July 15th, 2006 Chris
I didn’t even post anything controversial, yet. Hell, I’m not even IN China. But like the title of this post says, my blog is inaccessible in China.
Actually, it’s not just me. It’s BlogSpot in its entirely, according to some friendly foreigners from the Dalian Xpat Community. From what I can tell, everything linked to Google (in English) is cut off by the Great Firewall of China. So the question is: Do I stay or do I go?
I’ve been posting here for just over a month, and I don’t have any real attachment to Blogger, but it’s a good interface and I really don’t want to start a blog over, even if I can copy/paste everything.
There’s also a slight satisfaction in knowing that just being on this site is irritating some censor somewhere on the other side of the world. I have a journalist’s sense of righteousness when it comes to free speech, and I hate the idea of going through the trouble of finding a new blog host just because the Chinese Communist Party says Blogger is bad.
So, I guess I have a decision to make, and soon. If you’re reading this, leave comments and tell me what you think.
Posted in projects | 4 Comments »
July 11th, 2006 Chris
A few days ago, my martial arts instructor said to me: “Nihao ma?”
I knew what she meant–”Hello, how are you?”–but I stared at her with a puzzled look and squinted at her in the dark parking lot. I scratched my head and finally admitted that I had no idea how to properly respond. Countdown to China: Six weeks, give or take.
A friend of mine once said: “Learning a language in the United States is like learning to swim in a bathtub.”
So far, I’ve learned three whole words in Mandarin. I can say hello (nihao), goodbye (zaijian) and thank you (xie xie). We’ll see how far that gets me. Lately, I’ve been playing around with a few online language sites that offer free lessons on speaking and writing the official language of the PRC.
A friend sent me a link to www.chinese-tools.com, which offers free 10-minute lessons with audio and pinyin pronunciations. So far, I’ve done one whole lesson.
The Chinese government just opened another site aimed at teaching foreigners ahead of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The idea, it very openly says on the front page, is to promote good feelings about China.
“We hope that this course will enable you to learn and better understand both the language and the nation, so as to increase your interest and leave you with a good impression of China,” says a text box next to a link for a sharp-looking Flash video. I think the video is about the Games, but it’s all in Chinese, so it could be promoting fly fishing for all I know.
It’s a promising site, but my frustration with learning a new and very foreign language completely on my own isn’t making me like China better. So far, it’s produced only a sore feeling where my palm has rubbed a red welt into my forehead.
The third site I’ve toyed with is ChinesePod, a service raved about on other blogs. I like the format and the idea of podcasting a quick lesson each morning. Have I done this? No. My iPod is sitting powerless in a desk drawer at my office. Also, there is a lot of English spoken on ChinesePod’s lessons, and that’s a slight turnoff, since I want to get a better feel for how the language sounds uninterrupted.
I’ve been thinking lately about how I managed to learn functional Italian–I could travel almost anywhere in the country without any problems, even if I couldn’t talk art or politics–in only three months of study in Siena, near Florence. I took one three-month class at UC Santa Cruz a year before leaving, but even there, I picked things up faster than I ever did in high school Spanish. My best theory is that it has something to do with my grandparents.
My father’s parents are first-generation Americans whose parents emigrated from Sicily after World War I. The speak English most of the time, except when they don’t want anyone else to understand. I grew up hearing their rough and unrefined Sicilian dialect, learning a few words and, more importantly I think, getting to know the rhythm of the language. When I went to learn Italian in a more formal setting, I already had a head start.
A clever reader may note that I have yet to use the word “study” relating to any of the sites mentioned above. That’s because I’m not really doing this in an academic or pragmatic manner. I have no expectation of actually speaking or understanding any Mandarin before I get to Dalian. To get Chinese in any real way, I need to get out of the bathtub and take a dip in the East China Sea.
That is, after all, why I’m going.
Posted in mess of a language | 3 Comments »
July 4th, 2006 Chris
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| James Loughrie believes he can sell you anything. He cannot. Do not let him. If he could, he wouldn’t be a journalist. He’d be something that pays better.
Do, however, read his blog on teaching English in Turkey.
(James and I work together at the Antelope Valley Press. We are both leaving on August 4 to teach English on opposite ends of the globe. A link to his blog can be found in the sidebar.) |
Posted in self-indulgence | 2 Comments »
July 3rd, 2006 Chris
“This is the truth: when you sacrifice your life, you must make fullest use of your weaponry. It is false not to do so, and to die with a weapon yet undrawn.”
–Miyamoto Musashi, A book of Five Rings
OK, so Musashi is Japanese, not Chinese, but this quote seems appropriate at the moment. I just gave notice at work. I’ll be at the Antelope Valley Press for another month, then it’s a few short weeks before I’m in China. I hope I’m living up to the Sword Saint’s ideal.
Posted in self-indulgence | No Comments »
