How to get fluent in Chinese (for realz)

Hey kids,

So there has been an aspect of this whole China experience that I’ve by and large ignored. That is, my Chinese language journey. I came here after finishing 3 1/2 years of Chinese study for my University major. I was feeling pretty unsatisfied with the prospect of graduating with this piece of paper touting my language ability, when personally, I was pretty unsure of how far that ability actually extended to. I had never gotten myself together to take the standard Mandarin exam, the HSK, so I didnt have that score to rely upon. And besides, I found that I had trouble writing characters by hand, simply because I was more focussed on conversational ability. The HSK exam largely assesses reading, writing and grammar structures. Thus, I decided that I needed time to focus on these technicalities. Introducing…an intensive Chinese language program conducted in Nanjing university. I found studying in China vastly different to your standard exchange experience. Because we were taking Chinese classes for second language speakers, most of the people I interacted with were exchange students too. Apart from my Korean friends, we all socialised in English to accommodate differing levels in Chinese. The classes were monday to friday,   8am until 12pm. Students were placed into appropriate level classes and could choose to swap as they pleased. Classes were taught by native Chinese, most of whom spoke little more than a scattering of English. The classroom environment was entirely Chinese, regardless of level. Homework consisted of review and prep of lessons. Subjects included reading, writing, speaking, listening and bonus classes such as newspaper reading, history, ancient Chinese and HSK prep which you could choose at your leisure. I personally chose to fill my spare time with brush painting, taichi and getting private lessons on the Erhu (traditional Chinese instrument.) These were all taught in Chinese and I felt greatly benefited because I was genuinely interested in these things. I felt frustrated by my inability to meet locals though, as our accommodation and classes were held in separate buildings.  We were segregated. To get around that, I tried many different schemes. I found a local language partner, made sure to go straight to the few chinese who went to the same parties I did. I met some really great people just by being open to those really random approaches that often happen here in China. But it still wasnt forming the core of my interactions. Frustrated with my lack of immersion, even while in China, as well as feeling generally over studying Chinese (saturation point is quickly reached and there are only so many hundred characters you can stuff into your brain before needing a break and a chance to consolidate.) Deciding that I was more than happy to call it quits on the study, I started looking for other…opportunities… in China. My plan had been to go travelling, Tibet, Nepal etc. But I wasnt ready to leave my Chinese level where it was currently at. I still wouldnt feel happy upon graduating. I’d feel…dishonest somehow, like I didnt deserve my accreditation.

An internship was suggested to me, and I decided it was just the thing.
I applied for a whole heap and got a whole heap of responses. I was most interested in one in Beijing and one in small city Ji’An. Well, I decided to put in my best and go for the most difficult option. To move away from any safety blankey expat communities I might latch onto in Beijing, to go to a small city in a (seemingly) distant province. It was the best decision I could have made.

I struggled with the language and cultural barriers, but as they say, nothing worth obtaining is easy. As I am getting to the last stages of my time here, I realise that it really hasnt been that long at all. But I feel like Ive achieved a lot.

I had a breakthrough moment not long ago. I went to a social enterprise workshop with my collegues and a whole group of young people involved in the small (but growing) NGO sector in China. I was really nervous, thinking that no way would I be able to follow what was going on, it would be a complete waste of time where I would embarrass myself by asking ‘what?’ too many times. Well, it was hard and occasionally I needed a translation of some of the more complicated concepts, but overall I learned some valuable things and feel inspired about my own future in NGO organisations. It felt  amazing to be able to sit in small group discussions about project planning and troubleshooting and to be able to make a meaningful contribution. I forgot that I was speaking Chinese because I was more focussed on what I was actually trying to communicate.That’s not to say that I knew every word that was being said, or that I followed every conversation, or that I spoke with even mildly correct grammar, or that I never had to ask someone to repeat or rephrase what they said…but I still made it to the end and dammit I’m gonna take that as a victory.  When I finally finished the three day intensive, I found everything else so much easier. General chitchat, asking for directions… how could that make me nervous now?

