The Chinese Challenge

It came to me last night - after spending a frustrating evening trying to get by in Chinese - quite unsuccessfully. I am here in China for one primary reason and that is to learn the Chinese language. Now, let’s be honest with each other, this isn’t your Mammy’s Spanish were talking about - this is Chinese!!! Couple that with the fact that I have never learned a language before and that I’m starting my first at 32 (33 in a month) and we have quite a challenge on our hands. I am willing to put everything I have into it, and if I can do it anyone can, do anything. Oh yeah, I have another confession to make, I am tone-deaf! - and Chinese is a tone-based language. I am so tone-deaf in fact, that, when I was waiting tables at the Cheesecake Factory, I was banned from even singing “happy birthday.” Believe me, this is a true story.

So, here is the theme and challenge. The name of this website is Chinalogue - which, is very apropos for my situation. I am here in a great city where Mandarin is spoken on the streets. I am going to make it a point to speak as little English as I can get by with, and I am going to document my trials and tribulations of learning this language all the way through. I will update what I am learning as I learn it. So far, I can say some pretty basic phrases; how are you, how’s the weather, where is this/that - but, I really need to think slowly and translate in my mind first.

Otherwise, I am still waiting for hot water in my apartment, then I will go ahead and get my own internet connection.