How I passed myself off as a Mandarin genius...
Ok, that might be a bit of a stretch, but let me explain. I started Chinese tutoring this week. The consulate (is awesome and) sponsors a program for both it's employees AND THEIR SPOUSES to study mandarin for free! (note- not all consulates/embassies do this) So Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I have this cute (in a cartoon-type of way) 25-year old (? guessing other ethnicities' ages is so much more difficult, isn't it?) ring my doorbell and take me through Chinese lessons for an hour and a half.
Before our first tutoring sesh I was asked to complete a brief questionnaire about my language ability. I didn't want to overstate my skill level, but I may have inadvertently understated it quite a bit. I explained that I studied for 3 years while living in Asia, but I guess that can mean a lot of different things for different people. I was pretty up front about my biggest challenges being my self-confidence and just straight up remembering what I learned 2.5-5.5 years ago.
So Z my tutor pretty much thinks I'm brilliant. Not in a you-already-know-all-of-this way because I don't. He'll ask me for synonyms to words that I do know and he'll be looking for words I'm absolutely familiar with, but don't have at my finger tips. As soon as he says them or even gives me a hint, they come back to me as if they'd never left!
In turn, I come off looking like I can absorb and pronounce and explain things much better than most "beginner" Chinese speakers. The learning curve in Chinese is SO steep, but it definitely plateaus in difficulty once you get the pronunciation and tones down and can recognize a few characters. While I still mix up my tones once in a while, when Z goes over a phrase I've already learned it's not hard for me to remember how to use it and feel comfortable with it pretty much immediately. Chinese grammar is definitely "easy" when compared to other languages. They have a few rules but no verb conjugations for each and every tense possible. It makes me feel a little bit better that all of that time in a humid concrete classroom in Sichuan was not a waste, but I still have a long way to go.
Oh in case you are worried, R and I have managed to practice Mandarin some of the time without endangering our marriage. I think that means I'm making some sort of progress as well ;)
Hope you're staying warm this January!
Before our first tutoring sesh I was asked to complete a brief questionnaire about my language ability. I didn't want to overstate my skill level, but I may have inadvertently understated it quite a bit. I explained that I studied for 3 years while living in Asia, but I guess that can mean a lot of different things for different people. I was pretty up front about my biggest challenges being my self-confidence and just straight up remembering what I learned 2.5-5.5 years ago.
So Z my tutor pretty much thinks I'm brilliant. Not in a you-already-know-all-of-this way because I don't. He'll ask me for synonyms to words that I do know and he'll be looking for words I'm absolutely familiar with, but don't have at my finger tips. As soon as he says them or even gives me a hint, they come back to me as if they'd never left!
In turn, I come off looking like I can absorb and pronounce and explain things much better than most "beginner" Chinese speakers. The learning curve in Chinese is SO steep, but it definitely plateaus in difficulty once you get the pronunciation and tones down and can recognize a few characters. While I still mix up my tones once in a while, when Z goes over a phrase I've already learned it's not hard for me to remember how to use it and feel comfortable with it pretty much immediately. Chinese grammar is definitely "easy" when compared to other languages. They have a few rules but no verb conjugations for each and every tense possible. It makes me feel a little bit better that all of that time in a humid concrete classroom in Sichuan was not a waste, but I still have a long way to go.
Oh in case you are worried, R and I have managed to practice Mandarin some of the time without endangering our marriage. I think that means I'm making some sort of progress as well ;)
Hope you're staying warm this January!
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