modernize their rusty, communist era conceptions and little by little come up with a more realistic, more equal and less condescending racial attitude that will be key for the success of the coming challenges, internal and external. And the State alone cannot undertake this modernization. Like in the West, it is society at large, with its authors, and celebrities, and other public role models that should join in the effort.

Chinese have a golden opportunity now to build their racial attitudes starting almost from scratch, from intelligence and generosity rather than from guilt, and to regain the image of tolerance and good sense in international relations that their country has deserved.

There was some buzz last week on the Chinese internet about this supposedly new concept of Online Democracy. The excitement started with the weird “ elude the cat ” story, and then continued when Premier Wen JiaBao chatted online with “internet friends” . David Bandurski of the China Media Project, who has been watching these things for a long time, was rather sceptical, although some interesting ideas appeared in his comments .

I go back to this because I am surprised there hasn't been much said about the internet chats that for the first time have been organized with legislators participating in the NPC-CPCC Annual Sessions. Where has all this gone? Not even the Chinese language internet seems to be very interested, judging by the search 网络民主. It is obvious that without a strong push of the propaganda machinery the “internet friends” don'tpay much attention to these initiatives.

And why didn't the State Media push it this time? Perhaps they are bored of it already, or perhaps not everyone was very hot for the idea of “online democracy”. For example, NPC chairman Wu Bangguo, one of the strong men in the politburo standing committee, who made these encouraging statements yesterday .

In the end, it is not so much about democracy (that's too big a word for the NPC), but more about trying to give it some sort of role in participatory politics that would allow the legislators to take into account at least some requests of the public. The problem is, this year again, the NPC has given an image of being just a big annoying “Carnival”, where the guest's only role was to clap at the words of Mr. Wu.

Did I say the only role? No wait, the deputies also have the duty of making proposals, and some of them must be pretty talented, judging by their phrases “amazing like thunder” .

ULN takes you for a browse

But follow me for a minute as I browse the Chinese internets, see what interesting things we can find on this subject. A good place to start is izaobao , with their daily roundup of bloggy stories: Click to continue »

What is the meaning of life and work? How can it possibly be so cold in the same latitude as the Sahara desert? Where did you put the camera's battery charger? What do you mean “where did YOU put”?

These and many others are the fundamental questions you ask when back to Shanghai after a reinvigorating holiday in the South. It is tough to get back to real life. Anyway, I will get that camera running soon enough, and I hope I'll be posting some of my fruitiest pics in the coming hours, so do stay tuned. Chinayouren is re-Shanghaied.

您好所有。

One of the most rewarding moments after 5 days of Web Withdrawal is when you sit down at the table and open your laptop with eager fingers. What is even more rewarding is to find that my readers are extremely loyal, so much so that stats actually register MORE views this week, while I was absent, than last week as I churned out 1 post/day. Now there, I am not sure how to take this. It makes me wonder. Feel a bit dispensable , what, if you see what I mean. More about this phenomenon below after my next digression.

Now, one thing I have discovered since I got immersed in the blogging world is the Value of Original Writing . Don't get me wrong, I don't mean “original” in the sense of artistic, but just in the sense of “not copy-pasted”. In this sense I am clearly a Net Original Writing Creator, which explains why I find bits and pieces of my sentences scattered over the Spanish and English internets. I am thrilled. Am I doing literature ? Like Moliere's Jourdain, who spoke in prose ! Or Dylan's more mundane version: “I am a poet, I don't know it, hope I don't blow it”.

Value. Yes, this probably explains why I meet so many people in Shanghai making a living as Copywriters (I am an Engineer, I only recently discovered what “copywriter” means. The first time I heard one guy say the word I though he was a “copyright-er”, as in a lawyer). And I draw my own conclusions from all this. It means that some company guys cannot come up with their own description of their product and need to get “Copy” done by a consultant. I am baffled.

