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it's still all "asdfgjklwpvkciwj" to me

I have officially begun my search for a Chinese tutor. I'm sick of not even being able to count to ten, and of having people trying to make conversation with me and not being able to because I don't have a clue what they said. So I put an ad on Tealit, a website that is like Taiwan's Craigslist, and got a mountain of responses.

 I've replied to three and am waiting to hear back. I don't need anything fancy, just someone to teach me basics and correct my pronunciation and help me practice.

 What's weird is that I'm not intimidated at the idea of learning Chinese. It's like, there's a language, and it has words, and they go together a certain way, so I'll learn the words and I'll learn where they go and then I'll use them to talk. Maybe I'm not just an English nerd, maybe I'm a language nerd. The idea of learning languages doesn't scare me, and what bothers me when I'm actually learning them is the growing pains of getting my brain to remember everything, not the actual complications of the language. Once I've got enough language in me to start putting things together and pick up more words and phrases, it's a cakewalk.

 Part of me thinks, "And I'll learn Mandarin and Japanese and re-learn Spanish and take a stab at French and--"

 I am in a never-ending quest to absorb more words.

Comments

  1. BexFebruary 24, 2013 at 6:25 AM

    Use it or lose it.
    Seriously. I've studied 5, speak none of them well (this is also due to laziness).

    But. while you're learning Chinese, use the opportunity to get in some Japanese practice. I can ask a friend to help, maybe? She needs to re-learn and I'd like to... have a go (long time since I took the language). But anyway, when you learn a new word or phrase in Chinese, find the Japanese too, see if you can get along with both. Reading Japanese signs might become more fluent too, if you can get the Kanji and then fill in the rest :)

    ReplyDelete

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