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Fluent in Mandarin in 3 months? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| irishpolyglot Nonaglot Senior Member Ireland fluentin3months Joined 5428 days ago 285 posts - 892 votes  Speaks: Irish, English*, French, Esperanto, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Sign Language Studies: Mandarin | Message 41 of 69 07 January 2012 at 10:47am | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
When I got on the flight I knew "ni hao", and that's it. I made it clear that Day One of me learning Mandarin was when I recorded that video (I didn't even get to study on the flight over, since I was too tired to focus). In case you didn't notice I've been busy learning other languages. Don't believe me, I don't care! Honestly, what a cynic you are... like I've secretly learned Chinese when you weren't looking, in an evil plan to fool the world - conspiracy theory much? I've already said I'll interview a native on camera. That will be my "test". An actual examination will distract me with irrelevant aspects. This is a mission about speaking, so speaking on camera will suffice.
Again, this obsession with online interaction. I'm in Taiwan, why on earth would I NOT interview someone on camera? As with my Spanish and French interviews, they'll be one long unedited take. The French one only had a few seconds removed as the waiter came to distract us (in Dutch), otherwise both were 15 or so minutes long and difficult to fake unless you think it was scripted. Honestly though, what am I supposed to do if the assumption is that I'm a liar? This is a convenient box to put me in where nothing I say will satisfy you. I could have had a polygraph test taken at the start of the mission, and you'd say I made it up, or someone else from the forum could have confirmed meeting me in person and calling me an idiot in Chinese and me not reacting, and you'd say they are part of the conspiracy. Please leave your judgements for the end. If I decide to keep up my Chinese (which is my current plan - to make it a permanent addition to my list), I'll have plenty of other interviews and such, and there'll be little room for doubt. But the purpose of such interviews will be to share an interesting story (as my French and Spanish ones are), not to prove myself. If you had your way I'd probably be locked in a lab with 20 linguists for a week and not released until all agreed I had done what I said I did. No matter what criteria you'd give to be convinced, some aspect of it could have been made up. And even if convinced you (like your best friend was the one who interviewed me), then I wouldn't convince the next cynic. Steve Kaufmann's fanboys demand that HE be the one to interview me, as if he (an English speaker) is the expert on Mandarin whose opinion counts most. A native who I think can help with a genuinely interesting interview (none of this 20 questions just for me - everyone knows my story already), where I'm doing plenty of talking, will be more than enough. For example, to "prove" that I had learned the basics of Quechua, I COULD have had a cynical and boring linguist interview me, but instead I interviewed some ladies who make traditional Peruvian clothing, thus bringing something interesting to watch. I really hate boring videos, and a video with the sole purpose of proving my level will be BORING. I'd be making it for people like you, not for sharing cultural points of interest.
But thanks for the tips otherwise. If it wasn't sandwiched between such venomous cynicism your tips would have been fully welcomed as actually contributing to the discussion. Edited by irishpolyglot on 07 January 2012 at 2:04pm 6 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5129 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 42 of 69 07 January 2012 at 5:08pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
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I wish you success in your mission, Benny, and I look forward to hearing about your experience. Yes, C1 does sound like a very ambitiuos goal, but you are an experienced learner. Even if you just got to a B1 I would still be impressed.
Break a leg :-) 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 4925 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe | Message 43 of 69 07 January 2012 at 6:39pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
Personally, I would find such an "interview" to be boring but, if I'm not mistaken Steve considers his Mandarin to be at C1 level. I can see how it would be interesting to some people to be able to compare C1 vs. C1. R. == Edited by hrhenry on 07 January 2012 at 6:40pm 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 5806 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 44 of 69 07 January 2012 at 6:49pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
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And on a more practical note, the problem I have with your claim of C1 is the breadth of topics that are implied in the framework documents -- C1 requires being able to handle the language in a very broad range of contexts:
Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. The CEFR seems to have been implicitly designed for immigrants -- it builds by contexts. "Survival" language -> general chit-chat -> language for your specialisation (whether that's school, job or academic field) -> wide-ranging topics. If you say "C1, but not all those contexts, then you're talking about something that is no different from B1. 9 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| Doitsujin Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5115 days ago 1256 posts - 2363 votes Speaks: German*, English | Message 45 of 69 07 January 2012 at 9:00pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
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To quote Yogi Berra, "It's déjà vu all over again." (And yes, I know that déjà vu isn't "real French.")
Benny takes on another "mission," gets attacked by the usual suspects and will eventually stop posting again. I find the whole thread amusing because of its predictability. Will Benny become fluent after 3 months? If at all, only by his own standards. So what? Edited by Doitsujin on 07 January 2012 at 9:00pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 5806 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 46 of 69 07 January 2012 at 9:51pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
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It's not about Benny, it's about other people. Benny's heard it all before, and he didn't listen then and he won't listen now. But there will be people reading here who haven't heard it before, and so we repeat it for their benefit.
2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 4925 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe | Message 47 of 69 07 January 2012 at 9:54pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
I don't believe Benny's been attacked at all in this thread. Disagreements? Sure, but I don't see any attacks. R. == 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||||||||
| irishpolyglot Nonaglot Senior Member Ireland fluentin3months Joined 5428 days ago 285 posts - 892 votes Speaks: Irish, English*, French, Esperanto, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Sign Language Studies: Mandarin | Message 48 of 69 07 January 2012 at 10:07pm | IP Logged | ||||||||||||||
If you are just going to make up lies (I don't recall saying I'm NOT a professional blogger), and use gross exaggeration ("Everything"? Once again, there's no room for discussion if I'm defined from the outset as a compulsive liar) to undermine my credibility, I'm not dealing with you. I've argued with you before; it's like talking to a wall. You're cynical beyond repair about me and what I do, and resorting to attacks on my credibility rather than trying to treat me like a real person, mean that YES, I will ignore you, like an annoying fly buzzing around my head, that I've given up swatting away, when I come back to the same place.
Implying that I'm a liar, and then hypocritically adding lies yourself about what I've said or done before to your retorts is an ad hominem attack, and not discussing anything. Both leosmith and Cainntear have done this in this thread. Snide remarks like "I have other suggestions, but they are secret because I plan to write a blog about it and sell an audio book for profit." are just immature and ignorant. This is not an adult simply disagreeing with me.
Agreed. I find arguing with the same narrow minded people tiresome and a waste of time, and if they keep posting confrontational comments, I'll lose interest in this thread. Especially since I finally got a decent night's sleep and am ready to put some energy into this mission, I won't be coming back into English Internet threads for more punishment. But for those interested, I'll share a blow-by-blow update of how my first week has gone on the blog in a few days, share my video(s) at the end indicating what my spoken level is, and then you can actually talk about real things instead of conjecture.
If more attacks come my way, I'll leave this thread be, and just let them tell their lies. The proof will be in the pudding, whether I reach C1, or something lower that's impressive for 3 months compared to the average bear. Thanks for the encouragement and interest from many of you! Edited by irishpolyglot on 07 January 2012 at 10:30pm 7 persons have voted this message useful |
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