Brand strategy. Content generalist. Web design. Copywriting. Video production. Photographer. #Wuxia and #Gundam geek. Made in Malaysia. Found in Shenzhen, China. Registered pharmacist.
As a long-time ATP fan, it’s disappointing that a lot of commentary on Apple’s presence in China is based on lazy arguments used by mainstream media without a better understanding of the reality of things here.
I mean, I’d give @caseyliss a pass for being Casey but I expected more from @siracusa. Jokes aside, it’ll be interesting to have an ATP tour in China to experience what it’s really like. It’ll nowhere be as comprehensive as living here, but at least a visit would be a good start.
@siracusa For starters, the impression I get is that you guys think it’s wrong for Apple to manufacture in China and the only right course of action is to move out of China. Why’s that?
@siracusa It’s interesting how people who haven’t been to China would look at China as an “authoritarian dictatorship”, while those who’ve been here or even lived here would consider it the “innovation and manufacturing hub” before even thinking about how things are run. That label is what I meant about relying on what you’re told without experiencing the reality of visiting or living in China first hand. I can understand the biased assumptions because it’s something I encounter all the time.
@siracusa I was trying to trim it to fit the word count before culling the whole second paragraph. Ended up leaving out a word and it changed the context of my whole post. I meant to say: "would look at China as an ‘authoritarian dictatorship’ first.” Hence the second part about considering it as an innovation hub first before thinking about how things are run.
When in China, you’ll realise that things are more nuanced in reality. It’s more closer to think of China as the EU than a country.
Want to thank @jenxi and @chungliwen for putting up with my nagging! Now I get to enjoy #wuxia novels by Gu Long and Jin Yong and the fansubber's hard work.
FYI I always find fansubbed English translations superior to "official ones" as lots of love is put into it.
@liztai@chungliwen Enjoy! Official translations are bound by in-house style guides and publisher’s rules, so less room to work with.
And they need to get everything done before things go to print. Whereas I can always go in and keep iterating and making small corrections, except for the ebooks.
I also advocate publishing on the web instead of ebooks because I get to drop hover tips everywhere for footnotes for more context and translator notes.
Milestone unlocked. Aiming for the minimum of 1 lesson a day compounds over the years. @duolingo is my most consistent habit, along with daily reading.
Aim to read the minimum of 1 minute a day and you’ll find you’re reading the whole chapter or more on normal days.
@BoxerDevil Japanese. I can read and listen, compared to before I started. I’m able to say some basic sentences, but holding a conversation would still be tough.
My goal was to be able to understand anime better and read some books that are only available in Japanese. I can grasp some sentences in anime now without looking at the subtitles. Reading is tough because I need to increase my kanji vocabulary.
A little surprised to hear on @atpfmn 575 that @siracusa isn’t familiar with QQ.
It’s the predecessor of WeChat. Tencent created QQ as OpenICQ, then renamed QQ due to the ICQ trademark.
QQ was designed as a desktop messaging app and is still widely used as such. In contrast, WeChat was designed mobile first.
Nowadays QQ has grown beyond just desktop messaging, and is a place for entertainment like social games, music, shopping, microblogging, movies, and group and voice chat.
Dafuq with calling Yang Guo (杨过) "Penance". I don't care if that is what his name means whatever but you dont have to translate Chinese names like that. I can't take this translation of Jin Yong's book seriously omg 💀
Like, there's this character in Mysterious Lotus Casebook called "Duo Bing", can you imagine if you call him "Always Sick"?? Chinese names don't have to be direct translations omg
@liztai I spoke to Gigi at length about this. I was against the name translations, but have come around to accepting such an approach is necessary for readers who are new to both the wuxia genre and Chinese settings.
It also puts the reader in the perspective of a native speaker. Native speakers know what his name means each time we hear the name.
Really hope these novels help get new readers interested in the genre and then move on to translations that retain more pinyin terms.
@liztai The official translations are from a British publisher, probably targets all English-speaking readers who are new to the genre. And from what I’ve observed, many readers have English as a second language.
It helps that the names aren’t too confusing and easier for them to remember/track.
@liztai@chungliwen From my experience, it’s very common for Chinese people to ask for the characters of the names when introduced. And from there decipher the meaning of the names, or ask what it means if it’s an unusual name.
Even in situations where only surnames are exchanged, they would still ask for the character, though in this case the meaning isn’t important.
I’m actually itching to start my version of the The Smiling, Proud Wanderer. Long discussion over the translation of the XAJH title. I’ll be sharing that in an article soon.
Hey, I’m Jenxi Seow from Malaysia. I grew up in Singapore, practiced as a #pharmacist and left the profession to pursue #entrepreneurship. I’m now based in #Shenzhen.