Why Chinese?

[ssilve01]

• Always wanted to live abroad and appreciate a different culture.
• Interested in Chinese/Eastern politics, economics, philosophy, history and more.
• School requirement to learn language at intermediate or above level unless you studied Arabic or Chinese.
• Scholarship from US State Dept. to study in Chinese during the recession of 2008–2009

[amytheorangutan]

I'm a 3rd generation of Chinese born and grew up in Indonesia. My parents grew up in a turbulent time in Indonesia when thousands of Chinese people were killed and discriminated against (we all had to change our names etc) so even though they speak Mandarin reasonably well, they didn't teach any of us. I was never really properly exposed to Chinese history and culture though we still do many of the rituals and celebration of big festivals at home. I then moved to Australia at 17 and then the UK 5 years ago. I was never really interested in my heritage until very recently, around 2 years ago, funnily enough through Romance of The Three Kingdoms (三國演義), both my British husband and I were really into the TV series and I also started listening to the podcast and from there, we got into Chinese ancient history an culture which we both find fascinating.

 

I have always been very interested in Japanese culture and originally thought of learning Japanese but then my interest in Chinese increased bit by bit so I eventually decided to learn Mandarin first and will jump to Japanese once I reach Intermediate level in Chinese. I've only started learning since September 2017 so it is still a very long term goal at this point. I try not to overwhelmed myself with big goals and just go through it one day at a time giving myself smaller goals to achieve but hopefully I will get there in the end with both Chinese and Japanese. 

[abcdefg]

1 hour ago, amytheorangutan said:

I was never really interested in my heritage until very recently, around 2 years ago, funnily enough through Romance of The Three Kingdoms (三國演義), both my British husband and I were really into the TV series and I also started listening to the podcast and from there, we got into Chinese ancient history an culture which we both find fascinating.

 

Welcome to the Forum, Amy! 

 

Interesting! I'm in the process of watching this series right now, one or two episodes a day. Find the story fascinating even though I already know the general outline. So well-produced and well-acted.  

 

https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/55971-three-kingdoms-tv-movies/?tab=comments#comment-431834  

[GregO]

My first job out of college was at a US branch of a Chinese company. I did not learn the language at that time but I heard it spoken every day for 2 years. I developed a real interest in the culture at that time. Many years later at 37 years old I began learning on my own. I ultimately moved with my wife and 3 kids to China to volunteer caring for orphaned children with medical needs. We lived in China for 3+ years. While in China we made so many friendships that continue on and we were blessed to be able to adopt 2 children. It was mainly their medical needs that required our moving back to the US. All this to say, when I started learning the language, I never would have imagined how much more rich my life would become as a result. I have invested a lot of time with this language but it has more than paid dividends.

[rossg]

I failed an accounting class and felt bad about myself. Suddenly I remembered, my brother who passed his accounting class failed his Chinese class! What better way prevent him from shit-talking me than to learn the language he failed at?!... Then I later learned that he actually failed a Japanese class not Chinese, but it was too late -- I was already in love with the Chinese language. Hahahaha. I've always just loved languages and like doing things on my own without help from any institution because I think (American) schooling is, for the most part (outside of STEM), a scam. Also, for my master's degree I had to pass a proficiency exam in a foreign language and taught myself Dutch in about one year. This gave me the confidence to tackle a difficult language like Chinese.

[edelweis]

1 hour ago, rossg said:

taught myself Dutch in about one year

What level of Dutch?

[rossg]

2 hours ago, edelweis said:

What level of Dutch?

Just enough to read Harry Potter, watch cartoons, and pass my proficiency exam without struggle. Chinese is soooo much harder

[edelweis]

45 minutes ago, rossg said:

Chinese is soooo much harder

Indeed

[Guest]

• Employability. This is the second crudest reason, but my bachelor's degree (Philosophy) alone doesn't lead to any set career path. Being able to speak Mandarin - especially coming from a nation infamous for its monoglotism - would definitely help in being able to find a job. Happy to say it's been successful in that regard.
• Exposure to something completely different. I've studied German and French before, and at the time found them to be very different to English. When I first started studying Chinese, however, that perspective completely shifted. Everything's different - not just the writing system and grammar in the language, but the culture(s) of Chinese people and life over there. It's fascinating. I wanted to study something where I would have to dive head-first into a sea of unfamiliarity, and Chinese ticked that checkbox, especially with having moved over to China.
• Understanding more and more around me/progression. When I first started learning TEFL, I had an American teacher who explained that moving to China was like having a stroke - you had to relearn how to do all of the things you normally do back home, including speaking and understanding. The more I've learned Chinese, the more I've come to better understand my surroundings - be it talking to people or listening to radio broadcasts in taxis to reading newspapers or red-banner slogans throughout my city. I'm constantly unlocking more pieces of an endless puzzle, and I love it. Same goes for Chinese history/culture.
• Prior interest in languages. Not much to say here - I naturally find different languages interesting.
• Bragging rights. This is the crudest reason, but definitely not the predominant one. I'll be honest - when first choosing to study it, there was this tiny voice in the back of my mind saying 'it would be really cool to be able to say 'I can speak Chinese!' and it be true.'

