LA Times Article: "China worries about losing its character(s)"

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-china-characters-20100712,0,6032882.story

Interesting article that I happened upon the other day...

A Couple of Useful Books

A couple of useful books that I've found outside of class and used to supplement the text...

Learning Chinese Measure Words Through Pictures by Fan Jiao: I took this out of the CCSU library recently. Consists of individual exercises centered around measure words, but I found it really useful in terms of translating the discussions to English and learning some new characters. The library actually has many good titles like this one.

Mandarin Chinese-English Bilingual Visual Dictionary by DK Publishing: I picked this up during break. 360 pages, divided by category with charcter and pinyin next to a relevant picture. The picture on this blog post is a small snippet that I scanned. The association between character & picture is helpful, as is the categorical organization.

Chinese Language Learning: Thoughts

Now that Quiz #1 has taken place, I feel it's time to record some of my thoughts on the subject of language learning in terms of my personal learning strategy, both merits and shortcomings.

First, a little background on my past experiences with foreign language. My first foray into language learning took place when I was very young. Having been raised in a household where one parent was Jewish, I attended Hebrew school on a regular basis. Here, I was taught the ancient Hebrew alphabet, which allows one to read the (Old Testament) Bible in its original form. This was accomplished through more or less rote memorization, looking at the characters and memorizing their sounds over and over. To this day, after eight years of virtually no use, I can still write, pronounce, and read those characters. Perhaps that is a testament to the power of repetition.

Even so, looking at the same material over and over to forcibly etch it into my memory seemed very foreign to me then. Furthermore, unless one wants to become a religious figure or an archaeologist, there is not too much contemporary usage as ""modern" Hebrew is a very, very different language. Having spent all this time memorizing a language that had little day-to-day use really soured my interest in language learning... For a while.

During middle and high school, I took Spanish for about five years. The choice was between Spanish and French, and Spanish seemed a bit more appealing to me. Even so, without a real personal drive to master the language, I rarely willed myself to continue learning and practicing outside of class. It wasn't until I was about 16 and had quit Spanish that I started to regret my indifference toward learning the language. At 16, I took a trip to Costa Rica. With the rudimentary skills I had, I could have basic conversations with many of the local people, and I wished I had studied harder. It took that trip to realize how useful and interesting a foreign language could be, how many opportunities and connections such knowledge can lead to.

Wu lǎoshī was discussing how stressful language learning can be a couple weeks back. It is really hard to sit down for a long period of time and go over the same material again and again to internalize it. Without a personal interest and a sense of perspective, it is easy to resign oneself to failure. My biggest difficulty is writing the more stroke-intensive characters, and sometimes writing them over and over is the only way to learn. If I wasn't interested, there is no way I could will myself to do this. Little tricks like finding radicals and seeing characters as pictographs is my fallback. For example, I remember jiē (接) by thinking of the two boxlike portions of the character as two people in the backseat of a car. From this, I arrive at the meaning of jiē - "pick up". This may seem totally weird, but it works for me. My approach to Chinese is very pragmatic. Anything that works is useful no matter how bizarre it may seem.

Visiting China is something that I really look forward to, especially the opportunity to speak casually with native Mandarin speakers. I remember one morning walking to class. When I got there, Wu lǎoshī asked me if I had handed something in. I said yes, but she thought I said dui, or "correct" in Mandarin.

"Did you say dui?" Wu lǎoshī asked.

"What?" I replied. We went back and forth with this until I finally made the connection. Before this point, my mind had been thinking in strictly English.

The reason I tell this story is that it made me realize that outside of class, I am always thinking in English. In Chinese class, I am thinking mostly in Chinese. Coming to Chinese class for the first time that week, it took me quite a bit of time to start thinking in Chinese and make the connection that dui = correct! Traveling to China, being surrounded by the culture and language forces one not only to use the language, but also to think accordingly. This is undoubtedly another effective strategy to achieve better Mandarin skills. If there is no opportunity to use a language (as discussed above), it is much harder to learn! What is the incentive in such a case?

