Month: February 2010

A Sneak Preview of Struggles

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“When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.” – The Alchemist by Paolo Coehlo

Having committed myself to another semester of studying Mandarin up at Tsinghua comes with a lot of caveats. Foremost of which is, being willing to work and study at the same time.

I was lucky enough to be able to avoid such an arrangement when I first arrived in Beijing. My savings allowed me a somewhat carefree lifestyle as a full-time student. No need to work and earn. Now, however, I realize that not having an income can be unsettling.

This week gave me a preview of what life was going to be like as a “working student.” Continue reading “A Sneak Preview of Struggles” →

A Sneak Preview of Struggles

Loving the Little Doses

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One thing I learned that helps keep me going when I started learning Mandarin here in Beijing is that it’s the little “accomplishments” that give me a daily dose of joy.

Today, it was calling my favorite kao ya（Peking duck) restaurant near Chaoyang Park and making reservations for Chinese New Year dinner with my friends tonight.  

The first thing I had to do was look up the word “reserve” (yu ding) in my handy English-Chinese dictionary. And the word for “table” (zhuo zi). After that, it was a matter of taking a deep breath and summoning the confidence to place a phone call to the non-English speaking maitre d’ of the restaurant. Here goes nothing. Continue reading “Loving the Little Doses” →

Loving the Little Doses

Mandarin Miracles

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To the mostly-Western, no-Chinese-background language learner, Mandarin looks daunting. Seeing the two lines of Chinese subtitles on your pirated copy of “Avatar” is enough to turn any Roman alphabet-reading student off. Couple that with the fact that the same word said in different tones means a completely different thing, and I can’t blame you if you think that it would take a miracle for you to be able to speak, much less read Mandarin.

But when you start out with the right frame of mind, are willing to put in the work and have the ability to laugh at yourself every now and then, miracles can happen. Continue reading “Mandarin Miracles” →

Mandarin Miracles