Confusing “Liù” You’ve been in China for a few days already. You’ve mastered shopping in the supermarket (wasn’t that hard). It’s time to level up – night market. You’ve been warned that prices are not given and you might need to haggle for them. You’re aware that it’s going to be a challenge but you don’t fret over this. Equipped with your “Survival Chinese Dictionary” you’re ready to conquer mysterious world of street vendors with their even more mysterious food... Or at least that’s what you’ve thought.
So here you are buying a... fruit. It’s rather vague description right? Not your fault. You simply can not say anything more about the thing you’re willing to buy. You’ve never seen something like this before and you don’t know it’s name (not only in English but even in your mother tongue). Quite honestly you suspect that this fruit simply doesn’t have a name in either of the two languages. But that’s not the point. The point is you’ve decided to buy this. Using your “Survival Chinese Dictionary” you’re asking for the price. It probably doesn’t cost more than 10RMB so you expect that the vendor is going to simply show you the price using his fingers. Assumption happens to be correct but the outcome unexpected at best.
After your question the vendor looks you in the eye, shows you his thumb and pinky and says “Liù”. Well you’ve never expected to understand what he’ll say to begin with, but his hand gesture is unmistakably perplexing. The vendor repeats “liù” and shakes his hand vigorously. That confuses you even more. What’s that suppose to mean?!
– ‘Woman. I’have no idea what you want from me’?.
– ‘You’re pronunciation is just so-so. You’re not trying hard enough’?
– ‘Maybe you should call a friend’?
At this point you quite seriously consider calling one of your Chinese friends for help. Consternation must be written all over your face because the vendor stops his action and takes out a pice of paper and writes “6” on it. You’re saved. You pay the man and still confused go back home.
Next day you see how your colleague teaches children to count in English. She shows the numbers using her fingers. Suddenly you see your encounter with the street vendor in a new light. You’ve learned your lesson: body language isn’t as international as you thought!
For all confused ones that might need body language translation – look below.
After your question the vendor looks you in the eye, shows you his thumb and pinky and says “Liù”. Well you’ve never expected to understand what he’ll say to begin with, but his hand gesture is unmistakably perplexing. The vendor repeats “liù” and shakes his hand vigorously. That confuses you even more. What’s that suppose to mean?!
– ‘Woman. I’have no idea what you want from me’?.
– ‘You’re pronunciation is just so-so. You’re not trying hard enough’?
– ‘Maybe you should call a friend’?
At this point you quite seriously consider calling one of your Chinese friends for help. Consternation must be written all over your face because the vendor stops his action and takes out a pice of paper and writes “6” on it. You’re saved. You pay the man and still confused go back home.
Next day you see how your colleague teaches children to count in English. She shows the numbers using her fingers. Suddenly you see your encounter with the street vendor in a new light. You’ve learned your lesson: body language isn’t as international as you thought!
For all confused ones that might need body language translation – look below.
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