A List of the Current Chinese Languages

Mandarin is the most common language in the world as it is the official language of Mainland China, Taiwan, and one of the official languages of Singapore. Thus, Mandarin is commonly referred to as Chinese.   But in fact, it is just one  of many  Chinese languages. China is an old and vast country geographically speaking, and the many mountain ranges, rivers, and deserts create natural regional borders. Over time, each region has developed its own spoken language. Depending on the region, Chinese people also speak Wu, Hunanese, Jiangxinese, Hakka, Yue (including Cantonese-Taishanese), Ping, Shaojiang, Min,  and many other languages. Even in one province, there can be multiple languages spoken. For example, in Fujian province, you can hear Min, Fuzhounese, and Mandarin being spoken, each being very distinct from the other.   Dialect vs. Language Classifying these Chinese languages as dialects or languages is a contested topic. They are often classified as dialects, but they have their own vocabulary and grammar systems. These different rules make them mutually unintelligible. A Cantonese speaker and a Min speaker will not be able to communicate with each other. Similarly, a Hakka speaker  will not be able to understand Hunanese, and so on. Given these major differences, they could be designated as languages. On the other hand, they all share a common writing system (Chinese characters). Even though characters can be pronounced in completely different ways depending on what language/dialect one speaks, the written language is understandable across all regions. This supports the argument that they are dialects of the official Chinese language – Mandarin. Different Types of Mandarin It is interesting to note, though, that Mandarin itself is broken up into dialects spoken mostly in Chinas northern regions. Many large and established cities, like Baoding, Beijing Dalian, Shenyang, and Tianjin, have their  own particular style of Mandarin that varies in pronunciation and grammar. Standard Mandarin, the official Chinese language, is based on the Beijing dialect. Chinese Tonal System All types of Chinese have a tonal system. Meaning, the tone in which a syllable is uttered determines its meaning. Tones are very important when it comes to differentiating between homonyms. Mandarin Chinese has four tones, but other Chinese languages have more. Yue (Cantonese), for example, has nine tones. The difference in tonal systems is another reason why the different forms of Chinese are mutually unintelligible and are considered by many as separate languages.   Different Written Chinese Languages Chinese characters have a history dating back more than two thousand years. The early forms of Chinese characters were pictographs (graphic representations of real objects), but characters became more and more stylized over time. Eventually, they came to represent ideas as well as objects. Each Chinese character represents a syllable of the spoken language. Characters represent words and meanings, but not every character is used independently. In an attempt to improve literacy, the Chinese government began simplifying characters in the 1950s. These simplified characters are used in Mainland China, Singapore, and Malaysia, while Taiwan and Hong Kong still use the traditional characters.

Diversity in Texas - 894 Words

Diversity, now in days, is something that is everywhere. It is something that is hard to get away from especially when you live in the great state of Texas. One of the many reasons people come live at the state of Texas because they do will not pay for income tax. Which its okay because that is one of the many reasons Texas is very diverse. There are different types of diversity which include physical diversity, economic, and politics. First off, what is diversity? Diversity is when you have a lot of one thing, for example marbles, but they are not all the same. Some are big others are small, some have designs and others are plain. They are all marbles even when they do not look a like. You have a diverse collection of marbles. It is the same with people living in either big or small states. There is no state that is not diverse. They are however states that are more diverse than others. It depends on big or small the states is, whether the state is close to a boarder ore whether peo ple are interested in the state. In Texas, diversity is huge. Their are many people from all over the world that end up in Texas. With so many people living here there is bound to be diversity. Physical diversity is what it sounds like its physical. It is how a person looks like. Their are many, many different ethnicities, cultures, races among many more categories that fit in diversity. Because there are so many different cultures in Texas, it is now open and welcome to new traditions andShow MoreRelatedTexas Schools and DIversity Essay1641 Words   |  7 PagesIn 2007-2008, Texas schools had a large ethnic distribution of students. Specifically, African American students made up 14.3% of the overall student population; the Hispanic student population was 47.2%; and 34.8% of the student population was White. 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Gfhfghfg Free Essays

