![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2010\/07\/Collage1.jpg\" "\\"China")
<\/a>A collection of some of my favorite photos from my first year in China.<\/p><\/div>\n
Learning a new language can be both incredibly difficult and frustrating at the same time.\u00a0 For a native English speaker attempting to learn Mandarin Chinese, these difficulties and frustrations can, at times, seem insurmountable.\u00a0 At least, that\u2019s how I felt back in Summer 2008 after arriving in Beijing equipped with Chinese skills the equivalent of one grain of white rice.\u00a0 However, after months of relying on friends and my phrasebook, things finally started to make sense.\u00a0 Rather than being laughed at because of my feeble attempts to speak, locals started to understand me.\u00a0 Instead of pointing to a random dish on a menu and praying for the best, I was able to confidently order a handful of dishes that I\u2019d come to love.\u00a0 It was truly a wonderful feeling when I eventually felt confident enough to venture out into the streets alone, without my phrasebook.<\/p>\n
I have now been in China for a total of one year (I went home for 9 months in between stints here), and this time I don\u2019t have a plane ticket home.\u00a0 Having absolutely zero formal Chinese training \u2013 at home or in China \u2013 I feel that my progress over my short time here is living proof that the best way to learn a language is to dive in head first.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never crammed for a Chinese test; instead, I\u2019ve studied the menus from my local restaurants.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never taken part in a listening comprehension class; instead, I\u2019ve done my best to understand the thick Beijing accent apparent in most cab drivers.\u00a0 I am by no means an expert in Chinese (my abilities are best described as \u201csurvival Chinese\u201d), but I can offer insight and advice on how to get started, improve, and practice your Mandarin.\u00a0 So, if you don\u2019t know your \u4f60\u597d s from your \u518d\u89c1s, or your \u8fd9\u4e2as from your \u90a3\u4e2as, this is for you.\u00a0 If you think speaking in tones is what those insane televangelists do, this is for you.\u00a0 If you think that Mandarin is a delicious little orange, this is for you.\u00a0 Without further adieu, I present to you my first installment of \u201cPoor Man\u2019s Chinese\u201d:<\/p>\n
Upon my arrival to Beijing on the eve of the Olympics Opening Ceremony, I was only capable of saying \u4f60\u597d (surely with improper tones).\u00a0 Luckily for me, the people I would be working for picked me up at the airport.\u00a0 Sufficiently drowsy from the 22-hour trip from Detroit to Chicago to Tokyo and finally to Beijing, reality had not yet set in.\u00a0 After exchanging greetings with my future room\/work mates, we piled into a mini-van and headed off to the city.\u00a0 About 30 minutes or so into the drive, our boss seemed a bit worried that the driver had taken a wrong turn.\u00a0 He made his concerns known, which then sparked a fierce debate between the driver and his friend in the front seat (at least that\u2019s what it sounded like).\u00a0 Shortly thereafter, the driver realized he had missed the exit.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s fine,\u201d I thought.\u00a0 \u201cHe can just get off at the next exit and turn around.\u201d\u00a0 Wrong.\u00a0 Instead, the driver pulled over on the shoulder, flipped the van into reverse, and backed up a good mile or so, against the flow of traffic, to the proper exit.\u00a0 It was then that reality set in.\u00a0 Life is different in China, to say the very least.\u00a0 I quickly realized that some adjustments would need to be made.<\/p>\n
First of all, there was this whole matter of communication.\u00a0 From the start, I was very intimidated by the language.\u00a0 As an English speaker familiar with the rather simple, mere 26-letter alphabet, Chinese characters \u6c49\u5b57 (h\u00e0n z\u00ec) looked like thousands of intricate pictures.\u00a0 Surely, I would never be able to make sense of them.\u00a0 Then there was the matter of speaking.\u00a0 A few weeks in, and I was only capable of saying a few words:<\/p>\n
\u4f60\u597d \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0n\u01d0 h\u01ceo – hello
\n\u7f8e\u56fd \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0m\u011bi gu\u00f3 – USA
\n\u9e21\u8089 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0j\u012b r\u00f2u \u2013 chicken meat
\n\u5564\u9152 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0p\u00ed ji\u01d4 \u2013 beer
\n\u8c22\u8c22 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0xi\u00e8 xie \u2013 thank you
\n\u518d\u89c1 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0z\u00e0i ji\u00e0n \u2013 goodbye<\/p>\n
While I was happy to have mastered a few key words, it was pretty obvious that it would be necessary to add a few more to my arsenal.\u00a0 Sitting down for a meal by myself, I was only able to tell the waiter, \u201cHello.\u00a0 Chicken.\u00a0 Beer.\u00a0 Thank you.\u201d\u00a0 Needless to say, I got a lot of laughs as a result of these interactions.<\/p>\n
After about a month of living in Beijing, I started to get frustrated.\u00a0 Playing charades with people \u2013 as in putting up bullhorns if I wanted beef in a restaurant \u2013 was getting old.\u00a0 Constantly calling my friends, who had had the good fortune of studying Chinese before moving to China, was getting old.\u00a0 Not being able to understand anything was, alas, getting old.\u00a0 If I was going to live in China for a year, I was going to have to learn how to communicate, and fast.<\/p>\n
While the next few months proved to be both difficult and frustrating – while getting drilled on tones and constantly being misunderstood – the rare occasions where I was able to succeed in speaking Chinese provided more than enough motivation to continue to work at it.<\/p>\n
My students here in Beijing once told me a joke:<\/p>\n
Student – “What do you call someone who speaks three languages?”
\nMe – “Trilingual.”
\nStudent – “What do you call someone who speaks two languages?”
\nMe – “Bilingual.”
\nStudent – “What do you call someone who speaks one language?”
\nMe – “Ummmm?”
\nStudent – “AMERICAN!”<\/p>\n
I was officially on a mission to prove them wrong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u5927\u5bb6\u597d, My name is Sasha, and I’m thrilled to introduce myself as the newest member of the Transparent Chinese team.\u00a0 First, I’d like to thank Jeremy and Steve for giving me this opportunity to share my Chinese experiences with the world.\u00a0 Every month, I’ll be writing on the blog here, as well as posting original…<\/p>\n