Momenti or Mei wenti
I am constantly asked if I’ve learned Chinese. Well, which Chinese language? I get two everyday! It can be more than a little confusing.First, I’m in Guangdong Province in southern China. Canton, now known as Guangzhou, is one of the biggest cities here. This province is where the Cantonese language originated. It has been the predominate language of this area for many years. Nearby Hong Kong also had Cantonese as the main language. However, in 1956, the Communist Party decreed that Mandarin should be the Putonghua, or “Common Language” or, in other words, the official language. Of course, Hong Kong did not come under China until 1998, and therefore, remained a predominately Cantonese speaking territory.
Now, Mandarin is taught in Hong Kong, like the rest of China. But Cantonese is still the predominate language. And now Hong Kong is really about the only city where Cantonese is still commonly used.
Except………….. here at Decca Furniture! Remember, this is a Hong Kong owned company. The management travels here weekly from Hong Kong to work here and returns on weekends. Most of the top management is fluent in both Cantonese and Mandarin and many speak English rather well.
But most workers, come from Northern provinces, where only Mandarin is spoken, and with Guangdong populated mostly by workers only fluent in Mandarin, it is what you hear most of the time.
Except…… at Decca meetings and functions. Most are dominated by managers from Hong Kong, and guess what…… they speak Cantonese in those meetings. Most other business here is conducted in Mandarin. I’m lost. I seldom know when one is used and when the other is used. All the meals I attend have just Hong Kong managers, so they are usually speaking Cantonese. Company functions, like the Chinese New Year Party, have speakers for both Cantonese and Mandarin!!
Early on here, I learned a commonly used term: momenti, meaning “no problem”. In the next meeting, I bravely spoke up at one point and said “moment” about a situation we were encountering. Unfortunately, I was quickly refuted, that “No”… in this meeting it was “mei wenti”, since this meeting was being conducted in Mandarin!! Well, that is a problem for me!
How do I win? I need to learn two languages!!
posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 6:46 PM
Comments: 0
