It’s hard to believe we’ve been in a serious relationship for a little more than two years. Yes,
that’s right, two years ago I decided to spend the rest of my
life with my one and only…but it’s not what or whom you might think.
If you’ve been reading my previous posts (see American Girl Trapped in a Chinese World) you would know very well that my true love is
Mandarin Chinese. Okay, so I’m somewhat of a language nerd, I know, but in all
seriousness, studying different languages has been one of my loves from the start, and the Chinese language is my ultimate box of chocolates.
Reflecting back on my journey with learning Chinese, I begin to think about just how I have made myself improve to such a great extent.
Of course I can’t say I’m fluent, or anywhere close to that
level, (not yet at least) but I think I’ve done a pretty solid job when it
comes down to retaining certain aspects of the language. Pardon me for boasting
about myself,(something I do far too often) but I’d like to take some time to
share with you some of the ‘tricks’ I’ve used to master Mandarin and explain
why I feel they’ve worked.
I've thought long and hard about how language learning develops in such a way that causes a person to improve little by little, especially those who are late starters. I've contemplated the various reasons as to why some people just cannot seem to grasp the concepts of a foreign language and instead of improving, stay stuck at the same level still trying to remember the correct tones for 'Ni Hao' (hello). Yes, the Chinese language has tones (see post It's All About the Tones).
I've thought long and hard about how language learning develops in such a way that causes a person to improve little by little, especially those who are late starters. I've contemplated the various reasons as to why some people just cannot seem to grasp the concepts of a foreign language and instead of improving, stay stuck at the same level still trying to remember the correct tones for 'Ni Hao' (hello). Yes, the Chinese language has tones (see post It's All About the Tones).
I’m going to provide you with four of my own theories that
explain why language learners improve and develop quickly, especially in such a
short amount of time.
1. INTEREST IS KEY!
It’s very simple. If you’re not
interested in something, you’re most likely not going to perform well in that
something... (all jokes aside for now). But it’s very true. Here’s a little story:
There once was a young girl who liked Mandarin so much that she committed to
studying it every day and listening to it every day and speaking with it every
day and she and Mandarin ended up falling in love and getting married and to
this day, every day after they quarrel they make up for hours and hours because
how could this young girl possibly stay mad at Mandarin…? (Okay, seriously ALL
JOKES ASIDE!)) But my point is made, is it not? I love learning the language so
much that my interest is what drives me to not only keep learning it, but improving at it rather quickly.
2. YOU MUST MAKE THE
TIME
For someone who has a
tremendous amount of time on her hands, learning Mandarin has become second
nature. It has just become something I must do and mustn’t forget to do. The
moment I lay eyes on a Mandarin language dictionary on the shelf at the
bookstore or flip through the pages of a self-study book I immediately become infatuated, and can’t seem to put my learning tools aside. I make time to read
through my books daily and commit to memory everything I learned. And of course
there’s always a little extra time for getting my ear nibbled on by my Chinese audio
sessions :)))
3. EAT, LIVE AND BREATHE
This point might sound a bit
arduous, but it couldn’t be truer. In order to improve, you MUST eat, live and
breathe the language. Okay, so don’t actually eat your flashcards, but you get my
point: Commit your all to the language. You’ll know you gave your all when you
are asked a question in English and your brain immediately wants to answer in Chinese.
Or when you see an item in your kitchen and think of the Mandarin
word for that item before thinking of the English word. Believe me, eating,
living and breathing the language makes a HUGE difference. However afterwards,
don’t forget to take a well-deserved break. Trust me, you’ll need it.
4. GET YOUR REST
It's impossible to function without rest. That's pretty obvious right? Just because you are devoting an extensive amount of time to learning your language doesn't mean it has to take up your whole life. After those exciting hours of listening and speaking, forget about everything you learned. I like to take no more than a three day break in between my self-study sessions and think in English for a while. I put my books, dictionaries and notecards aside for a while. Why does this help? Mainly because you are giving your brain time to process all that information you just learned. You are simply taking some time off, but don't forget to get right back to work after your short break. And oh yeah, expect to have many dreams in the language you are learning. I dream in Chinese a lot, which of course is not surprising. And then there was that one dream I had in Korean...but that's another story.
So for my anniversary I guess I'll be sitting back, relaxing and giving my brain time to process everything I've learned...ha, yeah right. Recess is over. It's straight to the books for me.
It's impossible to function without rest. That's pretty obvious right? Just because you are devoting an extensive amount of time to learning your language doesn't mean it has to take up your whole life. After those exciting hours of listening and speaking, forget about everything you learned. I like to take no more than a three day break in between my self-study sessions and think in English for a while. I put my books, dictionaries and notecards aside for a while. Why does this help? Mainly because you are giving your brain time to process all that information you just learned. You are simply taking some time off, but don't forget to get right back to work after your short break. And oh yeah, expect to have many dreams in the language you are learning. I dream in Chinese a lot, which of course is not surprising. And then there was that one dream I had in Korean...but that's another story.
So for my anniversary I guess I'll be sitting back, relaxing and giving my brain time to process everything I've learned...ha, yeah right. Recess is over. It's straight to the books for me.
--I continue to get one-on-one tutoring on a weekly basis in addition to studying on my own time. Thanks to all who have helped me get this far in my Chinese language learning.
加油, (Keep Going)
Spencer Alise
