Regardless of his technical achievements, learning a second language ( and such disconnected one ) is super impressive. Great job.
No it's not.
Oh ok.
Mark Zuckerberg Answers Q&A in Mandarin at Chinese University
181–188 of 188 posts
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Answers Q&A in Mandarin at Chinese University
#182A review of his Mandarin based on a close listen of the first 5 minutes of the video and listening to the rest in the background while I type this (let me know if it changes later): tl;dr - Definitely ILR 1+, probably an ILR 2. Pronunciation needs a ton of work, but that's not the only aspect that is measured when analyzing speech. The foreign policy article (linked in another comment) is overly critical, imho. Detai…
"I would say that it is all comprehensible to a sympathetic native listener." Not really. As a native speaker of mandarin, I have difficulty in catching specific words from time to time, although the rough meaning could be understood.
That is what "comprehensible" means. That the intent of the communication can be understood.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Answers Q&A in Mandarin at Chinese University
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
"His style of answering questions was very American -- very direct." I'm interested in more expanded thoughts on the above. In what way are non-Americans less "direct" than Americans? Is about politeness/rudeness, or something else? Wouldn't that make miscommunication more probable?
Great question, and it's a tough one to answer. First, this is not an issue that's purely "American vs non-American". It's a US compared to Chinese. As a contrast, Russians tend to be very direct even though they are very much non-American. In this specific case, it has to do with his speech acts and his audience. This is a _huge_ topic, so I will only scratch the surface. A simple and clear example would be how he a…
>For reference, my hypothetical response is a kind of DST (search for "DST LOL") that is common in some cultures, even if it is blatant DST.
How about you just tell us what the fuck "DST" means?
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Answers Q&A in Mandarin at Chinese University
#184Earlier quoted context omitted.
Great question, and it's a tough one to answer. First, this is not an issue that's purely "American vs non-American". It's a US compared to Chinese. As a contrast, Russians tend to be very direct even though they are very much non-American. In this specific case, it has to do with his speech acts and his audience. This is a _huge_ topic, so I will only scratch the surface. A simple and clear example would be how he a…
>For reference, my hypothetical response is a kind of DST (search for "DST LOL") that is common in some cultures, even if it is blatant DST. How about you just tell us what the fuck "DST" means?
It seems to mean "sucking up". And I think it stands for "Dick Sucking Technique", coined by this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz7TWpRXyRY
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Answers Q&A in Mandarin at Chinese University
#185Earlier quoted context omitted.
Per hour, adults are more efficient at learning languages. But kids forced into another language typically get more hours of exposure than adults attempting to force themselves to learn a language.
Do you have anything cite for this claim? All the research I'm aware of strongly suggests (1) It's extremely hard for adults to learn new languages - usually requiring many more hours compared to kids learning second language (2) Brain circuitry to hear, distinguish and pronounce new sounds effectively gets shutdown in older age.
Unfortunately I can't remember where I heard that recently. Knowing my own habits, it wasn't merely hearsay, and may have been from a podcast or other such non-fiction program, and still may have been a rogue opinion. I wish I could think of it. I'll Google around this evening.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Answers Q&A in Mandarin at Chinese University
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
"His style of answering questions was very American -- very direct." I'm interested in more expanded thoughts on the above. In what way are non-Americans less "direct" than Americans? Is about politeness/rudeness, or something else? Wouldn't that make miscommunication more probable?
Great question, and it's a tough one to answer. First, this is not an issue that's purely "American vs non-American". It's a US compared to Chinese. As a contrast, Russians tend to be very direct even though they are very much non-American. In this specific case, it has to do with his speech acts and his audience. This is a _huge_ topic, so I will only scratch the surface. A simple and clear example would be how he a…
Complete and utter nonsense.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Answers Q&A in Mandarin at Chinese University
#187Earlier quoted context omitted.
"His style of answering questions was very American -- very direct." I'm interested in more expanded thoughts on the above. In what way are non-Americans less "direct" than Americans? Is about politeness/rudeness, or something else? Wouldn't that make miscommunication more probable?
Great question, and it's a tough one to answer. First, this is not an issue that's purely "American vs non-American". It's a US compared to Chinese. As a contrast, Russians tend to be very direct even though they are very much non-American. In this specific case, it has to do with his speech acts and his audience. This is a _huge_ topic, so I will only scratch the surface. A simple and clear example would be how he a…
"Chinese-style CEO" version sounds like corporate brainwashing to me (I'm Russian American).
Thank you for the explanation.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg Answers Q&A in Mandarin at Chinese University
#188This is a working translation of Zuck's Q&A at Tsinghua. Hope it helps those of you who are curious about what was said!