Chinese 101: no thank you

Hunting for new recipes, I started browsing Martin Yan's China Town cookbook for some oriental tastes. Most of the ingredients look standard. A lot of the meats, fish or poultry first get a coating of cornstarch. The oriental taste seems to come primarely from the sauce: some soy sauce here, some satay sauce there, and a few spoonfuls of fish sauce, oyster sauce or hoisin sauce.
Fortunately, our neighborhood has a large Vietnamese and Chinese population. We have two 99 Ranch (oriental) supermarkets within a 5 minute drive. I always found a visit to 99 Ranch an interesting tourist attraction, where you can pick your live sucker fish and have it butchered in front of your eyes. Or choose the smiley frog with the nicest legs to be disjointed and ready to be seared in a garlic butter sauce. (On the other hand, the strong smell that hangs around the supermaket has been a bit of turn of.) As we were strolling around the aisles on the look out for hoisin and satay sauce, I realized I could pnly read about 25% of all the products in the supermarket. Come on now! I understand the clientele is 90% oriental. But give me break! Allow a 'whitee' to understand what he is buying. In Belgium, there are three official languages: Dutch (Flemish), French (Walloon) and German. Laws are written and published in all three languages. People are expected to know the three languages, so shopping in Liege, you should not be surprised to read all in French. The point is there are three official languages. In the US, the one and only official language is English, not Spanish, not Chinese, not Ebonics. Every product should therefor at a minimum have one word in English explaining its content. (It is probably good marketing anyway.)

Technorati: Chinese The English Language

Is it Colour or Color?

If Tony Blair would tune in to prime time American network television, he would feel very much at home. Not only are all the so called reality shows British clones, the judges are British as well. (Add a black and latin judge for the ratings.) Case in point: Simon Cowell of American Idol (UK: Pop Idol) and Len Goodman of Dancing with the Stars (UK: Strictly Come Dancing). Both judges probably came with the contract to have an American version of the show. However, you didn't see this with the hosts of Operation Robinson (Survivor), Big Brother or Belgian's De Mol (The Mole). Arent' there any American dancing judges or music experts?

Not only is American television infatuated with the English accent, so is radio. Commercials and announcements are regularly in a true English accent. A good time for aspiring English actors and voice overs in the U.S. I presume.

Why the fetish for English pronunciation? Or is it the overall use of the English language? Are the Brits really the superior country when it comes down the use of the English language? The current assumption is the Lords would smoke the Yanks.

Let's settle it in a duel, or translateded on this side of the pond as "Bring it on!". A new reality show: "Straight A's", based upon the Dutch/Belgian "Tien voor Taal" (10 for language). The original show was co-produced by the VRT, in Belgium, and by the KRO Dutch television channel. It has two teams from both counties dueling on various aspects of the Dutch language. In one episode all team members were librarians. In the next, politicians, or movie stars. You get the idea. The show has been very popular for over 15 years. (Earlier this year, the VRT ended the co-production. The KRO continues the show in Holland.) Here are some ideas for the panels:

NFL bad men with tiny voices vs. Liverpool scouse swearing soccer players

Texas congresmen vs. Lords of the Common House

Stanford vs. Cambridge

Princeton vs. Oxford

Ellison and co vs. Branson and co

Motley Crue vs. The Rolling Stones

American Idol vs. Pop Idol

BackStreet Boys vs. Spice Girls

Wallstreet Journal vs. Financial Times

Star vs. The Sun

ABC, NBC, FOX: did I mention I optioned the show?

Technorati: Reality Shows The English Language