I really do not like goodbyes at the best of times. Today felt even stranger as I concluded my classes with each of my three main Chinese teachers. So I must express my sincere gratitude to them. I have decided to post the following as a dedication to them. A huge thanks to my dear friend Lily Lee for helping me compose this final thank you note. She is no doubt reading this message and in many ways this is also a thank you to her for her endless friendship and help with my learning of Chinese.
我心存感恩之心，非常感激您们在我学习中文的艰难旅途中，
It has been a very rewarding experience. Three hours every day Monday to Friday for four weeks with the exception of one day when I fell sick with stomach flu and really could not get out of bed. I have enjoyed being immersed in Chinese. I thank each of my teachers for their patience and their constant willingness to correct my pronunciation, tones and my grammar. Later I intend to write a post on language learning. Chinese is actually a very structured language. I do think it very misleading to say Chinese grammar is simple. At a basic conversational level that may be true but when one wishes to break through that barrier and move your languages skills even further, there is little alternative but to push on with a lot of very formal learning. That is when Chinese does become harder. My advice to any learner is no matter how hard it gets, remember there are good days and bad days, so just keep going and success will come.
Today I had a brief conversation with a student from my school in Singapore. He was there with his siblings also studying Chinese for the holidays. It was great to see such dedication. He asked me was I fluent! I was very honest and said no not at all. Language is all about the environment one is in, let alone all that constant vocabulary (yes word learning DOES matter). Even this one month has been too short. Just as it is coming to a close, I am started to feel a degree of fluidity to my language. I prefer this word over fluency. Fluidity means that a certain degree of ease in replying and understanding begins to take place. Words often used become commonplace. My listening comprehension has improved. My ability to articulate basic thoughts and feelings and describe situations has also grown. Still, that depends on the topic of conversation hence formal learning is the only way to break those barriers and for that to occur one needs vocabulary.
I wish I had more time to stay immersed in such an environment. It is not quite the same back home in Singapore but I know I can create many pockets of opportunities. It is just that it's harder to do so. Hence, environment is everything as well as formal learning.
Whilst I am in the thank you mode, a huge thanks to Chris Collins at Mandarin Taiwan Study Abroad. His advice and help has been very invaluable. Not only did he arrange my course at TLI in the downtown centre, he also gave me options on places to stay and much more. In fact he is already helping me plan my next trip!
Finally thank you to family and friends. I could never have done this trip without their love and support!
Time to sign off. A movie awaits and then shopping tomorrow? Retail therapy is a perfect excuse to practice Chinese isn't it?
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