USC Professor suspended for saying Chinese word that starts with N

Accept there are a dozen or more Chinese dialects ....

 

This would definitely get me canceled.

 

No cultural misunderstanding here whatsoever.

He was speaking english in an american uni and he clearly stated the context of his example.

How silly to suspend him for no reason.

Now what? They have to consult a chinese linguist expert who can attest that there isn't a mandarin or cantonese dialect in the world that it is pronounced like that to even try to find him at fault.

Very benign in comparison but
the word auguri in italian means welcome but in greek it means cucumber (aka penis) which resulted in some serious brawls and fistfights in international football games in the past.

Also the word "moron" in greek means baby and the word "idiot" means private citizen so dont be offended if some lady calls you a moron while in holidays here.

I have also found out that my username which means wanker and is an insult to fight someone means strong in tagalog but fortunately there is hardly any contact between speakers of these languages so there hasn't been any misunderstandings.

 

So am I to believe that this man, speaking his non native language intentionally said a racial slur to a class knowing he would likely lose his job and be labeled a racist, when being labeled a racist in the USA right now is one step above being a pedophile?

Sorry, I am not buying it. At some point we need to reach some sort of understanding because these types of complaints undermine legitimate claims of racism.

 

It's not perfect, but it's pretty close and he provided exactly the right context. At 0:44 for a typical example:

 

Since I got time and this has been bugging me. The two poll choices aren't exactly correct.
"是" (Si) is frequently translated is "yes" but is more specifically "it is" .
"没有" (Mei you) isn't quite "no" but is "nothing" or "not have"
Better choices would be
"对" (Dui) which is "correct" or "right"
"不" (Bu) which is "no" or "not"

 

That's what I figured.

 

Now you know Tinman speaks Chinese.

Google Chinese.

 

True, I assumed he was speaking mandarin since he said in China.

He could be using localized dialect, which is a different spoken language (different vocab, and grammar). I'd expect him to point out the region if he was using a local dialect if that's what he was speaking since it'd be specific and unique to that area.

Once again, I think it's bad pronunciation, I don't think it's intentional, and in all honesty I sympathize.

 

After listening a couple more times, I think he was using Nay. It's close and honestly I think there was no ill intent.

He could've pronounce it more like Nay Ge instead of Nay Ga but not sure it'd make a difference, especially to non native Chinese speakers.

Once again, I sympathize with him. I'd certainly be a lot more conscious now speaking mandarin Chinese in public. I also think he should have had a chance to better explain and defend himself.

 

And you are telling me you can't tell the tonal difference and the ending sound between how he said it and professor said it?

JK, it's close, second languages are hard.

 

Separate topic, but Dialect in China are vastly more different than just pronunciation. Its a separate spoken language despite sharing same written language.

For example, I can probably understand 70% of cockney english if I'm spoken to slowly, I can only understand maybe 20% of cantonese.

Decent article found from googling.

https://asianabsolute.co.uk/blog/2018/04/24/languages-spoken-in-china/#:~:text=The two best-known and,Chinese dialects are tonal languages.

 

As reported by the LA Times,

This week a group of nearly 100 USC alumni, most of whom are Chinese by ethnicity or nationality, wrote to the school’s administration in support of their professor, saying his use of the Mandarin word for “that” was accurate and “an entirely appropriate and quite effective illustration of the use of pauses.”

The alumni said they were “deeply disappointed that the spurious charge has the additional feature of casting insult toward the Chinese language,
the most spoken in the world, and characterized it and its usage as vile.”

“We feel Marshall should be open to diversity in all areas,” they wrote.
​

Previously, this narrative "USC professor suspended for saying Chinese word that sounds like the N word", was being propagated

 

Is there a better eg of snowflakes?​

A business professor at USC is no longer teaching his communications course after Black students complained that a Chinese-language example he used during class sounded like a racial slur and harmed their mental health.

Marshall School of Business professor Greg Patton was giving a Zoom lesson in his “Communication for Management” class on Aug. 20. The course, a three-week intensive, is part of the core requirements for first-year master’s of business administration students.

Patton’s resume describes him as “an expert in communication, interpersonal and leadership effectiveness” who has taught and led programs in the Pacific Rim for more than 20 years.

That day’s lesson focused on building confidence and improving presentation skills, according to a class syllabus. When Patton, who is white, began discussing the use of filler words like “um” and “er” in speech, he offered an international example.

“Like in China the common word is ‘that’ — ‘that, that, that, that,’” he said, according to video recordings of the class circulated on social media. “So in China it might be ‘nèi ge’ — ‘nèi ge, nèi ge, nèi ge.’ So there’s different words that you’ll hear in different countries, but they’re vocal disfluencies.”

Patton was referring to 那个，which in Mandarin is commonly pronounced nèi ge (NAY-guh) or nà ge (NAH-guh). He was using the former pronunciation.

To some students, the word sounded like the N-word in English.
The next day a group of Black master’s candidates in the class of 2022 wrote a letter to Marshall Dean Geoffrey Garrett.

“There are over 10,000 characters in the Chinese written language and to use this phrase ... is hurtful and unacceptable to our USC Marshall community,” the letter said. “The negligence and disregard displayed by our professor was very clear.”

The students said their mental health had been affected and they were unable to focus on their studies.


“To expect that we will sit through two more weeks of this class, knowing that the professor lacks the tact, racial awareness and empathy to lead and teach an audience as diverse as ours is unacceptable,” they wrote.

Chinese speakers say the Mandarin word is widely used as a place filler like the English “um.” It can also be used to indicate a specific item, as in “that one,” with the pronunciation varying depending on the proximity of the item.

Language learners and English speakers have long commented on the similarity in pronunciation between this common Mandarin word and the racial slur in English. It has been the subject of language blogs, YouTube tutorials and comedy skits.

In an email to all MBA students on Aug. 24, Garrett said that Patton “repeated several times a Chinese word that sounds very similar to a vile racial slur in English.”

“Understandably, this caused great pain and upset among students, and for that I am deeply sorry,” Garrett wrote. “It is simply unacceptable for faculty to use such examples or language in class because they can marginalize and harm you and hurt your feelings of psychological safety. As a school, we must and we will do better.”

He said he would work with vice deans and other administrators to address any problems of bias, microaggressions or inequities.

In a statement, the school said Patton “agreed to take a short-term pause” from teaching the course, and another instructor took over. Patton continues to teach his other courses.

“We acknowledge the historical, cultural and harmful impact of racist language ... USC is committed to building a culture of respect and dignity where all members of our community can feel safe, supported, and can thrive,” the statement said.

Patton did not respond to requests for comment. But in an Aug. 26 letter sent to the Marshall Graduate Student Assn., he offered students an apology — and a defense.

“I have strived to best prepare students with global, real-world and applied examples and illustrations to make the class content come alive and bring diverse voices, situations and experiences into the classroom,” he wrote.

Patton said in the letter that he had taught the course for 10 years and received positive feedback when using the same example in the past.

“Yet, I failed to realize all the many different additional ways that a particular example may be heard across audiences members based on their own lived experiences and that is my fault,” he wrote.

 

true,

on the other end of the spectrum, this is the dizzying height of ignorance, as per the letter by the snowflakes

“There are over 10,000 characters in the Chinese written language and to use this phrase ... is hurtful and unacceptable to our USC Marshall community,”
“The negligence and disregard displayed by our professor was very clear.”​

 

They are justified to be insulted and offended.

Like what? The mandarin language should be censored to fit the sensitibllities of speakers of a totally unrelated language ?

What ignorance,what gall!

The ones who reported the professor should be reported themselves for cultural and racial discrimination or something.