Trying out some Chinese.

I have mentioned previously, I have started taking Chinese lessons and have been doing so for the past month. In addition, Em has been helping me with my every day Chinese as well as coaching me with what I’ve been learning in class. As a result, I seem to be excelling a little faster than anyone else in my class, at least with pronunciation, despite the fact that some of them have up to 3 different Chinese classes or tutors to work with.

I never thought I’d be very good with foreign languages, having never learnt one during my school years, although after 5 years in Korea, I thought I did a fairly good job with my Korean, despite never having a formal Korean class (although I can only relate my Korean with other foreigners I worked with).

Of course the advantage in Korea was that I had to learn Korean in order to be able to enjoy and be comfortable with a lifestyle that was agreeable with me. In Beijing, Em has been able to for fill those needs with her Chinese and thus me not having to learn key phrases and words that I need, at very least, to survive. That’s not Em’s fault, that’s solely mine, for no other reason than a degree of laziness and convenience.

With that in mind, I really have been making a conscience effort to improve and use the Chinese I’ve been taught. At this stage it’s not a lot, but I am using what I know as much as possible. With one of the other teachers in the office also going to the same Chinese classes as I, we do like to challenge ourselves by asking questions to each other, at random, to help us remember what we have learnt in class. Little things like that really do make a difference.

I’ve also been brave enough to start ordering some food in Mandarin. While I can’t remember the names of the food, I can at very least get Em to write them down for me to say, correctly, when I’m ordering. The Chinese teachers at work have also been of good assistance and been helping with pronunciations with some of the more tongue-challenging names. I’m now confident enough to order dinner for both Em and I after work and bring it home. Tonight after work I managed to order the following meal;

• Jìàng bào tīng  (???) – similar to gong bao chicken but it doesn’t have any peanuts.
• Xī hóng shì chǎo jīdàn (西红柿炒鸡蛋) egg and tomato fried together.

I actually did order something else, but rather amusingly, I’ve already forgotten the word for it. That’s a bit how it is when learning a new language, one moment the word or phrase is there, the next it’s hidden away in your head until you can remember what it is again. And with Mandarin it isn’t enough to just remember the word, you also need to remember how to say the word correctly. One bad tone and you could end up in hospital!

A few other Chinese (and Korean) dishes I’ve added to my vocabulary are;

• sùcài bàn fàn (素菜拌饭) – otherwise known as bibimbap in Korea.
• pǔ tōng zǐ cài juǎn fàn (普通紫菜卷反) – gimbap.
• zhá jī pái gā li (炸鸡排咖喱) – curry rice.
• chǎo lā miàn mǐ tiáo (炒拉面米条) – ra-bokki (instant noodles with rice cakes and chilli sauce).

For the most part my pronunciation has been good enough where I haven’t had to repeat myself. It’s a start and it’s good to see myself making some progress.