Prince Joachim and Princess Alexandra News and Pictures: Dec. 2003 - Apr. 2004

[Josefine]

last thread can be found here

http://www.seoghoer.dk

Princess Alexandra is back in school , she will now learn Chince the mandarin dialect

10. december 2003

ALEXANDRA: LÆRER KINESISK

Prinsesse Alexandra er kendt som lidt af et sprogtalent. Dansk lærte hun i sin tid lynhurtigt ved hjælp af to dygtige privatlærere. Den succes
bliver nu fulgt op af endnu en periode på skolebænken, denne gang ud i kunsten at tale kinesisk. Alexandra er ganske vist ferm til at tale
kantonesisk, der er den dialekt af kinesisk, som tales i Hongkong. Kinas officielle dialekt, mandarin, som tales i blandt andet hovedstaden Beijing, mestrer den 39-årige prinsesse imidlertid ikke, og det er netop den dialekt, som prinsessen er begyndt at studere. Det er imidlertid
ikke et kommende officielt besøg i det store land, som har fået prinsessen til at gribe skolebøgerne. – Nej, der har hun og prins Joachim jo lige været. Det er af ren og skær interesse, at prinsessen er begyndt at læse kinesisk. Men du må altså ikke bede mig om en bedømmelse af, hvad hun kan, og hvad hun skal lære. Det forstår jeg mig slet ikke på, siger prinsesse Alexandras og prins Joachims nye privatsekretær, Kurt Bache. Han understreger, at undervisningen er helt privat

[bramair]

Can you please translate the article? Thanks!

[moosey60]

Yea....I speak Swedish but from what I can gather-

-Princess Alexandra learned Danish with the help of private instructors.
-She has a firm grasp of Cantonese- the dialect spoken in Hong Kong.
-She has now started to learn Mandarin- the dialect spoken in cities like Beijing in Mainland China.
-She is very interested in learning to speak Mandarin because most Chinese speak it.
-Joachim and Alexandra will be learning it together from a private tutor. (Kurt something)

[beebee]

Originally posted by moosey60@Dec 12th, 2003 - 6:52 pm
Yea....I speak Swedish but from what I can gather-

-Princess Alexandra learned Danish with the help of private instructors.
-She has a firm grasp of Cantonese- the dialect spoken in Hong Kong.
-She has now started to learn Mandarin- the dialect spoken in cities like Beijing in Mainland China.
-She is very interested in learning to speak Mandarin because most Chinese speak it.
-Joachim and Alexandra will be learning it together from a private tutor. (Kurt something)

Joachim will be learning to speak Mandarin too? It wouldn't have any practical application for him, would it? And plus it will probably be easier for Alexandra to learn Mandarin than it would be for Joachim. But still, the thought of couples undertaking a new language together is very sweet!

[anna]

Men du må altså ikke bede mig om en bedømmelse af, hvad hun kan, og hvad hun skal lære. Det forstår jeg mig slet ikke på, siger prinsesse Alexandras og prins Joachims nye privatsekretær, Kurt Bache. Han understreger, at undervisningen er helt privat

-Joachim and Alexandra will be learning it together from a private tutor. (Kurt something)

Joachim will be learning to speak Mandarin too?

No !

The Personal Secretary to TRH Prince Joachim and Princess Alexandra’s Household, Kurt Bache, talks about her language tutoring.

[bramair]

Thanks, moosey60! I think it's cool that she's going to learn Mandarin, as I am fluent in it also!

[Alexandria]

Polfoto 15-12-2003 Lord of the Rings Premiere in Denmark

[moosey60]

Originally posted by anna@Dec 12th, 2003 - 7:56 pm

No !

The Personal Secretary to TRH Prince Joachim and Princess Alexandra’s Household, Kurt Bache, talks about her language tutoring.

Sooorrrrrrrrry...haha... ...sounded like she said that it'd be good for her AND Joachim to.blah blah...and it said something like "Alexandra AND Joachim's" teacher-type person.

Haha.. never mind, I only speak Swedish. I'm just intrepreting the Danish-text that looks like Swedish.

Ah, here it is:

prinsesse Alexandras og prins Joachims nye privatsekretær...I guess i interpreted "sekretaer" as tutor-type person. Never mind.

[felipa]

[quote]Originally posted by beebee@Dec 12th, 2003 - 7:31 pm

Originally Posted by moosey60,Dec 12th, 2003 - 6:52 pm

Yea....I speak -She has a firm grasp of Cantonese- the dialect spoken in Hong Kong.
-She has now started to learn Mandarin- the dialect spoken in cities like Beijing in Mainland China.

Just to put something straight:

Cantonese: it is a dialect, spoken mostly by ppl from Guandong/Hongkong areas and some overseas Chinese, who come from these region;

Mandarin: it is OFFICIAL language in China, spoken by almost all ppl. It is NOT a dialect!

[bramair]

Actually, Felipa, Mandarin is a dialect, but it is the official dialect of China and Taiwan and the most widely spoken one. People who speak Cantonese can read written Chinese, and so can all the other speakers of other Chinese dialects. Also, almost all the people are supposed to know Mandarin, but in areas where other dialects are spoken, like Hong Kong, most of the people learn it only in school and speak it rather poorly. Take it from someone who has lived in Asia and knows Chinese and another dialect.

