Every morning as I go to Mandarin language class, I squeeze into an elevator with Chinese people -- more than you think could possibly fit.
Today, for the first time, there was another foreigner -- weiguogen --next to me. He said, "Berlitz? Teacher or student?". I gasped, "Student...I hope I can learn Mandarin." He responded, "There's no hope involved -- you either do or you don't".
You either do or you don't.
I sucked in my breath, went to class and spent two hours being drilled on What -- How -- Which -- Where -- What time -- Who. The most fundamental basics...not unlike the multiplication tables we learned in 3rd grade.
I choose do.
I'm amazed at the patience and kindness of my professors (Laushe). Repeating things again and again. Correcting my pronounciation -- again and again.
Mandarin is less like a language and more like a song.
There's a beautiful symetry and poetry to the words. The grammar makes sense. There are no verb tenses. You start to see how words are built -- a cell phone is a hand machine...an airplane is a flying machine...with the same base. You can almost see how the characters come together.
On the left is the character for rabbit -- you can see the animal!
But pronouciation and tone are key. Imagine saying the word apple in three different ways:
You either do or you don't.
I sucked in my breath, went to class and spent two hours being drilled on What -- How -- Which -- Where -- What time -- Who. The most fundamental basics...not unlike the multiplication tables we learned in 3rd grade.
I choose do.
I'm amazed at the patience and kindness of my professors (Laushe). Repeating things again and again. Correcting my pronounciation -- again and again.
Mandarin is less like a language and more like a song.
There's a beautiful symetry and poetry to the words. The grammar makes sense. There are no verb tenses. You start to see how words are built -- a cell phone is a hand machine...an airplane is a flying machine...with the same base. You can almost see how the characters come together.On the left is the character for rabbit -- you can see the animal!
But pronouciation and tone are key. Imagine saying the word apple in three different ways:
apple APple apPLE
In English, those are all the same word... In Mandarin, you've just encompased an entire dictionary...it could be a verb...it could be a noun...it could be an adjective.
But the poetry! One of my professors first name means "pillar of nations" and his girlfriend is "small shining light"...
I love this language. And even as I bumble through, people are kind...and help me at every turn.
I do want to learn it.
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