Topic Reading-Vol.2505-2/19/2019

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Topic Reading-Vol.2505-2/19/2019

英語で世界を知ろう!Topic Reading

2019/02/19 Topic Reading-Vol.2505-2/19/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Why China is obsessed with numbers

It is well known that Indians are good at math. Likewise, Chinese are good at using numbers. But how?

First, you want to know how to pronounce numbers in Chinese.

1   2     3     4    5     6   7    8   9  

yī  èr  sān   sì   wǔ   liù  qī   bā  jiǔ 

10   11       20        30       100    1000

shí  shíyī   èrshí     sānshí   bǎi     qiān

Now, you may have found that Chinese digits are monosyllabic. They are easily pronounced, which makes it easier to remember when a few or several digits are used for an ID, nickname, website or even a phrase. For example, as 1688 sounds like ‘ee-lio-ba-ba’ in Mandarin, it is used by Alibaba’s group websites. Also, 520 sounds like “I love you” in Chinese. That’s why a series of numbers are often used for passwords, IDs, or websites by numbers in China. Also, in the old days when keyboards were used to type and access to websites, numbers were preferred rather than spelling words because they require just a single keystroke. As you know, Chinese people think for the long term but tend to do things quickly.

So, when you go to or live in China, pronounce numbers as Chinese do.

Enjoy reading the article and think if you can work out things by numbers.

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190210-why-china-is-obsessed-with-numbers

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