加油！💪

There’s this really interesting phrase in Chinese that I’ve only come across since moving to Singapore / Asia: 加油 (jia you), which essentially has an encouragement connotation to it.  It literally means “add oil”, so it’s like when you add oil to a car, it has more power.  So it’s sorta like people are saying that you “add oil”, to give yourself more power so that you can achieve what you want to achieve.  I heard it a lot during the South-East Asia Games, and I also hear it a lot in Chinese dramas and from Chinese speaking friends and acquaintances.  So it’s really common, and I think it’s a really versatile phrase, because it seems like you can pretty much just say it any time in conversation.

But as a native English speaker, I find two things quite challenging with it.  Firstly, its English translation: “fighting!”.  What in the world is that??!?  LOL  It’s not just from Chinese to English that I’ve seen this translation.  I’ve actually also seen Korean dramas where they translate this from Korean in the same way, or they even SAY “fighting!” in the show itself.  It’s one of those cultural differences that I have found quite interesting.  It’s fine saying 加油.  When I do, it feels like I’ve adopted a small but intricate part of the Asian lingo, and is actually really cool (or I like to think of myself as such :-)). But to go “fighting!” in ENGLISH?!? ? Errrrrr, nooooo…. I just can’t quite get the hang of that.

So the second thing that I struggle with is EXPLAINING to Asian friends that we just don’t go around saying “fighting!” to one another in Australia (or any other English speaking nation, for that matter).  The encouragement statements are more along the lines of “you can do this!”, “c’mon!” etc etc.  This bit is fine to explain, ok, but it’s WHERE in conversation you say this.

Here is an example.  Say Joe and I are speaking Chinese (with my very broken Chinese, of course.  The conversation, translated into English, would go something like this:

Me: I want to be able to speak fluently Chinese.
Joe: You should say “I want to be able to speak Chinese fluently.”
Me: Ah ok, thanks.
Joe: Fighting!

Now how bizarro how does that sound in English!  And even if you put in the English equivalents of 加油 here, it would sound just as bizarre!  So I find it really hard to help someone learn how to use it in English.  I think it’s a cultural thing, and you just have to learn from experience how to express encouragement and praise in English, because there is just no direct translation.

Fascinating stuff.  Any other ways to explain would be much appreciated 🙂