Americans have a reputation around the world for our "buy now, cry later" lifestyle. We often want it all now with little work, whether this means getting oneself in debt, using dishonest practices, etc. I have seen very little good come from this mindset, and I think it discourages many people from learning something as expansive as Chinese, which demands the accumulation of piecemeal knowledge to form the big picture. Patience and perseverance are key.

The past is the best predictor of the future; realizing one's past difficulties and troubles is the key to doing something about them in the present day.

New Links

你好!

I've added several new links to my page. They are certainly proving to be useful for my studies, and I hope someone else might benefit from them. Below are descriptions of select new links:

Chinese Text Project: Very impressive site containing many classic Chinese texts, e.g. the Five Classics (五經 / Wǔjīng) and Four Books (四书 / Sìshū) in addition to some lesser-known works on a myriad of subjects. Philosophy / metaphysics has long been of great interest to me, so to be able to see these works in both English and Mandarin concurrently is an excellent way to tackle two disciplines at once, sharpening my command of Mandarin Chinese while reading new and familiar works. This entire site is a testament to the collective pursuit of knowledge via technology. Check out the "Resources" & "Dictionary" sections!

Chéngyǔ (Chinese Idiom) Dictionary: Self-explanatory. The best site of this kind that I could find. The slang dictionary is also quite comprehensive, although one must be careful with many of these phrases...:)

MDBG Chinese Tools: Really amazing site with many useful tools in one place. 笔划 Radical / strokes page is incredibly helpful. One can see a list of all radicals ordered by stroke number. After clicking on a specific radical, a list of all Hànzì (汉字) containing this radical appears. Extremely helpful.

Their MDBG Chinese Reader tool seems especially interesting, although I haven't tried it yet.

Today I also learned a new chéngyǔ:

"一石二鸟" (yī shí èr niǎo). "One stone two birds". Virtually identical to a popular English idiom. By utilizing the powerful tools that technology offers, one has the advantageous ability to hone multiple skills at once by linking together interests and tailoring study to individual preference / need.

Before working harder, one should always think about how they can work smarter.

Book Review: River Town by Peter Hessler

Throughout January I got a chance to do quite a bit of pleasure reading. One of these texts was River Town by Peter Hessler. After graduating with English degrees from Princeton and Oxford, Hessler traveled to Fúlíng (涪陵, "river cemetery") in central-western PRC as a Peace Corps volunteer. He soon finds himself teaching English at the local university - this book is a memoir recalling the relationships he developed from 1996-1998 and his experiences in Mainland China. Although his experiences took place nearly fifteen years ago, I did not find them dated whatsoever. If anything, it makes one think about the incredible pace at which China is modernizing, and the potential disparities between rich and poor, educated and uneducated that such rapid pragmatism often leads to. Hessler spends a great deal of time ruminating on such issues.

Hessler knew only a few Chinese phrases when he was sent to Fúlíng, and the book details the rigorous process by which he picked up the language. Additionally, he spends a lot of time discussing the local dialect's attributes in comparison with standard Mandarin. As a Chinese student, I found the book both entertaining and enlightening. Hessler is a masterful writer and journalist, probably best known for his articles as Beijing - where he has lived since 1999 - foreign correspondent for the The New York Times.

I would highly recommend River Town and Hessler's other work to fellow Chinese students and anyone interested in China. Although not short (about 400 pages) it is a compelling read; certainly one of the best "travelogues" I've read in a while.

A new semester; E-Portfolio

Spring 2010

Today was the first day of Chinese 112. This will be my second semester of Mandarin and I am eager to work toward improvement. In my reflection upon last semester (the post below this one), I discuss Chinese study opening doors for me. In fact, this is already true. My uncle works for a large apparel company, and upon telling him that I was studying Chinese, he told me to keep at it and I just may have a job opportunity when I graduate.

