Learning Chinese in Beijing
Its been just over a month since I first landed in Beijing but it seems like so much longer. Learning Chinese here is probably one of the best and worst decisions I have made this year. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Chinese is hard.
Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. If someone says learning Chinese isn’t hard, then they are not studying enough. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy because I set high goals for myself, but I didn’t quite expect the amount of new vocab I would be receiving every week.
So many words, or should I say characters, or character combinations?
Whatever the correct term is there sure are a lot of them.
So yea, there are a lot of words to learn, but at least the grammar isn’t too complicated. It’s mostly straightforward and not to hard for me to grasp.
I learned a long time ago, when it comes to grammar sometimes you don’t need to ask questions and just need accept that that’s just how you say it.
I spend a lot of time reading and learning new words and doing homework, but the best way to learn a language is to get out and use it. That is exactly what I have been trying to do in-between study sessions.
People in Beijing are surprisingly friendly and it is easy to strike up a conversation with a stranger.
From my experience most people assume that you speak Chinese, so I rarely have to worry about people switching to English and ruining the extra practice I get when struggling to remember a word.
I know I have a long way to go but I am excited about the challenge.
I will be sure to update you with my progress.
Listen to this week’s episode, Episode 119 — Dividends, Promise, and Thursday:
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