(no subject)

[flemmings]

As exercises in futility go, watching a Chinese travelogue with no subtitles about Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong must rank near the top. (Lent by a friend at work who knows of my interests.) I thought maybe it would accustom my ear to those various unEnglish sounds that defeat my tongue, but my ear is past hope. As witness the word I kept hearing that sounded like pu-puu, a vaguely birdlike call. Fortunately there are chapter headings that informed me it's pu *bu*-- 瀑布-- meaning waterfall.