Chinese Language

• China is different - What you should know about China and the Chinese

  Lecture by Elke Spielmanns-Rome at the conference „Key competencies – an international culture?“, organised by the Society for Key Competencies in Teaching, Research and Practice, Iserlohn 2008

• Chinese-German dictionary of folk similes (xiēhòuyǔ)

  Edited by Elke Spielmanns-Rome and Wolfgang Kubin, based on a manuscript by Barbara Chang, Buske Verlag, Hamburg 2009

  Xiehouyu are two-part phrases that are very popular in China and are mainly used in the spoken language. This Chinese-German dictionary is aimed at all learners and speakers of Chinese who wish to expand their language skills with the important component of xiehouyu and lists almost 1,400 proverbial comparisons in Chinese characters, in pinyin and in German

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• Folk Similes (xiēhòuyǔ)

  Xiēhòuyǔ 歇后语 enjoy widespread popularity in China. Xiēhòuyǔ, proverbial comparisons, are two-part, colloquial expressions that often have a joking, sometimes ironic undertone.

• Folk Similes (xiēhòuyǔ) – Examples

  孔夫子搬家 ——〈尽是书〉尽是输

  Kǒngfūzǐ bānjiā —— jìn shì shū

  Confucius moving his house –– (lit) it´s all books
  (pun) lose all the time [at gambling]

• Introduction to the Culture and Languages of China

  The introduction provides an initial insight into the culture and languages of China. In particular, practical aspects that participants need for their personal dealings with Chinese students or cooperation partners are also taken into account: how do you pronounce Chinese names, for example, and what is the significance of "Golden Week"?

  The three traditions of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism and their significance in China today

  Customs: festivals and public

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• Misunderstandings caused by mistranslation

  If a foreigner is not familiar with xiēhòuyǔ and its ambiguity, this can easily lead to more or less serious misunderstandings: