Using broken Chinglish to converse
Mandarin is going to be the most important language
Yesterday, my friend and I met the cutest auntie from China who was in Singapore for 14 days before she headed off to Austin, Texas. We saw her taking a selfie, and asked to help her take a photo—the conversations continued on and she joined us for the Science Art Museum. She was incredibly well-educated, kind, and inquisitive about my life as a Taiwanese American. She had patted down at the seat next to her at one of the exhibitions, told me to sit and rest, and she told me her story.
Her daughter is pregnant and like most Chinese parents, she was going to the US to help her daughter in the weeks leading up to pregnancy and post-pregnancy. It is quite scary, especially with all the anti-Asian sentiment happening so I told her to be careful, and please don’t be out and about by herself. I used my Chinglish to converse with her, and it made me realise how much I need to brush up on my Mandarin and become better. Here I was, trying to articulate my thoughts, but only at a fourth grader level. I thought about all the potential, philosophical conversations I’ve missed out on because my Mandarin is not so good. I made a mental note that I would be working on this.
Side note: If you’re going to learn another language beside English, why not make it the language that’s the most spoken in the world? More than 1.2 billion people speak Chinese. It’s also widely spoken in Taiwan and Singapore.
She also mentioned that her daughter was considering moving to SG after her child was born. I’m starting to see a lot of interest from the US to working and living in Singapore, especially from the Asian communities.
1) WTF is a non-fungible token (NFT)?
Non-fungible means that it's unique and can't be replaced with something else.
NFTs got hot press after a digital-only artwork sold for $69m. The winning bidder doesn’t get anything physical; he will receive a unique digital token known as an NFT.
According to BBC, “NFTs are ‘one-of-a-kind’ assets in the digital world that can be bought and sold like any other piece of property, but they have no tangible form of their own.” Originality is what makes it expensive—some people compare NFTs to buying an autographed print.
2) Energies. I had a conversation with a fellow content creator and friend, and we were talking about how having haters or doubters” was bound to happen, especially as you put out front-facing content all the time. We chat about creating content on YouTube and how people raise their brows, questioning why we’d do this.
So…you want to be an influencer or something? Do you want to be famous? Why are you doing this? Do you want to be a YouTuber as a full time career? I don’t think that’s sustainable.
I’ve gotten to that point where it doesn’t bother me if people around me joke around it, but I do make a mental note of who has supported me through this journey. On my rocket ship, there are only a few seats. If the energy I feel is negative and consistently negative, I remove myself away from that person releasing it. They don’t understand, and I don’t expect them to understand. This whole experience has made me look deeper into the friendships I currently have, and who I want to be surrounded by.
My general rule of thumb is that I will support my friends in whatever they choose to do—I will be their sounding board and consultant. Though I may not fully understand it, I’d be their #1 cheerleader. That is what I’d hope from my friends as well.
3) Catch up with an old friend. Message someone you haven’t spoken to in a while or have been meaning to do so, but just never got the time. Rekindle an old relationship because in that time, that person was special to you for a reason.
4) Pot-valor (noun) - boldness or courage resulting from alcoholic drink; also known as liquid courage or Dutch courage.
Puffed with pot-valor, my best friend strode to the guy sitting at the bar and asked for his number.
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If you’re curious what my life looks like working in tech media, feel free to take a peek of a random day at work. Also, if you like Drake and lo-fi, then here—you’ll appreciate this.
Have a lovely Easter holiday!
Cheers,
Em
