Everyone knows that the best way to learn a language is to live in the country. Immersing yourself in the local language and culture provides opportunities to learn from natives, practice new vocabulary, and pick up natural speech patterns. Compared to learning from a book, cd, or even in a class, there is nothing like living in a foreign country for learning a language quickly and well.
Too bad I don't live in China.
I live in Expat World, a fantasy land that hovers somewhere on the periferal vision of the local Chinese. Occasionally, our worlds collide, often with messy results, but by and large, we coexist in a kind of blissful ignorance of one another.
I get up in the morning and get on the staff bus that takes me to school, along with my family. I work all day with other expat staff, most of whom are native English speakers, teaching an English language curriculum to expat students. On weekends, I go to church with other expats, no Chinese are allowed to worship with us, or us with them.
Do I ever speak Chinese? Sure, I do. Two hours each week with my Chinese tutor. A couple of sentences to taxi drivers, or a few words to store clerks. And I always say "ni hao" to the nice guards at our apartment complex.
I intended to write some posts about how frustrating and humbling it is at times to learn Chinese, and I think I still will. But when I think about how few natural opportunities I have to speak Chinese, it really depresses me. So, I'll keep taking my classes and reading my grammar books. I'll start talking to my kids in Mandarin, or try to strike up conversations with the guy at the corner store. I'll watch some grueling Chinese TV.
And maybe one of these days I'll speak enough Chinese to find China around here.
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5 comments:
Expat ghettos are hard to avoid, especially when you work in one. We collected a fun list of little and big ways to get outside the cultural bubble in Tianjin: http://chinahopelive.net/2008/12/29/china-friendly-new-years-resolutions-for-laowais
I can relate to your frustrations... I noticed I'd started feeling similarly right around the Olympics, when our Chinese friends and teachers and magazine editors were all extra sensitive about China's image, and it got pretty annoying, more annoying than I thought it would. I guess it's a chance to exercise some grace and humility -- easier said in hindsight!
Thanks for the link, Joel, I'll check it out for ideas. I need them to keep my motivation up!
[On weekends, I go to church with other expats, no Chinese are allowed to worship with us, or us with them.]
I had no idea it was that segregated in China, shows how much I know, lol. And that really does suck how you are in china but hardly get to speak the language! Do any of the students you teach speak Chinese? Or is it rude to talk to them in Chinese? Or against the law?!
It's only illegal for us to talk about religion with Chinese people, we can speak Chinese whenever we want. But as you can see that's still a problem!
Well ____. You can fill in the blank. (smiley face).
Good luck with that.
But wow... just wow. I don't know where to begin saying anything since it seems that their government doesn't even want to "begin" any improvements just shut it down (at least that's what I'm perceiving). Ah let me shut up.
I will say though that China has some awesome projects going on with power conservation the natural way (is the dam considered natural, I don't know).
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