School of Modern Languages

Newcastle University

Chinese @NEWCASTLE

EDITED BY Linda Cheng Spring 2013

Study Chinese at Newcastle University

by Jack Davidson Stage 2

In Newcastle, we have a great opportunity to learn the language in a city

which is conducive to speaking Chinese. Chinatown is fantastic - from ‘Bread

point’, a little Chinese bakery tucked away, to the bigger supermarkets and res-

taurants on Towel Street, it is possible to get lost for hours. I’d recommend tak-

ing either a dictionary or a Chinese tandem partner for the first year of your study

though!

Also, there are hundreds of Chinese-speaking students here. The Anglo-

Chinese Society offers organized events, where students wishing to learn

more about China and its language can meet up with Chinese people keen to

meet those from the UK. Having been a member for the past two years, going out for

meals, nights out or day trips with Chinese people is a fun way to expand vocabulary and learn a bit

about the Chinese way of life. It’s been fascinating to learn about the Chinese culture and its people, but

one thing I have learned (and I’m sure my classmates will agree):

expect very direct questions!

An example of the structure of Chinese is in the explana-

tion of the character 突, which is made up of the hole radical above

the dog radical. According to Hu Longbiao, a legend of Newcastle

University’s Chinese department, a dog jumping out of a hole would,

in fact, be quite a sudden occurrence; thus this character means

‘sudden’ or ‘suddenly’. Pretty unforgettable teaching!

The Anglo-Chinese Society's Halloween night out 2011

1. Ice cream was invented in China around 2000BC when the Chinese packed a soft milk and rice mixture in the snow.

2. China is the 4fourth largest country in the world (after Russia, Canada, and the U.S.).

3. China is eight hours ahead of UK .

4. The Chinese year is based on the cycles of the moon. This is called a lunar schedule. A complete cycle of the Chinese calendar takes 60 years.

5. The Chinese calendar dates back to 2600 B.C. It is the oldest known calendar.

6. Each year is represented by an animal. There are twelve animals which represent the twelve months. 2003 is year of the snake.

7. It is considered good luck for the gate to a house to face south.

8. We know that the Chinese grew rice as long as 5000 BC Archaeologists have found rice grains in farming tools and pots from that period.

9. Long ago, silk making was a closely guarded secret. Anyone who gave the secret away could be killed.

10. Red is considered a lucky colour in China. At one time wedding dresses were red. New Year's banners, clothing, and lucky money envelopes are still red.

Ten funny facts of China

Shanghai Life

Rachael Harris Chinese students 2008-2012

When I first chose my course at university I never thought

I'd end up being a journalist in China but that's exactly

what I'm doing 6 months after graduating! I made then

move to Shanghai just after New

Years and I'm now working for an English language magazine

called City Weekend doing a 3 month internship. They have of-

fices in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. I work 5 days a week

but quite often I'm out of the office reviewing restaurants, all ex-

penses paid of course, or taking part in photo shoots. It's a very

varied and interesting job... I just hope they let me stay on at the

end of my internship.

Shanghai is a massive and very modern city on the East coast of China. It's probably the

least 'Chinese' city in China, (There's Starbucks and MacDonald's on every corner!) and

there's a lot of other foreigners here but there's still some of

Shanghai's history hidden about the place, just as long as you

know where to look. There's always plenty of traditional Chinese

food around. Some of it sounds a bit strange but most of it tastes

good, apart from the infamous stinky

tofu which is seriously stinky!!

I like life in Shanghai because there's

always something to do and you can

do things here you'd probably never even think of doing in

England (I did a couple of nights of improvisational comedy,

definitely wouldn't have the guts to do that in the UK, but as

we say over here – what happens in China, stays in China).

The food's pretty good too. Don't know how I'd live without the 100s of xiaolongbao

(dumplings) shops scattered around the city. Shanghai's famous for it's dumplings and

with good reason, they're delicious and I've never tasted a better one in any other city in

China.

Year Abroad All undergraduate Chinese students spend a year

abroad in Stage 3 (this usually equates to the

third year of study on a four year programme).

The Year Abroad is a unique and very valuable

experience and one of the most attractive aspects

of a degree in modern languages, for students

and employers alike. The experience of living

abroad will improve your language skills im-

measurably. It will also do wonders for your per-

sonal and social confidence and give you a much

broader outlook on the world. Hainan

Shanghai

Chengdu

Chong-

Beijing

I never imagined that, 3 years along the line, I would be sat here

with such an experience of living in China behind me, and that I would

feel like this! Almost as soon as I arrived in China, I fell in love with it.

It was almost like I had been waiting to come to China for a long time

and I had finally fulfilled my dream. My time in Shanghai was one of

the best, life-changing and challenging years of my life and coming

back to Newcastle from China has given me a new perspective and

attitude to learning Chinese and also a firm direction as to where I want

to go after graduation: China!

