Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan Posted December 11, 2012 Is there a distinct benefit from speaking or understanding Chinese? lol that is only a joke really, though there are some serious topics that could be discussed in tangent, my real question is how much can one benefit from the discussions and translations in the Chinese language forum? Thank you Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChiDragon Posted December 11, 2012 (edited) It was not a joke. This is not just a Chinese issue. It applies to all other languages. One knowing the words or characters is only the beginning to step across into another culture. By knowing the writings without knowing the culture and philosophy from its origin, it would be meaningless if one try to interpret something by using one's own native cultural thinking and philosophy. Most importantly, I think most people would have problems with the application of the words or characters in communication. The worse in the Chinese language, most of the characters can be used as a verb or a noun depends on how it was phrased in context. Sometimes, two compound characters has a complete different meaning rather than their individual meaning. For example, the term 自然(Ziren), we all knew it means "natural" by now. However, if we break it down, then it is a different story. 自: self; auto 然: yes therefore... 自然: self yes; automatically yes. One has to do a mental conversion that anything is an "automatically yes" which will lead one to think that was being "natural". Edited December 11, 2012 by ChiDragon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