OK, and now to the SEO finding of the day. I am leaving this for the end of the post to make sure readers go through my chat. Here's the jewel: I have found an INCREDIBLY EFFECTIVE way of getting your SEO results skyrocketing in days. Which also explains why I got so many hits in absentia : Almost 60% were Google searches.

You can see for yourself on my sitemeter page (link in sidebar). A large part of these searches are in German, French, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese. Not coincidentally, these are the languages that my Google Translator accepts.

And here is the secret: last week I was playing with the translation tool to check its accuracy. I can confirm that, in terms of accuracy Google Translator is still short of perfect, but it is in SEOptimization that this baby is a real breakthrough. Indeed, by playing with it, by translating many of my own pages into other languages, I was inadvertently getting them stored in some mysterious cache and indexed by Google. Result: I doubled my Google hits in a week, with star strings: “La Charte 08″ and “El Presidente Obama”. Funny.

Tip of the day: Dear readers keep it to yourselves and don't tell Google that I told you. Add translation tools to your blog and make sure you regularly translate posts into as many languages as you can. Soon you will have all the peoples of the world, down to the nuttiest Kazakh herder, rambling into your blog and boosting your stats.

In my experience this works miracles, I am just not sure how long Google will take before they notice the use of Google Translator for SEO purposes and penalize you. For my part I will stop playing with the translator, lest I kill the chicken of the golden eggs.

You will excuse me for writing two serious posts in a row. It's been ages we don't do anything on the Crisis, and these days there's been a series of articles on the subject that I couldn't just let pass.

Two of them have to do with the growth projections for 2009. Yawn. We've been seeing new projections and discussions thereof almost every week, and after the holidays break it looks like here it is all over again. It is mostly fruitless, because there's not enough new information between one projection and the next, and so most of the times the changes reflect the mood of the expert more than anything else.

It was however interesting to read this PD article Sunday where one CPC “renowned economist” worried that “China is likely to lose 3.9 million jobs in 2009″ if GDP growth slows to 8 percent. Well, he need not worry anymore, according to other top CPC officials quoted here the very next day, “China Risks Missing 8% Growth Target”, which will be “extremely arduous” to achieve. They are starting to change their tune, again.

And this brings us to a more interesting subject which, although it is as difficult to predict, at least it is more telling than the empty statistical artifice of GDP. I am speaking of Unemployment .

There has been two contradicting articles over the weekend, by Wang Tao from UBS and by Victor Shih . They hold different positions as to what will be the unemployment figures in 2009 and what will be their social impact. In any case, it is worth noting that both of them, with their 15 Million (Tao) and 35-50 Million (Victor) figures, are way above any calculation by the “renowned economist” of the People's Daily, who gives 1 Million for every % of GDP lost.

Needless to say, I am with the relatively pessimistic predictions of Victor on this issue. Partly because I deeply distrust socio-economic projections issued by banks (you can hardly blame me on that). But mostly because the arguments that Victor puts forward are more solid than Tao's. Based on his deeper knowledge of Chinese politics, Victor goes on to analyze the possible consequences of his prediction in a worse-case scenario.

Noting that, even if the government has the capacity (as he calculated here ) to subsidize the unemployed families for an extended period,

目前的裁员浪潮影响一个年轻而充满活力的队列，最有能力对国家实施暴力的集体行动。 没有任何系统的触发器，我们至少会看到一个穗有必要动员人民武装警察（PAP）的单位遍布中国的本地化骚乱。 中央政府也将被迫（他们这样做已经）推出慷慨的失业救济，为外来务工人员和大中专毕业生（300-400亿元人民币左右）。 如果系统触发的发生和不稳定扩散到相当大的城市，我们将看到PAP和部队的大规模调动，可能是大量流血。 在大多数情况下，中共政权仍然生存大规模，跨地区的叛乱。 然而，“整体投资者的信心”将丢失。

“系统触发”我指的是什么？ 我不知道它会是什么。 然而，如果我们回顾历史，它可以是一个广泛的事件，其中包括一个受欢迎的领导者，严重的自然灾害，一个死一般的传染性疾病的蔓延死亡，一小的学生示威演变成暴力冲突，宗教团体...

