I first became aware of the enormous language gap in China three weeks into my first year, when I taught English at a public high school in northern Jiangsu. One afternoon, feeling slightly homesick, I hopped into a taxi with a simple mission: to go to McDonalds. Being completely unable to speak Chinese at that [...]
chinese Posts
How Much Does Natural Ability Have To Do With Language Acquisiton?
I recently learned a neat new word in Chinese: 语感, literally “language feeling”. In English, a more common translation might be “language intuition”, a mysterious ability that some seem to possess and others do not. When I tell people that I speak three languages, I often hear in response, “oh, you must have an innate [...]
Fallacies In Learning Chinese
Hello all – this is Matt signing in. Perhaps, like me, you’re beginning a new semester studying Chinese, or else you’re wondering whether or not you should start. That’s the easy part- go for it! Whether you’re living and working in China or are planning to do so at some point, learning Chinese will give [...]
3 Ways To Kickstart Your Chinese for the New Semester
Xinhuanet is dead right about one thing, it may be three weeks ago now, but I really am only just getting over my “gasp” at Zhang Ziyi’s dress on the phenomenon that is CCTV’s annual Spring Festival gala, they were just wrong about the reason. Bowled over by the fairy-pinkness of it yes, but the [...]
