Six Hours Every Day
It has officially been 3 months since I packed up my life into two suitcases and a carry-on for the once in a life time chance of adventure and self-improvement.
It has been a quarter of a year, and so much has changed since I arrived.
When I first arrived in Beijing, I could only speak a few phrases of Chinese and only recognize a handful of Chinese characters. Well, a bit more than a handful. You see, I had studied Japanese before and the languages use many of the same characters. That by no means has made it any easier to learn.
Every weekday for about six hours I am in a classroom being bombarded with new words. So many new words. There is not a second of the day where I am not learning something new.
But that is just what I learn from my teachers and the textbook.
The added benefit of being in China is that I can learn from people everywhere. If I can’t read something I often ask someone passing by to read it for me and they are almost always willing to help. All of the local people that I have met are very encouraging and are happy that I have decided to study their mother tongue. Its nice to have that kind of encouragement from strangers.
I recently started watching TV when I have time (I actually don’t have time, but I watch it anyway). It feels like out of nowhere I am now able to follow most of the shows. It helps that there are Chinese subtitles on nearly every show. If I can’t hear something clearly, I can at least see the character.
It has long been a dream of mine to be able to spend a focused energy on studying a language without having to worry about work or other classes. Now that I am doing it, I realize that it’s a pretty intense thing to wish for. I sometimes second-guess my choices in life. But I am here now, for better or for worse.
I’m going to use this opportunity to learn as much as I can, and maybe have some fun along the way.
Listen to Episode 125 — Virtual Reality, Internet, and Nausea:
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