Tag Archives: Chinese

When China Met Russia

As told by Karen Liu (NYMP13)

Ni hao ma? [How are you?]” my Posse older sibling greets me in Mandarin Chinese.

Norminah! [Alright!]” I would respond in Russian. “Kak dela? [How are you?]

Wo hen hao. [I’m well],” replies Luis, a fourth-year Posse scholar, in Chinese again.

The conversation would then follow with Luis asking a clarifying question about Chinese grammar while I ask him how to translate a phrase from English to Russian. Once we have exchanged our mini-language lessons, we would hug, say goodbye in Russian/Chinese and then depart for our respective classes. [While these encounters were frequent,] Our language exchanges also often extend beyond the minute-long mini-lessons.

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