Hello my dear classmates,
In this blog entry I write about my trip to mainland China. Thus, this entry is not to be meant to give you deep analysis about bilingualism. However, to share some experiences with you.
Last weekend I had the great opportunity to meet my dad in Shanghai. Meeting him in China for one weekend was lovely. However, I felt really glad when I came back to Hong Kong. And once again I realized that indeed Hong Kong is a place, where "East meets West". If I had complained about Hong Kong being too Chinese, I now realize that it is a place with a dense cultural diversity.
In the first place, I really appreciate bilingualism. I mean in Hong Kong's public space, every thing is translated. Each sign covers beyond the Chinese characters English letters. So it is really easy to manage your daily life without any help of a local friend. Sure, there are some situations where it is easier to have the company of somebody who speaks Cantonese or at least Mandarin (e.g. ordering vegetarian food), but the majority of Hong Kongers understands English. Before my trip I took it some how for granted, that people understand me. However, being in China where almost nobody speaks English (at least the people who I met) and public signs are also in Chinese characters without any subtitles, I felt helpless for the first time in my life in a foreign in country. Therefore, even buying a simple metro people can be a challenge. Sure, I'm exaggerating maybe a little bit. Nevertheless in Europe through my Spanish knowledge, I can manage more less Romance languages such as French, Italien and Portuguese. At least I can read them and guess their meaning... But with Chinese- even I studied it for one year, I am still completely helpless.
Can you guess my drink? It is more difficult for a non-Chinese speaker, when I remove the colors, isn't it? Or at least for me and Justine. So there is so much more about the brand, besides its name: the color, the logo, pictures (here: orange) which all transmit an universal message and give the brand its brand identity.
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