Saturday, February 15, 2014

In the thick of it

In Chinese we're learning directions (starting, characteristically, with 东西南北 EWSN). I remember from my days learning Japanese and teaching English, as well as from studies I've read over the years, that directions - right, left, in front of, behind, etc. - are much more culturally specific, and much harder to explain. The expression of the guy in the middle of this picture - standing on a diagonal between two people pointing one way, looking the other and describing the directions relative to us viewing the picture rather than him - captures the adventure!