#11  
Old 13-Sep-2004, 12:31
Casiopea's Avatar
VIP Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 12,971
Member Type: Other
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by blacknomi
You are studying or learning Chinese?
Both. :D
  #12  
Old 13-Sep-2004, 19:30
Key Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 1,814
Member Type: Student or Learner
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Francois
It get one's hands full for the next twenty years...

FRC

Oh, after twenty years, Chinese could/would dominate the world. 8) :P
  #13  
Old 13-Sep-2004, 19:33
Key Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 1,814
Member Type: Student or Learner
Default

Peace! Peace.
No offence.

:D
  #14  
Old 11-Feb-2005, 15:48
Seek22x7
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Smile Re: Teach a man to fish

I believe a man (100% man, 100% God) taught this. Most know him as Jesus, his real name was pronounced "Yeshua."

His scriptures can be found in the English Christian Bible.

http://bible.com/ is a good place to start.
  #15  
Old 12-Feb-2005, 06:47
Editor, UsingEnglish.com
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 34,375
Home Country: UK
Native Language: British English
Current Location: Philippines
Member Type: English Teacher
Default Re: Teach a man to fish

According to the very site you're recommending, he didn't say it.
  #16  
Old 01-Mar-2005, 14:00
bongbang
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Not Confucius. Probably not even Chinese.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Casiopea
1. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.

2. Confucius, K'ung Fu-tzu, K'ung-tzu, Kong Zi, Kong Qiu, Zhong Ni
Circa 551 - 479
Not true. The most common Chinese variant of this saying is 授人以鱼不如授人以渔 , which means "To give a man fish is not as good as to give [teach] him fishing."

Confucius is most likely not the author of even that quote, which Chinese-language enthusiasts discussed here. Let me cite 古月, who appears to be the most knowledgable on that thread: [translated from Chinese by me]

Quote:
The English version that Yeti posted is what I hear foreigners use all the time. The inherited Chinese version is now becoming common, too, but the wording is still all over the place — I have also seen the “授人鱼,供一餐之用;授人渔,则享用不尽” version. The citers basically all begin with “ancient people stated…”, “ancient people said…”, “there’s an old saying…” with some going so far as to use “foreigners say China has this ancient saying…” etc. This is one of the many unsettled issues in the world’s gold-jade beautiful words industry. Everybody propagates, everybody uses, full of creativity and wisdom. Even though everybody keeps saying this is “Chinese wisdom”, Chinese scholars are still pedantic. Is this really a case of “[cultural] exchange” or “piracy” and “counterfeit”? No one can determine. Where do words come from? Very likely only God knows :-)

“Confucius says, ‘May you live in interesting times!’”, “There’s a Chinese proverb, “Don’t take off your pants when having sex.” This type of dubious [“] Chinese [”] old sayings are as abundant as a cow’s hair, no way to verify them one by one. Some are altogether made up by foreigners who, in order to heighten effects, put their own witticism on Chinese philosophers’ heads. If the thing is composed rather cleverly, like this “fish/fishing” one, then it becomes widespread. When it spreads to China, prominent people have this translation, and it sounds authentic to boot. Such a high-quality maxim, who can refuse? This process of establishing a common expression as “a Chinese ancient saying” is actually quite logical.
That should settle the issue. If not, there's a more detailed write-up on my personal site.
Closed Thread

Bookmarks

Tags
teach, man, fish


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
BIG FISH LITTLE FISH CARDBOARD BOX...meaning??? Anonymous Ask a Teacher 4 14-Feb-2009 17:56
fish or fishes vladz Ask a Teacher 5 05-Jun-2004 12:02
who can teach rp English? Anonymous Ask a Teacher 2 05-Apr-2004 18:41
Please correct my essay. Thanks! o_cat Ask a Teacher 9 17-Nov-2003 18:02
how to teach english Anonymous Ask a Teacher 2 27-May-2003 19:35


All times are GMT. The time now is 12:16.



Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO ©2011, Crawlability, Inc.