In the spirit of my newfound outgoingness, I finally went to a Chinese conversation group that meets here in D.C. They call it the Chinese Table...
So I finally got to speak Chinese for more than 2 minutes. When I used to work at Quark in Denver, there were a bunch of Chinese guys there I used to chat with, but now I don't know anyone who wants to speak it... Most 2nd generation Chinese seem to like English better. So this was actually a really great experience, and I'm planning to go again (and drag my wife Yuki next time ;) ).
There were about 15 people there, and quite an interesting group. I talked for a long time with two people who are studying Chinese in an intensive course to prepare for assignment abroad with the State Department. There was another girl there who had been in the boonies in China for 8 months doing Peace Corps, and got dragged home because of SARS... She's now working for a defense contractor. Get that — crazy. She says she gets flak from her liberal friends for that, hehe.
What? You're dragging me to the Table?
Argh.
My Chinese is terrible, and I'm forgetting more and more. I know that's the reason why we should both go practice, but I lack to confidence to speak a sentence consisting more than 8 words.
*sigh*
I guess I'll have to go, too. It would be a shame to lose all Chinese speaking capability.
Ahhh, come on. ;) Chinese is easy -- it's practically like speaking English... hehe.
You actually know a lot more than you think, you just have to be put in a situation where you need to use it to start to recall things. :)
Posted by: Trevor Hill at June 16, 2003 01:11 PM
With a little effort, Chinese is actually a very easy language to learn. It's just the writing system that is difficult. Don't you think so?
Posted by: shen at December 6, 2003 03:28 AM
Posted by: Yuki Hill at June 16, 2003 12:46 PM