Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[smiling]

I am also a Chinese. I love our country, our nation, and our history very much. I love our ancestors' literature the most, especially poems. When I read it, I believe Chinese is the most beautiful language in the world. I can’t image that our poet can express their so emotional feelings with only twenty words. Of course, I know that our Chinese are behind others in recent century. And I know that we should learn from other countries, especially in economics and politics. I believe it’s the chief reason why we study English. There is no country which was born to be democratic and developed. Every country’s people have make great efforts to fight for wealth, democracy and freedom. When I see more and more normal people are claiming against governments, more and more people are asking for their rights, more and more people who have good education call for the peasants.. I believe that our China has hope. Of course, we don’t change as quickly as you hope, but at least we are making progress. We choose this way because we are afraid of big earthquake in politics ,we don’t like war.

[LucentShade]

"Of course, we don�t change as quickly as you hope" --I'm fine with that. . .

[smiling]

To Lucentshade:
Hello. I don’t know where are you from, and I don’t know why did you say so.
But in my mind, I always hope that people in the world can live together as a family. I always hope that there is no war, no killing, no starvation, no discrimination in the world. We can make friends with each other. We human as a whole can live in peace and prosperity.
And although I don’t know where are you from, I believe people in your countries are as kind as Chinese. I admire you, I hope you can admire us.
Nice meeting you!

[andrew liu]

To Lucentshade:
I'm going to say one thing,your people always like to say democracy,you always believe that you have democracy.but do you think you people really do as you said.No,absolutly not.look your country conduct the wars in afganistan,in iraq.you said that you take demoracy to them,but don't you see the riots,the killings and blood happened everyday there.It's really invasion.then let's look you country's soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners.Do you think this of democracy?No,it's not.it's inhuman behaviors~
_________________
I wish I could make friends around all of the global village,remember I love my friends most.

[asterix]

As long as you are criticising America for its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, perhaps you would be prepared to explain to us the Chinese occupation of Tibet and the disgusting behaviour of the Chinese army there?

[smiling]

To Asterix
I don’t think that the other’s mistakes can prove that you are right. I don’t hate all war, but I think the justice army should do their best to reduce the hurt and death. Some American soldiers’ acts absolutely are wrong, it has admitted by American’s media and government.
Of course, as what I just said, I also don’t think that American soldiers’ wrong acts means that our Chinese army has the right to do the same thing. Wrong is wrong, it shouldn’t be different because of different countries.
I believe that human have the common belief: truth, kindness, beauty.

[andrew liu]

To Asterix
please remember Tibet is our chinese territory from antient times.chinese soldier is not conducting war but are protect their country's completeness of territory~~~
_________________
I wish I could make friends around all of the global village,remember I love my friends most.

[Bob S.]

[aniki]

[tashi]

China killed a lot of Tibetans and now they are complaining about the American imperialism. I want Tibet to be independent!!!

[Cappuchino Child]

I think it is wonderful that you are proud of Chinese culture. But all cultures are a mixture of other cultures. There is not one pure culture such as "Chinese," "Japanese," "American," and so on. All of us are mixed and all of us can be proud of our human heritage.
_________________
Cheers!

Cappuchino Child

[aniki]

[asterix]

I think the Japanese used your language etc., because of the great respect they had, at that time, for your culture. So it is rather unpleasant of you to refer to them as "bandits".

There is a saying, "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery".

In any case the Japanese people have taken that culture and out of it they have formed their own. Apart from the excesses of world war 2 that culture is admired around the world.

[Hobophobic]

Actually some of the oldest known residences of the islands of Japan are the Ainu tribes of Russia which residenced what is now today Hokkaido, and certain tribes of Korea also populated the main islands of Japan. The original religion of Japan is Shintoism; which is an extremely unique religion, and is one of the only naturalist religions ever, and still exsisting. And how would it be possible for the Japanese to "steal" from a culture when it was that culture that came to the country in the purpose to exhibit their culture, and to interbreed with it? And even so; why are you wanting to learn these "bandits"; as you so affectionatlly labeled them; language? I've seen you around the forums asking for lessons in Japanese, and asking the fellow native speakers if your Japanese was correct. If you think so lowly of the culture, than why do you show the interest?
Oh, and by the way; the oldest culture in the world is Middle Eastern. Egypt dates much farther than 5,000 years, and the Sphynx is believed to be even older than 12,000 due to new research discovering that there is water damage on the Sphynx; a structure based in the middle of the desert that's climate hasn't been humid for 12,000 years.

[purna]

To All,
I have no anger to share and no agenda to fulfill, but thought I would just share some ideas that I have been exposed to in recent years

I recommend studying ancient mythology as a way of learning how language, culture, religion etc. spread around the globe. Check out the concept of "Monomyth". Try to understand the ideas of elemental and ethnic myth. If you go into this study, you will basically find that we all have much in common at the elemental level, but that the ethnic level is the one most people seem to focus on, so we see the differences on the surface, but miss the deeper connections below. This is not to say that we are all the same; thank goddess we are not, but most of our basic motivations as humans are springing from the same source, the human psyche.

Until we stop relying on the pronouncments of leaders who minipulate their own people to secure the leaders' power, and start doing our own real research into human history, the ranting and raving that typifies world politics and quite frankly this forum will continue for another 5,000 years, if we survive.

Archeology would seem to indicate that what we consider "higher" civilization started in Sumeria (modern day Iraq) about 3, 500 BCE, spread west to Egypt (eventually to Greece and Europe) and east to India and from India into China (1,500BCE/Shang Dynasty). Then from China to the rest of Asia and the Pacific then to the Americas via Melanesia to Brazil and on to Peru, Mexico etc. This was not the only movement of myth around the globe (eg polar circle spread of myth) but it was a major pathway of world culture. Of course in each place that these myths spread to, they met local cultures with their own myths (usually planting myths connected to Goddess worship e.g. Kali in India) which were then blended together to fit the local (ethnic) situation. The problem as I see it is that most people have taken mythology and turned it into history and many seem willing to kill to prove their "history", which includes religion of course, is the truest, best, oldest etc. As a species, it seems we have a great capacity to "protect our history" and very little capacity to visualize a future that is not held prisoner to our past. Every country and every culture in the world has blood on its hands..it's very human. All life springs from death...think about it. Humans live only by the grace of animals and plants dying

I recommend that people read Joseph Campbell (died 1987), a great mythologist who is recognized around the world for his in-depth and inspirational work which has been translated into many languages.

Peace,
Purnadas