McDonald’s Case Study ‘Beef Controversy’ Group 9: SaurabhJanwalkar -75 Dhvani Parekh- 89 Karan Savardekar – 103 Nikita Thakur – 113 SwapneelVaidya – 117 McDonald’s ‘Beef Fries’ Controversy McDonald’s is the world’s largest chain of hamburgerfast food restaurants, serving around 68 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald. In 1948 they reorganized their business as a hamburger stand using production line principles. We will write a custom essay sample on Gfhfghfg or any similar topic only for you Order Now McDonald’s was started as a drive in restaurant by two brothers, Richard and Maurice McDonald, in California. The business was generating US $200000 per annum in 1940’s. They introduced a new concept called self service and designed their kitchen for mass production with assembly line procedures. Prices were kept low; speed, service and cleanliness became the success factors for business. The original mascot of McDonald’s was a man with a chef’s hat on top of a hamburger shaped head whose name was â€Å"Speedee†. Speedee was eventually replaced with Ronald McDonald by 1967 when the company first filed a U. S. trademark on a clown shaped man having puffed out costume legs. As word of their success spread, franchises started showing interest. Ray Kroc finalized a deal with McDonald brothers in 1954. He established a franchising company the McDonald System Inc and appointed franchises. By the end of 1960’s Kroc had established over 400 franchising outlets. In 1965 McDonald’s went public. By the end of 1970’s, McDonald’s had over 5000 restaurants with sales exceeding three billion US dollars. By 1998, McDonald was operating 25,000 restaurants in 116 countries, serving more than 15 billion customers annually. However controversies started erupting one after the other for the company. The biggest controversy was the McDonald’s Beef Fries controversy. The lawsuit which was filed in Seattle, US alleged that the company had, for a decade, duped vegetarian customers into eating French fries that contained beef extracts. This issue caused a great furoreamong the customers. Q1. Analyse the various allegations levelled against McDonald’s before the French fries controversy. What perpetual processes contributed to so much hostility and criticism despite McDonald’s being the number one fast food chain in the world? McDonald’s has a long history of lawsuits being filed against it. It had been frequently accused of resorting to unfair and unethical business practices. Some of the allegations are as follows. * In the late 1990’s the company had to settle over 700 incidents of scalding coffee burns. McDonalds kept the coffee at 185 ° F which is 20 ° F hotter than the standard temperature at other restaurants. An 81 year woman suffered third degree burns on her lower body that required skin grafts and hospitalization for a week. After McDonalds dismissed her request for compensation for medical bills she filed a lawsuit against the company. Another case was filed by a woman who was permanently scarred by an extremely hot pickle slice in a hamburger. * A customer who found the crushed head of a rat inside his hamburger also filed a lawsuit. * Nutrition: It was alleged that Mc Donald’s sell high-fat, low fibre food which can cause diseases such as cancer, heart problems, obesi ty and diabetes. But McDonalds refuted the allegation saying that scientific evidence has never been conclusive and that it had a right to sell junk food just like chocolate or ice-cream manufacturers did. Environment: It has also been accused of destroying tropical forests to facilitate cattle ranching. * Advertising: It was alleged that the heavy advertising by McDonalds was exerting a negative influence on children and exploiting them. * Employment: McDonalds is accused of offering low wages and forcing local food outlets out of the business. Charges of discrimination, curtailing workers rights, understaffing, few breaks, illegal hours, poor safety conditions, crushing unionization attempts, kitchens flooded with sewage and selling contaminated food were also leveled against the company. Animals: McDonald’s slaughters hundreds of thousands of cows, chickens, lambs and other animals per year. * Expansion:It was alleged that McDonalds was creating a globalized system in whic h wealth is drained out of the local economies into the hands of a very few rich elite. This resulted in self sufficient and sustainable farming being replaced by cash crops and agribusiness under control of multinationals. * Free speech:It has also been alleged that McDonalds uses its clout to influence media and legal powers to intimidate people into not speaking out against the company. These are the various allegations leveled against the company. Q2. Discuss the French Fries controversy and critically comment on the company’s stand that it had never claimed the fries were vegetarian. Do you think the company handled the controversy effectively from the point of management of rumour? The French fries controversy: In May 2001, a class action lawsuit was filed against McDonald’s in Seattle, US. The lawsuit alleged that McDonalds had duped vegetarian customers into eating French fries that contained beef extracts. The French fries served at McDonald’s were falsely promoted as being 100% vegetarian. The French fries controversy began in 2000 when a Hindu Jain software engineer Hitesh Shah based in US happened to read a news article which mentioned that the French fries at McDonalds contained beef. Shah sent an email to the customer service dept of McDonalds regarding the contents to which they replied that McDonald’s French fries suppliers use a miniscule amount of beef flavouring as an ingredient in the raw product. They also said that they follow the ‘Code of Federal Regulations’ and that beef was not listed as an ingredient because normally the ingredients in ‘natural flavors’ are not broken down. Then a popular Indian-American newspaper, West India, carried Shah’s story and the news created widespread outrage among Hindus and vegetarians in the US. McDonald’s immediately released a statement saying that they never claimed that the French fries were 100% vegetarian. They said that the fries were cooked in pure vegetable oil and the company never stated that the fries were appropriate for vegetarians. They also said that it was upto the customer to ask about the flavor and its source. Later the activists found a letter sent by the company’s corporate headquarters to a consumer in response to an inquiry about vegetarian menu items. The mail clearly bundled French fries along with garden salads, whole grain cereal and English muffins as a completely vegetarian item. Further it was reported that many McDonald’s employees repeatedly told customers that there was absolutely no meat product in the fries. The ‘beef fries’ controversy attained a greater dimension in India as 85% of the country’s population was vegetarian and the non-vegetarians also did not consume beef usually because Hindus consider cows to be holy and sacred. Meanwhile in June 2001, another class action lawsuit was filed in the District Court in Travis County, Austin, Texas on behalf of all Hindus in Texas, alleging that Hindu moral and religious principles had been violated by their unintentional consumption of French fries that were flavoured with beef. Later two more lawsuits were filed in Illinois and New Jersey, taking the number of cases to five. Our views: We do not think that McDonald’s handled the controversy effectively as: * They did not accept their mistake in the start and McDonald’s said that they had never proclaimed French fries to be appropriate for vegetarians while their employees repeatedly told customers that there was absolutely no meat product in the fries. * Also they blamed their mistake on the customers by saying that the customers should have asked about the flavors and its source. This enraged the vegetarian customers further. * As the public outrage intensified, McDonald’s released its conditional apology on its website admitting that the recipe for the fries used a miniscule trace of beef flavoring. However they did not accept that they misled the customers and they were not truly apologetic of their actions. * They said that they were complying with the law in terms of disclosing their ingredients, but they should have gone beyond the law and should have paid attention to consumers who avoid certain food product for religious, ethical and health reasons. McDonalds’ paid 10 million US$ to vegetarian ,religious groups various groups devoted to Hindus , Sikhs children nutrition which the Indian attorney Harish Bharti thought was insufficient in monetary terms. * They gave an unconditional apology on the company website, newspaper various other publications. * Also McDonald’s decided to convene an advisory board to advice on vegetarian m atters. Q3. Discuss the steps taken by McDonald’s to play down the French fries controversy and critically comment whether the company will be able to come out of this unscathed. The French fries controversy impacted the image of the McDonald’s badly because of this McDonald’s was facing losses protests from various groups. Steps taken by Mc Donald’s to play down the French fries controversy * In March 2002, McDonald’s announced to pay 10 million US dollars to the religious groups in a proposed settlement. Around 60% of this payment went to vegetarian organizations and the rest to various groups devoted to Hindus and Sikhs, children’s nutrition and kosher dietary practices. * It also decided to pay 4000 US $ each to the 12 plaintiffs in the five lawsuits. They also gave a detailed apology on the company website, newspapers and in various other publications. * McDonald’s also decided to convene an advisory board to advice on vegetarian matters. * They apologized for their mistakes in the newspapers. McDonald’s acknowledged that after switching over to vegetable oil in the 1990’s for the purpose of reduci ng cholesterol, mistakes were made in communicating to the customers about the ingredients in French fries. They apologized for the miscommunication and the hardships caused to the customers. Our views: No, we do not think that McDonald’s would come out completely unscathed because: * The Company would lose the customers base whose sentiments have been hurt because of this controversy. * People will now think twice before going to McDonald’s even after the companies claim not to use beef oil in the fries because McDonald’s had made false promises earlier as well. * Also it was revealed that McCain Foods was still in the process of growing the appropriate potatoes and needed another 2 yrs to begin supply, therefore the French fries were being sourced from the US. The brand ethics of the company have been dented because of this controversy which McDonald’s would take a long time to build back their image. But with all this McDonald’s also implemented some positive policies which will help them regain their brand image. * They set up an advisory board to advise on vegetarian matters * McDonald’s also developed a special menu for Indian custome rs taking into consideration Indian culture and religious sentiments. They maintained quality standards by rejecting Lamb Weston’s supply of partially fried French fries as they did not meet quality standards. Suggestions: * Can come up with pure veg. restaurants. * No beef oil should be used in the frying process. * Separate veg. kitchens from non-veg. restaurants. * Should maintain the quality standards * Give details about the menu i. e. ingredients on the company’s website. Employees should also be made aware about the ingredients in food. How to cite Gfhfghfg, Essay examples

