Description
Ralph Simon, founder of Mobilium Global and self-described basketball fanatic, reveals that over 300 million people in China play basketball, more than play table tennis, and that the sport’s rise in China is directly tied to the People’s Liberation Army: with two million soldiers needing exercise and entertainment during the Long March, basketball became the sport of choice, and the best players earned promotions, private dining rooms, cars, and during the Communist era, better marriage prospects. In Chinese, basketball is 籃球 (lán qiú): 籃 (lán) is basket, a bamboo dish in ancient times, and 球 (qiú) is ball, originally the word for a round jade object, because in ancient China jade was precious and round shapes were considered auspicious. The same 球 builds every sport: 足球 (zú qiú) is football, 手球 (shǒu qiú) is handball, and 網球 (wǎng qiú) is tennis. 投籃 (tóu lán) is to throw at the basket, and 我瘋籃球 (wǒ fēng lán qiú) is I am crazy about basketball, where 瘋狂 (fēng kuáng) means crazy and the character 狂 combines a dog and a king, because the king of the dogs is mad.
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*⏰ TIMESTAMPS:*
0:00 - Introducing Ralph Simon and the word for basketball
1:00 - 籃球 (lán qiú): bamboo basket plus round jade ball
1:45 - 瘋狂 (fēng kuáng): crazy, and why the character combines a dog and a king
2:15 - 足球, 手球, 網球: football, handball, and tennis all built from 球
3:00 - How the People’s Liberation Army made basketball the national sport of China
4:00 - Ralph on building the first British professional basketball league
In Chinese, the ball in basketball is 球: originally the word for a round jade object, because in ancient China jade was precious and round shapes were auspicious. The language understood that a ball was something worth chasing long before the game existed.
*📖 KEY VOCABULARY:*
Basketball: 籃球 / 篮球 (lán qiú)
Crazy about: 瘋狂 / 疯狂 (fēng kuáng)
Basket: 籃 / 篮 (lán)
Ball: 球 (qiú)
I am crazy about basketball: 我瘋籃球 / 我疯篮球 (wǒ fēng lán qiú)
Football: 足球 (zú qiú)
Handball: 手球 (shǒu qiú)
Tennis: 網球 / 网球 (wǎng qiú)
To throw: 投 (tóu)
To throw at a basket: 投籃 / 投篮 (tóu lán)
To throw the ball: 投球 (tóu qiú)
*👤 ABOUT THE GUEST:*
Ralph Simon is one of the founders of the global mobile entertainment and social media industry and is known as the father of the ringtone. He is founder and CEO of Mobilium Global and Laurel Strategies, and has been among the world’s top mobile executives since 2005. He is currently developing the first-ever British Professional Basketball League. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a curator of major future tech gatherings including the Mobile World Congress and Singularity University’s Exponential Health.
📱 Connect with Ralph Simon:
🌐 www.mobilium.com
🐦 Twitter: @ralphsimon1
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralph-simon-frsa-a4188/?ppe=1
*🎙️ ABOUT TALK CHINEASY:*
Talk Chineasy is a daily podcast hosted by ShaoLan, creator of the award-winning Chineasy method featured on TED. In each 7-minute episode, ShaoLan and a guest explore Chinese characters, culture, and language through stories that make Mandarin unforgettable. 300+ episodes available.
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