Learning a language is all about roadblocks and overcoming roadblocks. The more you learn, the harder the roadblocks get and the harder they are to overcome.

With this new confidence in speaking and understanding spoken chinese, I feel like I can finally see past another block. I know that I need to sit down, study some more complicated vocabulary (those annoying words that I can talk around, or substitute for an English word but eventually need to learn) and take it back out onto the field.
Being fluent in Chinese isnt about a piece of paper from university, or about a number on an exam. To be fluent in Chinese all you need is the confidence to answer the question “are you fluent?” …with a defiant “yes, bitches!” Because confidence in your second language is the most valuable thing you could ever learn. Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not good enough. They usually are the ones who feel the least confident in their own ability.

Haters gonna hate (Photo: Emccall 2014)

打太极拳、拉二胡、画中国画：Studying Taiqi，Erhu and Chinese brush painting

I decided to write a little summary some of my studies here, since my classes are quickly drawing to a close and I’m sadly moving onto other things for the time being. I wrote it originally in Chinese, because final exams are next week and I really, really needed some practice. Enjoy!

　　我学了太极拳三个月了，我现在能打一个很简单的２４步骤态样，也学了一半的太极剑态样。　我的老师，杨老师，的父亲是一位太极拳名家。杨老师老了，　不过还很康强、手脚灵活，　老了的时候要打太极拳，我觉得你要现在开始。　在公园跟老人打太极拳是一个我的梦想，我喜欢在中国老人能自由行动、健身、社会化、尊重的，比西方不同的，我想退休以后在中国花时间打太极拳、搓麻建、等。原初.我看过太极拳以为很漫漫的，所以容易的，然后打太极拳觉得很不舒服，我的身体不太自然的，我真知道每个奥妙的步子才能觉得强力的、大大方方。但是，　还有一些很难的步子，我要联系努力．．．很高兴有足够时间啊！

For my three months here I have been taking Taiqi classes, so far we’ve finished the basic pattern and over half of a sword combination (with my new practice sword!) The late father of our teacher (Yang) is apparently a very well-known Taiqi master in this area, although she hasn’t really mentioned much about him, we hear rumors…Teacher Yang is incredible, she is an older woman but she continually surprises us with her strength and flexibility, I know a lot of people think they will take up Taiqi when they’re older, but really you have to start as young as possible to get to her level. My little fantasy with Taiqi has always been to practice Taiqi in the parks with the old folk, it’s such a common thing to see around China, I love the way that seniors here are very independent, they go out with friends, exercise everyday in the outdoors and enjoy the general respect of their community. It is quite different to the Western culture of loneliness and isolation so prevalent in the older population. When I’m retired, I will come to China, do Taiqi and play Mahjong all day long. Bliss. When I first watched Taiqi, I thought it was slow and therefore easy, when I started practicing I was at first quite awkward and off-balance but when I learned the moves thoroughly it felt as natural as breathing, although some moves are just crazy-hard (how does Teacher Yang keep her leg above her head for ten seconds without breaking a sweat?) luckily, I have plenty of time to improve…

　　在南京大学我也开始学了二胡，我第一次来到中国看到一个老公拉二胡，我觉得是很特别的乐器，二胡自然的声音比唱歌差不多， 我不会唱歌，所以我要拉二胡我的老师很熟练的、友好的和用汉语为教我, 学什么东西用汉语你的汉语水平一定提高了，因为二胡是一个特别的中国乐器，为什么用英语学吧？二胡不太难的，我已经会弹钢琴，不过我的手很小，有时候不太舒服，我也觉得为把那个弓比把筷子办法一样的，对西方人很麻烦。我拉二胡以后，不会用筷子，因为我的手疼痛的。

