Hi Eddy,
I read your post today and I have left a long comment.
As promised in my comment, here is the story of my journey with the Chinese language.
My family speaks only English at home. My father learned only English in school. My mother, having grown up in Malaysia, learned English and Malay. With such a background, you can imagine how much my brothers and I struggled with the Chinese language in school. My mother recalls that I used to cry as I did my Chinese homework as I found it a chore and extremely torturous.
How did I manage to pass my Chinese language examinations in school? Looking back with hindsight, it was indeed a miracle and by the Grace of God.
By the time I reached junior college, my past caught up with me. I failed my AO level Chinese in my 1st year of Junior College. Back then, if you did not pass your 2nd language, you are denied entry to the local universities. I panicked when I got my results and I started to memorise Chinese proverbs. I got so good at memorising the Chinese proverbs that I was able to score almost full marks for the multiple choice questions when I retook my Chinese language examinations in the 2nd year of my Junior College. I managed to pass my Chinese language examination this time round.
Yippee, right? Wrong. I sat down and reflected on my life when I got my examination results. I may have passed the examination but could I speak Mandarin properly? The answer was "no".
I made a conscious decision that day to improve my command of the Chinese language. I started to speak in Mandarin to hawkers, taxi drivers, anyone who was willing to listen to my mangled Chinese. Initially, no one understood what I was speaking. I even had hawkers ask me, "Miss, what exactly do you wish to order?". It was an uphill task for me but I did not give up.
Today, I can speak Mandarin (although not as fluent as my friends) and I am happy to say that I can converse with my clients in Mandarin. They can tell that it is not my 1st language but they appreciate the effort that I make to speak to them in a language that they are comfortable in. At the office, I have little post-its stuck to my computer monitor. Written on the post-its are hanyu pinyin words Chinese phrases that I use often at work. I have reached the stage where I no longer need to refer to the post-its when I am on the telephone with a client.
My regret is that whilst I made the effort to improve my spoken Mandarin, I did not do the same with my written Chinese. I can barely read and write Chinese now.
Do not make the same mistake as I did.
I am happy that you are making the effort to improve your English. You have to remember that English is the 1st language over here and it is also the language of commerce. Even if you do not think that it is an important language now, when you grow up and go out to work, you will realise that it is indeed such an important thing to be able to speak and write proper English. Much as we hate to admit it, our society places a lot of emphasis on qualifications.
You are an intelligent boy and you can do it. Persevere and you will see results. Do not be ashamed to ask when you do not know. I have had more than 1 person laugh at me when I was (and I still am) trying to improve my Mandarin. At the end of the day, the winner is yourself.
Love,
Pebbles Auntie
I read your post today and I have left a long comment.
As promised in my comment, here is the story of my journey with the Chinese language.
My family speaks only English at home. My father learned only English in school. My mother, having grown up in Malaysia, learned English and Malay. With such a background, you can imagine how much my brothers and I struggled with the Chinese language in school. My mother recalls that I used to cry as I did my Chinese homework as I found it a chore and extremely torturous.
How did I manage to pass my Chinese language examinations in school? Looking back with hindsight, it was indeed a miracle and by the Grace of God.
By the time I reached junior college, my past caught up with me. I failed my AO level Chinese in my 1st year of Junior College. Back then, if you did not pass your 2nd language, you are denied entry to the local universities. I panicked when I got my results and I started to memorise Chinese proverbs. I got so good at memorising the Chinese proverbs that I was able to score almost full marks for the multiple choice questions when I retook my Chinese language examinations in the 2nd year of my Junior College. I managed to pass my Chinese language examination this time round.
Yippee, right? Wrong. I sat down and reflected on my life when I got my examination results. I may have passed the examination but could I speak Mandarin properly? The answer was "no".
I made a conscious decision that day to improve my command of the Chinese language. I started to speak in Mandarin to hawkers, taxi drivers, anyone who was willing to listen to my mangled Chinese. Initially, no one understood what I was speaking. I even had hawkers ask me, "Miss, what exactly do you wish to order?". It was an uphill task for me but I did not give up.
Today, I can speak Mandarin (although not as fluent as my friends) and I am happy to say that I can converse with my clients in Mandarin. They can tell that it is not my 1st language but they appreciate the effort that I make to speak to them in a language that they are comfortable in. At the office, I have little post-its stuck to my computer monitor. Written on the post-its are hanyu pinyin words Chinese phrases that I use often at work. I have reached the stage where I no longer need to refer to the post-its when I am on the telephone with a client.
My regret is that whilst I made the effort to improve my spoken Mandarin, I did not do the same with my written Chinese. I can barely read and write Chinese now.
Do not make the same mistake as I did.
I am happy that you are making the effort to improve your English. You have to remember that English is the 1st language over here and it is also the language of commerce. Even if you do not think that it is an important language now, when you grow up and go out to work, you will realise that it is indeed such an important thing to be able to speak and write proper English. Much as we hate to admit it, our society places a lot of emphasis on qualifications.
You are an intelligent boy and you can do it. Persevere and you will see results. Do not be ashamed to ask when you do not know. I have had more than 1 person laugh at me when I was (and I still am) trying to improve my Mandarin. At the end of the day, the winner is yourself.
Love,
Pebbles Auntie
1 comment:
Well...if you do need help in your written chinese. There's always your LSD here who can help you. I can always get you a chinese dictionary to help yourself when I am not around. OR the best way is go karaoke more often and sing more chinese songs...*grinz*
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