Rebecca Lee ( stage 4)

in Newcastle Salsa Con-gress II Sunday Work-

shops

Chinese greatly appealed to me because it

is becoming a more useful and necessary lan-

guage to learn. I find the history and culture

of China particularly fascinating and enjoy

learning about it. The year abroad was a very

appealing aspect of the course as I love trav-

elling. Having had a gap

year I was keen to learn

another language as I wit-

nessed how important it is.

Sam Durant (stage 2)

I chose Newcastle because it was one

of the only universities

where I could study 3

languages (French,

Spanish and Chinese). Ad-

ditionally, I wanted to

leave London and go to an-

other city which would

highlight Britain in a new way for me.

Joelle Lerner (Stage 4)

Originally I had wanted to go to Nottingham but was unsure about their three year course,

during which the year abroad is after only a year, which I feel is far too soon. Upon receiving an

offer from Newcastle I came to look around and surprised myself by instantly loving the city,

the university, the people and the sound of the course. The city itself isn’t too

big but big enough to have lots to do. The OAC made me so happy – a library dedicated to eve-

rything languages sounded amazing. The student body seemed great

with loads of societies including a choir and the theatre society, both of

which I have been a part of throughout my time here, as I had hoped

that I would be when I chose Newcastle. Since then, I have never re-

gretted my decision to come to Newcastle. The city is amazing, the

people are brilliant, the course is great and my year abroad was a tax-

ing but absolutely incredible year. I’m pleased that we didn’t have to go

to the university in China in our second year as our Chinese would have been basically non-

existent. However, even though our first few months in China were a strug-

gle, they were worthwhile and led to possibly the best year of my life.

by Rebecca Gee (Stage 4 ) President of Anglo-Chinese Society

Students’ experience

of studying Chinese

at Newcastle University !

2013 : Year of the Snake

2013 is the year of the black Snake and begins on February 10th shortly

after the new moon in Aquarius, the humanitarian of the zodiac. This 2013 year

of the snake is meant for steady progress and attention to detail. Focus and dis-

cipline will be necessary for you to achieve what you set out to create. The snake

is the sixth sign of the Chinese Zodiac, which consists of 12 animal signs. It is the most enigmatic, intuitive,

introspective, refined and collected of the animals signs. Ancient Chinese wisdom says a snake in the house

is a good omen because it means that your family will not starve.

The Common Character of People Born in the of the Snake.

People born in the Year of the Snake are reputed to be thoughtful and wise and to approach

problems rationally and logically, seldom instinctively. Such people are complex beings, they are clever and

men of few words from their birth. They are sometimes egoistic and conceited. However they can be very

active in their friends’ life. They are often too active, not believing other people and relying only on them-

selves. Snakes are also very insightful and naturally intuitive. If anyone has a sixth sense, it's those born in

the Snake year. This is partly what makes them so mysterious. Snakes come in all varieties of colors and

patterns. And maybe that's why people born in the Snake year love to appreciate beauty. People with the

Chinese zodiac snake sign are very stylish, fashionable and have exceptional taste.

Language locks on the canals of culture.

Language is a lock gate that allows access

and progress along the channels we call cul-

ture. Invariably, when I tell someone that I

speak Chinese, they assume that it is a difficult

language, and an impenetrable culture. As lin-

guists, we know that cultures may indeed be

impenetrable without the crucial tool of lan-

guage. Perhaps we can take the analogy far-

ther: winding open a lock gate is hard work, but

not beyond the powers of a normal, healthy hu-

man being. It just requires motivation, effort and

persistence. Locks all around the world lift boats

to sometimes dizzying heights – in engineering, very little is impossible, especially in China. I am not

the best scholar of Chinese, though in my energetic youth I was pretty fluent! I did, however, have

motivation, energy and staying power. I have never found Chinese language or culture difficult or

impenetrable: there are interesting superficial differences in cultures, but deep down we are all hu-

mans.

When I first studied Chinese in the late 1960’s, it was difficult to get to China, and as a for-

eign student, my movements were restricted. Nevertheless, the Spartan conditions provided a fasci-

nating education. Like the Chinese students with whom we studied, we were obliged to do a stint in a

factory and a stint on a commune. We participated in 劳动- manual labour, alongside Chi-

nese workers and peasants, shovelling manure, carting bricks, and weeding vegetable

patches. When work was done we slept on the kang brick bed platform.

Students now have wonderful opportunities to visit China freely and to

work there in comfortable conditions after graduation. If you combine Chi-

na’s limitless possibilities with your own unstinting effort, you will go far.

