Mandarin Wednesday I
I finished Mandarin Tuesday III this past Spring. There’s a lot going on at work and I must admit, I didn’t put in the same level of effort as I showed in Mandarin I and II. I believe anyone who is learning a foreign langauge will concur, class is a bitch when you’ve not put in the requisite study time. Nevertheless, perseverance pays and I crawled my way to the end. I have “completed” the entirety of “Practical Chinese Reader Book 1” but I still babble like an idiot when confronted with native Chinese speakers. So, what to do? Sign up for the next course! Pain? Haha! I laugh. I have known pain in my time. The mild embarrassment and frustration of language school is nothing. NOTHING! Bring it.
Every language starts you out with basic phrases, useful phrases like, “la tiza está en la caja.” Very useful, for instance, if you are in a bank La Paz. No one speaks English, so you empatically repeat “THE CHALK IS IN THE BOX” until an interpreter arrives. Then you can cash your traveller’s check.
At some point, it pays to move beyond these essential basic phrases and develop real communication skills.
Intermediate Chinese Conversation (registration opens Aug 17, 2009) moves from basic phrases to actual communication.
“This course is designed for students who can talk about daily life in Mandarin, know Chinese phonetic spelling (pinyin) well, and can read 200 or more Chinese characters. We will work on conversational skills in speaking Chinese. The course will focus on communication skills for travel, business, and everyday use.”
And, the class meets on Wednesday. The last three classes were on Tuesday. Wednesday is much better for me. Sometimes you get lucky.
Mandarin is fun. It’s hard but fun. I have the rest of my life to learn it.
And I shall.