这种“触发”（我把它叫做“星火”我以前的帖子）的想法是正确的。 正是缺少的元素，这将使所有的差异：当我们的社会紧张局势的行动的人，知识分子起草路线图，混合是一种不稳定的平衡，等待取得联系火花。 当然，维克多不知道究竟这火花会，我也不知道，因为其自身的性质使得它不可预知的。 但我想补充他自己的假设之一：

The emergence of a massive wave of protest on the internet that extends to all the forums and BBS simultaneously, with new sites being created faster than the government can block the old, which could create a cascade effect that would force the government to commit its worst mistake: close down the internet altogether. This would add to the protesters millions of online game addicts released from their cybercafes, constituting a serious army of instability.

Check out today's post by Imagethief on the subject, showing with 2 nice graphs that we have an unprecedented situation in China. Also, yesterday Jeremiah of the Granite Studio did an interesting comparison of the present situation and the one in 1919 during the May 4th movement. In those times, there was a clear “trigger”: the humiliating treatment of China by the Western powers in the Treaty of Versailles after the First World War, including the unforgivable transfer of territories to Japan.

One last note for the optimists: this weekend I learnt of a reputable economics professor living in Shanghai who recently bought 3 months advance of canned food to store in case the situation gets rapidly unmanageable. In a city like Shanghai, if the logistic networks are disrupted we can run out of food in a matter of days. I am still not quite there myself, but I must admit that, since I heard this, the idea hasn't quite left my head and I tend to go more generous on every visit to Lawson's.

UPDATE: Oops, I completely missed this one. All Roads has been doing the same comparison and drawing his own conclusions. You can see it here .

I was writing just yesterday my latest Crisis article when I realized that in Shanghai we have our own economic weak link, with quite a lot of companies that are suffering as much as the Pearl River Delta workshops. I am speaking of foreign startups in Shanghai.

One of the things that makes Shanghai such an interesting place to live is her magnetic properties that attract all sorts of enrepreneurial metal from around the world. One can read a lot about succesful startups in well informed China blogs dealing with business, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Unless you live here, you can not even start to imagine the thousands of starting business ventures swarming the city. Even in the most modest of social events you will meet a good handful of CEOs in their 20s, always rich with ideas, and typically trying to figure out how to monetize them.

Most of these adventuruos foreigners struggle for a long time before eventually giving up and moving to new horizons. Others manage to run a sustainable business. Very few ever become rich.

But an unusually large number of them are actually going bust right now as a consequence of the Crisis. In the last few months since the summer, already three acquaintances have said farewell to me and to Shanghai, with their dreams broken and their companies bankrupt.

Now, it is probable that for Chinese economy, these bankrupcies won't have the same impact as the ones on the Pearl River , but they do provide some colourful and very typically Shanghainese tales:

For example. I think of my friend who went to work one Monday to find out that there was no computer, and no chair and table, and no company at all, because the struggling Dutch owner and founder of the startup had been busy over the weekend trying to get the best value off the remaining assets before he disappeared out of the country. Fortunately, this girl was only doing an internship in Shanghai and, as last survivor of the company, she had the difficult task of assessing her own performance and grading herself before taking 2 extra free months to travel in China.

Some recent developments of this new trend can be seen also in this article by CER , which warns us against company-sponsored trips and team builidng events. Does your boss sound suddenly generous in the midst of financial turmoil? Does it seem a bit odd that you have been invited to this expensive Team Building week up on the pastures of Heilongjiang? Don't go. Chances are when you are back to Shanghai there is no accounting department left to submit your expenses claims. Or to pay your 2 months due of salary for that matter.

