Monday, June 2, 2008

How Quickly We Get Out of Practice

Since I came back from my language studies in Shanghai, life has been a whirlwind.  That’s to be expected when coming back from an extended overseas trip, and is only complicated further if one goes on to make a turn-around trip to the other side of the world less than a week later.

One of the drawbacks to this sort of schedule is the distraction from the language studies in which I was engaged just two weeks ago.  I’ve tried to keep up, but it has not been to anywhere near the level it was when I was in Shanghai (naturally).
And I think I’ve lost ground.  Sigh.
I found myself, when reading a magazine article the other day, stumbling over words that should have been familiar.  At it seemed to take me forever to finish an article too.  Worst of all, reading it felt like work, unlike a couple of weeks ago when I was really beginning to enjoy it.
It is a pity that we can’t just spend our lives learning and soaking up new things.  There is a real joy to language learning, and the time to focus on it the past several months was a real blessing.  
I actually think a cycle of intensive learning followed by a break from intensive studies perfect for me.  In my head I believe that. But all the same, it feels a little frustrating right now.
Posted by poetically challenged at 01:32:39 | Permalink | No Comments »

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

EXHAUSTED

It’s been a tiring week on the language learning front.  I wrote two essays last week that are longer than what I’ve been writing, with more complex ideas.  The first was about 500-600 characters (comparable to 800-1000 words in English, roughly).  It was a comparison between the attitudes of Chinese, Singaporeans, and Americans toward privacy.  It was tough to write, and even tougher to correct after feedback from my teacher.  Basically, the teacher I wrote it for is not really a writing teacher, and her feedback was not as helpful as I needed.  I asked my other teacher (a real writer), and she was obviously upset with the feedback I had gotten.  I ended up feeling quite confused and frustrated with it all.  I asked a friend for help last night, and I think we got it into quite a nice workable form.  After help from 3 different people, and spending at least 10 hours on it, I am finally satisfied with it.  Sigh.  

The other essay was slightly shorter — probably about 400 characters +/- a bit.  It was about the Olympics.  After having spent so much time revising the “privacy” essay, my teacher and I did not finish going through corrections on this one, but only covered about half of it.  She pointed out some areas that need work, and my assignment for this week is to rework it on my own (the last half, the first half we did together) and take it back to her next Monday.  It will be fun to see if I can figure out a way to improve it on my own.
I am tired right now, though.  It has been an exhausting week of language studies.
Posted by poetically challenged at 06:57:49 | Permalink | No Comments »

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Travel

The third essay I had to write for my class was sort of a strange assignment.  My textbook had two separate questions.  One was “when you travel, do you like to take a lot of things, or fewer things?,” and the other was “tell about a travel experience you’ve had.”  My teacher asked me to combine the two questions into one short passage.  I found it odd to combine the two into one, but here is what I came up with:

去旅行
我现在去旅行的时候，从不喜欢带很多东西。以前我带的东西不少，可是最近几年有所改变。可能是因为我要常常出国，觉得带很多东西太麻烦了。行李很难装又很沉。而且现在不管去哪儿，日用品都买得着，除此之外其它的东西都不那么重要了。
可是两三年前，我去湖南的时候，发生了一件很好笑的事情。我和两个朋友一起去。一个像我一样，不喜欢带太多东西；一个什么都带。我们两个怕麻烦的就笑话那位带很多东西的朋友。我们觉得最好笑的是她竟然带了一个电吹风。我们问她：“你带电吹风来干什么？你知道吗？我们去爬山，哪里有时间打扮？这个电吹风是用不着的。”
但是我们第一天去爬山就遇到了大雨。到山上的时候，我们三个人的鞋子都湿透了。吃了晚饭以后，我们去房间用那位朋友的电吹风把鞋子吹干了。虽然我们两个一整天都在笑话她，但是她还愿意给我们用她的电吹风。辛好她不是那种很小器的人！
经过了这件事情，可能我应该再考虑一下。。。或许那位不怕麻烦的朋友的做法比较好。去旅行的时候，带足东西其实也是很好的习惯。
Posted by poetically challenged at 12:11:42 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Friday, April 4, 2008

My favourite sports activity

I am behind schedule on posting the passages I’ve been writing for Chinese class.  This is only the second I’m posting, but I’ve already written 7-8!  

The topic I was assigned here is to write about my favourite sports activity.  I wrote about cycling.  
For this piece, my teacher assigned 12 words, and I had to use at least 6 of them in the body of the passage I wrote.  I think I managed to use all but one or two.  
我最喜欢的运动
我什么运动都喜欢参加，也喜欢看球赛。我爸爸的专业是体育学，我能不喜欢看球赛吗？只要有球赛，我爸爸就看，所以小时候我老是和他一起去看球赛，也参加过很多种运动。直到现在，如果朋友们让我去看球赛或参加体育活动，我都很难拒绝。
我最喜欢的运动是骑自行车。骑车既对身体好又很方便。骑车跟其它的运动有一点不同。别的运动要参加的话，要有专门的时间或地方去做才行， 但是骑车是随时随地都可以做的。因此，我觉得骑车很随意，而且有时候你要去的地方公车和地铁都到不了。这种情况下骑车比坐公车还要方便。
以前我老是骑自行车。不管天气晴朗或下雨，我都骑车。朋友们都说我是“自行车迷。“ 可是我最近买了一辆汽车，不那么经常去骑车了。其实我还是比较喜欢骑车的，但我也没办法。我的两个外甥每年来跟我住三个月。他们还小，不能在大路上骑车，所以我一定要开车带他们去玩。我当然很愿意为了他们暂时搁置我的爱好，不过他们在我这儿的时候，我们也偶尔一起去骑自行车。虽然开车比骑车方便一点，可是骑车对身体好。开车呢。。。说实话，自从我开始开车，我就觉得我变得懒惰了。
其实，常常运动是好习惯。不方便骑车的时候，我应该跟孩子们一起去参加其它的体育活动。
Posted by poetically challenged at 13:50:59 | Permalink | No Comments »

Monday, March 24, 2008

Fast or Slow?

