"Ordinary World" by Lu Yao - Difficult Words and Phrases

[Woodford]

I just had one of those interesting situations where I learn a difficult word or phrase in one book, and then I quickly see it again in a subsequent book (and then I know what it means, because I learned it!). Further up this thread, we were discussing the phrase "你不听人家说，在咱们山区，方向盘一转，给个县长也不换！“ A driving job is so valuable that nobody would trade it for any other job, even the job of a county magistrate.

Now I'm reading Jiang Rong's Wolf Totem, and it's currently describing three different jobs on the plains of Inner Mongolia among the nomadic tribes: shepherds, cow herders, and horse groomers. Taking care of horses is the most glamorous job, but tending to the cows is nice and easy. Then comes this phrase: 放牛是草原上最舒服的活计，草原上的人说，牛倌牛倌，给个县官不换。 It seems to be exactly the same idea as above.

 

 

[phills]

On 9/19/2022 at 9:11 PM, Woodford said:

你不听人家说，在咱们山区，方向盘一转，给个县长也不换！

 

I get the sense that historically people in China thought being a govt official was the best (easiest? cushiest?) job / career ever, so I can totally see the expression of comparing something as better than being a 官.

 

BTW I read a chapter of this like 6 months ago, but got intimidated by its length, and then switched my focus on listening.  But now I'm back from my break, and I see that you've just read this, I'll join in as well.  There are tons of audio book recordings of 平凡的世界 on youtube, so I'm going to make that next on my list.

[Woodford]

On 9/23/2022 at 8:49 AM, phills said:

BTW I read a chapter of this like 6 months ago, but got intimidated by its length, and then switched my focus on listening.  But now I'm back from my break, and I see that you've just read this, I'll join in as well.  There are tons of audio book recordings of 平凡的世界 on youtube, so I'm going to make that next on my list.

Wow, I never thought of looking for the audio book version of it, but I think I might give it a try! I am in fact looking to train my listening skills more in the future.

 

Once I finish Wolf Totem in the next month or two, I plan to finish volumes 2 and 3 of 平凡的世界. It might be the final book in the “book marathon” I started a couple years ago in order to gain Chinese literacy. After that, I want to casually follow news, Zhihu, and WeChat blogs for a while.

[imron]

On 9/19/2022 at 11:11 PM, Woodford said:

where I learn a difficult word or phrase in one book, and then I quickly see it again in a subsequent book

This will happen again and again in your learning, and is the reason why reading (or otherwise using the language) is such a great way to determine which words or phrases are relevant and useful to you. 

[Woodford]

On 9/23/2022 at 8:02 PM, imron said:

This will happen again and again in your learning, and is the reason why reading (or otherwise using the language) is such a great way to determine which words or phrases are relevant and useful to you. 

 

For me, it's been surprising how I underrate certain words. "Oh, it's taken me X number of books to see this for the first time, and it seems really obscure. How useful could it be?" And then I immediately encounter it again in Book X+1, even though that book is by a completely different author and sometimes in a completely different genre. Plus, there's just an ever-growing web of cultural knowledge that one can't really find in dictionaries. A certain book makes a reference to some Chinese historical figure, tradition, etc., and then I think, "Wow, I wouldn't have understood what that means beforehand, but I do now!" For instance, one of the very few Chinese films I've watched (because I don't find movies to be a very rich source of listening practice, due to long stretches without much talking in them) is "Lost in Thailand." I didn't think much about it, but then I read a book that referenced that very film. Hey, I know that film! It's just a steady accumulation of knowledge, it seems.