Chinese Lessons (aka A Lesson in Futility)

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CEIBS offered all of the exchange students the opportunity to take a free beginner Mandarin course. Obviously, I jumped at the opportunity - not only would it be very useful, but it was free. I was all excited for the first lesson yesterday thinking that they would provide some magic trick for communicating with basics in this language. I could not have been more wrong.

We spent the entire first class on the phonetics. This makes sense, as it is a very different language than Western languages and it involves both new noises, as well as tones. What I didn't expect was to discover that I was tone deaf. And that my mouth cannot make certain sounds, no matter how hard I try (I blame my pudgy cheeks as I was repeatedly told they were somehow too close to my tongue). It also did not help that with Chinese, my mental glass fills quite quickly so by the time we got to more complex sounds, I had forgotten the easy ones. It gotten even more confusing when we started to apply the tones.

Despite knowing I was fighting a losing battle, I'm determined to continue on with the lessons. I was convinced that today's lesson would somehow show me that I was improving. It didn't. Things I did learn though:


• There is not one word for yes or no, it is all about the question. You need to be able to recognize the verb in the question to answer yes or no. Clearly that is not happening so my dream of answering with something beyond a head nod or shake was shattered today.
• My mental glass is cracked - everything I learned yesterday leaked out of my brain today.
• A lady never tells her age, but I now can as long as I have the phonetic writing for it in front of me and the question is asked very very slowly. (note: this will probably be a false statement by the time you read this given the mental glass crack)
• The number 4 is bad. I don't know why, but it is.
• Hopelessness, befuddlement, and frustration are not a fun combination to end your day with. And I'll be doing it all again on Thursday.


On the positive, for one of my actuall MBA classes (emotionally intelligent leadership) I have to keep a journal this week describing an intense emotion I feel each day. Chinese lessons ensure that is covered. (Today's emotion will be hopelessness)



Xiè Xiè & Zài Jiàn!!!



P.S. Another exchange student posted this video on Facebook which sums up the experience perfectly:

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Comments

[Phi]

There are worse things in life, of course
Dude, this entry cracks me up...Fortunately I didn't read it during class, otherwise I'd have made some funny noises (that might be closer to Chinese pronunciation than your attempt)