3 ms·

He mentioned picking up Mandarin in one of his Ars posts, I think. Not "fiendishly" clever, just apparently more clever than the folks running our intelligence

He mentioned picking up Mandarin in one of his Ars posts, I think. Not "fiendishly" clever, just apparently more clever than the folks running our intelligence services.

OstiaAntica 13y ago
Mandarin is not widely spoken in Hong Kong-- locals speak Cantonese and Mandarin was not taught in school while HK was under British rule.
- eru 13y ago
  Yes, but lots of people speak Mandarin now, either for doing business with the PRC or because they are PRC immigrants.
- wavefunction 13y ago
  Certainly I know this about Cantonese, but I'm just relating to you what I had read.
tokenadult 13y ago
Snowden is not proficient in Chinese, no way. (I am, by test.) As Confucius said, in one of his most famous take-downs, "始吾於人也、聽其言而信其行、今吾於人也、聽其言而觀其行。At first in dealing with people, I would hear their words and trust their deeds, but now my way of dealing with people is to hear their words and observe their deeds." We'll see what appears about his planning and his view toward China and a lot of other things about him as he continues interaction with news media and the governmental authorities of various governments.
- wavefunction 13y ago
  Time will tell us more about Snowden but I believe his intentions to be primarily towards exposing the surveillance state for American citizens. Its existence as described by his documents is contrary to our guiding principles. I kind of doubt he was too focused on exposing this to the rest of the world but feels that it's a necessary part of what he's doing for his country.
- yread 13y ago
  > Snowden is not proficient in Chinese, no way. (I am, by test.) Sorry, if it sounds personal but I have to ask: How do you know he's not proficient and what does your proficiency have to do with it?
  - tokenadult 13y ago
    Sorry, if it sounds personal but I have to ask: How do you know he's not proficient and what does your proficiency have to do with it? I have a basis of knowledge about how language proficiency is defined (the federal government in the United States has a standard rating scale of foreign language proficiency, as do most other countries with an active diplomatic corps and military alliances with other countries) and I know how much time it takes in specialized training programs and in-country to become proficient in Chinese, none of which Snowden has. I would find it more believable that he has some knowledge of Japanese, because Snowden lived in Japan for a while, but he apparently has little knowledge of that language either.
    - yread 13y ago
      > I know how much time it takes in specialized training programs and in-country to become proficient in Chinese wow. Err... aren't there other ways how to learn a language than government sanctioned programs? How about attending lectures in the evenings and a Chinese speaking friend (not that unbelievable in Hawaii).

He mentioned picking up Mandarin in one of his Ars posts, I think. Not "fiendishly" clever, just apparently more clever than the folks running our intelligence services.

OstiaAntica 13y ago

Mandarin is not widely spoken in Hong Kong-- locals speak Cantonese and Mandarin was not taught in school while HK was under British rule.

eru 13y ago
Yes, but lots of people speak Mandarin now, either for doing business with the PRC or because they are PRC immigrants.
wavefunction 13y ago
Certainly I know this about Cantonese, but I'm just relating to you what I had read.

tokenadult 13y ago

Snowden is not proficient in Chinese, no way. (I am, by test.) As Confucius said, in one of his most famous take-downs, "始吾於人也、聽其言而信其行、今吾於人也、聽其言而觀其行。At first in dealing with people, I would hear their words and trust their deeds, but now my way of dealing with people is to hear their words and observe their deeds." We'll see what appears about his planning and his view toward China and a lot of other things about him as he continues interaction with news media and the governmental authorities of various governments.

wavefunction 13y ago
Time will tell us more about Snowden but I believe his intentions to be primarily towards exposing the surveillance state for American citizens. Its existence as described by his documents is contrary to our guiding principles. I kind of doubt he was too focused on exposing this to the rest of the world but feels that it's a necessary part of what he's doing for his country.
yread 13y ago
> Snowden is not proficient in Chinese, no way. (I am, by test.) Sorry, if it sounds personal but I have to ask: How do you know he's not proficient and what does your proficiency have to do with it?
- tokenadult 13y ago
  Sorry, if it sounds personal but I have to ask: How do you know he's not proficient and what does your proficiency have to do with it? I have a basis of knowledge about how language proficiency is defined (the federal government in the United States has a standard rating scale of foreign language proficiency, as do most other countries with an active diplomatic corps and military alliances with other countries) and I know how much time it takes in specialized training programs and in-country to become proficient in Chinese, none of which Snowden has. I would find it more believable that he has some knowledge of Japanese, because Snowden lived in Japan for a while, but he apparently has little knowledge of that language either.
  - yread 13y ago
    > I know how much time it takes in specialized training programs and in-country to become proficient in Chinese wow. Err... aren't there other ways how to learn a language than government sanctioned programs? How about attending lectures in the evenings and a Chinese speaking friend (not that unbelievable in Hawaii).