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blues..
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Dec 3, 2009

ക PEOPLE HEARING WITHOUT LISTENING @ 聽

"People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices that never share
And no one dare disturb THE SOUND OF SILENCE..." 
~ Simon & Garfunkel


Friends, Bloggers, countrymen, lend me your EARS;
I come to bury seizure[Caesar], not to praise him. 
[..] ~ William Shakespeare

God gave us two EARS and one mouth, so we can hear twice as much as we say? This is an abstract from an article from ACQYR, written by a psychologist, Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D., CBC, who says that the main communications tasks are: reading, writing, speaking or listening and out of the four tasks, 50% comes from listening alone. But only 25% were retained. Why? Because we give little attention and simply taking it for granted that everyone knows how to listen. The average person speaks at about 130 words per minute against our thinking speed of about 500 words per minute. This causes our minds to wander and we are actually drifting away to other things, thus this phrase "People hearing without listening" is very well said. Krakoff has recommended "Active Listening" to curb the problem. In active listening, it involves the listener paying full attention to the speaker, and then summarizing or reflecting back what he or she has heard without evaluating or interpreting. 

One classic example I could think of,  most successful restaurants or fast food chains used 'active listening' on their waitresses to repeat orders made by clients as confirmation. Oh yeah another example is the "whispering game" whereby a leader in a group of 20 people would whisper a message to the second person and the second guy to repeat the same to the third person and to the next and next until finally in conclusion what the first person says does not tally with the last person. That is where the listening problem begins.


What is the above Chinese word means? This is another simplified version not been used often. Practically the olden way of reading starts from right to left. So it begins with 'you' [figure of a person] using the 'eye' [目]{mù} (sideways) with 'one' [一]{yī} 'heart or mind' [心]{xīn} and 'ear' [耳]{ěr}. Thus the whole word added up is "LISTEN" [聽] {tīng }.  Try talking to a person without looking at his/her face or blocking your own eyes with your hand during the conversation? Can you get the message across? Or when you are in a seminar without looking at the speaker's face? Most likely you would bound to dose off after a while. Quite interesting to note that this Chinese character is very meaningful and actually a composition of what nature gives us, knowing very well just by listening with only the ears is not good enough. So it practically tells us to hear with our ear and listen attentively with our eyes and our mind (heart).

For a bananaz like me, would be at risk of having a seizure to unfold such complex Chinese word  if without the kind assistance of my laoshi Jeannie who went all out researching over the net on the Chinese Etymology of this word 聽 { tīng } as the 'evolution' has created many variations. BTW I have just found out that Jeannie has won the "Inukshuk Award Edutainment 2009", Congratz! Dear fellow bloggers 請多多指教 { qǐng duōduō zhǐjiāo } appreciate your kind advice and comments. Just when you think this word or Chinese language is a tough nut to crack wait till you see some nonsensical English surfacing in my future post.


[ ] Mandarin
{ } Hànyǔpīnyīn

EM Banana dancing with a Christmas hat

32 Bunchesஇ:

Unknown said...

Over the years I've tried to practise listening. it's a skill. You'll surprise yourself how much you gather just by listening. .. then you talk/answer. I'd say, try not to be one step ahead all the time by interrupting someone!!

இ Baŋäŋaz இ said...

Keats, very true! spot on, its a skill many have not taken notice of and very common seeing or even meeting someone who cuts in before you can finish speaking.

Kikey Loo said...

i read some chinese in ur blog. so i dun think u r banana lah!!

p/s: thanks for visiting my bloh :)

இ Baŋäŋaz இ said...

Kikey Thanks for dropping by very fortunate to discover a newfound Jeannie laoshi and with some help from better half who is a 'YesNoYes' (Chinese educated). The Chinese words are just merely {pímáo} superficial only and also the MDBG dictionary is so useful.

Anonymous said...

It's possible that people hear without really listening.

Have a great weekend! :)

இ Baŋäŋaz இ said...

Mei Teng, listening is an art where many are not listening. You have a great weekend too. ക

Elaine Yim said...