The company does a lot of business in China, especially Northwest PRC, namely Xīnjiāng. Xīnjiāng - the characters - 新疆 - literally mean "new frontier", and like many other places across the Mainland, foreign investors are cutting more and more deals with factories around the region. Working primarily in the PRC would be a very interesting experience, even more so because Xīnjiāng seems very different from, for example, Běijīng or Shēnzhèn. I had originally learned about this part of China because there have been longstanding tensions between the Uyghur (In pinyin, Wéiwú'ěr; simplified: 维吾尔) people and the Han Chinese. The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic minority in the region, and they live alongside the Han Chinese and many other ethnic groups. This pastiche of cultures makes me very curious to see Xīnjiāng.

E-Portfolio: Thoughts

The idea of an E-Portfolio is very appealing, both because it can help one to track his or her progress over the course of time, and also - as Wu lǎoshī said today in class - it is a very good way to show one's language proficiency to potential employers. I chose to continue with this blog as my E-Portfolio, because I am comfortable with Blogger, it is easy to use yet versatile, and I already have several posts with some interesting content.

Ideally, I think a portfolio should first and foremost demonstrate one's proficiency in a specific area. The difference between a traditional portfolio and an E-Portfolio is the ability to add multimedia content and link the contents of one's portfolio with other friends or students. Rather than reading about one's progress or seeing simple written work, the E-Portfolio allows a prospective employer to actually see one's progress in a given field, and puts a face to a name. This is an excellent way to differentiate oneself from a sea of prospective job applicants, a key strategy in an increasingly tight job market.

Another advantage of the E-Portfolio is the ability to pool information, or "teach each other". Last semester I learned a good deal about Chinese culture simply by reading the blogs of my fellow students. I also teach myself in my own writings; in every post, I look up some new Chinese words in pinyin and characters. Although small, learning a few new words and characters every day will help my tone and contribute to my Chinese vocabulary. Every little bit will help to shape "the big picture". In the same way, these short blog posts will form a BIG portfolio. When I look back on my E-Portfolio upon graduation, it will be amazing to see how much I have learned and how far I have come. To the reader / potential employer, viewing this evolution demonstrates a steadfastness and openness to learn.

Etc.

Insofar as my personal approach to language learning, I am reminded of the Chinese colloquialism that I learned last semester:

"不管三七二十一"

Bu guan san qi ershyi - don't care if 3*7 is 21. Coming from knowing nothing about Mandarin Chinese and having to work from nothing is really humbling. I think it's key to maintain this humility and willingness to learn both in my journey to improve my skills and life in general. Staying determined is key to success. I may not always be the best, but that will never stop me from chasing my dreams.

I will update the blog whenever I get a chance. Rather than have a "theme" as I previously did, I will simply post about interesting things pertaining to China - culture, people, local dialects, books. This should really help me to develop my skills outside of class, as aforementioned.

再见!

A reflection

Seeing as that the semester is coming to a close, it is time to look back on the past few months. I've always had an interest in Chinese language and culture, and I signed up for this class and the Chinese minor with the intent to travel to China after school and teach English, either to international students or Chinese children.

Overall, I am fairly pleased with my progress this semester. It's amazing how much I have learned so far, but I know I have a long way to go. Although it often seems daunting, a journey of 1000 miles begins with one step, to take a page from Lǎozǐ. Everything in life must be taken in stride.

Studying Chinese interests me; when I go to Chinese class, I pay attention and study not because I simply want to do well, but because I feel that learning the language will open a lot of doors, e.g. business, travel, but also a deeper understanding of world affairs and the ability to converse with billions of people that I otherwise couldn't.

I've always tried to study that which truly interests and inspires me. My ultimate goal is to turn my knowledge of world affairs / political science and combine it with Chinese to do something that I can be proud of, something that I can look forward to doing every day when I wake up. True happiness comes from doing what you love - it's that simple.