Typical_Americans

Typical Americans DIALECT (TYPICAL AMERICANS) Dialects in this novel generate serious amount of emotion for readers who know Chinese culture well. Gish Jen¡¦s technique of translating Chinese dialogue with increasing amounts of English language thrown in, helps to put us in Helen and Ralph' minds as they journey between languages, cultures, and ways of thinking. The dialects have gained insight for non-Chinese and acquaintance of Chinese. For instance, in China, a person¡¦s character is believed written on face and palms. That is why humans are born with unique appearances and fingerprints. Those experts who read one¡¦s character and fate by looking at their hands are called sheng xi. On the other hand, feng shui, literally means wind and water. It is an ancient Chinese study of the natural environment. Feng shui can determine the best or most favorable location for anyone and assist that person to avoid their worst or least desirable location in any environment. Throughout ancient China, classical feng shui was a closely guarded discipline used as a tool to ensure the good health, wealth, and power of the imperial dynasties. ¡§Ralph and Helen joked about hiring a feng shui expert to determine a propitious day for the grand opening.¡¨ (Pg. chinese, helen, about, shui, red, old, feng, expressions, string, ralph, moon, money, each, determine, china, character, between, become, world, wealth, two, strings, ren, pg, persons, person, out, one, once, love, location, lives, life, ku, know