Mandarin 101

Yesterday officially commenced the beginning of a long journey to become fluent in Mandarin. Ok, just kidding. I’m taking lessons with the goal of being able to successfully get around, speak with taxi drivers, order food, navigate negotiation techniques, etc. This language is HARD.

Just a quick lesson on the basics for those that don’t know (i.e. me before I started this process). First, the actual Mandarin language is obviously written in characters which in no way, resembles the Roman alphabet. Therefore, in order to teach us Westerners to speak Mandarin, they have created a separate language called “pinyin”. Pinyin is basically the phonetic pronunciation & therefore spelling of the Mandarin language. Pinyin also includes the “tones” of the pronunciation. More on that later…

The first problem with pinyin (in my personal opinion) is that some of these letter sounds replicate the English sounds, i.e. “b” sounds like our “b” as in “boy”. However, there are many exceptions to this rule… “zh” sounds like “ge” in “change” , “c” sounds like “ts” in “cats” , the “eng” in “sheng” is pronounced “ung”. The list goes on… Now, if you were going to take the time to create a phonetic way of learning, wouldn’t you try to match the actual pronunciation? Just saying.

The second problem is that there are some sounds that the English language just doesn’t make or at least we don’t differentiate specifically. Today, we learned the word “shao” This supposedly is pronounced as it’s spelled. Try to say it. Now, say it again, open your mouth into a larger “O”. Ok, again, but emphasize the “AAAAAAOOOWWW”. Seriously, I think we said this at least 15 times and this looks like an easy one! Don’t even get me started on the “ri” in “shengri”. There’s no comparison.

The third and easily most difficult problem, is the tones. Oh, the tones. Here are the 4 tones and their definitions:

1^st tone: mā - high, flat with no change in pitch

2^nd tone: má - rises from the middle to the top

3^rd tone: mǎ - curves mid-low to low then rises to mid-high

4^th tone: mà - falls sharply from the top to the bottom

5^th tone: ma - neutral tone (I forget about this one, mainly because its supposedly the simplest and yet it still manages to trip me up)

If you are confused, don’t worry, I’m confused every day. I have a really difficult time differentiating between the tones. It’s comical. And yet, it’s CRITICAL. The spelling of one word with each different tone can mean 4 different things!

mā = mother

má = numb

mǎ = horse

mà = scold

ma = question word

Basically, when I learn a new word, my teacher says it. I repeat it incorrectly. She says it again. Again I’m wrong. Then we break down the word, as you would with a small child. Then I have to repeat it 5 times until I get it right, which rapidly turns into 15 times per word. The main issue is that I often think I’m saying what she’s saying or I can hear the difference but it’s not what comes out of my mouth. Hahaha, oh to be a fly on the wall during our lessons. :)

Anyways, I really like my teacher. Her name is Vivian, she’s about my age and I’ve been told she’s very strict on pronunciation. (Wish I'm hoping is true and im not horrible). She is also great at trying to incorporate information about Chinese culture into our lessons. During this process I learned that she is VERY opinionated, which is actually quite enjoyable. For example, she thinks it’s silly that I’m looking for a job, since my husband can support me. She thinks she’s too old to get married. She has a strong affinity for Kate Spade and Juicy Couture, but Gucci is bad quality and not worth it. She has also decided 3 kids is my max because I’m too old for any more. (the full explanation was much longer.) She keeps me laughing all lesson long.

Also, on a similar note, she did let me know that the one child policy has been updated. I wasn’t aware of this, but apparently if both parents are only-children, then they are allowed to have 2 kids. However, Vivian said that most people still choose to have only one child because the cost to support kids has risen exponentially that it would be too difficult to send them both to school and you’d have to choose. Interesting.

While I’m on the job hunt, I’m taking lessons Monday-Friday for 2 hours per day. Supposedly, after 4 weeks at this rate, I can graduate to the next level of beginner… I highly doubt that.