With the rise of China, Chinese is a Chinese that many diplomats choose to learn.The Ambassador and Supreme Commissioner of the United Kingdom, France, Japan, and India in Singapore were interviewed by the Lianhe Morning Post to talk about their experience in learning Chinese, their love for Chinese and Chinese culture, and how Chinese help them advance diplomatic work.
Some ambassadors and diplomats in Singapore pointed out that the rise of China has continued to observe people from all walks of life in China. As a regional hub, Singapore can be used as diplomats, scholars, politics and business people to observe China to observe ChinaEven the development and changes in Greater China.
Kara Owen, the highest commissioner in Singapore in Singapore, believes that Singapore is very international. Here you can contact many people with different backgrounds. You can discuss regional topics and understand China's changes.
She said: "Many people work in Singapore, have rich experience, and have been in many places in this area. This is a good place for thinking and discussing Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Pacific Ocean of India and Southeast Asia."
"Many of my friends and contacts have business in China and have a lot of experience in China. Through them, I can understand what happened in China in time, or I can understand China through my own network."
The internationalization of Singapore is also reflected in the intersection of academic perspectives and news information.
Japan's Ambassador to Singapore pointed out that there are many international conferences in Singapore that have more opportunities to discuss issues in this area, China and the United States, and also have Chinese and English media in the area.
Some people believe that in recent years, multinational companies and capital have accelerated their withdrawal from Hong Kong, and Hong Kong people and foreign diasporas engaged in various industries have also evacuated, and Singapore is one of their destinations.Therefore, more countries have sent diplomats who understand Chinese to Singapore.
Shilpak Ambule, the highest commissioner in Singapore in Singapore, believes that Singapore and Hong Kong are not a matter of this or one or other problems."I mean, it is not necessary to have to be Hong Kong, nor must it be in Singapore. The two should be complementary. We have a consulate in Hong Kong. There are several officials who speak Chinese or learn Chinese there. If in Singapore and Hong Kong,There are people, this will only bring more benefits. "
Chen Qingzhu, a senior diplomat and tour ambassador of Singapore, pointed out that there are many foreign envoys in Singapore's history, such as William Brown, a political officer of the US consulate from 1959 to 1961, and from 1984 to 1986American ambassador J. Stapleton Roy, Jon Huntsman, USA, from 1992 to 1993, and Marc Abnsour, French ambassador from 2016 to 2022.
Chen Qingzhu said that from a historical point of view, diplomats stationed in Singapore in different periods of foreign countries are interested in different topics.For example, Singapore in the 1960s was still threatened by communism, so the sent diplomats hope to better grasp the underground activities of Communists.
After entering the 1970s, Singapore gradually developed, establishing high -quality universities, research institutes, and highly international think tanks, attracting more people to work in Singapore.
"Diplomacy found that in Singapore, you can exchange very interesting exchanges with the people and visitors passing here, and you can also participate in a good meeting. They think this is a good place to understand this area and China." The Supreme Commissioner in India also loves Chuan cuisine
Diplomats to master a language are necessary tools for their careers.
An Bole, the highest commissioner in India in Singapore, said: "I always think that language is the door to understanding a country and its cultural and strategic thoughts. The more you know a language, the more you understand the people of that country and the possibility of misunderstanding their intentions.The smaller the sex. "
When Anbo joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2002, he chose to study Chinese, and then worked in the Indian embassy in Beijing for eight years.Not only can he speak fluent and standard Chinese, but he can also translate it, as a interpretation of colleagues and Indian leaders who visit China.
Anber believes that the difficulty of Chinese is to know a lot of words and spending time.
"I think the challenge lies in a lot of time, two or three hours a day. At the beginning, write 400 times a day. The difficulty is not language, but time. There mustWhen you, you will read the newspaper and listen to the news network. "
It can speak Chinese, so that Anbo, whether it is in Beijing or in Singapore, has a less gap with people when communicating with people."When you are in China, you can speak Chinese as a foreigner. They are very welcome to help you learn Chinese."
Anber's interest in Chinese also extended to food.As a spicy Indian, Anbo loves Sichuan cuisine.He said, he liked that he liked Gongbao chicken, fish incense shredded, dried beans, Mapo tofu, spicy hot pot, etc., as well as Beijing's pancakes, dumplings, buns, etc.
"There are some things in China and India, the country is relatively large, China has provinces, India, and each state and province have their own characteristics ... We also have many states like spicy food, and there are many places in China who like spicy food.There is a saying in China -Sichuan people are not afraid of spicy, Hunan people are not spicy, and Guizhou people are not afraid. "
The two ancient civilizations of India have been unhappy due to territorial sovereignty in recent years. Anber believes that knowing that the language of the other party is a good weapon for diplomats to do well.
"Diplomats play a very important role, they want to tell the domestic headquarters, or tell the host of the host country, what is the real intention, or there should not be any misunderstandings, or how certain things are in my country or your country.Operation. "
The more difficult to learn from the French ambassador to learn Chinese
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In France, students will learn second language, and most of them choose German; only students with the best grades will challenge themselves to learn Chinese.
French Ambassador to Singapore Minh-Di Tang is one of them.
Zeng Mingyi said, "In France, if you are a very good student, you should learn Chinese, because Chinese is very difficult. Only the best students can learn Chinese, so we all thought of learning Chinese at that time"
Zeng Mingyi is a Vietnamese French. Because he is very interested in Chinese and Chinese culture, he began to learn Chinese when he was in high school.Her interest in Chinese did not fade because she graduated from high school, but she became stronger.
"When I graduated from high school, I think I learned ChineseNot enough. At that time, I couldn't chat with the Chinese, I couldn't read newspapers, and I couldn't read novels, so I wanted to continue to learn Chinese."