I have also started studying the Erhu (Chinese traditional instrument, a two-stringed cello), when I first came to China I was fascinated by this instrument that old beggars would play on the streets, it has a really ‘Chinese’ sound to it, and it’s pitched similar to the human voice. Because I can’t sing for peanuts, I might as well play the Erhu. My teacher is great, she is incredibly skilled and has toured Europe playing in orchestras, she also insists on using only Chinese in our lessons. Can I just say, the best way to learn a language is to study something, anything using that language. Also, why on earth would I study a Chinese instrument in English? It would just be strange, like reading Shakespeare in Chinese (apparently, they really struggled translating the ambiguous line ‘to be, or not to be’) Erhu isn’t too hard to learn with a bit of patience, but my hands are quite small and some positions can be uncomfortable. Also, the technique for holding the bow is actually the same as holding chopsticks, so a bit of a disadvantage for Westerners…after a long session of playing Erhu my hand hurts so much I can only eat my rice with a spoon.

　　最后，我每个周一学了中国画，在家，我学人物写生了，不过在这儿没有地方能随便画画儿吧，我了解能画中国画的时候我很高兴！我们学了很传统的中国画，比如画了果园、竹子、梅花、对虾、等等。我画了很多画，要联系很多，能中国画送给我家人。我买了毛刷和墨水，所以我能继续画中国画，我很败兴的因为我想画金鱼，我最喜欢的中国画，不过我的老师说了比较难的，没有时间，能自己画画儿。

The last thing on my busy schedule, every Monday I took classes in Chinese brush painting. At home I do art classes, so I was really excited when I found that these brush painting classes were offered at the University. We studied really traditional figures, like orchards, bamboo, plum blossoms, shrimp etc. You get shown the method for this and that and then you just have to practice it over and over until every brush stroke is perfect. I did a wardrobe full of paintings, I think I know what all my family will be getting for Christmas this year, and next year too. I bought my own brushes and ink too so that I could do my own stuff once classes were over,  I was disappointed because we never got to learn the fish design, which is my favourite in traditional Chinese art, our teacher said it was a bit more advanced and we ran out of time. I guess I will just have to work it out myself (maybe with a little YouTube help too…)

我学了三个特别中国的技艺，连时间不太长的，也了解了三个重要的学语言办法：

Three things that  I learned about studying language from studying some random stuff in China:

1。如果在将来要做什么东西，要现在开始吧。(If you want to do it well when you’re ‘older’, you have to start now.)

2。如果你要语言学得好，不能只学语言，要学每个东西用那个语言，也很有意思的。(If you want to study language, don’t just study language, study random things using the language, it’s way more interesting.)

3。如果要改进什么水平，与其等待为老师教你，不如自己尝试。 (If you want to improve, rather than waiting for the teacher to teach it, just go ahead and try to work it out for yourself.)

Peace ya’ll

Lea, Teacher Yang, Martyna and I in our Taiqi outfits (Photo: 11/13 LKorva)

Learning the technique for painting plum blossom (photo: 11/13 emccall, painting by lecturer)

My Chinese study experience (now with extra Chinese!)

Hey kids!  A kinda-translation-thing for ya’ll

I have been in China now for nearly 3 months now and I could be here for another half a year or so yet. Recently I heard the saying “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” This got me thinking, what was the start of my ‘thousand miles’?  This is my third time to China, the first time I was here I toured Beijing with my highschool, I remember having very severe culture shock, I was only 17 and hadn’t seen much of the world. It was overwhelming, the smell of pollution, the traffic and people swarming the streets speaking in a language I didn’t understand. Up until that point, I had always wanted to study Fine Arts in University. After being in China for two short weeks, I decided to study something which was a complete mystery to me… linguistics and languages, so that I could experience more of the world. I changed my university choice to linguistics at the last moment and I often wonder how my life would have turned out if I had studied art instead.

The second time I came to China was in late 2011, I had the opportunity to show three friends around Beijing and Shanghai.  It was really exciting to be able to understand and speak some Chinese this time around , but still I felt very nervous about using Chinese and possibly (probably) making mistakes or misunderstanding people. The day after after we arrived in Beijing, I went to the train station to buy tickets,  I was so tired and I was asking the sales assistant whether or not there were tickets available to Haerbin departing “Yesterday” “Yesterday!” Another customer in the line then prompted me, “Do you mean…Tomorrow?” I was really embarrassed, but the people around were so forgiving and so genuinely pleased that I was even trying to speak Chinese that I felt marginally better about the whole ordeal.