And all this makes me wonder: are we coming back to the good old times of the concessions? The times when only in Shanghai there were dozens of different national jurisdictions where crooks and adventurers of all sorts found the folds where they could flourish; when thousands of foreigners flowed into Shanghai with the most diverse schemes to get rich, usually involving, as Carl Crow would put it: “mixing other peoples money with their own”. Perhaps we never really left that period.

And this leads me straight to the Big Question , which foreigners in Shanghai have been asking themselves for the last hundred years, and which is still a recurrent subject of conversation here: Is it possible to get rich in China?

This is definitely a subject I will be blogging about soon. In the meantime, I strongly recommend that you read this book: “Foreign Devils in the Flowery Kingdom”, by Carl Crow. Among many other things, you will see how little has changed, and how expats in Old Sahnghai answered to exactly the same questions as we ask ourselves today.

One last quote from the book that might help shed some light on the Question above:

Every foreigner went to China with a consciousness of his own [...] mental superiority and a smug satisfaction in the belief that there were many things he could teach the chinese .

To be fair, there are more and more foreigners, especially of the younger generations, coming in today with a serious disposition to learn what the chinese have to teach before they add their own grain of sand. But there are still too many left with the Old China Hand attitude who feel the need to enlighen the locals with their wisdom .

So, here is the first big clue to answer the Big Question: in 2008, just like in 1908, the (few) foreigners who get rich have taken the time first to learn from the country. See the Standard Oil back in the time, or Tudou's Marc van Der Chijs today.

聚苯乙烯。 If you are even slightly interested in China – and if you are reading this blog you probably are – do yourself a favour and get this book immediately from the Shanghai Foreign Language Library or from here .

PPS. If you are my personal friend or relative – and if you are reading this blog you probably are – then just give me a call and come over to my place, I will lend you the book.

I have decided I can't really run a serious China blog without the corresponding “learn Chinese” section.

So here you go. This first post is about the HSK (汉语水平考试) , which is giving me a lot of trouble these days. HSK is the official test for Chinese language organized by the Beijing Language University. Also known as the Chinese TOEFL, or the Chinese Proficiency language. It is a nightmare.

The second and last HSK examination of 2008 will be held on the 22nd November, which is this Sunday. And I have completed my registration and I am joining this time, and I am wondering how I ended up here. One day I told my teacher that I needed some challenge, and before I knew what was happening, it was all set up for me.

Yes, I have always been a bit of a masochist when it comes to languages, but HSK is beyond my wildest expectations. It hurts. It is the most stressful language exam I have ever done. You get less than 3 hours to read and answer more characters than any normal person would read in a week.

The listening part has to be my favourite. They play a CD with a guy babbling in Beijinghua, and immediately afterwards a lady comes up asking a tricky question about what he just said, and in the meantime you are supposed to choose an answer from four different options that have nothing to do with the subject in hand. You are still there wondering if you got the right CD track when there comes the man again with his next old chat. No repeats! you jot down your answer and move on to the next.

Among the hordes of professional Japanese and Korean examinees that will show up at Shifan University this Sunday, I will probably be the only one there just for the sport of it. That must be the Olympic spirit I acquired earlier this year in Beijing.

GOALS: I am aiming at a 6th Level, which according to the official HSK should be enough to enter a non-language academic program in a Chinese university. According to me, the levels of HSK correspond quite closely to the age of a native speaker, so if I succeed in my goal I will be like a 6 year old toddler. Great! Then I will be able to update the age info on my profile.

That is probably what they meant when they said that China would make me grow.

UPDATE: I am still 5 yo I touched the 6 with my fingertips, but was short of 2 points in the grammar section (surprisingly the beijing gangsta-rap listening went fine, I think I got so obsessed with the listening that I overdone it and disregarded grammar). SHIT, I am going in again in April. If there's anyone out there in Shanghai with similar level who wants to join me in the effort, please write me a note.