To Learn or Not To Learn

When I found out we were moving to China, I was interested in learning Chinese because I wanted to be able to talk to people here and learn more about them and their lives. What I learned is that learning Chinese is really hard, and I'm not very good at it.

Even though I'm usually an optimist, I'm also a realist. So, last month I quit taking Chinese lessons. I know enough Chinese to make it through day to day life. And I couldn't see that my Chinese would improve enough over the next year to really have a meaningful conversation with someone.

Just to give you a sense of how much Chinese I know,
here are some of the things I can say.
-correct (my favorite word)
-yes
-no
-I/you/she/he/it/mine/yours
-like, look, come, go, want
-numbers (but slowly)
-the time
-the days of the week
-How much?
-beer
-water
-school
-pain
-this
-there
-left/right
-hello/goodbye/thank you
-son/daughter
-friend
-teacher

So this means that I can make some very basic sentences. "We go America" "I like this" "Two water." I sound like a baby!

After I quit taking lessons, I started thinking about how many people I interact with during the week who don't speak English. This means essentially we do our business with little spoken communication. The weird part is that now this is not only easy, but normal.

Driving: Liu speaks a little English, but mostly one word or phrase at a time. He has an electronic translator and so do I, so a lot of our conversations are really just saying one word at a time or showing each other words! It works! (And, no, he doesn't use the translator while he's driving...)

Painting Class: Since September, I've been taking a class in Chinese painting. The teacher teaches us for 2 hours by showing us what to do and speaking only Chinese. So here is the conversation I had with her today (I'm trying to tell her I won't be back in class until August).
- I mime a little book (I know she carries a little calendar).
- She takes out her calendar.
- I point to the next 2 months and say bu bu bu (no) then I point to August 16 and say yes.
- She mimes an airplane and says mei guo (America)?
- I say dui (correct)
- I mime talking on the telephone and point to her and then the calendar for August 16.
- She says ok.

Yoga: Again, a teacher who doesn't speak English. She says things but I have no idea what they are! I just follow along and enjoy the relaxing music.

Shopping: When the checkout clerk asks me a question that I don't understand, I either show my membership card or show that I brought my own bags. If I need help finding something, I bring a picture or show the Chinese character on my translator. I did manage to order a custom made sweater with a lady who didn't speak English. It came out just like I wanted it :)

Ayi: When she comes (once a week), we say ni hao (hello) and if I need her to do something different, I just point.

Mr. Torture: He taught me the Chinese word for pain. I've been bringing my friend to translate :)

I really enjoyed getting to know more about my old driver's life (he spoke English), so I'm sure at some point I'll regret that I didn't try harder to learn Chinese. For now I'm taking the summer off and I'll consider it again in the fall.

Zai jian!
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