ADVENTURES IN CHINESE

Though there’s no lack of motivated and intelligent students studying Chinese， there are few who become fluent. You could say that people often lack the time to study long enough， but in many cases that is not the only reason. In my experience there’s only one factor that seems to determine whether a student achieves fluency. I have seen students you might call “lazy，” students who work full-time and students who consider themselves “too old” to learn “such a difficult”language arrive at full fluency much faster than hardworking university students. What’s the difference， you ask Immersion.

In my experience， it’s a mistake to believe you can make true progress in Chinese while spending your evenings speaking English in Irish pubs and ordering pizzas from English-language menus. Most learners can understand the grammar， learn the characters and so on， but they fail to make Chinese “their” language. It often remains a classroom subject， and takes up less than half the time they speak during their everyday lives. While they use Chinese in specific situations， it never becomes the default mode of communication and thinking.

Often， the problems are less linguistic than cultural. It’s easy to make international friends in China and use your native language when relaxing or hanging out. Few people (including myself) possess the willpower to speak Chinese on a Friday night， especially after a hard week of studying and working. It is situations where you simply have to speak Chinese to do what you want to do that force you to claim it as your own language， one you use to communicate， make friends and live life.

This is， of course， easier said than done. Still， there are many ways of achieving language immersion on a part-time basis. Some strategies I’ve seen work include:

1) Join a sports team that only speaks Chinese: you don’t need perfect tones to score a goal， but the language environment is great， especially for beginners.

2) Choose the right place to live: ditch the expat enclaves， and find a neighborhood or even a smaller city where Chinese is the default mode of communication.

3) Homestays: living with a Chinese family that does not speak English and has no intention of learning it is hands down the most effective way to learn.

4) Find things that you enjoy and do them in Chinese: nobody can study 80 hours a week， so students need to find something they enjoy doing and then invite Chinese friends to join them.

5) SPEAK CHINESE: even when a Chinese person wants to practice their English with you， reply in Chinese. However bad or slow， continue to do so for hours， days， years. Sooner or later， the replies will come in Chinese.

MEET A CHINESE TEACHER

Name: Snowy wang

Age: 24

years teaching Chinese: 18 months

Current location: New Concept Mandarin Beijing Center

Being a Mandarin teacher has been my dream since I started university. As an English student， I really enjoyed the process of learning a new language， as well as the culture behind it. I think it must be the same for foreigners learning Chinese， and it feels fabulous to help them on that journey. I think the best way to learn a language is to use all of your senses—not only to listen and speak， but also to see， touch， smell and taste. New Concept Mandarin’s methodology for learning Chinese has enabled me to incorporate this engaging style of teaching， and use every aspect of my imagination to teach， an approach that has proven to be quite fun and effective. Seeing the progress of my students gives me a wholesome feeling of achievement， and I have also learned a lot from my students as well. I love this profession and will continue to do my best!

MEET A CHINESE LEARNER

Name: Richard winkelman

Age: 62

Time studying Chinese: 18 months

Current location: New Concept Mandarin Beijing Center

My work in the energy sector brought me to China and soon after arriving I began my quest to learn Chinese. I enrolled at New Concept Mandarin， and from day one have been challenged by the nuances of the language， encouraged and enlightened by two wonderfully skilled teachers and motivated by my increasing， yet seemingly (to me) slow progress. Why undertake this challenge at a rather advanced age? Simple， I want to continue to grow my life experiences and learn not only about the language of my new home but also about its customs， traditions and people. One enormously beneficial aspect has been the tranquility I experience when studying Chinese characters. One cannot help but slip into a quiet place in one’s mind when focusing on the composition and strokes of those characters. With NCM’s help， I hope I continue to grow and learn.