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Caught Napkin
I discovered a new Canto word this week! And I won’t forget it, because I learnt it in a situation and from a live person, not a dictionary or app.
So I do this Sichuan cooking thing for up to 18 people at a time, and a few months ago I discovered some beautiful bowls that were on sale in the Fusion in 東涌 (Dong Chung “Tung Chung but NOT pronounced “Tung”, East River branch) – colourful and perfect for lunches and dinners. Then I needed a tablecloth to go with them, one thing led to another; suddenly I had a new dining ensemble.
But my blue napkins now looked completely out of place. I needed napkins! Green ones. However, finding napkins in Hong Kong is, surprisingly, easier said than done. So I trotted off to the fabric shop. (Fabric: 布, bou) What’s it for, said the shop guy. Er I said. I didn’t know the Chinese word for napkin! Because we only use a roll of toilet paper plonked down in the middle of the table!
I explained to the guy and he told me 餐巾(chaan gan, meal towels). But of course! Because ’tissue’ is Paper Towel (紙巾, ji gan)。 So now, because of the colourful fabrics all around me, the long explanation I had to do to get him to understand I didn’t mean tablecloth (枱布, toi bou) and the urgency with which I needed green napkins (dinner party two days later) hammered the word so hard into my brain, I’ll never forget it.
And that’s why I recommend the old-fashioned way to get words, not apps. If a machine does the thinking for you, how can you learn? And that’s why I always ask my students to bring me three new words every week, using the tried and tested “ 中文點講呀？" (Jung Man Dim Gong Ah? How do you say in Cantonese?)
Oh and then I got home, realising I had a length of green fabric, not 12 napkins. But a quick call around the sewing machine owning helper population of Pui O soon put everything all right, and 24 hours later I had the napkins. Where else than in Hong Kong?
And the dinner was super! Especially the dumplings.
P.S.
Now you can eat succulent Suchuan food AND learn Cantonese, almost at the same time! Right here in Happy Jellyfish People’s Democratic Language Bureau.
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