Speakers of other languages often find it difficult to come to grips with the tones in the Chinese language, whether it’s saying things in Chinese, or decoding Chinese spoken to them. The usual worry is about saying things in the wrong tones, ending up saying something offensive, which is another thing they get warned about.
I try to ease their fears by telling them that it’s not that common that the wrong-tone version will make sense in the particular context, therefore they shouldn’t be too fearful about speaking. (In my experience, a lot of students end up with the rabbit-in-the-headlights effect, just freezing up because they’re too worried about too many things.)
One example, however, proved me wrong.
An American private student kept getting her tones wrong for “boss” / lǎobǎn / 老板 / “old plank”, saying instead lǎobàn / 老伴 / “old companion”, which is a colloquial / informal term used by an old couple for referring to their spouse. I pointed this out each time, warning her that both could make sense (my boss / my husband) if the context is not that clear.
A few months later, she flew out to Singapore. I had offered my second sister as her guide during her time in Singapore, so that she could practise her Mandarin. They did spend time together, during which my student told my sister about her going out with a man from Malaysia and therefore intending to hop across the border to visit his parents.
The next day, my student told my sister that she was going out to the airport to meet her 老伴 lǎobàn / “old companion”, who was stopping over in Singapore en route to Australia.
My sister said to her, “I know you Westerners are very liberal and all that, but here you are, openly telling me you have a boyfriend when you are already married, and even intending to visit the boyfriend’s parents!”
My student said, “Ah!! Your sister did warn me about that more than once. The chickens have come home to roost!”
(London / Singapore, 1980s)
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