Chinese Language: Wēibó-The Twitter in China
Key Learning Points (Preview):
关注 (guānzhù): v. to pay close attention to
微博控 (wēibó kòng): to be obsessed with microblogs
The year of 2010 has been called “中国微博元年 (Zhōngguó wēibó yuánnián) the first year of microblogging in China.” The number of people signed up for microblog sites has grown to over 120 million, which has been great news for the Chinese web industry. Microblogs have become an important part of people’s lives since China’s largest web portal Sina.com launched the beta version of its microblog site in August of 2009. Many users refer to it as “围脖 (wéibó).” because of the similar pronunciation with “微博 (wēibó).” “围脖 (wéibó)” means “scarf,” which is something that people need to stay warm with in the winter. In other words, microblogs have been given this nickname to signify their indispensability to Chinese people. So people now jokingly compare “玩微博 (wánwēibó) microblogging” to “织围脖 (zhī wéibó) scarf weaving.” Through microblogs, people can “加关注 (jiā guānzhù) follow others such as friends or stars and know what’s going on in their lives, while other people can also “被关注 (bèi guānzhù) be followed” by others.
Some people in China are obsessed with microblogs and we call them “微博控(wēibó kòng).” “控 (kòng)” means to control literally, but here it originates from the English word “complex.” Thus “微博控 (wēibó kòng)” means to love deeply or to be obsessed with microblogs.
Key Learning Points:
关注 (guānzhù): v. to follow
Example:
Hāi, tīng shuō nǐ kāi wēibó le.
A: 嗨，听 说 你 开 微博 了。
Hi, I heard you started a microblog.
Shì a.
B: 是 啊。
Yes, I did.
Nà jì de jiā wǒ guānzhù ò.
A: 那记 得 加 我 关注 哦。
Remember to follow me.
Méi wèntí.
B: 没 问题。
No problem.
微博控 (wēibó kòng): to be obsessed with microblogs
Example:
Xiànzài yǐjīng yǒu yuè lái yuè duō de rén chéng wéi wēibó kòng le.
现在 已经 有 越 来 越 多 的 人 成 为 微博 控 了。
Now more and more people are becoming obsessed with microblogs.
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Does “被关注” use the passive sentence structure?
Yes, “被(bèi)” sentences are an important type of passive sentence structure.
I’m awalys thinking about a dedicated blog. But you are right, it would become rather repetitive, if there were only one author. I’m toying with the idea of a blog with multiple authors to keep up the variety and interest.