Cover of Rush Hour 2 (Infinifilm Edition)

I know, I know, didn't update this thing for over a year. The BBS/Newsgroup in Taiwan I usually visit was overran by spam, making it not worth re-visiting.

Then the other day I saw an article in Chinese newspaper about the big Chinese movie stars with lousy English (like Zhang Ziyi, Jackie Chan, and so on) and how they learned, which reminded me that I have this blog I should be updating.

Did you know how Zhang Ziyi improved her English? She got an Israeli millionaire as a boyfriend. As you guessed, they speak English.

And did you know that Jackie Chan's English is quite horrible? He speaks BRITISH English just fine, as that's what's taught in Hong Kong. However, while filming Rush Hour 2 with Chris Tucker, he reputedly failed to learn the expression "Freeze!" (in case you don't know, that's American-speak for 'Do not move!') He kept saying "Cheese!", which, of course, got the American co-star busting out in laughter, since "Cheese!" is something you say when you want to take a picture, like "smile!"

And here's a pronunciation lesson from the same article...

The word "rap" in "rap music" is pronounced like "tap", not "tape". PLEASE do NOT pronounce it the other way. You can look up what the other word is (add an "e" at the end). You'll be VERY embarrassed if you make that sort of mistake.

Labels: Asia, Chinese language, Chris Tucker, Hong Kong, Jackie Chan, Rush Hour 2, Society and Culture, ZhangZiyi