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:
1st
tone: mā - high, flat with no change in pitch
2nd
tone: má - rises from the middle to the top
3rd
tone: mǎ - curves mid-low to low then rises to mid-high
4th
tone: mà - falls sharply from the top to the bottom
5th
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.