Oh, and to justify the amount of time I spend lurking on here but not posting. ;) 

[Lumbering Ox]

3 hours ago, Napkat said:

Employability. This is the second crudest reason, but my bachelor's degree (Philosophy) alone doesn't lead to any set career path. Being able to speak Mandarin - especially coming from a nation infamous for its monoglotism - would definitely help in being able to find a job. Happy to say it's been successful in that regard.

 

So how did that work? I'd like to hear more.

[歪果仁]

Good reply Napkat! You are a credit to philosophy Majors everywhere. I do agree that often in things we do there is crude motive involved. People running in the park because they want people to check them out or reading a fancy book on the train because they want to show off what they are reading. This is part of being human 

 

I am not sure for me whether Chinese will ever have a practical application. I see chinese as a as a great multi sensory rubix cube or puzzle, I find it very satisfying to read things that I had to painfully use Pleco to go line by line only a year ago and start to have more interesting conversations with new people. I think it is a lot of fun and a great window into a different culture ! 

 

 

 

[Wippen (inactive)]

@Napkat i liked your positive and Our analysis mingled with humour.

 

I have a question:

 

6 hours ago, Napkat said:

Bragging rights. This is the crudest reason, but definitely not the predominant one

How does this actually work in practice. I know you are joking here too. My experience has been two fold. People either love the fact you can speak Chinese or they hate it.  I have come to the point where I don't mention it even if it would be natural to say in a specific context. I can tell there is some jealousy involved: I had a professional discussion with a supplier. Behind me was a western colleague. Another person said to her "wow, amazing she can speak Chinese" my colleague retorted " yes BUT it is a kind of hobby of hers". I can't think of a professional reason for saying this :-)

[Lu]

5 hours ago, 歪果仁 said:

I do agree that often in things we do there is crude motive involved. People running in the park because they want people to check them out or reading a fancy book on the train because they want to show off what they are reading. This is part of being human

It's funny, I used to read Chinese books on the train in the hope that people would see me do this amazing and cool thing, and hope that a Chinese friend would call me while I was on the train so I could show off, but now that I actually read Chinese books on the train simply because I want to read that book and the train is a convenient place to do it, I don't like people remarking on it.

[Shelley]

4 hours ago, Tøsen said:

I can tell there is some jealousy involved

Interesting, I have never had anyone being jealous, usually its amazement or they think I am crazy. Most people stare at me and say "What "Chinese" Chinese? Can you read all those squiggly things?" I usually smile, say yes and then quickly change the subject.

 

I do wonder what they mean by "Chinese" Chinese.

[歪果仁]

I think Lu that most goals are nice until you reach them. When you are learning Chinese you keep dreaming of the day you can read the news or have a 4 hour conversation in Chinese and after you do it and realize that people don’t care or care too much for the wrong reasons, you find your own reasons to keep going that are more internal and don’t involve other people. 

 

[ShelbyR]

I just want to be able to understand most of what I watch on TV so that I can keep learning Chinese by watching it.  

[Wippen (inactive)]

6 hours ago, Shelley said:

then quickly change the subject

Me too should it come up or if people find out.

I have had at least three people starting learning Chinese because they had heard me speaking. I know this because they told me that it was inspiring. I got rid of all my beginner's books that way. But none of them kept it up despite of a lot of encouragement. There was always a good reason for it: One got himself a Thai girlfriend, the others either did not have the time or they just did not feel they were progressing.

[Shelley]

3 hours ago, Tøsen said:

But none of them kept it up

I have only had one person, a very good friend of mine, come to me and say I want to learn Chinese, can you point me in the right direction. After suggesting textbooks and practically forcing Pleco on him, he up and went and committed suicide 2 weeks later.

I know it had nothing to do with chinese unrequited love according to the note.

[Guest]

[deleted]

[Wippen (inactive)]

3 hours ago, Napkat said:

but I'm not so arrogant as to point it out to people. 

I did not read it that way either. (if I had, I probably would not have commented :-)  )

3 hours ago, Napkat said:

I didn't realise, but a Chinese woman was sat on the adjacent table and said hello. We had a lovely conversation in Chinese about what she was doing in deepest darkest Suffolk. It was nice.

These situations are great aren't they. By the way, did you notice how everyone around you went all silent because you could speak Chinese :-)

 

3 hours ago, Napkat said:

who have some impressive skill (like speaking a foreign language, or having done a certain impressive achievement) makes me feel somewhat inspired

I think people who are jealous of other people's skills feel inadequate in their own skin anyway. If you feel inspired that it a healthy feeling.