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Which Language should I learn?

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Lol.

I read the whole argument. As a foreigner who speaks more or less fluent Chinese, I think you're talking out of your a***. Everything Anatheme has said was right. And all your arguments were flawed.

Sorry, what relevance does this have to anything? Have I ever said 'As a British person with a very high IQ and extensive travel around the world' before my argument? No. Because an argument isn't made any more valid/invalid by the person arguing it.

Read your post. Some good points, although a lot of it was wrong and based on assumptions.

Reply 61

miniteen

Original post by navarre

I have reread my post. And I might not be particularly bright, I never said I was. I just said that as someone who knows China relatively well, I can tell you that everything you said was wrong. You're the one assuming things based on things you've heard or thought.

I could go on and on about why it's virtually impossible to even imagine that Asian culture will one day be as widespread as Western culture. But it doesn't bring anything to the thread. I suggest you be quiet when you don't know what you're talking about.

And PS: Yes, a point can be said to be more valid by someone who knows what they're talking about. If some random person came and started arguing with you about the existence of HIV, giving you very convincing arguments against it, would you believe them? No, you'd go see a professional, or at least someone who knows what they're talking about having studied it for a while and stuff. Your argument is unsubstantiated. That's where it's flawed. No examples, and it is quite clear you have no clue what you're on about. And just to be clear, Japanese culture is not confined to manga, anime and judo/karate etc.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 62

Anatheme

Original post by asparkyn

I'm done arguing too. While I think the Brits may be too soft-hearted, what exactly is so bad about Russia? Sorry for the blunt question, I know you've lived there at least 6 months so I wanted to find out. Admittedly, Russia is one of the only places I haven't been to yet, and one day I will, so I might as well get the low down while I can!

I wonder how Russia compares to China. I was in a relatively affluent part of Shanghai a year ago. On the first day I was already subject to an elderly lady shoving and cursing her way to get to a crowded elevator, stabbing everyone's (including my) toes with her walking stick, and yelling at everyone to get out of her way. People smoke in restaurants, and the tables are so closely packed together (economical, economical) so that the only thing you can taste is fag. And not to mention the spitting and the bad service -- China has a lot of fantastic things about it ... but courtesy isn't really one of them, I'm afraid :frown:

An adjective that's often used to describe Russia is "backward". I couldn't really say why, but it really is backward, in an odd way. It's not necessarily a bad thing (not always…), but that's what makes it different. There are things that work and things that don't, things that are seemingly normal and things that seem really out of place. When you don't know them personally, people are generally rather rude and uncaring. I've seen my exchange partner get slapped by someone in the metro because someone pushed her and she bumped into the person who slapped her by accident, people will push you out of their way in the streets or in the metro, etc. The grannies in the museums (and wherever they are, actually) are often grumpy bitches, and I think it's quite a shock for British people who're used to being über-polite and can't stand the idea of not queuing for something.

When you do know them, it's a whole different story, they're warm and amiable, although sometimes they sound a bit like they haven't quite got rid of their old Soviet ways and they can come up with unbelievable stuff (look out for Paul PTS on here, you'll have a right laugh and a good idea of what you can expect). The younger generation is approachable and they're quite keen on making foreign friends, even though the majority don't speak more than a few words of English.

I've never been to China, but a coursemate did Russian and Chinese, lived for years in both places and works in HK atm and reckons they're not too different, although I think he prefers Russia :p: