But I did sign up for the classes. And I was surprised that after my first month I was able to say sentences and comprehend questions posed to me. I had hope.
But when I came to China, everything was different. I wasn't in a controlled environment with a single accent to understand who slowly and carefully only used the words she taught us. These were native speakers, who spoke quickly and used complex sentence structures. Knowing how to talk about myself and my family wasn't going to cut it here.
Initially, I opted to remain silent, using a few select words or phrases, but mainly hand gestures, to get me by. I learned to type a bit, inserting my pinyin into the computer and double-checking it with google translate to make sure I got the write character. The only people I actually spoke to were my two Chinese friends, Libon and Shaw Shaw, who both thankfully took it upon themselves to act as informal tutors.
I know it is silly not to try, but learning a new language in an unfamiliar environment was intimidating. However, as the weeks passed, I became more comfortable. I had more phrases under my belt and with the help of Chinesepod.com, I was more comfortable with sentence structure. I am not good by any means, but I have had a few milestones.
1. The first time I ordered at a chinese restaurant that had neither translations nor pictures.
2. The first time I asked for the subway. Granted, they answered me in English, but at least I was understood.
3. The first conversations that I had with taxi drivers. One was complimenting him on his ability to get around traffic and the other one we spoke to about where we were coming from.
4. Fully understanding and participating in a conversation with my Chinese roommates (who speak no English).
The last one happened last night. While it was happening, I translated what was being said to Julia, who just got here a few days ago and has yet to take a lesson. I've only been here a month, there is only more progress to come!
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