Mandarin Jokes
Friday July 10, 2009
Jokes are usually impossible to translate from one language to another - at least while keeping them funny - but they are useful for learning language conventions, culture, and new vocabulary.
With this in mind, I've started a new series of Mandarin Chinese jokes. They will be most useful for intermediate students, but they might also be interesting (if not funny!) for beginners.
Many Mandarin jokes depend on word play, and these are usually untranslatable. Some of the jokes, however, translate quite well.
Here are a few:
Those really make me feel like that foreign guy who never gets the joke! I can read everything, but I still don’t quite “get it” until I read the explanation.
I also have had fun in the past with the “guess the character” riddles (I forget what they are called, maybe you can help me out). Here are a couple I remember:
上上，下下，不上不下
下邊去上邊，上邊去下邊