Shanghai Girls - historical fiction
Description
Vocal Characteristics
Language
EnglishVoice Age
Young Adult (18-35)Accents
North American (General)Transcript
Note: Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and may contain errors.
whenever you have two sisters or siblings of any number or either sex comparisons are made May and I were born in limbo village less than a half day's walk from Canton were only three years apart, but we couldn't be more different. She's funny, I'm criticized for being too somber, she's tiny and has an adorable flashiness to her untie all and thin May who just graduated from high school has no interest in reading anything besides the gossip columns. I graduated from college five weeks ago. My first language was say up the dialect spoken in the four districts in Kuantan province where ancestral home is located. I've had american and british teachers since I was five. So my english is close to perfect. I consider myself fluent in four languages, british english, american english dialect, one of the many Cantonese dialects and the dialect, a unique version of mandarin spoken only in shanghai. I live in an international city, so I use english words for chinese cities and places like Canton, chongqing and yunnan. I use the Cantonese chunks um instead of the mandarin, qi Pao for our chinese dresses. I say boot instead of trunk. I used the mandarin foreign devils and the Cantonese low fan white ghosts interchangeably when speaking about foreigners and I use the Cantonese word for little sister instead of the mandarin. Mei mei to talk about May. My sister has no facility with languages. We moved to shanghai when May was a baby and she never learned say up beyond words for certain dishes and ingredients. May only knows english and the dialect leaving the peculiarities of dialects aside Mandarin and Cantonese have about as much in common as english and german related but unintelligible to non speakers because of this. My parents and I sometimes take advantage of May's ignorance using say up to trick and deceive her. Mama insists me and I couldn't change who we are even if we tried. May is supposed to be as complacent and content as the sheep in whose year she was born. The sheep is the most feminine of the signs. Mama says it's fashionable, artistic and compassionate. The sheep needs someone to take care of her so she'll always be sure to have food shelter and clothing. At the same time the sheep is known to smother others with affection. Good fortune smiles on the sheep because of its peaceful nature and kind heart but and it's a big but according to mama, the sheep sometimes thinks only of itself and its own comforts. I have a dragon's striving desire which can never be properly filled. There's nowhere you can't go with your big flapping feet. Mama frequently tells me however, a dragon the most powerful of all the signs also has its drawbacks. A dragon is loyal, demanding, responsible a tamer of the fates mama has told me, but you my Pearl will always be hampered by the vapors that come from your mouth. Am I jealous of my sister. How can I be jealous when even I adore her. We share long dragon as our generational name. I am Pearl Dragon and May is beautiful dragon. She's taken the western spelling of her name but a mandarin, May is one of the words for beautiful and she is that my duty as May's elder sister is to protect her, Make sure she follows the right path and indulge her for the preciousness of her existence and place of love in our family. Yes. Sometimes I get angry with her. For example when she wore my favorite pink silk, italian high heels without permission and they were ruined in the rain. But here's the thing my sister loves me. I'm her J. J. Her elder sister in the hierarchy of the chinese family, I will always and forever be above her. Even if my family doesn't love me as much as they love her.