About Me
Hello, Fellow Chinese Language Sojourners!
My name in Shayla and I am a marine scientist by trade. I talk a bit about the emotional drain of going through a Ph.D. program in my post The Courage to Live.
Ever so often, I like to venture beyond the boundaries of science and indulge in music, art, and language. Here’s a little bit about my language background.
I spent 3 years learning Spanish in high school. I won first place in several language competitions! Sounds good, right? Well…I thought so too until I went to Spain in my Sophomore year of high school. That’s when I noticed something very interesting. It happened when I went into a bookstore. I had no idea how to ask for a book. I knew how to say, “Queiro un libro,” but saying that in a book store just seemed silly. I realized that I didn’t know how to express my thoughts. I was stuck on the sentences I had learned in the classroom. More importantly, I couldn’t understand much of what I heard. In other words, I couldn’t use Spanish in a real life situation. I lost my confidence. A good bit of the problem was also psychological. Since I didn’t have confidence, I froze. This made understanding others even more difficult.
The problem I experienced in Spain is probably what most people go through when they try to learn a foreign language. Like me, they learned in a controlled sterile environment (i.e. the class room, home office, etc.) and can’t express themselves in their target language given a real-life situation. When presented with an opportunity to use what they have learned in real-life, they freeze. They try to remember what sentences they learned to say but come up blank. Fear of saying the wrong thing and sounding stupid takes over.
I abandoned my pursuit of Spanish in disgrace. Only now, nearly 15 years later, I have decided to pursue a foreign language. I am fascinated by Chinese and Japanese culture. When faced with the opportunity to learn either language, I chose Chinese. I decided that I wasn’t going to pursue Chinese the way I pursued Spanish. I asked myself if there is a quick way to learn a language? The answer differs depending on one’s method of language acquisition. If someone is learning a language the old fashioned way in some high school or college classroom doing 10 minute verb drills every month, then there is definitely a faster way!
I took some Chinese language classes in New York City from a teacher who claims that by the end of the first 11-week session, the student would have learned over 1000 sentences. Well, after the 11 weeks were over I didn’t sit down and try to keep track of every sentence I knew how to say in Chinese. However, I realized that I could form several different sentences just from knowing only a hand full of words and understanding basic Chinese sentence structure. Great! There was just one little problem. I had to make a conscious effort to construct these sentences. I couldn’t construct them as effortlessly as I can put together sentences in English. I don’t have to think about the 8 parts of speech, the 12 or so verb tenses, and all the funky grammar and rules of pronunciation that plague the English language. Yet for all the complexity of the English language speaking, reading, writing, and listening hardly require any mental effort on my part. English is ingrained within me. It has invaded my subconscious. It is and always will be a part of me.
Then, I had another “Aha” moment! I thought about how I could incorporate Chinese into my life such that I am constantly exposed to it. The obvious answer would be a language immersion. I don’t have the luxury of going to China right now and I work a 40-week job.
During these 90 days, I allow my mind to absorb Chinese. I allow Chinese to be what it is and to not judge it based on the rules of the English language. I allow myself the right to make mistakes just like I made, and still make, mistakes in English. Every chance I get, I listen to Chinese music, Chinese podcasts, and Chinese TV channels for at least 10 hours everyday. I practice my Chinese with native speakers and I allow them to correct me. After all, they know their language better than I do. That is my challenge! I challenge you to do the same. Eat, sleep, drink and breath Chinese! One day, I see myself walking into a Chinese bookstore and not just asking for a specific book, but I can freely talk about my favorite books.
