Teacher, may I speak Chi-neeeee?

So when our students ask if they can speak Chinese in class, many of them forget the 's' and so it sounds like Chi-neeee. Haha. That's where the title comes from.

As I've previously mentioned, I have begun learning Chinese. Like actually learning. I bought a book and have a tutor. Her name is Sandra. She is great. She is about to go back to school for teaching Chinese as a second language so I hit the jackpot.

Let me first remind you all that it is a known fact that Mandarin Chinese is the hardest language to learn. And by hardest, they actually mean impossible for anyone else. Chinese is tonal. That means that the same word can be said 5 different ways (!!!) and have five completely different meanings. Clearly, they didn't want anyone else to master this language. And that is only the speaking part. Writing and reading Chinese is ridiculous. First of all, there are over 400 characters as opposed to the 26 in English that my students say are really hard. Let me address this: t and T are the same and will always be the same. But in Chinese if you add one single little tic to the character the meaning changes completely. It's unreal.

That being said, I have really been enjoying learning Chinese. Sandra is great.  But I really love learning. And I have been practicing writing on my own. It takes a long time but when I can show one of my students or co-teachers a sentence that I wrote in Chinese I get really proud. Haha.

Tomorrow will be my fourth lesson. I'll transcribe some sentences for you in Chinese. I also included some pictures of the book I use because I wanted to show you all that lesson one is already all in Chinese. No acquisition period. They expect you to know it already. Oh man. But I'm doing well. And Sandra is constantly giving me praise so naturally my lessons are good. :)

Wo bu shi Zhong guo ren, shi Mei guo ren.
I am not Chinese, I am American.

Ni jiao sheme ming ze?
What is your full name?

Wo xing Foley jiao Bonnie.
My last name is Foley my first name is Bonnie. 

Wo shi Mei guo ren, ni shi Taiwan ren, ta ne?
I am American, you are Taiwanese, and her?

Zao, Foley Xianshen, tian qi hao re a!
Good morning Mr. Foley, the weather is hot, yeah!?

Tian qi hen hao, bu leng ye bu re.
The weather is nice, not cold and not hot. 

I'll leave you with these few quotes about learning a second language.

One language sets you in a corridor of life. Two languages open every door along the way. -Frank Smith

The limits of my language are the limits of my world. -Ludwig Wittgenstein

You can never understand one language until you understand at least two.


Happy learning!