Earthquakes and Nationalism Disasters

The earthquake in Sichuan region was truly tragic. Tens of thousands died, tens of thousands are will probably never be recovered, and what the news doesn't report is that the worst-hit areas were already extremely impoverished. The cities stood up comparatively well, but the cheap, poorly built structures (especially the schools) in the surrounding areas completely flattened.

But perhaps the more sinister side of this 天灾 is its exploitation in the name of nationalism. Nearly every TV channel has been running 24-hour coverage of the earthquake, but you can't watch for more than a minute without seeing footage of the Prime Minister shouting nationalistic slogans or people holding hands singing Communist-era nationalistic songs. You never hear about the international aid.

In fact, there are text messages and emails circulating around the Chinese community listing all the foreign companies that purportedly haven't donated any money to help the earthquake. They're the typical targets - Walmart, McDonald's, Louis Vuitton, Carrefour, and others. A quick Google search finds that with the exception of Louis Vuitton (who I couldn't find a donation for), the others joined quickly in the aid efforts. I hate McDonald's as much as the next American concerned about our country's health, but give credit where credit's due.

You can argue that nationalism in America increased in a similar way after 9/11 (and irrational nationalism at that - Freedom Fries, anyone?), but here it's all so manufactured by the state that it can't help but leave a bad taste in your mouth. China has so much to offer, but accepting others help and then pretending it never happened isn't going to help anything.

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영어가 모국어인 사람들은 왜 한국어를 배우기가 어려운 이유

이 포스트는 내 처음 한국어로 블로그 포스트인데, 한국어에 대하니까 잘 어울린다. =) 자, 시작합시다! 왜 외국사람에게 한국어를 배우기가 어렵다? 난 한국어를 배우고 있는 사람이라서 이 문제에 대해 많이 생각하고 있었다. 여러가지 이유가 있는데 오늘 몇 이유만 논할 것이다. 1. 분명히 한국어 문법은 영어에 비해 너무 많이 다른다. 영어는 “오른쪽으로 분지(分枝)의 언어"라고 하는데 한국어는 “왼쪽으로 분지의 언어"이다. 뜻이 무엇이나요? 예를 보면 이해할 수 있을 것이다. 간단한 문장만 말하면 (외국어를 말하는 남들은 간단한 문장의 수준을 지낼 수가 약간 드물다), 간단한 걸 기억해야 돼: 영어는 “SVO”인데 한국어는 “SOV”이다. “I’m going to school”라고 한국어로는 “저는 학교에 가요"라고 말한다. 영어로 똑바로 번역하면 “I’m school to go”이다. 두 언어 다르는 게 목적어와 동사의 곳을 교환해야 한다. 별로 어렵지 않다. 하지만, 조금 더 어렵게 만들자. “I went to the restaurant that we ate at last week.” 한국어로는 “전 우리 지난 주에 갔던 식당에 또 갔어요"라고 말한다. 영어로 똑바로 번역하면 “I we last week went to restaurant to again went”말이다. 한국어가 왼쪽으로 분지 언어라서 문장 중에 왼쪽으로 확대한다! 이렇게 좀 더 쉽게 볼 수 있다: “전 (우리 지난 주에 갔던 식당)에 또 갔어요”. 주제가 “전"이고 동사가 “갔다"이고 목적어가 “우리 지난 주에 갔던 식당"이다. 영어 문장은 오른쪽으로 확대한다: I (S) went (V) to (the restaurant (that we went to (last week))) (O). 그래서 두 숙어 문장 만들고 싶으면 생각속에서도 순서를 변해야 된다. 2. 첫 째 점이니까 다른 사람을 자기 말을 아라들게 하고 싶으면, 충분히

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