Mandarin Chinese (#6B)

This is after my sixth 30-minute audio lesson in Mandarin Chinese. I listen to each lesson at least a few times before advancing. The lessons are listen-and-response with native speakers, but below I translate to Chinese from an index card written in English. I prefer the 100% audio approach.



The English script from which I am reading, as scribbled on two index cards:

Also.
To go.
Located here.
Located over there.
How about you?
Is it here? No, it is not here.
You speak very well.
I don't understand what you are saying.
Would you like to eating something?
No, thank you, but I would like to drink something.
Where would you like to go to eat?
I would like to go to your place to eat.
Me too (i.e. I too would like it.)
Would you like to go to my place to eat?

[↑ : I neglected to include the word necessary to indicate a question, so the meaning was changed to, "You would like to go to my place to eat."]

When?
Now.
I don't know.
When would you like to eat?
I would not like to eat now.

[↑: Because of poor tone and pronunciation, I said, "I would not like to go now."]

I would like to eat later.
I would like to go to your place to eat.
When would you like to drink something? O

[↑: Poor pronunciation, "When."]

I would not like to drink something now. I would like to drink something later.

Mandarin Chinese (#6)

With each video it's getting more difficult to speak without a script, because by now I've learned to say a dozen or maybe even two dozen phrases in Chinese, with at least some level of tonal success.

My Chinese friends living in China can't access my website because it is blocked by the Chinese government, but I sent two of them my 'Learning to speak Mandarin Chinese (#5)' video via email, and was told, "Hey, da long, i am so glad that you sent the video to me. I watched it this morning , so did my roomates.haha```They all said that you learn quite fast and speak pretty well.Just come on.I Do you know how to speak my name,haha```my name is chen shufei(陈淑斐)."

[Dà lóng (大龍) is my Chinese name. It means Big Dragon.]

Because I'm recalling phrases off the top of my head, they don't always make much sense. I'm trying to avoid reading from a script, but maybe that would make more sense than this:

When would you like to eat something?
Where would you like to go to eat something?
I would like to go to your place to eat something.
Later.
Now.
When?

Mandarin Chinese (#5)

Today I heard some Chinese tourists shopping in Union Square. Even after five 30-minute lessons, each of which I've listened to three times or more, I'm still not ready to speak with strangers.

I'm not reading from a script. Just having a conversation with myself.

A: Where is Long Peace Street?
B: I don't know, but College Road is located here. Do you want to eat a little something?
A: No, I don't want anything to eat, but I want something to drink, how about you?
B: I don't want anything to drink, but I want something to eat. Thank you. Goodbye.

Mandarin Chinese (#4)

Trying to teach myself Mandarin makes my thought processes feel as though they're old vinyl records being played at the wrong speed. Minor differences in tone can completely change the meaning of the word. For example, the words Where, There, and Here, all sound quite similar, even more similar than you might think after listening to me butcher their pronunciations. I'm exaggerating the differences in tone because right now it's the only way I can keep them straight. And even if one manages to master the Mandarin tones, it'll only take you so far: There are so many dialects within China that often Chinese people can't even understand each other.

The transcript of what I think I'm saying can be found below the video. I'm not working with a script. I'm choosing words and phrases from what I've listened to today, so there is a method to my learning but no method to the videos, just impromptu attempts at speaking Chinese.



Chinese conversation with myself:

Dewey #1: "Where?"
Dewey #2: "There."
Dewey #1: "Where?"
Dewey #2: "There."
Dewey #1: "Where?"
Dewey #2: "There."
Dewey #1: "Where?"
Dewey #2: "Not here, there."
Dewey #1: "I don't understand what you are saying."

Mandarin Chinese (#3)

Today I attempt, "Hello, I am Chinese but I can speak a little English. Thank you. Goodbye."

Mandarin Chinese (#2)

Day two of learning Chinese. I'm using an audio-only approach, without Pinyin, which is the system used to translate Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet. The pronunciation of Pinyin usually isn't intuitive, so having a Pinyin transcript of what's being said might make things more difficult for many speakers. Instead I just listen to audio files of native Chinese speakers.

Here is what I'm trying to say: "I am American. I speak English. I speak English very well. I do not speak Chinese. I speak Chinese, a little. I do not speak well. Goodbye."

As you can see, I'm already a thrilling Chinese conversationalist.

Mandarin Chinese (#1)

I want to speak Chinese, so today I listened to hours of Mandarin audio to learn what little you'll hear below. The most difficult part about spoken Chinese is that it's tonal. Get the tone wrong and you've said an entirely different word than what you intended. The video below is probably gibberish to a Chinese person, because I'm sure my tone is awful, but what I tried to say is, "Excuse me, may I ask you a question? Do you speak English? I speak a little Mandarin."

Traveling in the shadow of disaster and conflict

Before I visited South Korea it was shelled by North Korea during a conflict in the Yellow Sea; shortly before visiting Russia there was a terrorist attack, a deadly bomb at one of Moscow's four international airports; shortly after leaving Japan there was the nuclear disaster; the day after I left Malaysia there were violent protests; I was in London for the riots and looting; days after returning home to the United States there was an earthquake followed by a deadly hurricane; and, a few weeks before that, after leaving Hasselt, a small city in Belgium, there was a deadly stage collapse at a music festival there, where my friend Daan's band was scheduled to play.

What a strange set of coincidences.

My friend Daan and his girlfriend Loesie, on their rooftop porch in Hasselt. Photo taken with Kodak Ektar 100 film and Rolleiflex TLR with Tessar lens (built in Germany, circa 1954-56).