Dr. Val Pellatt at Chairman Mao Old House, China,1975

Dr Valerie Pellatt

Senior lecturer

in Chinese, New-

castle University

Oscar-winning Life of Pi director Ang Lee 李安

Ang Lee ( 李安; pinyin: Lǐ Ān; born October 23, 1954) is a

Taiwanese-born American film director, screenwriter and produc-

er. Lee has directed a diverse set of films such as Eat Drink Man

Woman (1994), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Crouching Tiger,

Hidden Dragon (2000), which won the Academy Award for Best

Foreign Language Film, and Hulk (2003). He has won the Acade-

my Award for Best Director twice, first for Brokeback Mountain

(2005) and most recently for Life of Pi (2012). He is the first per-

son of Asian descent to win an Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA

for Best Director, and the only director to win two Best Film

Awards (Golden Bear) at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Ang Lee will join Steven Spielberg on this year's Cannes Film

Festival jury. Cannes takes place between 15-26 May.

Film Studies in East Asian section

Movie lovers can learn about cultural

and language by watching film!

‘Cities in East Asian Cinema: Culture, History

and Identity’ is one of the modules we can

choose.

By studying the cinematic representation

of six East Asian cities including Shanghai, Bei-

jing, Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo and Seoul, this

module explores how film plays a crucial role in

reflecting historical and social changes in East

Asian societies, embodying the cultural speci-

ficity of each of these cities, and forming and

transforming individual and collective identities

in East Asia. Focusing on the ways in which

the cities are imagined, created and remem-

bered, the module ad-

dresses a series of im-

portant issues such as

modernity/

postmodernity, post-

colonialism, the national

and the global, memory

and nostalgia, gendered

space, power and re-

sistance.

The Beijing Independent Film Festival

Cinema lovers in Newcastle had the

chance to watch four Chinese films: Shat-

tered, The Next Life, Beijing Besieged by

Waste and The Cold Winter, all produced in

2011. Dr.Sabrina Q Yu, is a lecturer in Chi-

nese Studies at Newcastle University and

helped to bring the festival to the city. She

said: “This is the first time this important Chi-

nese independent film festival has come to

the UK and we feel very honoured to be able

to host the premiere of three films.”

“These films show the side of China you

don’t see in the mainstream media, so this

was a perfect opportunity for anybody who

loves documentary films or who is interested

in contemporary China and want to find out

what it’s really like.”

Mandarin speaking competition

The British Coun-

cil’s Mandarin

speaking competi-

tion has developed

over the last five years from a fledgling

project to a high profile event. This

competition is for UK secondary school

students and was designed primarily

for non-native speaking learners of

Mandarin Chinese. Newcastle Universi-

ty has been hosting the northern heats

of this prestigious competition for the

last three years. The event has been a

great success and we are seeing some

excellent language ability and commit-

ment to learning among a range of

schools in the public and private sector.

Rana Mitter Event

Organized by Dr Jo Smith Finley, profes-

sor Rana Mitter, the Oxford University scholar

and BBC Radio 3 broadcaster, came to New-

castle University on Thursday 1st November

2012, as part of the School of Modern Languages Distinguished

Speaker series. A leading authority on modern Chinese history

and politics, Professor Mitter participated in a double bill of

events, presiding over a 60-minute Q and A session with staff

and students of the School of Modern Languages, and deliver-

ing a public lecture in the University's popular 'Insights' series.

Confucius 孔子 （Kǒngzǐ）

Confucius is one of the most quoted personalities ever. He is so popu-lar that there is a special “Confucius says …” Confucius, whose name literally means “Master Kong”, lived 551-479 BCE. He was a Chinese thinker and philosopher, whose teachings have deeply influenced not only Asian thought and life. A fountain of extremely mindful and wise Confucius quotes springs from these ancient descriptions. Many of them are universal and timeless in their beautiful and simple truth and they are as valid today as on the day they left Con-

“Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.”

It’s the “Golden Rule” and the essence of real compassion. Not compassion as in looking down on someone and have pity for another; this is not real compassion. Compassion means seeing another person as 100% equal to yourself (in value, not in differentials on the surface which ultimately do not matter). In fact it is seeing yourself in every other person. And therefore you cannot harm anyone without also harming yourself. It doesn’t mean losing individuality or self-worth; on the contrary – but the other person earns the same gift.

Contact us For course information please contact Dr Sabrina Yu Tel: 0191 222 5054, or Sabrina.yu@ncl.ac.uk For information about admissions please contact Lesley Sherrin Tel: 0191 222 5082, or sml@ncl.ac.uk

or visit www.ncl.ac.uk/sml/

Coming soon…. Confucius Institute 孔子学院

North East's first Confucius Institute to be opened at

Newcastle University on 18May.

The global network of Confucius Institutes (CI) has been set up

with backing from an offshoot of the Chinese Ministry of Educa-

tion. The key purpose of the Institutes is the promotion and dissemination of Chinese language

and culture. Standing at almost 300 worldwide, there are 11 Confucius Institutes in the

UK. There are currently around 2,000 Chinese students studying at Newcastle.

PADAS!

Could you find 8 pan-

das in this newsletter ?