Zeng Mingyi has a bachelor's degree in economics and a bachelor's degree in Chinese language and civilization.
For Zeng Mingyi, it is difficult to learn Chinese because reading and writing is very different."I will say, I don't necessarily read; I don't necessarily write it. This is the most difficult. I feel that it is much more difficult than other languages."
She remembers that she had to practice every day before she could ensure that she would not forget the Chinese characters she learned quickly.
Since it is difficult to learn Chinese in Chinese, why should you persist?
"Because you have learned Chinese, you can directly understand a culture. You don't need to rely on others to help you translate, you can directly connect with this culture."
Zeng Mingyi kept the habit of reading newspapers, and read Lianhe Zaobao every day.
"Although I can find a colleague to help me translate, it feels different from the translation. If you can read those articles yourself, it is different and very satisfied."
Although the diplomatic circle is mainly English, Zeng Mingyi believes that understanding Chinese is helpful for diplomatic work.
"In Singapore, or where Chinese, I can speak Chinese with people ... I don't have to communicate with them through other languages. This is very helpful to my work. My work is to understand the opinions of Singaporeans."
Japanese ambassadors practice calligraphy every day to copy Tang poems
The Japanese Ambassador to Singapore, Ishikawa Haoji, was confused about the future.A coincidence, he read the sunset of the famous Japanese writer Odima Miyoshiro and was deeply inspired, and was determined to become a diplomat.
Ishikawa Haoshi said: "The book describes a former Prime Minister Hirota Hirota Hirota Hirota, who has worked hard to promote Japan -China relations before the Second World War, although he failed to achieve this goal and was sentenced to death after the war., But his experience aroused my interest in Japan -China diplomatic relations. "
In Japan in the 1970s, English, French and German were more popular than Chinese. "I was considered a minority at the time."
In order to realize the ideals, Ishikawa has not worked hard in the process of learning Chinese, including bitter vocabulary, learning to write simplified Chinese characters and practice pronunciation."Japanese people are more familiar with Chinese characters, but there are four tones in Mandarin, but Japanese is not, so learning pronunciation is the most difficult."
After graduating from university, Ishikawa entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and got the opportunity to learn Chinese in China.
Study abroad has deepened the understanding and love of Ishikawa's understanding and love of Chinese culture in many ways."In addition to learning Chinese through textbooks, I can communicate closely with Chinese teachers and classmates, such as traveling together and cooking together, so that I naturally learn more Chinese."
Ishikawa was sent to work in Beijing three times.He found that compared to colleagues who only meet Japanese and English, they can use Chinese government officials or ordinary people to communicate fluently, which can reduce communication barriers and enhance their understanding.
Ishikawa still maintains his love for Chinese culture and continues the habit of developing in China -practice calligraphy.Every morning, he will take about an hour and a half to copy Tang poetry, the Analects of Analects."Practicing calligraphy while learning Chinese culture is a valuable time for me every morning."
Ishikawa especially likes Tang Shi."Tang Shi's vocabulary is different from modern common terms. When I don't understand a word, I will stop and read the dictionary and memorize it. In the process of reciting Tang poetry, I found that Tang poetry is very beautiful, and some poems are very touching.It can also reflect the poet's temperament, which is really interesting. "
The highest commissioner in the UK fell in love with the Lunar New Year
Kara Owen, the highest commissioner in Singapore in Singapore, formed an inexplicable bond with Asia: 18 years old and moved to the Philippines with their parents. After joining the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the first foreign place was Hong Kong.Essence
In addition to mother tongue English, she can speak French, Spanish, Cantonese and Vietnamese.
Recalling the hardships when I first learned Cantonese, Irving said: "At the beginning, I could only memorize the vocabulary, especially when there were nine tones in Cantonese, you must ensure that you have a good pair of ears to distinguish these these to distinguish between these.Sound and adjust your pronunciation. "
Owen has suffered a lot of common phrases, such as "three:30, come to me.""Recite these phrases so that I can carry vocabulary while memorizing the tone, which is really useful."
Owen believes that learning foreign languages must be shameless, "Don't feel embarrassed by the mistakes you make.""When I was in Hong Kong, I never let go of any opportunity to chat with Dushi drivers. Talking with them not only increase my Cantonese level, but also deepen my understanding of Hong Kong culture."
In addition, watching children's cartoons and Hong Kong movies also effectively improve Owen's daily dialogue.
"Although my current Cantonese is a bit rusty, I will still seize any opportunity to speak to people in Cantonese. Although the speed is slower, this attempt can be very close to each other." Owen believes that language can reveal a lot of information, such as the same person when using a mother tongue and foreign language, may show different personalities.The language is also very complicated. After the same information is passed through different languages, different segments may appear.
The experience of living in Hong Kong has made Owen's life richer.She said that when a person likes a certain place, she will be infected by local traditional culture. She fell in love with the Lunar New Year because she likes Hong Kong."Whenever the Lunar New Year, I will chat with my dumplings while chatting. This has become a traditional event in our family."
British diplomat: better understand and know the Chinese
Stuart Brown, a diplomat of the British Supreme Commissioner, can also speak fluent Cantonese and Chinese.He is incenseGrowing up, Chinese later studied at Beijing Language University.He believes that Chinese is deeper from life.
When he was in Beijing, the fruit vendors downstairs told him the name of the fruit every day.He likes to sing karaoke, not only pronounces from middle school, but also learns to read traditional characters.He also likes to read the Chinese version of the Three Kingdoms, because "the Chinese also read this book, and the ideological behavior may be affected by the book. I read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and can better understand the Chinese and understand their ideas."
Today, Bao Xu is looking forward to being transferred to Beijing again.
