Take Some Exercise

Living and teaching in China, I am starting to absorb some of their idiomatic English phrases into my vocabulary. These phrases, though often grammatically correct, are not commonly used by most native speakers. For example, students often say “I have the intention of”. . or “she had the intention of. . .” instead of just saying, “I wanted to,” or “I intended to.” In addition, many of the common verb phrases we use in English become verb phrases in Chinese English. For example, they might say, “Let’s have a rest. . Let’s have a try. . . Let’s take some exercise.” I am starting to use more and more of these phrases that I hear everyday. Or I use transition phrases and language functions from our student’s textbook such as “I couldn’t agree with you more.” While I enjoy this speaking style, it does have its downfall because I am forgetting basic English vocabulary words. The other day someone asked me what we call one of those yellow sponge things with green matting (that we often use it to clean the bathroom or use it to wash dishes.) I couldn’t remember. . does that thing have a name anyways?

The other morning, I “took some exercise” and was thoroughly entertained by the various people on the track. Two older men were walking around the track both with a lit cigarette in one hand and a pack in the other. I think that might be a little counter-productive, but I guess it is better to walk and smoke than to simply sit and smoke. Another younger girl was walking around the track very slowly with her textbook about 5 inches from her face. I can’t imagine that I would study very well while walking, but we often see Chinese students studying in this way. I will give it a try in the future. Finally, people in the middle of the field had long swords and were moving them very gracefully to some music playing from a little radio. Many older people do some type of tai chi, flag waving, or other light aerobic recreation. In the morning, you can see many interesting sites. It’s good motivation for me to be an early bird.