Asian Culture Discussion Thread

[tokes99]

where did you get the "bilingual people tend to be more intelligent" bit? sound like bias to me...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-benefits-of-bilingualism.html

"The bilingual experience improves the brain's so called executive function-a command system that directs the attention processes that we use for planning, solving problems and performing various other mentally demanding tasks. These processes include ignoring distractions to stay focused, switching attention willfully from one thing to another and holding information in mind"


https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/radical-teaching/201211/bilingual-brains-smarter-faster

"Compared to monolinguals, the studied bilingual children, who had had five to ten years of bilingual exposure, averaged higher scores in cognitive performance on tests and had greater attention focus, distraction resistance, decision-making, judgment and responsiveness to feedback. The correlated neuroimaging (fMRI scans) of these children revealed greater activity in the prefrontal cortex networks directing these and other executive functions. (Bialystok, 2009; Kaushanskaya & Marian, 2007)."

most americans probably don't have that much interaction with or knowledge of asians to be jealous....

I saw this all throughout my schooling years from elementary through college. Before college, Asian Americans/ Asian "FOBS" were ridiculed for being nerdy (as if being intelligent was a bad thing) and their accents were mocked, yet kids that got straight Bs and Cs would always try to get into groups with them to use them for projects, labs, etc. This happened in college in one of my Econ classes too, when I got grouped with some Thai students studying abroad in the US; a whole lot of snickering during our presentation due to their accents, but a ton of @#$@%@$ and complaining about the professor's grade curve while my group and I got an A in the class. I've seen Asian students being physically attacked just for being Asian. This happened while I was at UCSB:

http://dailynexus.com/2009-04-06/pike-frat-faces-assault-penalties/

According to the IVFP police report, five to six men were hanging out in front of PIKE when one of the subjects began hollering at Hong and Elekes, who were passing by the fraternity.

“The subject appeared ‘drunk and belligerent,'” reads the report. “Hong and Elekes ignored him and continued walking. The subject then hollered at them and came up from behind and pushed them both in the back. The subject said [omitted] [omitted] [omitted] – this was possibly in reference to Hong’s Asian ethnicity. The subject then lunged at Elekes and began punching him on the left side of the face. Hong tried to help Elekes and the subject punched Hong once in the mouth, lacerating Hong’s upper lip.”


Then this famous video came out:



I don't know why else any white person would ridicule or attack Asians minding their own business, other than some feeling of inferiority of not being intelligent or succesful as people who came here with nowhere near as many advantages.

there might be some correlation with being multilingual & some things, but that that doesn't necessarily make the relationship with being able to speak multiple languages causal...there might be other factors at play

the girl in that video is ridiculous...it funny that she doesn't even seen the ignorance in her perspective, but i guess that is the privilege of being in the majority, they don't expect to adjust, though that is not to dismiss that there may be real cultural differences that are the source of discomfort, cultures do often clash...

it is unfortunate that those things do happen, white supremacy, though maybe not explicitly on the surface, is at the root of some of it but the success of some asians probably has little to do with these sentiments...as similar discriminatory treatment is given to "less successful" ethnic groups...sometimes it may not really have anything to do with racism at all, some people are just jerks

It's pretty simple. People generally lose languages when it's not used in day-to-day interactions.

Sure, you might speak a foreign language right now, but unless you speak the same language with your kid, it's going to die with you. With how prevalent English is, there is just no practical reason to learn any other language.

#truestory, language is definitely a use it or lose it type thing...there are however very practical reasons to learn other languages if learning them helps you communicate more effectively or if not being able to speak a language puts you at a disadvantage, both of which explain why many americans don't speak multiple languages...

as an aside, for all its flaws america has been pretty good about assimilating people from disparate backgrounds in its recent history, given those people were willing to assimilate (though i guess this is very debatable, given the way most places are so segregated), i kinda feel like to the extent that different groups create/live in their own enclaves (think chinatowns and other singularly ethnic communities) separate and apart from the larger 'american' community/culture is probably a good thing for individual groups (less general social conflict, shared values, more community ties, makes transition for new immigrants much easier, creates a base for economic independence, political prerogative, etc.) but maybe bad for america to the extent that there might be less assimilation; it is really tough balance between maintaining one's own culture, language, and traditions and adopting the culture, language, and traditions of the place one has immigrated to...

