Job Discussion Forums

khmerhit · Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2003 6:45 pm Post subject:

USers ---- this is not just a term for our World Cop cousins. In my own private lexicon it is a synomynm for journalist. Because they USE people without shame.

Two cents for today! Very Happy

johnslat · Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2003 9:41 pm Post subject: Under world

Dear dduck,
" Also North America is a sub-continent. "
Hmm, I hesitate to cross swords with the daunting Daffy Duck, but sweet sufferin' succotash, way back when I was learinng geography, we were told there were seven continents: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe, Australia and Antarctica. As I recall, the term " subcontinent " was used to refer to India ( not sure if there were/are any other subcontinents ). Has the nomenclature changed? It has, admittedly, been a while since I was in elementary school.
Regards,
John

Albulbul · Joined: 08 Feb 2003 Posts: 364

I feel that scot47 is just trying to poke fun at our over-sensitive friends from God's Own Country.

The question should be : "Why are so many half-wits, of all nationalities and none, attracted to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages ?"

Personally I rather like working with simpletons. It makes me look smart !

SweetOne · Joined: 19 Jul 2003 Posts: 109

Capergirl · Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2003 12:34 pm Post subject:

I am glad someone clarified this for me. There are 50 states, yes? My Chinese students have been arguing vehemently that there are 51 states, and I have not been able to persuade them to believe otherwise. Laughing

lajzar · Joined: 09 Feb 2003 Posts: 647 Location: Saitama-ken, Japan

There are 50 states, and Washington DC, which is outside any state. Maybe tahst what they were thinking of?

chinasyndrome · Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2003 12:54 pm Post subject:

Sunaru keeps telling me that Australia is the 51st state. With the dog-sniffing-backside antics of my illustrious Prime Minister, I'm beginning to believe it. Wink

dduck · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 422 Location: In the middle

johnslat · Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2003 3:36 pm Post subject: Continental drift

Dear dduck,
Well, they're rubber swords, of course. Regarding Central America, I did what I always do when I don't know - I went to " Ask Jeeves " and found:
1. " Most geographers consider Central America to be part of the North America continent; most geographers do not consider Mexico a part of Central America. "
Notice, however, " Most Geographers . . " - which would seem to indicate some discord in the " geographical community ".
Still, some sources are more dogmatic:
2. " Central America is part of the continent of North America and consists of seven countries, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. The land is fertile and dominated by a string of volcanic mountain ranges. "
Regards,
John

Buck Turgidson · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 96

This area of Geography seems rather arbitrary. What is the definition of Central America? What makes one area central America and another North America? And I have never understood the difference between Europe and Asia. It seems they just drew a line throught the Urals and said "This side is Europe and This side is Asia." Why is it that somewhere in this vast expanse of land one continent ends and another begins?

Buck

Steiner · Joined: 21 Apr 2003 Posts: 573 Location: Hunan China

I will ignore the question of Eurasia and instead focus on Central America. In my (small) mind, the distinction of Central America is in the same category as Western Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian Subcontinent. Just a handy way to section off a more or less distinct area. Just because we can refer to Belgium as being in Western Europe doesn't make it any less part of Europe. And just because we refer to the Subcontinent doesn't make India less Asian.

And so on. (for all you teachers in China, especially Roberto Azula)

johnslat · Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2003 4:03 pm Post subject: Near and Far

Dear Buck,
Well. " Central America " doesn't seem too bad. I mean, it IS about half-way between North and South America. But how about the " Middle/Near East ", or, for that matter the " Far East "? These, as far as I can tell, are simply " colonial holdovers " since the " Middle ( or Near ) East " and the " Far East " are so designated only by reference to their distances from Great Britain. Or is there another explanation for those names?
Regards,
John

dduck · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 422 Location: In the middle

Seth · Joined: 05 Feb 2003 Posts: 575 Location: in exile

I know the Chinese names of several countries.
China = Zhongguo = 'middle country' translated literally
US = Meiguo = 'beautiful country'
UK = Yingguo = 'brave country'
France = Faguo = 'law country'
Germany = Deguo = 'virtue country'
Japan = Riben = 'sun's native' aka land of the rising sun
India = Yindu = phonetic version of 'hindu'
Tibet = Xizang = Western storageplace.
Most, like Australia and Canada, have phonetic names, IE 'Aodaliya' and 'Janada' respectively.

As far as I know most of the subcontinents have the same translation into English. Middle east is middle east, SE Asia is SE Asia, etc, even though all Chinese maps of the world have China in the middle. The continents have the same general translation. The only odd one is the name for Africa, 'Feizhou'. Fei, as some of us in China know all too well, is the same Fei as in 'Feidian,' SARS. Fei means abnormal or wrong, so Africa is 'abnormal continent.'

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

As far as maps go, I put up a big wall map in my office last year and was amazed at all the students' responses. Of course, my map has N.A. in the middle Wink

, but they'd never seen one like that before. They said, shouldn't Japan be in the middle? They were incredulous.

BTW, in Canada we believe that N.A. refers to Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. We call people from the U.S., Americans or Yanks.