Thursday TeaDay 4/09/09 Your fave TeaLanguage?

[ErikaM]

I voted Japanese, only because I took a little Japanese in college and thus have some prayer of pronouncing things correctly. (I took French too, but never could get the pronunciation.) Anything else is just guesswork so far. I've been toying with taking a conversational Chinese class, but the tones scare me...

[funkmaster nice]

sweet-tea, nice and simple

maybe teachat jargon too...

[olivierco]

Since I am spending so much time on teachat, the language I most of the time use for tea is English. A few weeks ago, I explained to a compatriot how to brew gyokuro and matcha and it seemed strange to explain it in French.

Kaboku sencha in a few minutes.

[Cinnamon Kitty]

Though I don't speak any of the above languages, I will go with Japanese because I would love to learn it at some point. I know a bit of Spanish from high school, but that is all for now beyond the native English.

Currently in my cup is Sakura Sencha.

[saretta]

Apart from Indian, Nepalese and Sri Lankan it happens to use all other languages to speak/read about tea: my first book on the subject was the original French version of "Tea. Aromas and Flavors Around the World" by Lydia Gautier, I had been studying Japanese language and litterature more than 13 years ago at Venezia University of Oriental Studies so I can pronounce correctly and translate (but I must admit I am almost loosing kanji usage as I do not use Japanese for work and in everyday life, a real pity!). As concern Chinese I have a close friend ,Fan Chao Yuan, who married an Italian guy and she lives nearby. To her house I was able to see a Gong fu cha session for the first time and she always corrects me when I use chinese words (very difficult to use tones, I cannot memorize at all!) And what can I say about English... definitely essential when I have started to enrich my knowledge about Tea through the web and TEACHAT.
Well at the end I chose "other" because Italian is the language I use the most to express emotions related to TEA

Edit: Ops.. forgot the tea...jasmine geen this morning, a gift from friend Chao Yuan!!

[silvermage2000]

I am not sure really.

[pasttimes]

I often listen to the Ippodo videos. I had never heard actual tea names pronounced before and found out I had been pronouncing gyokuro way wrong for 7ish years, but I had no point of reference and nobody to correct me.

This is why, whenever I have to say the name of a Japanese (or Chinese) tea aloud, I almost always follow it up with "...er...or however you pronounce it." It only adds to my obvious ignorance, but I like to keep my bases covered just in case there's someone waiting to pounce and correct.

I voted for "Indian," mainly because I'm currently teaching myself Hindi and have a whole host of other Indian languages I hope to one day learn. But, now that I think about it, I've rarely had the opportunity to apply it to tea.

Nothing in my cup yet. Leaning toward finishing up a Wuyi oolong I started last night.

[jazz88]

I don't have a preference. Any language you know has some unique aspects/expressions, etc. Although just visually I absolutely love Chinese and Japanese calligraphy.

In the mood for some Rose Tea this morning.

[geeber1]

I'm not really sure how to answer the question, since I mostly read tea descriptions online and don't hear them pronounced. I'm sure I'm missing a lot by not hearing them aloud.

This morning in my cup is some TenRen Yunnan from a tea swap.

[Janine]

I suppose I would have to say Chinese because the vast majority of teas I currently drink are from China

Here's an excellent translator by the way

Babelcarp: Chinese Tea Term Translator
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

Grace Fong of Imperial Tea has tried to teach me Mandarin. I wind up mastering phrases that have to do with ordering my favorite soup! Saying "thank you", "you're welcome", "one more" etc (hehe)

Today I am sticking with Queens Red from Tea Gallery

Drax: I hope you feel better soon

[olivierco]

Himalaya Gold (Mariage Frères) after dinner.

[daughteroftheKing]

My favorite teawares are English-style, and my brewings tend to be the English/Western style, too.

Today's teas, however, are all over the globe: First tea this morning was my Flintridge Chai (base for breakfast smoothie) and then a hot cup of Japanese Sakura Sencha (from a local tea shop), and at the office today I'm drinking Adagio's Ti Kuan Yin.

[brlarson]

I voted Chinese because I pronounce Chinese better that I do Japanese.
However, when I talk about Chinese tea to my family they all poke fun at me because of the names -- pu talk especially kills them, but the Japanese names seem to knock them senseless especially if you drop ``fukamushi'' into the conversation after they have been softened by the specifics of locations and varietals.

Finished my Yame Gyo today, and I'm am still working on Upton's Spring Dragon.
I should probably mention that this Spring Dragon is a delicious, moderately priced, everyday tea.

[Chip]

Sorry, I forgot Chinglish and Japanglish options ... , and I still can't decide Japanese or Chinese. I have thought about learning either or both at some point.

Had a Tetley tea with lunch, English Breakfast with the draw string bag designed to squeeze every drop of "goodness" out of the bag.

Just did a tasting of a 2009 Chinese green, Yang Yan Gou Ding from TeaSpring. Very interesting.

Going for Matcha in a few moments!!!

[danibob]

My favorite is Japanese. Even before I started drinking Japanese greens I would watch anime with subtitles and try to pick up some phrases or words. My favorite phrase is how they answer the phone: moshi-moshi.

Birthday tea in my cup. The little sprinkles must really contain crack because this is one blend I constantly crave. Perhaps some matcha next.