To this day,  I still occasionally mix up “tomorrow” and “yesterday.” I have no idea why…

When I returned home, I continued my Chinese study in University, but I didn’t work particularly hard in some of my classes, as I felt that the content was not particularly relevant to my reason for studying Chinese. I couldn’t believe that I had struggled to order train tickets in China, whilst back at home we were being taught advanced vocabulary related to policy/business/bureaucracy/transactions/intercultural/transatlantic/transparency.

I realised that I had been so nervous about speaking Chinese, because I was feeling so overwhelmed by the endless grammar structures and hundreds of words I had been studying, difficult to recall and utilise when you’re trying to have a conversation with a Chinese taxi driver who speaks rapidly about American films in his thick, regional accent.

So, back in Australia, I was meeting many Chinese people who were studying at my University. It was easy to speak both Chinese and English with them, to learn from them and to befriend them. We are very lucky in Australia, we have so many people wanting to live, study and work in our country from all over the world, what an amazing chance to learn about foreign languages and cultures…

This time around, as soon as I stepped off of the plane in China I consciously let go of my insecurities and decided to embarrass myself by speaking to everyone I met in very loud, enthusiastic, grammatically incorrect Chinese.

I often remind myself that is has only been four short years since starting my escapades into China and Chinese, and in that time I have been able to venture out and make friends and have amazing experiences and overcome many challenges.

Some people study Chinese because they hope to take a high level HSK (the Chinese proficiency exam) for future employment options in both China and other countries. This is a very admirable goal, but it is not my main reason for being here. I’m here to meet, understand and befriend people from all walks of life. I want to  have fun with it! Learning a second language doesn’t have to be a chore, used solely as a tool for future employment use, make it your play thing,  laugh at yourself, make mistakes and revel childishly in the smallest achievements.

Peace Out!

中文学习

    我已经住在中国三个月了，可能继续另一半年，　我最近听过了这个有意思词语　＂千里之行，始于足下”　用心思索，我的千里之行什么时候开始吗？我第三次来到中国， 第一次我去过北京跟我的中同学们一起，我记得，在北京的时候我大吃一惊，我十七岁了，在一个很小、隔绝的城市长大。 在北京，污染的臭味儿、不断度车和太多人们都用那么奇怪外语，当时我明白世界那么大，我很感兴趣。我本来想在大学学美术， 反而我决定了要学语言学， 对我是一个不解之谜，所以我能去别的国家，也会认识很多不一样文化。 我串换了大学专业 ，我常常暗想，如果没 串换了，没去了中国， 我的今天生活怎么样？

去 年， 我再来到中国， 我对三位朋友们介绍了北京和上海， 很高兴， 因为我会听得懂， 用了中文一点点， 不过我还用中文的时候很担心， 谁想说错啊？我在一个车站买票，当时我很累，我问了服务员，“有没有火票昨天离开…昨天…昨天！”　然后别人建议　＂啊．．．要用‘明天’，对吗？＂我很发窘了，但是人们都很友好的 、很高兴我连尝试说中文，我觉得了好一点儿。至今，我没时混同　“昨天＂和　”明天“．．．ಠ_ಠ

我回家了，在大学继续学中文，　不过我学了不太努力，因为我觉得除了我们的功课也对我的梦想用不着。　我为什么要学正式词汇，　比如讨论环境工商业，　有什么办法？在我的看法，在中国说中文担心的，因为语法或白上千生词不会记得好，不会用跟那个出租司机说话带特别口音。横心改进我的中文口语，我在澳大利亚见面很多中国留学生，跟他们说中文一起。　我们住在澳大利亚很有幸，因为有机会见面很多不同的国家人，能发现不同的文化、语言。

今年，我刚下飞机了，就开始说跟每个人用很热肠的、不对的中文。这下，　四年我来了中国和用不了三年学中文了，我能在中国适应、交朋友、能长见识。　我学中文，所以我能感受这些东西，不一定，所以我能在中国公司工作，或者做ＨＳＫ好多了.

