Dashan Interview, Aug 2008 (Chinese) / 大山做客《奥运中国》2008年8月

[tofurkeyrice]

天哪！！！！！神～～～

[mosoloman]

amazing stuff Dashan wish I could speak Mandarin like you

[mosoloman]

amazing stuff Dashan!! wish I could speak Mandarin like you do..

[magong05]

Dashan, I am very impressed with your fluent Mandarin!! Wish I could speak my Chinese language fluently like you. Mandarin is a beautiful, intelligent but diffifcult language to learn - the 4 tones, 'fa ying' etc for a lau wai to speak it the way you do or master is near impossibility. Obviously, I love my Chinese roots and culture to feel so jealous of you. pardon me.

[simukuikui]

@magong05 加油！中文是最美的语言！普通话的四个声调可以用来朗诵，抑扬顿­挫，有音乐的美感，用普通话念我们的唐诗宋词，简直是享受，是祖­先给予的礼物。

[dillonhe]

Who is Dashan? This dude's chinese!!!

[Wodz30]

He is the most famous white person in China.. and hes been famous for a long time. Respect :)

[brucebruce2007]

What I would like to know is... Does Mark (Da Shan) now think in Mandarin, or does he still think in English but then process that into Mandarin..?? It's one thing Speaking a different language, but thinking first in that language is a sign that you are totally immersed!!!

[marcoxyzxyz]

Well, besides he is immensely gifted and full-time committed to improve his Chinese (for which he had the rare privilege of being individually trained by a xiangsheng master), we should not underestimate that he has been living immersed in a Mandarin-speaking environment for more than twenty years.

[marcoxyzxyz]

Talent is a factor (and Mark's is undeniable) but time is a factor too. I knew an Indian family whose members -including Ma&Pa- speak excellent Mandarin after ten years in Shanghai. The reasons why most foreigners fail to acquire real fluency are: (1) Chinese teaching methods are what they are; (2) they don't really commit themselves to learn the language; (3) they keep speaking their languages while living in China.

[superdog797]

Of course he thinks in it. He's been studying Chinese since 1984.