Day 20 – Second day of class
Beginning to notice that different students have different difficulties in learning Chinese.
For example, the Japanese girl in my class told me that Japanese doesn’t have the “ang” or “eng” sounds, so it’s hard for her words like “xiang” (to think).
Also, the class is directed towards English speakers wanting to learn Chinese. They teach you a new word by telling you the Chinese word, then the English word for it. But some of the people in the class don’t understand the English word in the first place.
However, everyone in the class already speaks a little English (the Mongolians, Koreans, Japanese, Spanish, Russian, Kazakhstan, Belgium, etc.).
It’s pretty cool to have people all over the world come to learn in one place, and they already know your language (I feel pretty lucky to have already learned English). Never knew that English is taught as a second language (officially or de facto) in so many other parts of the world.
Thanks Eric, helped a lot.
Funnily enough, I have the same language teacher that taught all Adam, Eric, and Noah, the basics of Chinese. She says I don’t look like any of my siblings.
Enjoyed some “TOSSED” cucumber for lunch. Had a nice sauce on top.
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A prison inmate works there at the back … tossing.
Comment by Karl Wang — November 6, 2011 @ 12:36 PM
Not only can Japanese speakers not pronounce certain phonemes in English or Mandarin, they also cannot hear the difference between certain sounds. They need to train not only their tongue but their ears. It is impossible to pronounce a sounds you cannot hear. Try the difference between “rice” and “lice” on your Japanese classmate.
While we can pronounce their alphabet with ease, they kill English speakers with their grammar and verb variations (different verb form depending on the social status difference between the speaker and the listener).
Learning a new language will exercise new portions of your brain you never even knew you possessed.
Comment by Don Tai — November 7, 2011 @ 11:26 AM
good observation of learning difficulties
Comment by dianayee — November 20, 2011 @ 10:19 PM
ninja that aint no tossed salad, taht is a straight clapped cucumber if i ever saw one
yeah i wish i had that phrasebook like WAYYY earlier, that thing will honestly get you through teh first year without having to struggle too hard
Comment by Eric — November 29, 2011 @ 2:40 AM