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My Chinese and language learning journey | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Members profiles |  | |
| gaoyoude1 Diglot Newbie United Kingdom fluentinmandarin.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4214 days ago 6 posts - 16 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: French, Spanish | Message 1 of 2 14 May 2013 at 3:00am | IP Logged |
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My name is Chris Parker, I’m 25 years old, and learning Mandarin Chinese is a great
passion of mine, as well as using languages as a platform to learn about the world. I have been learning Chinese for six and a half years and I’m still going strong. I have found that by getting completely involved in the language, and living and breathing it every day, it is really not as difficult to learn Chinese as people say. Chinese has been a major part of my study and work. I have an M.A in Chinese Studies from the University of Cambridge, UK, and I have worked as a Chinese-English simultaneous interpreter and translator in London. I have been back and forward between the UK and China many times, and I now live and work in Beijing. I am lucky enough to have dual nationality. I was born in sunny Los Angeles to British parents, and I was raised in the south of the UK. I have been fascinated by languages and learning for as long as I can remember. While I was at primary school, my neighbours were Dutch and I remember asking for Dutch children’s books from their house and taking them home to study. At 8 years old I took an after school French class, but after I found the style too tedious, my mother asked her friend, who was a secondary French teacher, to teach me instead. On family holidays I went to French supermarkets and bought books in French. I studied languages at school, but was constantly bored with the slow pace. I was one of those students who could never concentrate in class; I just took the books home and learnt everything in my own time. During secondary school, I got the top exam grade after a year of Spanish, and begged the Russian teacher to give me a half hour class every week during a lunch hour. In the end, she got too busy, but I was fascinated by the language and worked on my own, and I still remember her delight when she saw my A* exam grade. At university, I wanted to immerse myself in a new language and a culture. It was a toss-up between Arabic and Chinese, but in the end Chinese enticed me more. In summer 2006, I took my first trip to Hong Kong and Beijing, and started studying the language that October. From then onwards, I became fascinated by the language and culture. I made learning Chinese and other languages a major part of my life, speaking or using Chinese every day, even when I was in the UK, and travelling to China every summer. The message I want to share with everybody the message that fluent Mandarin is within anyone’s reach. It takes time – even after 6 or so years I am still working to improve my fluency. I hope other people will be able to enjoy the journey as much as I have! 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| wenevy Bilingual Pentaglot Newbie China Joined 5078 days ago 28 posts - 36 votes Speaks: Spanish, Mandarin*, Cantonese*, Catalan, EnglishC1 Studies: French, Italian | Message 2 of 2 02 June 2013 at 5:36pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks for sharing your experience!
I am curious about your nikename. Can you tell what does it mean？ haha 1 person has voted this message useful |
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