我学中文为了游玩吧！

（不好意思，你能看，我不是一个很好的学生，所以如果不能看得懂这个作文， 请到看英语翻译的 (ー_ー)!! ）

日常生活 (Daily Life)

Hey kids!

So it has been nearly a month of living in China. This begs the question of what I do with my self on a day-to-day, week by week basis. Well, I’m glad you asked.

Language classes constitute the majority of my daily life. Monday to Friday I wake up at 7.40am for my 8am start. This is a glorious luxury considering I would normally have to wake up, get ready and travel 1 and a half hours to get to class. Here, I roll out of bed, make myself some green tea in a flask (so Chinese,) briefly entertain the thought that I can make downstairs in time to buy 包子(baozi) the most common breakfast food here, realise that I totally don’t have time, rush off with my books to the building directly next to my accommodation and get to class with a whole minute to spare.

I take four subjects here which are assigned by Nanjing University. People are streamed into classes depending on their HSK level or their entrance exam scores. 综合 (comprehensive Chinese language) runs for two hours on Mon, Tues, Thurs and Fri. 口语(oral Chinese language) is for two hours on Mon, Tues and Wed. 听力 (Aural Chinese) is for two hours on Wed and Fri. Finally, I have business Chinese from 10-12 on Thursday. So, in total I attend roughly 20 hours of classes. You are also given a timetable of add-on subjects which aren’t for credit, but are to give you an extra edge on your Chinese language. I have selected 中国画 (Chinese traditional painting) as well as 书法 (Chinese calligraphy) which, like the language classes, are taught exclusively in Chinese.

I have found the language classes very similar to my classes in my home University, probably because the Chinese teachers at home are native Chinese and studied teaching in China. The difference is, of course, that you can’t request an English translation even if you really really want one. By having only Chinese to focus on, and a Chinese environment, I find that I retain what I have learned much quicker than usual. However, the work load is much tougher and every week I am learning around 150 new words which we are tested on in various mediums (i.e. discussion, writing test, oral test, aural test.)

I still retain my previous sentiments that the method of teaching Chinese to foreigners is incredibly inefficient and over-emphasises 普通话, 北方话(standard, northern Mandarin) pronunciation as well as ROTE learning to write hundreds of 汉字 (Chinese characters.) In reality, only a very small percentage of Chinese people can/will speak with the ‘standard’ accent and ‘standard’ vocabulary and it can be hard to understand someone speaking in Xi’An or even Shanghai if you’ve only spent time learning Chinese from Beijing teachers, CD’s and textbooks.

Furthermore, in the 21st Century writing becomes less and less important. Thanks to efficient pinyin input systems, Chinese can be typed incredibly easily without knowing each and every stroke of the character. Indeed, often native Chinese will struggle to remember certain characters when they write (see: http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/12/world/la-fg-china-characters-20100712 New York Times, Demick, 2010)

I wish that the Chinese language education system stopped wasting time and confusing students who are desperately trying to master a second language far removed from their own.

Going back to my original topic, I also keep myself busy with sampling local cuisine (a post to come on this at a later date,) 太极拳(taijiquan: Taiji; Taichi) lessons twice a week, 瑜伽 (yujia, yoga) twice a week at the Universities sports club, sporadic Zumba dancing on the running track and tutoring English to a young Chinese girl for a couple of hours a week. I have also signed up to find a local language partner to help with my Chinese speaking and for 二胡 (erhu, Chinese cello) lessons from a private teacher.

The weekends are usually spent partying, shopping in markets, studying, seeing Nanjing, traveling or recovering.

I see this list and I realise that I’ve simply replaced my usual hobbies and daily activities with the China equivalents. Oh dear.