A choice.
Last year, I began my journey of relearning Mandarin. I wasn't serious. I wasn't committed. And I wasn't determined. I want to learn, but I wasn't.
Finally, the phone call from Ms. Chew. "Level-3 will start soon! This time, the teacher is a local. I'll see you ok!"
So in China I started to try and communicate with the locals. It was hard. The words didn't come naturally. And it still hurt. Terribly. As time passes by, a Quranic verse came into the picture.
"Verily, with every difficulty there is relief."
Everywhere I went, the locals spoke to me in Mandarin, even Cantonese. Like it or not, I had to speak the language. Do or do not, there is no try. When I fumbled the words, locals pleasantly waited for me to find the words or politely say things like, "Oh! Ni shi waiguoren? Duibuqi. Wo bu hui shuo yingwen". Then the pain somehow went away and I'll reply with "Meiguanxi. Ni bangmang wo henduo le. Xiexie."
Speaking in Cantonese, is crazy. Owner speaks in Cantonese, I don't understand a single thing but I just point to the item "M goi. Gei chin ah?". He'll say "Say go gau" and I'll try to remember my limited Cantonese, give up, have a dazed look and say "Ni hui shuo putonghua huo yingwen ma?". The guy obviously taken aback by my remark, bursts out laughing uncontrollably.
Tomorrow, is my 1st day of Level-3 Mandarin. This time around, I am serious, committed and determined to relearn.
No pain = no gain ... right ... ?
God help those who help themselves ...
12.33noon Malaysian Time
6 comments:
It comes with exposure and analysis. If you try to write down and use the new things you hear and if you read as much as you can, over time you will know more and more, and it will be less and less painful. I have learned 17 languages; they all were troublesome in the beginning, but you get past it if you force yourself to do just what you are doing. (And a teacher helps! I have not always had one, but when I did, things went faster.) Good luck!
Noted. Thank you for the encouraging words and brilliant pointers. ^^
The pain is a lot deeper in the sense that it is closely linked to my past, nonetheless I am resolute to face it openly. Thanks for visiting. :)
Go go for it! Sky's the limit do reach for the stars ;) ...
I love learnin new languages though ... and I'm presently doing one "My Dad's Mother Tongue" ... LOL all these years and I wasn't bothered to learn, neither was he bothered to teach me ... until my mother put the pressure LOL ...
That's the spirit! ^^
Likewise sis, there is no pressure from both of my parents either perhaps because they themselves do not know their ancestral languages ... :P
But I'm adamant to learn it. So I'm the one putting pressure on myself. :)
Inshallah it won't be too hard for you to learn!
My husband has been wanting me to learn Turkish, and I want to, but it's hard and so different from English, but I should learn it.
Yeah! Just need to keep on learning! Wishing you all the best in learning Turkish, ya! And thanks for popping by. :)
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