Kathleen and I are taking Chinese lessons from an outfit called New Concept Mandarin in Suzhou. Our teacher, Isabell is shown above giving a lesson at our dining room table. Isabell comes to our house twice per week for two hours and coaches us on vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation of the Chinese language - more properly called Mandarin.
The language is so very different from English. Writing in Chinese is, of course, out of the question for a part-time student. The spoken language is "tonal" rather than phonetic, which means that the tone of a word changes its meaning. The Chinese word "ma" can mean "mother", "horse", "hemp", or "to curse" depending on whether you raise or lower the pronounced tone. This of course offers some intriguing opportunities to be misunderstood.
The lessons are very good and quite practical in their applicability to our daily lives. Kathleen is using her Mandarin to communciate with the Ayi and during outings and shopping trips during the week. My progress is turning out to be much slower than Kathleen's which I attribute to less time to study and less time out in the community to practice. I might also attribute it to Kathleen's superior intellect and greater commitment to study. I am anticipating a time in the not too distant future where we may need to take lessons separately to avoid holding her back and avoid making me feel entirely inferior in my ability to learn Chinese.
Personally I have found that it takes courage to use the little bit of Chinese I know. The response I have most often gotten when I try to speak Mandarin is outright laughter from the local Chinese. I can assure you that this is not a confidence building experience ! Nonetheless, I am determined to learn. Three years in China is an opportunity I do not wish to squander.
The language is so very different from English. Writing in Chinese is, of course, out of the question for a part-time student. The spoken language is "tonal" rather than phonetic, which means that the tone of a word changes its meaning. The Chinese word "ma" can mean "mother", "horse", "hemp", or "to curse" depending on whether you raise or lower the pronounced tone. This of course offers some intriguing opportunities to be misunderstood.
The lessons are very good and quite practical in their applicability to our daily lives. Kathleen is using her Mandarin to communciate with the Ayi and during outings and shopping trips during the week. My progress is turning out to be much slower than Kathleen's which I attribute to less time to study and less time out in the community to practice. I might also attribute it to Kathleen's superior intellect and greater commitment to study. I am anticipating a time in the not too distant future where we may need to take lessons separately to avoid holding her back and avoid making me feel entirely inferior in my ability to learn Chinese.
Personally I have found that it takes courage to use the little bit of Chinese I know. The response I have most often gotten when I try to speak Mandarin is outright laughter from the local Chinese. I can assure you that this is not a confidence building experience ! Nonetheless, I am determined to learn. Three years in China is an opportunity I do not wish to squander.
No comments:
Post a Comment