“Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.” Chinese Proverb Apologies in advance, dear reader. Here I go again. Another "ups and downs of learning Chinese" post. But this time, I have an important decision to announce. But first, let's have a look at my Chinese studies "history". I had my first lesson in February of 2016. 2 months after I arrived in China. At the time, learning Chinese was my most important project. I had the time, I'm passionate about languages, I like a challenge, I had classmates and last but not least, I was keen to be "integrated" into the Chinese community. Despite changing schools, then teacher and classmates, l maintained the enthusiasm the first year. I was eager to learn and would actually find pleasure in doing my homework. I ended up with the most wonderful teacher and my new classmates meant (and still mean) everything to me. We were all on a roll. We shared the passion and had fun inside as well as outside the classroom. All good things must come to an end Yes, it sound a bit dramatic but I suppose I somehow knew that it wouldn't last. I got busy with other things. Got a part-time job, started to do more and more freelance writing and every time I took on something new, Chinese became much less of a priority for me. As a result, I failed my last exam about a year ago (HSK 3 exam). Last summer, our beloved classmate Elisabete moved to Indonesia, Egle decided to stop and there has have been lots of changes in the group. This has caused some instability - but that instability is not to blame for my current demotivation. I have simply gotten lazy, sloppy and too busy with other things. There are 6 HSK levels in total and I'm currently studying level 4. I hope to do the exam in August or September and last week, I told my dear teacher Xin that I will be stopping after level 4. That was not part of the plan. I naïvely thought that reaching (and finishing) level 6 was feasible within the 4 1/2 years we'll have in China altogether. Reaching level 6 WOULD have been possible IF I had chosen to study full-time at the university (or at least 4-5 hours per day). I started off with 4 hours per week, then 9 and now I'm back to 6. Xin told me "HSK 四级真的不错“ (HSK 4 is not bad at all) - and she fully supported my decision to stop after the summer. What do you know after 3 years? I think the easiest way of telling you where HSK 4 gets you is by telling you what I can do - and what I can't - in Chinese: Talk to taxi drivers and give directions: yes Introduce myself and tell people where I come from, how long I've been in China: yes Talk to our house help: yes Get the essence of a radio programme (understanding roughly every 9-10 words): yes Watch a movie in Chinese: no Participate in a conversation about something that goes beyond small-talk: no Interview sources in Chinese: no Depressing innit? I mean three years. On the other hand, I believe in always looking on the bright side of things. Had I not given it a try, my level would have been zero. I would have saved myself a lot of frustrations but also missed out on a lot of fun - and lifelong friendships! I would have relied on always having an English speaking person around me when trying to communicate - or gotten my translation app out every single day. I could beat myself up for letting go of something that was so important to me - but as you know 冰冻三尺,非一日之寒 “Three feet of ice is not the result of one cold day.” (Rome wasn't built in a day) - and what I've learnt from the past 3 years, is that Mandarin is an incredibly difficult language and it requires so much dedication and patience to become a fluent speaker. But trying to grasp it has been rewarding enough for me. I intend to spend this last year in China practising as much as possible with the man in the street.
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29/11/2019 12:14:17
We are in a world where every nation is divided with different ruler and those kings and queens ensuring the safety of the people that they govern. The laws should be implemented by the people and the people should follow the rules to ensure safety and peace. There will be progress if we follow the leader and to follow means to know the culture and the language of the country. There are mysteries that are hidden and we need to find the answers to those mysteries.
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