 

[slighted]

Maybe I'm biased, but I think the non-stereotypical Asian dudes usually fit in pretty seamlessly with other folks (Latino, black, white dudes).

 

[DadNboujee]

Might be going to a Filipino wedding next year. Wish it was at a beach resort so I could just wear a short sleeved barong and swimming trunks. Wonder if the guys will try to set up a pre-wedding party at air force one.

Hahah don't catch feels though. My homie fell for one

 

[DadNboujee]

Thank American colonialism as to why Filipinos aren't learning tagalog.

Thanks white people

I remember reading an article about this in relation to dark skin.

 

[nomadicsole21]

Thank American colonialism as to why Filipinos aren't learning tagalog.

Thanks white people

You cant blame anyone but themselves for refusing or being ashamed to learn their own language. Its a mental and attitude thing.

Even if tagalog isnt spoken or used anymore dont yall think thats kind of a silly excuse? My language is very tribal and non prevalent but thats not stopping me teaching my kids my language.

 

[sfc415]

It definitely is a dumb excuse and comes down to being lazy or ashamed of not being white. It really isn't difficult at all to learn a language (unless it's Vietnamese ; I know a little bit of a bunch of Asian languages but Vietnamese is impossible for me ). Fluency is hard, but knowing the basics to get around and get your point accross is not.

 

[slighted]

Damn, y'all making me feel bad for not knowing how to speak/write my language.

I can understand 95% of what's being said though. I never date chicks with my same ethnicity though.

 

[HNL HI]

so what's a easy language to learn in your guys opinion? 

 

[sfc415]

Japanese is the easiest Asian language to learn for me (especially because I know Spanish; both languages have the same pronunciations ), followed by Korean. The only tricky part is getting used to long words with a bunch of syllables just to say the most basic things Tagalog is simple too,especially since I can actually read the words. None of these are my native languages though, so I always have to take a few days to relearn the more complicated stuff before a trip to Japan/Korea

And again, I'm in no way fluent, but with a few days of practice and asking the locals to speak slowly, I can manage to get around in non English speaking spots

 

[danikerhino]

Japanese is the easiest Asian language to learn for me (especially because I know Spanish; both languages have the same pronunciations ), followed by Korean. The only tricky part is getting used to long words with a bunch of syllables just to say the most basic things Tagalog is simple too. None of these are my native languages though, so I always have to take a few days to relearn the more complicated stuff before a trip to Japan/Korea

And again, I'm in no way fluent, but with a few days of practice and asking the locals to speak slowly, I can manage to get around in non English speaking spots

Being in the city, I want to learn Mandarin and Spanish. I just feel like I have too much on my plate now.

 

[sfc415]

Spanish is definitely the easiest language to learn since half of the vocabulary is basically English. I feel you though, it's difficult to commit time to learn a language when you have a career and all you feel like doing in your free time is relaxing. Even when I learned the basic "getting around" of Japanese and Korean, it took a couple of days of constant studying, and I only got those days because I planned my trips on Mondays and got an entire weekend (plus long @#$ flights) to cram for them. You have to make studying a language a daily exercise or live in the community to pick it up/get better at it,

 

[EddieDoyers]

My mandarin sucks
I speak cantonese for the most part since my family really only speaks that language instead of mandarin

 

[HNL HI]

interesting that you say Japanese, I feel like the structuring is so different than anything else.

I always do exercises on talk to me in korean, but I probably dont dedicate too much time for it to be effective really

 

[sfc415]

^Maybe it's because I know Spanish. I always heard of how Spanish speakers can pick up on Japanese a lot faster, and I found it to be true despite not being a native speaker. Like I said, the pronunciations are almost exactly the same. It's just the 3-4 "extra" syllables per word that get me

Cantonese is difficult for me too because of the different tones, like Vietnamese. Thankfully everyone in Hong Kong speaks English as well, so I was able to get by with no issue there

I should've learned Mandarin in college instead of repeating Spanish for the easy A. There are so many accounting jobs out here in the Bay that pay extra if you know it

 

[danikerhino]

^Maybe it's because I know Spanish. I always heard of how Spanish speakers can pick up on Japanese a lot faster, and I found it to be true despite not being a native speaker. Like I said, the pronunciations are almost exactly the same. It's just the 3-4 "extra" syllables per word that get me

