Ting bu dong

Just finished the last of studying for our language exam which we will take tomorrow. The exam is an oral exam and we will meet with an examiner for about a half hour and have our language skills assessed. My test is at nine a.m. Although no one knows exactly what questions we will be aksed and what material will be covered, there is one phrase I can definitely count on using tomorrow. Indeed, it is the one phrase I have used more than any other since arriving to China. It is "ting bu dong." It translates as "I don't understand" but much more literally means "hear not understand." It's one of the first phrases you learn and one I have used in every class. It is also one I hear in many interactions. For example, at the local shop where we buy a lot of small items, sodas, beers, et. cetera, the woman who runs the shop used to try to speak to us and I would end up saying "ting bu dong," and it got to the point where when she would see me she would simply look up, laugh and say "ting bu dong." She always said it in such a slow, laconic manner that I didn't mind hearing it. On the other hand, Mrs. Z will sometimes speak Chinese at dinner and she will invariably reach a point where she says something, looks at me and asks "ting bu dong," which is essentially "you don't understand, do you?" And of course innumerable times in class it gets pulled out when you are so lost you can't even understand the question. The alternative is to ask the teacher to repeat what was said, but that is a much longer phrase: "qing zai shuo i bien," so "ting bu dong" is a lot easier, even if it involves more of a loss of face.

Anyway, I can't say I'm nervous about the test because we are told it is truly not that difficult and assured that given our level we should have no problem. And even if we don't pass, the worse that will happen is that they will require us to get a tutor. Still, this is a country where "losing face" means quite a bit, no one wants to fail this exam. So stay tuned, although we won't learn the results until we go downtown for our final conference before heading off to site.