Listening skill is something that I am still trying to master. You are already teaching me chinese words. Learning like this is very meaningful.

[SK] said...

yes, we always listen with our heart open, that should be the correct way.. so, do you find chinese characters interesting?? cos a word symbolises the real meaning of message.. :)

இ Baŋäŋaz இ said...

Autumn Belle: that's right listening is of paramount importance in communication. Glad we are both learning Chinese together.

SK: indeed the Chinese word itself carries the message loud and clear, beginning to love learning the language more and more thanks again for your [指教] {zhǐjiāo} guidance.

Kelvin said...

Wow, can tell u have research a lot this post:)

இ Baŋäŋaz இ said...

Kelvin: trying level best not to make any blunders glad to have plenty of help. Xiexie ക

Jean said...

the mandarin character has now simplified

A smile from SJ =)

iamthewitch said...

I think I'm a good listener, or that's what my peers usually told me. But I agree with you, I've met too many people who hear but do not listen! And I'm also a fellow banana, no idea what that phrase means! *sad*

இ Baŋäŋaz இ said...

SJ, thanks for your smile its so contagious. Yup prefer the traditional character compared to the simplified cos the old writing got 'character' haha. Maybe should include the simplified version as well. Xiexie

இ Baŋäŋaz இ said...

iamthewitch, that's great if you are a good listener you've already won half the battle in communication. Congratz!

Gin said...

Awesome post, Bananaz! Listening is truly important and a lot of time we don't do it very well.

Love that dancing little banana with the Santa hat on...lol.

BTW...how do you put those "You might also like: " section at the end of your posts?

Xiexie!

Gin said...

Oh...thanks for the mention again!

இ Baŋäŋaz இ said...

Thanks so much to you for all the guidance. About that link you can either click at the link directly below the three avatars or here:
LinkWithin

Sign up to 'Get Widget' which is almost automatic dont need to do much.
Once again Xiexie ning

Gin said...

Bananaz,
This is SO cool~~~
I've learned new things today.
Not only to add the widget also to drag the widget under my post...lol. Didn't know I can drag the widgets from my side bar to the bottom of my posts...duh~~~
Xiexie nin!!

இ Baŋäŋaz இ said...

Jeannie, Not at all, glad you are discovering new things too and I'm also learning from you. Xiexie

இ Baŋäŋaz இ said...

Jeannie, Congratz for winning the
Inukshuk Award Edutainment 2009

Gin said...

Xiexie nin de zhichi...

Shingo T said...

Very nice quotes scattered throughout your entry.

Personally, I find woman tends to talk more, but they also listen better than men.

Men is more action than talk, haha!

இ Baŋäŋaz இ said...

Shingo, you mean action speaks louder for men? haha thanks

foongpc said...

Interesting post! So does that mean once the Chinese character are simplified, we bananas have no way of knowing the real meaning behind the character? Unless we also know how to de-simplify the character. Haha!

foongpc said...

Gosh! I think I have a LOOOOONG road in front of me learning Mandarin! But thanks to you and also to Jeannie for helping! : )

இ Baŋäŋaz இ said...

foongpc, haha de-simplify have to check it out with google on this word. Yeah pros and cons, sure to miss out the true meaning and originality, but heard Taiwan still maintain the old traditional way. True? Hope someone can re-confirm on this please? TQ

Gin said...

foongpc, you are welcome!

Bananaz, Taiwan is using traditional form and I'm glad that we learn and use that.

இ Baŋäŋaz இ said...

Jeannie, great at least Taiwan keep the original intact. Xiexie

Ayie said...

I know somebody who loves to talk but never really listens out to us...I think some old people tend to that a lot!

இ Baŋäŋaz இ said...

Ayie, perhaps old people could be 'half' deaf so they cant hear? Maybe not a good excuse they could see, basically most people will tend to talk but seldom listen.

jingle said...

Hello,

beautiful quotes in the opening,
I like this kind of discussion, it teaches me how to listen instead of hearing it and forgetting about it instantly...

Good luck with your faith,
Good people always get rewarded, it is only a matter of time...

cheers, ;)

 
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