Cantonese is difficult for me too because of the different tones, like Vietnamese. Thankfully everyone in Hong Kong speaks English as well, so I was able to get by with no issue there

I should've learned Mandarin in college instead of repeating Spanish for the easy A. There are so many accounting jobs out here in the Bay that pay extra if you know it

Almost had a guy hire me and my bro to be an interpreter. We politely declined because we immaturely thought he might be a triad or some organized criminal(being that he was making a proposition to two young mixed guys with baggy clothes that was giving him directions). Turns out that job was legit and me and my bro felt ashamed that we actually stereotyped him and he saw past our attire(and ethnic-stereotypes) and probably viewed us as well-mannered men. Ever since then, I hold nice people in the highest regard amongst everyone I encounter. Although, this doesn't really have anything to do with the current convo, had I took the opportunity, I would have probably been fluent in Mandarin or Cantonese by now at the very least.

 

[HNL HI]

Well I know there's similarities between Spanish and Italian/French/Portuguese but I never heard any correlation with Japanese.

 

[sfc415]

Well I know there's similarities between Spanish and Italian/French/Portuguese but I never heard any correlation with Japanese.

it's not really the words or phrases themselves. Maybe I'm not explaining it correctly.

I think a better way to put it would be: if you wrote a word in Japanese in romanized letters, you could easily read it out and pronounce it almost the same way if it happened to be a Spanish word, if that makes sense. If you only know English, you would have to learn how to pronounce certain words or sounds from scratch. I know that sounds confusing; I'm much better at explaining this in person with a whiteboard

 

[AEA18]

Spanish is definitely the easiest language to learn since half of the vocabulary is basically English. I feel you though, it's difficult to commit time to learn a language when you have a career and all you feel like doing in your free time is relaxing. Even when I learned the basic "getting around" of Japanese and Korean, it took a couple of days of constant studying, and I only got those days because I planned my trips on Mondays and got an entire weekend (plus long @#$ flights) to cram for them. You have to make studying a language a daily exercise or live in the community to pick it up/get better at it,

Try the Duolingo app

Learn a language for free. Forever.

www.duolingo.com

 

[EddieDoyers]

View media item 2306799

Lots of middle fingers up in the air during Trump's speech pic.twitter.com/qidU5XTkKH
— Mary Georgantopoulos (@marygeorgant) January 20, 2017

I wouldn't mess with her

 

[tay1]

Facts =/= trashing. It's common knowledge that most Americans are illiterate and ignorant. If "FOBS" stopped coming to this country, these rankings would be even worse:

https://rankingamerica.wordpress.com/category/education/

According to Pearson, the United States has a “cognitive skills and educational attainment” score of 0.39, which makes the United States rank fourteenth out of forty countries ranked in that category.

According to the research firm IPSOS Mori, the United States ranks second out of fourteen countries in general ignorance about social statistics such as teen pregnancy, unemployment rates, and voting patterns. Italy is the most ignorant of the fourteen countries.


According to the Program for International Student Assessment, the average reading literacy score for U.S. fifteen-year old students is 498 (out of 1000 possible points). That is enough to make the United States rank twenty-fourth out of sixty-five educational systems ranked in that category. Shangai, China, ranked first, with a score of 570

A statistic of general ignorance 

 

[EddieDoyers]

 

[Thats My Word]

How do you asian nters feel about da new great wall movie coming out starring matt damon and viper frome game of thrones?

 

[law3001]

thst aren't the stars of the movie, Andy Lau is. This is a Chinese movie made by a Chinese studio, Chinese Director, and most the cast is Chinese and are actuallly the main characters of the movie. Matt Damon is just heavily promoted in the west to appeal to Chinese audiences, and while a major character he is by no means the most important.

If anything the movie spend three hours trying to tell you how incredible Chinese military is and how long it has been. They cast Matt Damon as a way to get more people outside of Asia to see the movie, since it's the most expensive Chinese movie to date

 

[shogun]

Kinda how marvel and other blockbuster movie studios will cast an Asian person as a minor character to get Asian country audiences to watch it.

 

[shogun]

Is undftd not cool anymore? Was actually thinking about getting a hat but the price of fitteds are too high now.