People keep asking me, “So now that you’ve been in Xi’an since August, are you fluent in Chinese?”
The answer is a very hearty, “no” (said with a smile because I’m only at a “survivor Chinese” level).
But I’ve learned a lot about learning languages–specifically Chinese–and armed with this information, I think I will continue studying Chinese. Here’s what I wish I had known when I first arrived in China:
1. Don’t think that learning Chinese is impossible! I can’t even remember how many people told me, “Oh don’t bother trying to learn Chinese. I gave up after 1 year.” I think that having that attitude set me back a few months (well, that and trying to get used to living in a new country and being a first year teacher–one of the harder tasks I’ve set for myself).
2. Learn some of the characters. I have picked up about 20 characters from self-study and osmosis, but I wish that I had actually put an effort into learning how to read some Chinese. People told me to start off with the oral/listening component of the language, but now that I’ve dedicated some time to learning characters, I’m kicking myself for not starting earlier. The language is just reinforced so much when you can read a character and try to figure out the structure and the meaning of several characters together. Plus, it’s an awesome feeling to “decode” Chinese.
3. Pimsluer’s Chinese is really boring, but it works (for me at least). No, I didn’t learn Chinese in “10 days” like they advertised (lies!), but taxi drivers could understand what I was saying. My problem was that I wasn’t as consistent as I needed to be, and I wanted to learn some of the things like, “What’s your name?” much earlier than the second CD. Shouldn’t that information be on the first CD?
4. Rosetta Stone taught me random words, but I also thought it was really boring. I learned how to say things like, “dog,” “plane,” “the ball is under the boy.” I never made it all the way through the program though. I’m going to give it another go, but also try Chinese Pod, which I heard works well for people who want to study on their own. Also, OpenCulture has some great language learning resources. I especially liked Chinese Lessons with Serge Melnyk!
5. You will learn what you use. Duh. The words that I will remember in Chinese are the ones that I actually use on a regular basis–things I say in grocery stores, taxis, and post offices.
6. The best way to learn a language? Stop talking in your native one! I work with people who speak English, and I teach English. It’s hard to really learn a language (quickly) without immersing yourself. As much as I wish I could have learned by osmosis, it just wasn’t possible for me since I was also surrounding myself with so much English. I think that’s why immersion programs like the Middlebury program are so good. That said…
7. Learn the tones first! One thing that has helped me being in China is being surrounded by the sound of the language all the time–even if I’m not conscious of it. I’ve learned how to imitate the sound of Chinese by listening to it everyday. I had lessons twice a week for one hour each for several months, and my teacher drilled the tones into my head. It was boring, but if you want to be understood, you really need to practice your tones with a native speaker who can correct you.
One thing that I find funny about learning Chinese is when I can’t think of the right word to use in Chinese, it often pops into my head in Spanish. Language learning is wild. We’ll see how long I keep up the Chinese study.
blondeinxian 