[moosey60]

Aha! I was right! Jk :flower: Never mind. I'm Chinese so I think I should know which language/dialect goes where-ish. Yes, I knew that Cantonese was from Guangdong in Chinese it's called "Guang Dong Hua"...So...mebbe it should be called Guangdongese? :P

[felipa]

Originally posted by bramair@Dec 17th, 2003 - 1:24 pm
Actually, Felipa, Mandarin is a dialect, but it is the official dialect of China and Taiwan and the most widely spoken one. People who speak Cantonese can read written Chinese, and so can all the other speakers of other Chinese dialects. Also, almost all the people are supposed to know Mandarin, but in areas where other dialects are spoken, like Hong Kong, most of the people learn it only in school and speak it rather poorly. Take it from someone who has lived in Asia and knows Chinese and another dialect.

bramair, I myself a Chinese, so I guess I know one or two things about my own's mother tongue. Don't you think so?

Cantonese is actually called "Guang Dong Hua" in Chinese, just as moosey60 correctly point out, which actually means "language spoken in Guang Dong area", i.e. Canton as pronounced by the Westerners.

Mandarine is OFFICIAL language, for it is used by news broadcast, schools, business, government and home as well in mainland China plus Taiwan. It's been based on northern dialetct just "High German" is, but itself is NOT a dialect.

Saying ppl who speak Cantonese and othe Chinese dialect have to learn Mandarin at school just support my statement: Mandarine is OFFICIAL lanuage, because ppl don't need to learn to speak a dialect at school, right? BTW, the "learn" Madarin at School for most of us is not different from American going to school to learn English., Danish go to school to learn Danish.

No matter what dialect ppl speak in China, Taiwan and Hongkong plus overseas, the writing Chinese are the same, except we write Chinese in simplified version at mainland China or traditional one in Taiwan & Hongkong. Cantonese is a spoken dialect and DOESN'T have its own writing form.

If you go to China, you'll find there are FAR MORE ppl understand you when you speak Mandarin than Cantonese. Hope this end our discussion about Chinese.

[lasu]

Okay. I have to add this.

Main Entry: di·a·lect
Pronunciation: 'dI-&-"lekt
Function: noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle French dialecte, from Latin dialectus, from Greek dialektos conversation, dialect, from dialegesthai to converse -- more at DIALOGUE
Date: 1577
1 a : a regional variety of language distinguished by features of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation from other regional varieties and constituting together with them a single language <the Doric dialect of ancient Greek> b : one of two or more cognate languages <French and Italian are Romance dialects> c : a variety of a language used by the members of a group <such dialects as politics and advertising -- Philip Howard> d : a variety of language whose identity is fixed by a factor other than geography (as social class) <spoke a rough peasant dialect> e : REGISTER 4c f : a version of a computer programming language

[hrhcp]

yeah !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.... keep it up Iasu !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :flower:

[bramair]

Felipa, I never disagreed that Mandarin was the official dialect spoken, and that yes, people can understand the written form of Chinese, so I don't know why you are repeating what I'm saying. Mandarin used to be called "Guan Hua," the dialect that only the government officials spoke, or "Beijing Hua," dialect spoken in the northern part of China (I'm going way back in history here), that is why even though it is the premier form of Chinese almost all Chinese people learn, nevertheless, I disagree with you when you say it is not a dialect, because historically, it was. Anyway, we are getting off the subject. I will agree to disagree with you here, I am just glad that Alex decided to learn the language of her Chinese heritage.

Also, nice to meet another Chinese person on this forum :P

[andiemac]

i was just curious why she decided to learn mandarin. besides the possible reason of representing denmark overseas, there is not much reason to learn it though. she won't have much oportunity to speak it in denmark assuming that there are not that many chinese people over there. are there many chinese in denmark ? is there a chinatown there ?

[moosey60]

Originally posted by andiemac@Dec 19th, 2003 - 3:42 pm
i was just curious why she decided to learn mandarin. besides the possible reason of representing denmark overseas, there is not much reason to learn it though. she won't have much oportunity to speak it in denmark assuming that there are not that many chinese people over there. are there many chinese in denmark ? is there a chinatown there ?

Well, Alexandra said that she was just interested in learning Mandarin. She loves Hong Kong and I guess she just wants to know more about China including the languages. She has said before that she wants her sons to experience Hong Kong too....something about Hong Kong being exciting and her loving the smells, sights, and sounds.

[Jasl]

Originally posted by moosey60@Dec 19th, 2003 - 9:24 pm
i was just curious why she decided to learn mandarin.

I believe that the people in Hong Kong now are being more and more open to learning Mandarin. Well, there's many mainland Chinese people going to Hong Kong and it is now again under Chinese rule, so it only makes sense that many Cantonese speakers now also want to learn Mandarin.

[lori]

Cantonese is a spoken dialect and DOESN'T have its own writing form.

Correct. Most of the dialect are just spoken language. You know one dialect that does not mean you can travel to another region and understand their dialect. Remember the backward country the China used to be. An official language is thus needed to communicate throughout the country.
Alexandra and perhaps Joachim "want" to learn Chinese, the way I see it, it is the business reason. You guys should travel to southeast area of China and see what a booming region that is. It used to be American manufacturing jobs exported to Mexico, but now they are down to China and Vietnam. So here you go, the reason why.

[paulette]

Is that Princess Alexandra? :woot:
She is getting more gracious and lovely as ever. I loved her attire, it looks so good on her. So with her hairdo, looks perfect on her. :)