My Biggest Passion free essay sample

My biggest passion, besides my husband and kids, is riding motorcycles. This is something that I am still fairly new to; I have only been riding for about five years now. At first I was scared to death, when I was about five or six I fell off the back of one, but when I saw my children riding with my husband on his and having lots of fun I decided I would try it and have been hooked ever since. I hope to convey my excitement in the following essay, and also show everyone that we on motorcycles are for the most part harmless and just want the same courtesy on the road that you would give a car or truck. While motorcycles seem scary and unsafe, when used properly, they can actually be fun and exciting. One of the most important things to do when riding a motorcycle is get a helmet that fits and always wear long pants and tennis shoes or boots. We will write a custom essay sample on My Biggest Passion or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page You want as much clothing between you and the asphalt if something should happen. But first I would like to start with the history of motorcycles. Riding motorcycles for me and my husband is a fun and relaxing activity. We have three big events that we do every year; the first one is the Vermontville Maple Syrup Run in April, the Blessing of the Bikes in May and then our favorite which is our honeymoon/anniversary ride. Last year at our Vermontville ride we rode with about 40 bikes and pulled in to Vermontville with about a hundred bikes. Pouring rain and all. My husband can pack enough stuff on our bike (tent, sleeping bags, beach umbrella, pillows and clothes) to make it through a weekend of camping. On our average anniversary trip we can log up to 700 miles in a weekend. There is nothing like riding down the coast and smelling the water and trees and the air. I really do not know how to explain how much these rides mean to us.