I have two teachers right now while I am studying Chinese.  They are like fire and ice.  One comes in and seems to consume everything in her path, blazing along at an unstoppable pace.  The other moves like a glacier, slow and steady.  So slow, in fact, that you might not notice any movement at all, but the effects left in the wake of this slow movement can be world-changing.


Which teaching style is better for language studies?  I’ve decided that it depends on 2 things — the size of the class and the level of study.  If the class is large, the fiery approach is better, as it keeps the students’ attention.  It moves quickly, and keeps things interesting, not allowing the students to feel distracted when they are not the center of attention at any given time.  It is also very good for new learners of a language.  When you first begin learning, you like to move quickly and find that you can communicate things on a day in day out basis.

For small classes — and particularly for individual study — the glacial pace is more suitable.  In a small setting, the student is always put on the spot, having to answer every question and speak up almost constantly.  The slower pace allows the student to really think, and to shift gears when a change of topic comes about.  Also, for higher levels of language study, the slower pace is much more suitable.  When one has reached a certain level of expressing oneself in a language, long lists of vocabulary just become too confusing. The new words are more nuanced than what you learn in lower levels, and need more time for “experimentation,” so that the student can learn to use the words in the proper context.  Grammar, also, is more complicated and needs more time to digest.

Each method of teaching has its strengths, and when used appropriately, can really help the student.  If used at the wrong time in a student’s development, it is easy for the method of instruction to put a bit of a damper on the student’s interest.  
Posted by poetically challenged at 12:51:10 | Permalink | No Comments »

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Language Overload

I have two teachers, one teaching once a week (focusing on writing) and the other teaching twice a week (focusing on oral language).  They couldn’t be more opposite.  One is cool, and moves through things slowly and carefully.  When I don’t get something right, she patiently shows me yet again.  When I do something right, she says, “Good,” and moves on.


The other teacher is much more excitable.  She comes in on fire, and doesn’t cool off throughout the whole lesson.  She seems to have mountains of work for me to accomplish each time we meet.  When I do something well, she claps (literally!).  When I make a mistake, she might laugh.  Either way, I might feel just a little put on the spot.

After classes with the second teacher, I always feel that I am suffering from “language overload.”  It seems that I’ve had to take in so much during the time in class with her, but it is all raw and unprocessed.  It takes me the next few days to “recover” and feel that I have absorbed anything of what she has said.  I will have phrases that she taught me going over and over in my head, but I might not know what they mean at all.

After I spend some time away, I can start processing through it all.  I will talk to friends, asking them questions.  I revise my lessons at home on my own.  I scour the dictionary.  I ask the other (slower-paced) teacher to clarify sometimes.  At the end of the day, it works out.  But it can seem like a walking through whirlwind getting there.

Well… off to class!
Posted by poetically challenged at 05:18:06 | Permalink | No Comments »

Saturday, March 1, 2008

A tough week

My language studies are continuing along, and have quickly gotten challenging.  I’ve got 2 different teachers, one to focus on oral language, and one for writing.  The oral studies are actually tougher than I expected.  My oral Chinese is actually not too bad, so I thought the oral studies would be easy.  But the materials for advanced students are really good, and therefore quite challenging.


I do find that the studies are helpful. Already, I can see some improvement in my understanding, reading, and writing.  I don’t know if it has yet made much difference in my speaking, but that will come along, I am sure.  I am pleasantly surprised with how tough the studies are.  It is really good to have a challenge.
Posted by poetically challenged at 11:31:37 | Permalink | No Comments »

Friday, February 22, 2008

Language Studies in Shanghai

Well, the time is here, and I am finally starting on something I have said I would do for a very long time now.  I’ll be starting language studies in Shanghai on Monday.


I’ve found a flat, and moved in.  I’ve registered for the course at the Mandarin Center, and am more or less on my way now.  It should be lots of fun.

I will be studying in a one-to-one setting three days a week.  It is only a 3-month course (90 hours), but I hope to see a good deal of improvement in my language skills between now and the time the course finishes.  Already, there have been a few times I felt pushed to use the language in ways I am not used to, and that has to help in my overall skills.  Just the other night, when I was looking for a flat, the agent asked me how the property market in the US is going.  That’s not something I often talk about in Chinese, and answering the question stretched me just a little.

Looks like it could be lots of fun!
Posted by poetically challenged at 03:29:00 | Permalink | No Comments »

Friday, September 14, 2007

I found it!

I’ve been trying for some time to figure out how to continue to progress in my language studies.  It seems that all the various programs I’ve looked at (and started, some) haven’t been quite right.


This past week, I’ve been spending my time in Shanghai looking for an appropriate program, and I have found it.  I will be able to concentrate on lessons for 3 months at a time, and will focus on reading and writing (while improving my oral Chinese, of course).  The school I’ve found has a very professional approach, and I was impressed with both the staff I met and the materials they use.

I looked at several different programs this past week.  Some, while not quite for me, still looked very good.  I will try, over the next few weeks, to highlight some of those that looked interesting.
Posted by poetically challenged at 04:40:54 | Permalink | No Comments »