學漢語的那些事兒

The one question I get constantly asked by those who know that I live in China is “How much Chinese do you know?” Ah yes, that old chestnut, the expat's nemesis.

My habitual reply involves a woeful confession that for someone who's been here for over a decade, my skills could be much better. I then blame my delightful colleagues, all of whom, partly thanks to me, speak brilliant English. (It's a public service, really.) Naturally, all of this gets a shell-shocked reaction from my interlocutor that goes from disbelief to pity in a millisecond.

“Oh, but you must be learning Chinese right? Good for you, dear! China is a superpower, you know. You'll be in high demand when you get back home.”

Right. If this Sinophile ever gets back home…

When I fi rst arrived circa 2003, I remember beingslightly stunned when I realized that many who had moved in before me had almost no spoken command of Chinese. Isn't learning the native lingo the fi rst thing one would do, as challenging as it can be? Mandarin, a stress-timed language, has four tones which means that one word can have many meanings, whereas Cantonese, a syllable-timed language, has six. Oh, and those 80,000 characters that have been identif i ed over the course of history.

To comprehend a book, you'll need to have a working knowledge of at least 4,000 characters.

There's also that little nagging issue of your brain having to work that little bit harder, as studies show that those who speak tonal languages like Mandarin exhibit a very different fl ow of information during speech comprehension, using both hemispheres of the brain rather than just the left. Take that, English.

Fast-forward 13 years, and I will be the fi rst to admit that I am still learning the language. The only difference now is that I pull it off with a cool conf i dence that makes others gaze in awe at this one-line wonder. And these days, when folk ask me how much Chinese I know, I tell them how much I know about China. Isn't that what really counts? My Mandarin may not be perfect, but at least my baby steps can walk the talk.

So in China, how does one learn to truly talk-thetalk? Are you a traditional classroom learner? Try signing up for classes; there are plenty of centers that offer good deals. Perhaps you're a one-on-one private learner? Find a tutor to speak Mandarin with or better still, grab a colleague and enjoy a bilingual tete-a-tete over tea. Or are you a drop-me-on-the-Great-Wall-of-China-from-a-helicopter-and-seeif-I-survive type of person? If deep and immediate immersion is your thing, then perhaps actually living in China is a preferred option.

COLUMNlST'S PROFlLELena Gidwani is a mother of a son and daughter, resident in Guangzhou for 13 years, self-confessed networker, magazine editor and an avid writer.Lena Gidwani是自由網(wǎng)絡工作者、雜志編輯和作家，在廣州居住了13年。

Learning a language is a process, not a destination. You're not aiming to speak perfect Chinese so you can run for the next presidency. You're aiming to experience China in all its majestic beauty, food, people and culture, even if your tone is completely off.

知道我住在中國的人總愛問我，“你會說多少漢語？”這種移居國外者都會遭遇的老梗，永遠也不過時。

我會習慣性地帶著遺憾坦白，和那些在中國待了10多年、工作繁忙的人相比，我的語言能力可能好多了。接著，我會把責任推給同事，他們能說一口流利的英語，可得感謝我。

2003年，我初次來中國，發(fā)現(xiàn)很多比我早來的人都不會說普通話。普通話有四個聲調，同一個字在不同聲調下有不同含義。有研究表明，說聲調語言（如普通話）的人群在語言理解過程中的信息流非常不同，要同時用到大腦的左半球和右半球。母語是英語的人啊，接招吧！

13年飛逝而過，現(xiàn)在，一有人問我學了多少漢語，我就自信地回答自己對中國有多少了解。這難道不是最有價值的嗎？我的普通話也許說得并不完美，但至少可以磕磕碰碰地交談。

學習語言是一個過程，而不是終點。來中國的目的是體驗中國的美景、美食、人民及文化，即使普通話走點調也沒關系。

LESSONS lN SlNOPHlLlA

Text by Lena Gidwani Translation by Emma Xu Illustration by Sandy